PCP Air rifles

bluebunny

New member
Anybody have any thoughts or experiences with PCP air rifles?
How loud are they? Do they have enough knock down power at reasonable (50-75 yards) distances? Thanks
 
I used to have several pcp`s in .177 cal...that I squirrel hunted with plus eliminated pigeons and starlings on a local hog farm... Ive killed pigeons 80-90 yds away with a Career PCP and starlings at close to 100 yds... had a 24x scope and you could watch the pellet fly to them, neat as heck when it center punched them... I squirrel hunted for 3 years with the Career only and killed my limit most times out, farthest shot was probably 45-50 yds...a pellet through the head or chest kills them just as quick as a .22... You can buy them with a built in suppressor and then they are only as loud as the trigger falling pretty much... the Career was about as loud as a high velocity .22 when it was cranked up to 1100-1200 fps, but at 870 fps you could shoot 5 squirrels outof a hickory w/o spooking them. The larger cal. pcp`s have plenty of power to kill deer, elk or big hogs, these are 9 mm, 45 cal., 50 cal. or up to 69 cal. There used to be a video on the net of a guy who shot coyotes over bait with a .25 cal. pcp, shot them in the head and dropped them where they stood.. he also shot one through the chest and it only ran maybe 60 yds.
 
Originally Posted By: bluebunnyAnybody have any thoughts or experiences with PCP air rifles?
How loud are they? Do they have enough knock down power at reasonable (50-75 yards) distances? Thanks


Send Butcher45 a PM, he is our resident air rifle expert. He can tell you anything you need to know about them.


Chupa
 
PCP Is the way to go for me. A bit expensive but much better for many scenarios.
they can be loud, louder than a firearm.
They have enough power when the caliber matches the game.
50 yards is fine for most calibers. 75 is stretching it. I have made many kills beyond that though.
PCP's are easier to shoot than springers and are easier on scopes.
Hope that makes sense.
 
Originally Posted By: bluebunnyAnybody have any thoughts or experiences with PCP air rifles?
How loud are they? Do they have enough knock down power at reasonable (50-75 yards) distances? Thanks


Loudness depends largely on the power level. Many smallbore air rifles come equipped with shrouds. I have some experience hunting with several guys with a variety of smallbore PCP's. The ones equipped with the better shrouds shot .22, and .25 pellets (22, and 31grains) around 930-950fps, with the impact of the pellet producing more sound than the rifle. They also had PLENTY of killing power at 50-75 yards as far as sqwerls, rabbits, and other small game is concerned.

I've seen several hogs, and other larger animals shot with several different makes of .45caliber bigbores (DAQ's, Gargoyle's, Sam Yang 909/909S, and a very nice one-off .45 built by a gunsmith friend of mine).

I couldn't tell you a thing about the Spring Piston-type air rifles....other than they are known to be more "hold sensitive", and require more disciplined technique to shoot accurately than the PCP's (especially the more powerful smallbore PCP's).

As far as range...what are you hunting, and under what conditions? Unfortunately, another important bit of info for anyone interested is "how much do you want to spend?".

Here's a peak at predator hunting with a bigbore PreCompressedPneumatic airgun, and it's limitations/challenges for the "average shooter/hunter" such as myself.

http://www.predatormastersforums.com/for...964#Post1275964

I'm targeting bobcat with my .45PreCompressedPneumatic....just got my season started last week as it's been plenty cold so they should be furred-up really nice about now until maybe mid-to-late February. Wanting to put a 154grainer between it's eyes within 50 yards or less.
My .45 air rifle has plenty of power to kill reliably with a body shot.....I just want to put them down without tracking due to much of the terrain I hunt. If I can see 50 yards in most every direction of the cat, I'll take a body shot because I don't think it would make it much further than that with a good hit to the vitals.

 
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Thanks Guys, that helped.
What I'm thinking is using one (50 cal) on coyotes down at the dairy barn. They come in at night when, up here, we can't "discharge a firearm" and I'd rather not meet the RCMP over a coyote carcass at three AM. I was thinking maybe a crossbow but I don't want to have to go tracking a coyote waiting to have it bleed out and they're more than a new rifle around here besides.
 
.50 cal. will put the hurts on a coyote at up to 50 yds if you put it through their chest... on the hog farm where I used to shoot pigeons they piled up the dead hogs in a outdoor lean to and every morning when Id pull in to shoot there would be 2-3 yotes running from the carcasses. Good luck and post picks if you nail one..
 
Are you sure the RCMP definition of a firearm does not include air rifles?
In the US the Feds do not consider an air rifle to be a firearm but a lot of states do.

Jack
 
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