Pest Control around the property

JWFilips

Well-Known Member
Hi Guys,
Since I'm now semi retired I'm spending more time home and I finally decided that I'm going to rid my property ( 4 acres ) of woodchucks ( groundhogs -grundsows)
Over the past 29 years on this property I know on average I'm good for about 20 or so shot or trapped & exported each year! Tremendous amount of Property and garden damage! far too many so such a small plot!

Early on; Because we are in a small town but on the outskirts at the base of a mountain; I have shot them with .243 Win .223 Rem and even flintlock rifles and pistols! But now the area is getting more populated each year so I dropped down to .22 LR CCI Mini Mags then to CCI Segmented HP Subsonics ( 1070 FPS) and then to CCI Supressors ( 970 FPS) The last 2 have done well up to 35 yards. But now I need to work a bit closer and quieter out on my front lawn.
Do any of you guys know anything about the CCI Quiet-22's @ 710 FPS....Think they could take a woodchuck humanly at short distances (10 -15 yds) ?
Thanks
 

RicinYakima

High Steppes of Eastern Washington
I have used Aquila Colibri, 20 grains at 420 f/s on sage rats (6 oz. PD's) at 50 feet. They kill well if you can make a chest/head shot. There is no extra energy if you gut shoot them. FWIW p.s. these will not exit a long rifle barrel unless well lubed.
 

Spindrift

Well-Known Member
Do you have a supressor, or could you get one?
With my supressor mounted, the noise from the firing pin is actually louder than the shot, when I shoot subsonics in my .22lr.
In my mind, there are two concerns in «social ballistics». Noise, and risk of ricochets. The CCI segmented bullet is a nice option, as it truly fragments in the target and poses little risk of over-penetration.
 

Ian

Notorious member
What about a high-power .22 pellet rifle? Some of the Gamos and others have permanently-attached suppressors and, being pneumatic, don't require a tax stamp. I don't know how quiet they really are but maybe someone else can chime in on that. 40 yards, 14 grains, 450 fps at the target is realistic and will kill squirrels reliably with good head shots.
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
I don't have a suppressed pellet rifle, but the sound of the one I have is a lot different than even a slower 22.
[it's more like a plonk or plack sound]
it's a break barrel 177 that moves along at about 1100 fps, after about 40yds it won't penetrate a fence, but will break through like say the bottom of a drawer.
with the flat nose pellets I use, anything rock chuck size on down wouldn't stand a chance within 30 yards.
a pointed steel nose penetrator type pellet would easily penetrate a chucks skull out even further.

I just bought it at wal-mart about 10 years,, wait?? about 15 years back.
 

Tom

Well-Known Member
I like fivers suggestion. I have a .177 rws diana the goes chunk, whop, unless you hit a rock, then it goes chunk, zing. Its scary accurate. Maybe a 22 cal pellet rifle might be better for chuck sized critters, I've only used mine on gophers, magpies, crows, etc.
 

Pistolero

Well-Known Member
A friend has a .25 cal bolt action gas gun. We shoot .22 cases at 25 yds in his basement.
Missing one gets you hooted unmercifully. Seems pretty powerful.....and I think, upon
reflection, pretty powerful whack on the wallet, too. It has a suppressor built in, pretty
quiet, nice in the basement.

Bill
 

CZ93X62

Official forum enigma
How funny that air rifles come up right now. I have 2 at my house, and I'm considering a third.

Current air arms are--

1) RWS Diana 45 in .177 caliber. It has accounted for dozens of ground squirrels to 35 yards with head shots using either Beeman Superpoints (8.0 grains) or Meisterkugeln wadcutters (8.3 grains). These run about 825 FPS 10' ahead of the muzzle. Might be iffy on a rockchuck.

2) RWS Diana 52 in 25 caliber. NOT stock, it had its mainspring upgraded and is an iron-clad bee-otch to work that sidelever. The results are worth it, though--27 grain Crow Magnum pellets run almost 800 FPS, and impart a nice THWOCK to the targets struck. I killed a coyote DRT with it at our Cherry Valley house, a pellet behind the ear ended his depredations at a paced-off 22 yards.

I am considering a 22 caliber airgun to use the brass Prometheus pellets with. Lead pellets for hunting become illegal next month statewide--even for varmint control. These aren't made in 25 caliber.
 

Bret4207

At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
I think if you research the air guns you'll find a recommendation for larger than 17 cal for chucks. And they have to be close. Tough animals to kill. I'd look at a 40 gr standard velocity 22RF, in HP if possible, and use a longer barreled rifle to do the deed. Unless there are laws saying no hunting of chucks or no gun fire, what are they gonna complain about? One or 2 shots over the course of the summer?

If it came to it, a 22 short HP Hi Speed will probably still be more effective than anything but a high end air rifle. A 22 short HP will kill a 400 hog. Chucks lighter than that and I assume you are taking head shots.
 

Ian

Notorious member
I think Winelover may just have the answer. A decent, entry-level crossbow is a lot cheaper than a high-end, suppressed air rifle. Bolts are expensive, but if used just for the purpose and a little practice, it may be the way to go.
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
that is a good idea.
so is the super sub sonic heavier bullet.
I'm kind of guessing I could throw a 311358 from my 7 twist blackout slow enough to barely make any noise even with it's short barrel using something real fast like clays.
120grs of semi pointed super soft gas checked lead at 7-800 fps or so should be pretty decent.
 

Bret4207

At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
I like the low and slow idea too. I shot one chuck with a 35 Bator that I think was around 250 grs, not going real fast at all, maybe 14-1500 and it went through and through and left a big exit and moved some dirt too. I bet anything above 150 grs in 30 cal at 5-600fps is going to do the same.
 

david s

Well-Known Member
Two suggestions. First if a new firearm is an option look for a 22 L.R. with an extra long barrel, the CZ Ultra Lux with it's 29" barrel comes to mind. You'll find it quieter than an air rifle with standard velocity or slower ammo. Second option, could you rig up a Bloop Tube to your existing 22? A Bloop Tube is a thin walled tube a couple feet long about an inch in diameter that fits over your rifles barrel. It's not a silencer as there's nothing in the tube but they work pretty well at quieting 22's down.
 

Ian

Notorious member
If it quiets the report it's a silencer, period. You can argue with your IOI about it but I got my answer a long time ago about that. If you make a barrel extension it needs to be ventilated. "Pigs" that re-direct brake energy forward when the suppressor is not in use generally don't extend past the front of the brake, per "recommendation".
 

Bret4207

At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
Just do like they do in the movies and core out a potato and stick it over the muzzle or use a 2 liter soda jug. Works on TV making an '06 go "splattttt", must be it works the same in real life. ;)
 

KHornet

Well-Known Member
Just my two cents, but think I would go with very lite chgs
of bullseye, in 30-30, and about a 150 plain base, ought to
be good to 25yd or so. Snare is silent as well.

Paul
 

Jeff H

NW Ohio
I use a 30-30 loaded with a 170 grain cast bullet and 1.5 grains of bullseye. Very quiet and deadly on the groundhogs. I've shot them in the yard without my wife even noticing the noise.

I've used several cartridges in this manner but spent the most time on the 357. Out of a 16" barreled Rossi 92, the LEE TL358158, cast of 50/50 WW/Pb and lubed with 45-45-10 or BLL, it was doing approximately 450 fps. This one was shot at a steel plate at 25 yards. The sound is less than a standard velocity 22 LR and my wife could not hear it from ten feet away with the house wall between us and a double-paned window.

DECISIVE using head shots on coons, but not always so on body hits.

I need to revive this project because I have heavier 357s and 30 cal bullets to try, in addition to the new 7.62x39, which I have fire one round through to date.

One thing to consider (at least for me) is that 99.9% of "business shots" I've taken with one of these quiet rounds is with the muzzle angled down. If your experience with a given powder indicates position-sensitivity, it may matter. Since I've only really shot these at 25 yards, I haven't noticed a different using Unique and W231/HP38 - very small doses thereof.

A word of warning on the small charges - the Rossi had a 16" long barrel with a .355" groove diameter and the bore was extremely bright and shiny (from the factory. The minimum charge (plus a little for insurance) which reliably got the bullet out the muzzle would NOT clear the muzzle on a Ruger 77/357 with an 18" barrel with .358" groove and a pretty poor-looking bore surface for a new gun. They stuck two thirds down the bore in the Ruger - never even made it past the 16" mark which worked for the Rossi. No slight on the Ruger (even though it was the single most miserable gun I've ever owned), but bores will differ and may or may not let a bullet all the way through with charges that worked in something else. Work EVERY charge down individually for each gun.

I have yet to work on the 18" 357 Contender (new MGM barrel) but hope to sometime soon. I'd like to HP a couple cavities and soften the alloy up even more. Often, even as slow as these projectiles can get, over-penetration can be an issue. These also like to bounce off of wood, so BE CAREFUL. I've always used them in close quarters, usually up around/against buildings, so there's a lot to consider regarding penetraion and bouncing bullets. At a lower angle, say from across a garden patch, I believe it's possible to skip one of these like a flat stone on water under the right (wrong) circumstances.

This is one reason I prefer small bore (22) centerfires with jacketed HPs doing well in excess of 3kfps. It's really flat here and I can see houses for at least five miles in some directions. But touching off a varmint rifle in the middle of the night makes neighbors worry about whether you need reinforcements to show up. During the day, everyone assumes someone is dispatching a 'chuck, and then we have a guy a mile away who gets his jollies emptying AR or pistol mags, pop-pop-pop-pop.......... just after sunset. The BOOM of a real varmint load after dark is unnerving.LEE358158TL-400-400.jpg