Killing chipmunks is about to get serious damnit!

[Waynzee]

If it were me I would skip the air rifle idea and buy a 22 rifle. Savage or Marlin for about $150.00 to about $180.00. 22 rifle scope about $30.00 to $40.00. Then pick ya up some subsonic ammo, don't know the price on ammo because it varies from store to store so much. My guess would be around $10.00 for 100 rounds. Also there might be some better ammo for the task you have, ask around at your local gun shop.

 

[Sully2]

Get a couple of free ranging CATS. They are chipmunk killers if there ever was one

 

[engineer40]

If it were me I would skip the air rifle idea and buy a 22 rifle. Savage or Marlin for about $150.00 to about $180.00. 22 rifle scope about $30.00 to $40.00. Then pick ya up some subsonic ammo, don't know the price on ammo because it varies from store to store so much. My guess would be around $10.00 for 100 rounds. Also there might be some better ammo for the task you have, ask around at your local gun shop.

I have a 22 rifle with scope already and am going to pick up some subsonic ammo or maybe some CB ammo to try. I just get nervous about extra energy that a 40gr 22 bullet carries vs a 7.5gr 17 caliber bullet. I have a couple acres here and cannot see my neighbors, but they are really not that far away.

Get a couple of free ranging CATS. They are chipmunk killers if there ever was one

I have thought about this. However I have kids and I'm sure they would be playing with the cats, touching them, etc... So I would have to keep up with their shots and visits to the vet I'm assuming. I'm not really a fan of cats. Although I 100% agree they would help with the chipmunk population.



I just picked up a better air rifle from Midwayusa. The Ruger Blackhawk Elite is currently on sale $65 off. So the price of the air rifle plus scope is only $54.

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/4...ith-scope-4x-32mm-matte-factory-reconditioned

It's not exactly what I wanted, but I can't pass up that price to give it a try. Usually I don't base my buying criteria solely on price, but I just stuck $3K+ into a couple pistols so the timing on this Midway sale is a boon.

And I have to admit that buying 1250 pellets (that have a 5 star rating) for $11 is pretty nice!

 

[Waynzee]

Well alright then, sounds like a good deal on that Ruger air rifle. Good luck with your Chipmunk hunting

 

[StrutNut]

Growing up I shot a lot of starlings, chipmunks and rabbits out of the folks garden with a RWS model 34 .22 diameter brake barrel air rifle. I bought it at a gun show for $50 and it was a nail driver. I mean as in I drove nails into a 2x4 for fun. I would not hesitate to get another although they are quite expensive now. I just saw them online for $255 but I think they are work every penny. 3.3 lbs of trigger pull and very accurate. Just inc ase the Ruger doesn't work out.

 

[FEENIX]

I just picked up a better air rifle from Midwayusa. The Ruger Blackhawk Elite is currently on sale $65 off. So the price of the air rifle plus scope is only $54.

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/4...ith-scope-4x-32mm-matte-factory-reconditioned

It's not exactly what I wanted, but I can't pass up that price to give it a try. Usually I don't base my buying criteria solely on price, but I just stuck $3K+ into a couple pistols so the timing on this Midway sale is a boon.

And I have to admit that buying 1250 pellets (that have a 5 star rating) for $11 is pretty nice!

That's an excellent price and your timing is perfect because it is now showing as "not available".

 

[jrock]

If that air rifle doesn't work Cabelas has clearance sales on the Gamo ones. I picked one up in .22 and it is a hammer. My experience with all cheap air gun scopes is that they are junk. Spend at least $50 on one. The .17 cal would probably be good for what you are doing. After getting a .22, a super fast .17 would be comparable for the little varmints you are targeting.

 

[engineer40]

Growing up I shot a lot of starlings, chipmunks and rabbits out of the folks garden with a RWS model 34 .22 diameter brake barrel air rifle. I bought it at a gun show for $50 and it was a nail driver. I mean as in I drove nails into a 2x4 for fun. I would not hesitate to get another although they are quite expensive now. I just saw them online for $255 but I think they are work every penny. 3.3 lbs of trigger pull and very accurate. Just inc ase the Ruger doesn't work out.

Ironic you mentioned that. From what I can tell there are a handful of air rifles that are all the same exact gun with different manufacturer's badge and stock on them. The RWS 34 is the same air rifle as the Ruger Blackhawk Elite that I just bought. (From what others online have said).

That's an excellent price and your timing is perfect because it is now showing as "not available".

I saw that too! I went back to try to pick one up for my Dad and they were all gone.

If that air rifle doesn't work Cabelas has clearance sales on the Gamo ones. I picked one up in .22 and it is a hammer. My experience with all cheap air gun scopes is that they are junk. Spend at least $50 on one. The .17 cal would probably be good for what you are doing. After getting a .22, a super fast .17 would be comparable for the little varmints you are targeting.

Yeah, the scope is junk. I think it's moving the POI on me. I just ordered a Hammers springer air rifle scope that comes with a solid 1 piece mount. Hopefully that one is better! I did try searching for a scope that is in Mil/Mil that is also air rifle rated for the recoil. I couldn't find any. It almost upsets my stomach to buy a scope where the reticle doesn't match the turrets. I'm still unsure how having a Mil reticle along with MOA turrets ever become the standard for scope manufacturers.


Something else I didn't know, these fast springer air rifles prefer heavier, non pointed pellets. So I also just ordered 5 different kinds of heavier dome shaped pellets to test with.

 

[Kansaswoodguy]

Go to this website and get the pellet sampler you can try a ton of diffrent pellets and really see what your gun likes.

Straight Shooters Full Pellet Sampler .177 - Straight Shooters Precision Airguns

My son's gun loves the JSB exact pellets I put a nice 3-9 mil retical air rifle scope for around $75-$100 on his gun it's very accurate to around 50 yards and we can hit soda cans at 100 yards with it.

 

[sscoyote]

When I first moved into my house I had a major issue with the chipmunk population. With literally hundreds infesting my stone walls, foundation, lawn, gardens, etc. extermination services tried by my wife proved useless and costly. After much experimentation with air guns, traps, poison, etc, I finally settled on my Savage BVSS 22LR using very quite Winchester Match CB's, VX3 Leopold 6x20 EFR turret. With very consistent sub .5" groups at 50 yards and a Shooter Ballistic program, and the extended focus range of this scope I could make certain head shots from 10-50 yards. The fun part was that I was able to establish elevation and wind dope calculations on a small scale level simulating LR hunting settings which made for great practice. A 50 yard head shot on a chipmunk at 6x power was comparable to a chest shot on deer at 800 yards with 20x scope setting. 0ver a couple of year period, a brick of 500 rounds accounted for hundreds of chipmunks, essentially eliminating the population. Now, a single or two may show up once a month. For these stragglers I use my Schafer Silvertip.

Great post!! Sums up small caliber long-ranging very well...plus great traditional archery shooting!

Eng. have you tried a different scope on your sons airgun? Looks like it's actually quite the shooter from the previous post.

 

[engineer40]

Eng. have you tried a different scope on your sons airgun? Looks like it's actually quite the shooter from the previous post.

I'm about to put that Hammers scope onto my son's cheap air rifle. This Ruger air rifle has been nothing but frustrating to me. It's horribly inaccurate and doesn't shoot anywhere close to the 1,200fps claims.

I've chronographed it a lot and average velocity is 680fps. By comparison, I was chronographing someone's RWS 34 on the same day and it was breaking the sound barrier on some shots and would be occasionally over 1,200fps even though it was rated at only 1,000fps (I think).

I chronographed my son's cheap Daisy 10 pump air rifle also for comparison. It's rated at 770fps shooting BB's. Well shooting the same lead pellets it still gets to 650fps! That's almost as fast as this stupid Ruger!

I can't get it to group better than 2 inches at only 15 yards!
-I've tried 5 different kinds of pellets in all shapes and weights.
-I've cleaned the bore thoroughly.
-I've tightened the barrel pivot screw and all screws holding the stock on.
-I've shimmed underneath the rubber seal in the breach.
-I've put a much better scope on it that is rated for Magnum springer air rifles.
-I've tried many versions of the auxiliary hold that is the most common for springer air rifles.

I'm frustrated... and about to give up on this Ruger. All of the reviews for this thing are fantastic. Mine just seems like a piece of crap.

I'm definitely open to suggestions if anyone has any? I have about 400 rounds through this air rifle to date. Nothing so far has improved the accuracy.

Thanks!

 

[Barrelnut]

Engineer,

You really should have a look at the Beeman R9 springer in 20 Cal. Beeman air rifles are made in Germany. The quality and accuracy are superb. The Beeman Rekord trigger is one of the best on any air rifle. It is a target quality trigger. The trigger feels like a jewel or something. It is nothing like you are experiencing on the air rifles you are shooting. The rifle is so accurate that it is used in air rifle field target comps. They are about $500 but, since you are into long range shooting, you understand that you get what you pay for. Your frustrations with the other air rifles will disappear and you and your son will have lots of fun shooting. The chipmunks won't stand a chance.

My wife shoots a Beeman R7 in .177 and loves it. I do too... It's a great target rifle. A little weak for your needs though. I read that Dr. Beeman liked the R7 and R9 so much that he put target grade barrels on them so they would be accurate and popular with the public. I believe they still use those quality barrels.

Bushnell Banner scopes are air rifle rated and may quality low cost air rifle scopes.

 

[Kansaswoodguy]

Springer air rifles take a lot of practice to shoot well get a gas piston gun they are much easier to shoot well the Benjamin Titon guns are pretty good and you can replace the 5mm long trigger screw with a 10mm long one and remove most of the horrible creep cheap easy upgrade. After playing around with my brothers springer I would never consider one considering there are so many gas piston guns on the market now days.

 

[royinidaho]

engineer40,

You and I are floundering in their same water.

My problem are squirrels and those horrible sounding, obnoxious eu bar neck doves.

My friend is a dedictated pigeon & bar neck hunter. Scored over 1500 (not a typo) last year.

Going for 2000 this year.

He uses a Benjamin Marauder 22 cal with longest shots a bit beyond 100 yards.

MV is about 840 and very very quiet.

500 bucks is a bit overboard for me so I settled for a Benjamin Steel Eagle (Jim Stockey endorsed )

The Center Point scope that comes with isn't worth squat. Swapped it once after 2 weeks.

Shoots darn good. Very tight groups. Longest dove kill was 62.5 yards.

Then....I couldn't duplicate it. Random zero shifts drove me nuts.

Swapped for an identical a scope. Thought I was in hog heaven. Groups were even smaller and zero held throughout their day.

But, 2 days later zero shifted. What a pain.

In their morning she's going in a vice to determine if it's the rifle or the scope.

What ever doesn't pass them test is going back to their local cabelas.

Oh shooting these things is way different than shooting a real rifle. Consistency is imparative.