# Self Sufficiency/Living off the Land or Off the Grid > Hunting & Trapping >  Need some help - 22 rifle vs 22 air rifle... Pest Control - your thoughts?

## Wise Old Owl

Well time's change and I live in PA and cover Delaware and NJ. My .22 air rifle died this year - it was a pump. And I am considering a crack style but want the best 1000 ft per second. Uh but PA State made air - illegal recently? I don't mind going to a .22 but it upsets my dad ( I am 51 and he's 74) and he is so anti gun... but this is more about my job than his hurt feelings. Anyway got to knock off squirrels for customers... This is not so much fact I am looking for... but how people feel, towards a good decision. I know I could not pick a better place amongst friends vs - going on a hunting blog and getting a biased opinion..... not that would be wrong... You can see I am on the fence here.

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## ElevenBravo

This is the rifle I bought and the link is the website from which I bought it.  I could not be happier with both the rifle AND the seller!

http://www.airgundepot.com/stoeger-x10-30054.html

Ive not had time to make a review video, but trust me... this thing is AWESOME!  Squirrel, rats, rabbits, etc...  its dead!

Barrel is rifled, sights are plastic, but work well... Accuracy is amazing.  Power is there, trust me.  .22 is going to have more power than a .177.

HTH,
Andrew

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## Wise Old Owl

Well we are off to a good start - but it is out of stock... checking the others on the same site...

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## kyratshooter

Your 1000 fps only comes with special lightweight pellets, and standard .22 pellets are only 18 grains.

The .22 LR has double the gain weight bullet at the better velocity even in the subsonic loads.

If that is too much power then you can back off to shorts and you have a HUGE veriety of ammo choices.  I often shoot CB or Cariboli rounds from my rifles and they have no more noise/power than my spring piston airgun, and they would still be legal for use in PA.

If PA has rendered your air rifle illigal then you only have the choice of a .22 rimfire.  In checking the laws I find that You are overstating the regulation.  Air rifles are not "ILLIGAL" in PA, it is only illigal to hunt with them.  

I would think that shooting squirrels out of the trees would qualify as hunting and would be a very inefficient and slightly dangerous method of extermination in a suburban or urban setting.  I would check out the local ordenances since discharge of a firearm of any kind (air or normal) might be illigal inside certain city limits.  If you are inside an attic I would think a pellet rifle would be the sensible choice and who would know? 

Switching over to live traps might be a requirement at this point.  Rat traps might even be a possibility.

I personally, would consider this a fine time to buy a nice .22 pistol and legally registered silencer and mark it off as a business expense!   What Dad don't know and can't hear is none of his business. 

You have a very strange family dynamic going here.  If you are 51, Dad is a 74 year old antiguner, and this is for work, do you not think it is about time you grew a pair?  I had the "my house my rules" talk with my antigun Dad 45 years ago when I was 19.  I had been toting a .22 rifle around in the truck of my car for 3 years at that point.

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## ElevenBravo

The Stoger X10 is more rifle than you need already, no need to check any other model, IMHO wait until it is back in stock and order it.  It is out of stock for a reason, high demand for a quality item.  I wouldnt trade mine for all the tea in China.

HTH,
Andrew

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## kyratshooter

> The Stoger X10 is more rifle than you need already, no need to check any other model, IMHO wait until it is back in stock and order it.  It is out of stock for a reason, high demand for a quality item.  I wouldnt trade mine for all the tea in China.
> 
> HTH,
> Andrew


Got you a question 11B, simple curiosity.

Have you benched this rifle?  How accurate is it off sandbags in real inches or fractions there-of?

I have the Beeman Grizley and I have been very pleased with the quality for the price, although I do not get the adverised velocity your rifle is getting.  Mine does come close at 850 with the standard 18 gn pellet.

There are some really good airguns on the market at this point, for very good prices.

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## Wise Old Owl

> You have a very strange family dynamic going here.  If you are 51, Dad is a 74 year old antiguner, and this is for work, do you not think it is about time you grew a pair?  I had the "my house my rules" talk with my antigun Dad 45 years ago when I was 19.  I had been toting a .22 rifle around in the truck of my car for 3 years at that point.


Ouch... just EXACTLY what kind of post I was trying to avoid... Damn ... You were awesome up to this paragraph... I completely understand that if a Bald Eagle is habitat-ing inside your living room. You are legal to shoot. I cannot appease everybody - that's out of touch - Just so we understand each other, I am humble, I want to over think this - understand the ramifications without having to understand the crap and blood sucker lawyerese. Not everything I know is posted here, there clearly is yet another dynamic that you don't know. I work with great people that are active Marines in my job and we use ceramic in air rifle at zoos! I wanted to just gather a little information like rice... OK lets move on....no harm no foul.

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## ElevenBravo

Ive never "benched it", most Ive done is fire it from shooting sticks.  very impressive, it hits where its aimed, every time.  

Id guess Im getting 850+ FPS but without a chrono I cant say for sure.  The max rated FPS is, as we all know, with "performance" pellets.  They even show the speeds with regular lead, typically 200 FPS slower.

At any rate, wait for the video.... Ive got some major repairs to make to my computer before I can do any video editing (boot drive died) but it should be a pretty impressive air gun demonstration.  For $100 it kicks arse!

Andrew

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## ElevenBravo

Owl, maybe if you simply asked "Whats good for pest control, a .22 rifle or air gun? And why you conclude so". Just thinking out loud.  As I read the OP I almost got lost in the back story and never could figure how it factored into the main topic any-who.

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## LowKey

If it's for your work in pest control, isn't there a license you can get for whatever you need to do your job?

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## crashdive123

I'm not familiar with your state's pest control or wildlife control laws.  Would one of your pest control associations be able to help, or are you just looking at the pro's and con's of a 22 vs a pellet rifle?  (sorry - I couldn't tell from your post).

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## kyratshooter

> Ive never "benched it", most Ive done is fire it from shooting sticks.  very impressive, it hits where its aimed, every time.  
> 
> Andrew


Shooting stick results are acceptable.  Anything is better than the normal internet reply of "minute of coke can @500yds offhand standing up like God intended"!

WOO, that's not a bald eagle sitting in the room, its an elephant.

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## GreatUsername

Another possibility, though it would take additional practice, would be a high-powered slingshot and lead fishing weights. These have the advantage of being suitably lethal to kill the pests you're taking out, but not having as great of a danger of harming unintended targets. In addition, there is no noise of a gunshot, and you won't be as likely to startle bystanders who might fear for their safety, or just be anti-gun. As far as rifles go, I recommend you do what you want. Parents are great friends, but at your age especially, if he's being that controlling, you should probably just discount your dad on this count, so long as you know that for you yourself, owning a gun is beneficial, not harmful.

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## Wise Old Owl

> If it's for your work in pest control, isn't there a license you can get for whatever you need to do your job?


Licensing for pest control - is in the realm for working with practices and using chemicals safety under FDA and Dept of Agriculture.. This really falls under separate state licensing for wildlife control and after reading the books for the licence I noticed there was not a recommendation in this area.

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## Wise Old Owl

> Another possibility, though it would take additional practice, would be a high-powered slingshot and lead fishing weights. These have the advantage of being suitably lethal to kill the pests you're taking out, but not having as great of a danger of harming unintended targets. In addition, there is no noise of a gunshot, and you won't be as likely to startle bystanders who might fear for their safety, or just be anti-gun. As far as rifles go, I recommend you do what you want. Parents are great friends, but at your age especially, if he's being that controlling, you should probably just discount your dad on this count, so long as you know that for you yourself, owning a gun is beneficial, not harmful.


I have discounted him at this point - I should have left it out of the initial post (what was I thinking?) and having a slingshot in the past, I am not accurate enough.

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## Wise Old Owl

OK please allow me to change direction of the thread..... I have just discovered from a hunter that a 22 rifle is not allowed for this half of the county ... there are borders I was not aware of in terms of getting rid of vermin.... so it is back to air! 

Please understand this I have been at books for weeks on this ... and I missed this important fact ...


What is the best air rifle on the market... ( I will add the scope)

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## ElevenBravo

The X10 is far from the best air rifle, but is well suited to small game.

You never mentioned, or I overlooked, what type of pest are your target? (Pun intended)

You want the "best" air rifle? Lookie here...

http://www.quackenbushairguns.com/


(More on his site, or search quackenbush air gun...)
steph_bison.jpg



http://www.youtube.com/results?searc...&search=Search






Hope that helps...
Andrew

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## crashdive123

Best?  You really don't want to have that discussion do you?

Go to WalMart and buy a pellet rifle.  I did, and my choice for pest control was the Beeman Dual caliber (comes with .177 and .22 barrels).  The .177 shoots at 1000 fps and the .22 at 800 fps which is handy if you need to be quieter.  http://www.walmart.com/ip/Beeman-Dua...Scope/16686245

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## Echo2

seals in a 22LR....rarely go bad.

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## ElevenBravo

Crash, the Beeman dual caliber is also a really good air gun.  Beats a Daisy or basic Crossman anyday!

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## kyratshooter

I shot the whiskers off the neighbor's cat at 150 yards with my Beeman the other day!

I held over 37 5/8" and allowed 6 1/2 feet for the crosswind and cocked the rifle twice.

Trimmed the whiskers off the left side of his face and made him jump.  I didn't want to kill him, just scare him a bit.

Tied one hand benind my back just to make a challenge out of it.

 :Innocent:

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## kyratshooter

What??

No one wants to call my bluff?

Fact is that I have been very pleased with my Grizzly.  

I did take a shot NEAR the neighbor's cat out around 150 yds and I came close enough to inturrupt his foraging activities.  Don't think I hit him but he immidiately turned and lopped off in the opposite direction.

And I did hold over all of the front sight and half the barrel!

This is one item I do not intend to scope.  There is no way a frame mounted scope and cocking barrel is goiong to line up with enought repeatability to give max accuracy.  If I restrict my shots to actual pellet rifle range of 30-50 feet I will not need the assistance.  The scope that came with my kit is now awaiting a suitable home.

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## hunter63

> I shot the whiskers off the neighbor's cat at 150 yards with my Beeman the other day!
> 
> I held over 37 5/8" and allowed 6 1/2 feet for the crosswind and cocked the rifle twice.
> 
> Trimmed the whiskers off the left side of his face and made him jump.  I didn't want to kill him, just scare him a bit.
> 
> Tied one hand benind my back just to make a challenge out of it.


LOL, pic's or it didn't happen......ALL is possible on the interweb!

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## hunter63

I don't need "The best air rifle for my BYB, possum, starlings (don't shoot at skunks), so I just use a Crosman 760 Pump master, BB's (w/mag) or pellets....works fine even with a quite couple of pumps....and cheap.

DW knocked it over in the bedroom and broke off the ramp open sight, so have a scope and laser on it at the moment.
Would love to add nite vision........

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## kyratshooter

> DW knocked it over in the bedroom and broke off the ramp open sight, so have a scope and laser on it at the moment.
> Would love to add nite vision........



All things are possible with proper motivation, Toys-R-Us, and duct tape.

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index...uctId=11791897

This particular model is good out to about 100 yards and has excellent visibility inside 50 feet.  I can read the labels on canned goods inside my totally dark storage room when wearing this unit.

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## crashdive123

Neighbor's (Mrs):  OMG!  I think Big Foot is in the next yard.

Neighbor (Mr):  Nah....That's just Krat checking on the chickens wearing his night vision gear.

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## kyratshooter

> Neighbor's (Mrs):  OMG!  I think Big Foot is in the next yard.
> 
> Neighbor (Mr):  Nah....That's just Krat checking on the chickens wearing his night vision gear.


And you think that conversation has not happened?

Back during the racoon war I would have qualified as a cyborg trainee.

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## Wildthang

> And you think that conversation has not happened?
> 
> Back during the racoon war I would have qualified as a cyborg trainee.


Someday the Squatch hunters are going to attack you in your own back yard :Scared:

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## hunter63

I gotta head out to Toy R Us.......LOL
BTW, DW got tired of me shooting holes in the screen at nite....so I don't keep it in the bed room anymore.....

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## Echo2

Those things are actually just as good if not better that some of the $200 Gen 1 stuff. I got my boy one of these....

Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.

For around $60....not bad.... :Smile:

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## ottawafm

Well if its a legal game then use .22 (bullet) rifle. If its a non game like rats or starlings then use pellet rifle.

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