<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>mr-special wrote:</div>
did u end up putting the scope onNot yet. Maybe at some point I will, but I’ve been doing alright without it.
I personally prefer the sights on the rifle and not using a scope.
The Daisy Powerline 880 claimed another victim this morning. Tree and garden eating bunny was spotted in backyard. One shot, one kill.
Pretty amazing what a .177 pellet can do within its effective range, even though the Daisy drives it only 700 fps at the muzzle. After botching my last opportunity by trying for the fancy-dancy head shot, I learned my lesson. Aim center mass and shoot. That’s just the ticket on a cottontail as it turns out. Mr. Rabbit fell over, hopped once, then piled up. Didn’t make it 10 feet.
Our Cat was somewhat put out by the whole incident. Turns out he had been watching that bunny from his blind in the hosta patch, but had determined that it wasn’t a shooter (or a run-it-downer because the cat does it old school style) this year. He was going to give it another year hoping it would gain mass and be a real Booner next season.
Grouse
Seems you mentioned the cat being quite old. Maybe that cat is smarter than you think and simply was waiting until the temps dropped.
The bunnies have been scarce in my yard, too, but I noticed a little thumper observing me pick beans last night. I’ll have to take the rifle up to the garden with me next time.
Seems you mentioned the cat being quite old. Maybe that cat is smarter than you think and simply was waiting until the temps dropped.
He’s pretty nimble for his 18 year old age, is the Big Cat. No question he’s smart. He’s out there in his hosta patch blind right now with just the tips of his ears showing.
I have at times questioned his tendency to overreach a little when it comes to big game hunting. He did some spot and stalk hunting some years back and we witnessed the the whole show. Cat’s got game! He played the wind, he had the stealth, he had the style, the poise, the grace, the speed, the agility, the athleticism.
Basically, he had everything going for him except size. Which in a house cat vs whitetail deer battle is going to be a tough disadvantage to over come.
If he’d have actually managed to latch his claws into one of those deer, we’d have been collecting him from Animal Control, probably somewhere near Duluth. Any way you slice it, 19 pound tomcat vs. deer is, 99% of the time, not going to end well. For the cat.
Grouse
The bunnies have been scarce in my yard, too…
That’s a shame. I wonder what happened to them? Seems like they were in such good health… 
Grouse
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Ralph Wiggum wrote:</div>
The bunnies have been scarce in my yard, too…That’s a shame. I wonder what happened to them? Seems like they were in such good health…
Possibly led poisoning?
Grouse
I have had an air pellet rifle for a while. its a daisy. needed it also to control the garden eating critters.
my issue now is it pumps up but wont shoot/discharge the pellet. any ideas on whats wrong???????it literally plugged the barrel with pellets.
It sounds as though the seals are leaking when you pull the trigger and there isn’t enough umph to push the pellet out of the barrel.
so its junk???????????
Anybody here ever watched Ted’s Holdover on YouTube? It’s some pretty awesome video footage and he is in WI. Now he might be a little above our budgets with his pellet rifles but I’m still thoroughly entertained by him.
I think there are a lot more guys investing in higher quality air rifles because the way things are going, it’s the only thing many of us can shoot without driving an hour + to a gun club or range.
My brother-in-law lives in England and air guns are all he shoots in between trips over here to hunt. Because England in particular is SO densely populated and they have draconian anti-gun laws, it is simply impractical for most people to own and practice with anything except air rifles. He belongs to a “field target” league which is similar to our 3D archery leagues where the targets are presented outdoors and your shooting position is dictated by the “stand”, so at some it’s prone, standing etc. Targets are at random ranges and wind, light, visibility, and shot angles are all factors.
I will say that he’s a heck of a shot. Seems practice is practice and more is more.
Grouse
Grouse, look up Fieldsports Channel/Fieldsports Britian on YouTube. They have a unique style (maybe cause their British) but I find information and being able learn what hunting across the pond is like, pretty awesome. It’s definitely a different culture.
As much as I know they have tight gun laws, based upon watching this they hunt with everything from .22-250 through .308 pretty commonly taking roe deer and fallows. And not to mention all the fox calling they do over there.
As much as I know they have tight gun laws, based upon watching this they hunt with everything from .22-250 through .308 pretty commonly taking roe deer and fallows. And not to mention all the fox calling they do over there.
There is some excellent hunting in the UK and I agree, it’s tremendously interesting to watch how others hunt. The variety of deer species in the UK, especially in England is much greater than I realized before I lived there. Of course we all know about the Red Deer, but the first time I came upon a Roe Deer in England while riding my mtn bike, I was quite shocked.
It is still possible to own firearms in Great Britain, but you must get permission and a license for each and every gun, and one of the considerations for gaining permission is your “need” to own said gun. In general, you have to demonstrate with evidence that you have some established sporting interest that the rifle/shotgun would be used for. My understanding is that “target shooting” alone is a very difficult sell as far as obtaining a rifle license, especially for high-powered rifle applications.
Because of these very onerous regulations, many hunters in the UK use firearms owned by the guide or “stalker” or other parties that supply the hunting, rather than trying to own their own. Ownership of firearms comes with many, many requirements including random police visits to search your home to make sure the firearms are there and are being kept in accordance with the rules.
Basically, the goal is to make ownership such a hassle that firearms will eventually be eliminated from private ownership. Given the sporting history in GB and their contribution to firearms manufacture and technology over the past 400 years, I find this incredibly sad, but it shows what happens when a strong anti-gun agenda sells the idea that eliminating guns = eliminating crime. Unfortunately, the UK has already proved this to be a lie. Despite a total ban on ALL handguns, handgun crime increased in the UK to a peak above that which existed BEFORE the ban. For whatever reason, it seems like criminals don’t care about following the law…
Grouse
I picked up a Gamo Big cat a couple weeks ago for varmint patrol. It took 5 different brands of pellets to get one to group but it has been doing a number out about 40-45yards. To make it tougher I have to shoot through my fence unless I go upstairs and shoot out the bedroom window.
It took 5 different brands of pellets to get one to group but it has been doing a number…
DBright and other air rifle fans, is this the nature of air rifles?
I started with a $70 Crossman from Fleet Farm. Almost wore out the scope adjustments after 500 pellets. All over the target after a few plinks. Fast forward.. Had a nice Scheels gift card burning a hole in my pocket so picked up a Gamo Whisper Fusion at a good price via a price match. Lo and behold, similar results.
Is the cheapest China made scope, finding the correct ammo, or a combination of this and other elements?
The Fusion came with 5 types of pellets. Low end, low end with plastic tip, low end with copper tip, platinum & gold. So far I’m not observing a significant performance difference.
We have an excess number of ‘munks who would love to terrorize our wood foundation. So far, knock on wood, the FW & I have kept them at bay for 20+ years. This years count is 20 & counting.
Thanks for your advise.
spring air rifles have special scopes and mounts and they need to be loctite’d on. And often there is a place for a set screw so they don’t slide. Also the stock screws should be loc tite’d as well or they will loosen and throw groups everywhere.
Cheap scopes can move around after you adjust the dials for a little while. proper pellets are lead, lead and more lead. Different ones will shoot wildly different. I had best results with pellets like
http://www.pyramydair.com/s/p/JSB_Diabolo_Exact_Heavy_177_Cal_10_34_Grains_Domed_500ct/388
http://www.pyramydair.com/s/p/Crosman_Premier_Ultra_Magnum_177_Cal_10_5_Grains_Round_Nose_500ct/311
It took 5 different brands of pellets to get one to group but it has been doing a number out about 40-45 yards.
DBright and other air rifle fans, is this the nature of air rifles?
I have had the same experience with pellets. Changing brands and types changes the POI every time. Sometimes by more than 1.5 inches at 33 feet! Also, some brands clearly group tighter than others.
Kurt, is it the same scope you’re using on both your rifles? If yes, I would suspect the scope is bad. Which wouldn’t at all surprise me with how cheap some air rifle scopes are these days.
Since you’re all over the map with 2 rifles, something else is probably going on here. My el cheapo Daisy makes a ragged hole out of a nickle size target at 33 feet. I’d expect your rifles to do the same or better.
Once I got my Daisy 880 dialed in off the sand bags, I went out and bought 1000 of the preferred fodder. Which, ironically, is the Crossman hunting points, but Walmart carries them and they are cheap. And as a few rabbits found out, they are also deadly. Cheap and fun pest control. What else can you ask for? I think I’ve got $40 in my Daisy rifle, all in with cheapo scope. The trigger sux, but I can’t complain about it for $40.
Grouse
My el cheapo Daisy makes a ragged hole out of a nickle size target at 33 feet.
Way to make me feel bad about my marksmanship!
Josh and Grouse,
Thanks for your feedback!
Both air rifles came with their own cheesy, cheap scopes made in red china. (can you tell I don’t like cheap stuff made over there, LOL. Sorry if that offends you… Just too much wasted money over the years recycling/tossing their c-r-a-p)
Kind of surprised me with the overpriced Gamo (thank goodness for gift cards)…
My first fix attempt will be buying a better scope. Leupold’s have always served me well so I’m going to start researching what they offer.
When you have a wood foundation built on 9 acres of woods it’s not really an option to keep rodents out of the wood foundation. Whomever build this place simply didn’t realize how animals never stop trying to in-habitat the property they once owned.
I have a Beeman that I bought at FF. Came with two barrels. 22 cal and .177.
Also came with a scope. LOVE IT ! I bought it to kill the kingfisher stealing my pond fish. He hasn’t been back since.
A very accurate rifle at 30 yds.WKW
I have this exact same rifle. I bought it 5 or so years ago. So far it has been great. I actually like that it has a bit of a kick to it so when shooting it kinda gives you the full effect of shooting a centerfire rifle.
I was struggling earlier this year missing everything I shot at. I figured the scope must have been off. So, I shot at the block of suet I had that the birds hadn’t touched and sure enough it was low and left.
Well, not feeling like firing a bunch of rounds that night I put it away. Brought it out the next day to shoot it again and aimed for the hole I made the day previous. RIGHT THROUGH THE HOLE! I was like WTF! LOL
Shot it again just to make sure and realized it must have been a bad pellet or something the first time because it was dead on.
I have dropped 3 striped gophers, a chipmunk, several gray squirrels, several red squirrels, a black squirrel and I don’t know how many rabbits.
There are far fewer rabbits around now than the year I bought it. I wonder why? I shot 26 that first year. LOL They were out of control and killing everything in the yard.
The Daisy Powerline 880 claimed another victim this morning. Tree and garden eating bunny was spotted in backyard. One shot, one kill.
Pretty amazing what a .177 pellet can do within its effective range, even though the Daisy drives it only 700 fps at the muzzle. After botching my last opportunity by trying for the fancy-dancy head shot, I learned my lesson. Aim center mass and shoot. That’s just the ticket on a cottontail as it turns out. Mr. Rabbit fell over, hopped once, then piled up. Didn’t make it 10 feet.
Our Cat was somewhat put out by the whole incident. Turns out he had been watching that bunny from his blind in the hosta patch, but had determined that it wasn’t a shooter (or a run-it-downer because the cat does it old school style) this year. He was going to give it another year hoping it would gain mass and be a real Booner next season.
Grouse
Your cat must be irritated by the other hunters not practicing QBM. 
s far as scopes go, make sure to get a scope designed for a air gun if it’s a spring piston . I’ve got a beeman R1 and rattled the objective lenses out of a leupold vari-x III costly mistake. Running a BSA on it for the last 5yrs with no problem. I’ve shot million’s of pellets through my R1.Had the spring piston rebuilt 2 times. Got the rifle for Christmas when I was 12yrs old and has been killing pests for 32yrs. Even shot a red fox with it. I shoot it more now with the lack of .22 rimfire ammo.
Jaymon
kurt, you have scope rings like this? http://www.pyramydair.com/s/a/Leapers_Accushot_1_Pc_Mount_w_1_Rings_3_8_Dovetail/805
Gamo, yes. Crossman, no.
image-55.jpeg
Ahhh bunnies. 13 so far this year! I have learned my gamo whisper is not to accurate. Small pie plate is about as accurate as it gets with the .177 pellets.
Going to switch to a Benjamin marauder air riffle (pcp) style .22 which is way more accurate.
Out of curiosity, I slapped on the Crosman scope that came with my rifle. It appears to be the same one as the top scope in Kurt’s photo. I added some Loctite and cinched it up. After I got it dialed in, I am actually quite pleased with it. We’ll see how it holds up.
The sniper struck again at dusk last night. 2 shots, 2 kills in the last 2 opportunities. Barely enough light to see through the high quality optics of the $1.99 Daisy scope, but I got-r-done. It was dark, just not dark enough for Mr. Bunny. Whack!
I’m rather impressed with the killing power of the .177 Daisy using Crossman Nitro hunting pellets. Even at 700 FPS, I’ve been just finding center mass and touching it off and it’s game over. No need for fancy head shots on the thin skinned rabbits around here, it seems.
Grouse
Nice, Grouse. I hadn’t seen a bunny in a while till last night when I was mowing. Time to put on the ghillie suit again and defend what is mine! 
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