Airgun hunting

[n8dawg6]

in my backyard ...

we have some bird feeders in the backyard, and from time to time flocks of blackbirds will show up to spoil the party. i have been shooting at them w/ a beeman r7 airgun for a couple of weeks now. i have learned a few things ... the most important being, the only surefire way to kill one with the r7 is to shoot it in the head while it is faced horizontally to you. the kill zone is about the size of a coin. when you make that perfect shot, though ... its surprisingly fun hunting. shot this one today at lunch at about 15 yds ... in the eye 8)

 

[Cajun]

Reminds me of my child hood days. I used to hunt rabbit, squirl, and birds a lot with mine. Even hit a duck in flight with it once but it didn't bring it down.

 

[gamegetter]

Sam Yang Industries Big Bore .44 909 Testing

I got the Sam Yang Industries Big Bore .44 909s from Pyramydair about 1 months ago.
First impressions of the gun was quite nice. The fit and finish of the gun was more than on par for the price range. The 909s weighs in at around 7.5 lbs, and balances quite nicely for easy shooting.
Barrel is rifled. Very nice wood and engraving on receiver.

Shooting components:
I bought a used Scuba tank (3000 ftp) for filling, because I heard it goes through a lot of air. I will be able to fill the rifle to 3000 psi and the gun showed no lockups at that pressure.
I bought Round nose Pellets in the 170 gr. weight to do my testing.
I Mic?d a few of the Pellets and found them to be .4565 to .457 in size.
Manual state I can use any .457 Roundball or Lead Bullets and Pellets in the .456 - .457 size.
I barrowed a friends Chronograph to check velocities so I could get some numbers for this testing session.

Shooting comments:
I did all my shooting using a sitting bench and sand bags for support.
After zeroing the rifle at 25 yards, I refilled (3000 Ftp) the tank to start with a fill tank and planed to only shoot in 5 shot grouping. The plan was to refilling it after each 5 shoot grouping so all the groups would be is the same velocities range..


Accuracy is good. At 25 yards, all holes 1 1/2 inch grouping.
At 50 yards out was getting about 2 1/2 inch groups. See pictures below?.

For the penetration test, I used a 2x4 post at 25 and 50 yards.
The 170 gr. Round nose Pellet pulverize a 2x4 post at both ranges.

Here are the numbers:
Velocity average was 710 fps ( 5 shots, used the Chronograph for this findings )
Muzzle Energy was a average of 189 fpe ( I used bullet calculator for this findings )

I will be trying some 190 gr. Round nose pellets on my next trip. These should increase the Muzzle Energy..

Being a air rifle, I was surprised the gun is quite loud.
The gun has a fair amount of recoil to it, so you should use good mounts, if you decide to use a scope.
But, being I will be shooting mine under 50 yards, I will not be putting a scope on.

The only bad points to this rifle is that the trigger has a fair amount of creep and the loading port is a bit awkward and will take a little time getting used of.

If your going to put a scope on it, you will need high mounts.
The rear sight sits fairly high and your going to have to plan on taking it off.
I'm not sure that I'd want to take anything pass 50 yards with it.
So using it within that range, the regualer sites should do just fine for game up to the size of deer.

Comments after this shooting session:
I found this rifle to be Powerful and Accurate.
I think it was worth the funds I put into it..
The real test will be this coming Deer season?

Here is the Rifle and the last targets at 25 and 50 yards..

 

[big6x6]

Hey Nathan!
Looks as if you are really enjoying your R-7! One thing is WILL do is hit inside a dime at 15yds! One can really test their hunting/shooting skill when hunting with an air rifle. I've shot all kinds of stuff with air rifles...mostly crows, blackbirds, and squirrels and such. Here's a squirrel I shot with a R-7 no less(.20cal though ):

I shoot for the head with the R-7 and they drop like a rock...

A crow I called in and shot with a Beeman Kodiak .25

Shot these two with a R-9 .22

I don't kill as much stuff when hunting with an air rifle as I would with a shotgun or .22LR but it is more fun/rewarding.


PCPs...
I've owned several PCP air rifles but they were all .22cal. That .44cal Sam Yang(RWS also imported them for years..9mm cal also) is one of the most powerful air rifles available. And they ARE loud. Those I owned had built in suppressors which knocked the sound down a good bit. I know of several guys that have shot hogs and a few have even shot deer with them. For the most part their hunting usefulness is limited by state hunting regulations, some of which don't allow hunting with air rifles of any type. For those REALLY interested in hunting big game with an air rifle, the Quackenbush PCP has no equal:

http://www.quackenbushairguns.com/

If there were a dive shop close to me were I would fill a couple of scuba tanks(I have to use a pump :x ), I'd have one of these in a MINUTE!

 

[Buglemintoday]

Gamo air rifle, 1000fps, 30 yards

 

[AZBear]

Buglemintoday,

That's really cool...How far did it go after you hit him?
I'm limited to pidgeons and some black birds where I live.

 

[MCee67]

My son (who just turned 8 last week) shot his first bird (blackbird) yesterday. I got him a simple camo grizzly bb gun with scope for his birthday. He was so excited. Funny part is, I shot at a couple of them the other day while he was at his grandparents, with not so good results :shock: .

 

[big6x6]

Nice fox!