Ammo Options

[freestoneangler]

Howdy forum. I picked up a Ruger AirHawk last year and have been pretty happy with it. I have a metal pole barn/shop in which some of the seasonal flycatcher tweety birds cannot figure out that when I leave both doors open and harass them to move out just don't take the hint.

I've looked but have not found any lighter ammo options to metallic pellets. I don't want to shoot holes through the sheet metal. I was even wondering how the cleaner pellets might work at knocking these guys out?

I have read that the springs need some mass to work against in order to develop designed ballistics and get that. I'm not planning to shoot a steady diet of whatever lighter option may be available - just few now and then. Any ideas?

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[AMT]

Get an air pump rifle or pistol? You know, the cheap kind where you pump it 10 times max. The kind that takes BB's and pellets. Just pump it a few times, not max pressure. Just enough to put a bruise on them.

Or, get a cheap-o pistol/rifle, spring action, that shoots the plastic BB's?

 

[Certaindeaf]

Yea, get a pneumatic/pump .177 or .22 and pump it to where you want it. gigity

 

[freestoneangler]

Hmm. I was thinking about the Crosman 2100 but wanted to check about options for using my AirHawk. The 2100 allows adjustable pressure with number of pumps, but wasn't sure how low they can go and still deliver some level of accuracy without piercing metal. By all accounts, it gets good reviews. I do have some extra sheet material I could practice on beforehand.

 

[Alexx1401]

Howdy forum. I picked up a Ruger AirHawk last year and have been pretty happy with it. I have a metal pole barn/shop in which some of the seasonal flycatcher tweety birds cannot figure out that when I leave both doors open and harass them to move out just don't take the hint.

I've looked but have not found any lighter ammo options to metallic pellets. I don't want to shoot holes through the sheet metal. I was even wondering how the cleaner pellets might work at knocking these guys out?

I have read that the springs need some mass to work against in order to develop designed ballistics and get that. I'm not planning to shoot a steady diet of whatever lighter option may be available - just few now and then. Any ideas?

If you do not want to hurt them just move them along get one of the battery powered air soft guns that are full auto. Have a couple of them I use to run off stray cats and dogs. They are harmless. I can fire it into my bare hand, yet it seems to scare hell out of critters. Used one several times on a large Heron that was trying to make a meal out of Wife's Koi. It ran him off a few times and he gave up without hurting him.

 

[freestoneangler]

If you do not want to hurt them just move them along get one of the battery powered air soft guns that are full auto. Have a couple of them I use to run off stray cats and dogs. They are harmless. I can fire it into my bare hand, yet it seems to scare hell out of critters. Used one several times on a large Heron that was trying to make a meal out of Wife's Koi. It ran him off a few times and he gave up without hurting him.

I thought about the Air-soft guns as well, but don't think they'll have enough umpff. The ceiling is nearly 20' high and these guys just fly around up at truss height. I'm also thinking a rifle will increase my odds of hitting them - they're sparrow size.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

Would a owl or other bird of prey decoy placed in the rafters or truss scare 'em off...?
Andy

 

[jbett98]

I've used a hand held leaf blower to move them in the right direction and out the door.

 

[freestoneangler]

I've used a hand held leaf blower to move them in the right direction and out the door.

Hey now, that's thinking outside the box. I have a Stihl Magnum 600 series blower that should get their attention. I'll give it a try and report back.

 

[daved20319]

I have the same issue with my shop. With rare exceptions, just leaving the building and leaving the doors open will eventually let them find the way out, especially if you turn off the lights. If you do need to shoot them, get some light wadcutter pellets for the Airhawk. You'll still be killing them, but the wadcutters are light enough and dump energy fast enough to prevent pass throughs, and won't do any damage if you miss. Later.

Dave

 

[freestoneangler]

I have the same issue with my shop. With rare exceptions, just leaving the building and leaving the doors open will eventually let them find the way out, especially if you turn off the lights. If you do need to shoot them, get some light wadcutter pellets for the Airhawk. You'll still be killing them, but the wadcutters are light enough and dump energy fast enough to prevent pass throughs, and won't do any damage if you miss. Later.

Dave

Just tried the air blower to no avail. Simply too large a shop and too high. Even was on top of the TT. So when you say wadcutters, are these still a metal projectile? I'm currently shooting Crosman 7.9 gr and these will definitely make a mess of the sheet metal. I was hoping there was some hard plastic versions.

 

[Alexx1401]

I thought about the Air-soft guns as well, but don't think they'll have enough umpff. The ceiling is nearly 20' high and these guys just fly around up at truss height. I'm also thinking a rifle will increase my odds of hitting them - they're sparrow size.

They will easily hit them up there. By umpff if you mean knock them down then no. The ones I use will not hurt them just scare them. If you want to kill them instead and not damage the roof just get a CO2 gun. Those with BB's will kill the birds and the BB's will not be able to damage the metal.

 

[MrMillspecer]

I use a lightweight hollow point in our shop. Leaves the pellet in the bird or squirrel most times.

You could also angle the shot so the wood rafter acts as a backstop instead of the tin.

 

[Alexx1401]

I use a lightweight hollow point in our shop. Leaves the pellet in the bird or squirrel most times.

You could also angle the shot so the wood rafter acts as a backstop instead of the tin.

Do they still make those "rat shot" .22 rounds? I know when I was a kid we used those to kill pests and they were pretty harmless to surrounding stuff. Doubt they would drop birds at 20 feet but would probably make them want to leave and not be able to damage sheet metal.

 

[MrMillspecer]

Do they still make those "rat shot" .22 rounds? I know when I was a kid we used those to kill pests and they were pretty harmless to surrounding stuff. Doubt they would drop birds at 20 feet but would probably make them want to leave and not be able to damage sheet metal.

CCI makes .22lr with shot. Or do you mean a pellet ?

Usually they just fly out of ours unless they build a nest. You could leave a radio on and see if that scares them off.

 

[daved20319]

Just tried the air blower to no avail. Simply too large a shop and too high. Even was on top of the TT. So when you say wadcutters, are these still a metal projectile? I'm currently shooting Crosman 7.9 gr and these will definitely make a mess of the sheet metal. I was hoping there was some hard plastic versions.

Yes, they're still a lead pellet, just with a flat head instead of domed or pointed. Crosman tends to use a hard alloy, most other manufacturers use pure lead, or close to it. Crosman, Benjamin, & Sheridan are now all the same company, so any of those brands are coming from the same factory. Daisy pellets are pretty soft, but they also are consistently lousy in the accuracy department. Brands to look for are JSB, H&N, Beeman, & RWS, in that order. Most of the Beeman pellets are re-branded H&N's. Unfortunately, you're probably not going to find any of the above locally, my usual source was Pyramid Air on line.

All that said, I think I still have several tins of .177 wadcutters on hand, if you want to PM me your address, I'll stick some in the mail. I have no use for them, they might as well go to someone that can use them. Later.

Dave

 

[DLS]

...get some light wadcutter pellets …

If you really want to ensure there is no pass-through then seat the wadcutters backwards. This makes for a huge hollow point that deforms easily and will not penetrate the sheeting if you miss. You will lose some accuracy, but at the distance you are shooting, not enough to matter.

 

[freestoneangler]

I was just looking at some pump action pellet/BB guns on E-bay and got a laugh looking at how many states and/or city/counties within a state do not allow sales of pellet guns. Pathetic doesn't really describe it well.

 

[Ura-Ki]

Crossmen still makes the Frangible powdered brass pellets that you can use with out worrying about poking holes through the tin! I have used them in the past with my Benjimen and it worked out great!

 

[freestoneangler]

Crossmen still makes the Frangible powdered brass pellets that you can use with out worrying about poking holes through the tin! I have used them in the past with my Benjimen and it worked out great!

I was just on the Crosman website and do not see those listed. If you have a link, please forward. While looking that up, I did find this link.
Air Venturi to Release World's First Frangible BB Ammo

Also this video about them