Quiet small caliber for rabbits- probably air

[ScottyD]

Haha, actually Scoot I just realised I've already hassled you about your Dreamline in another thread. Never mind (unless you've got more recent observations/thoughts to share)

[scoot]

The $1500+ price difference was the main killer. I
didn't really want to spend as much as i did for the dreamline but when looking and comparing it was not much more than anyp "entry level" pcp that I would of been interested in. i only got the dreamline last fortnight (after 6 mth wait) and I've been away, now on shift. I haven't had a lot of time with it yet but first impressions are good. Build quality is nice, feels "easy" to shoot well. I'll post up a bit of a review hopefully in the next few weeks once I've played more so anyone interested can read.

[ScottyD]

The $1500+ price difference was the main killer. I
didn't really want to spend as much as i did for the dreamline but when looking and comparing it was not much more than anyp "entry level" pcp that I would of been interested in. i only got the dreamline last fortnight (after 6 mth wait) and I've been away, now on shift. I haven't had a lot of time with it yet but first impressions are good. Build quality is nice, feels "easy" to shoot well. I'll post up a bit of a review hopefully in the next few weeks once I've played more so anyone interested can read.

Yeah ok, thanks for that mate. I'd appreciate any review/thoughts you might want to share. I keep thinking about the Impact because so many people keep saying its that they're the duck's guts, but it certainly is a big jump up in price. I like the adaptability of the Dreamline, it'd be interesting to hear how it goes.

FWIW I'm also considering the Air Arms 510 Ultimate Sporter, it seems pretty interesting but I guess that's a whole other story.

[Oldbloke]

Thanks for all the posts,
Due to the noise (which I was assuming wrong about) and the range, and for lots of other reasons including that I want to get a .22lr anyway, I will be going that way.
I think on my block it will work out very well for rabbits.
Given I’ve been able to satisfy the want for a nice new gun with the .308 (I’ve bought a nice ex-demo CZ 557 Range- rather an oddball unusual gun in Oz it seems?), I suspect I will end up going for a vintage classic .22, maybe an Anschutz or a Brno or something similar (totally open to suggestions). So long as it is in good straight-shooting working condition, I don’t even ,Ind some serious patina, especially if it makes a good shooting well made collectable and pricey model affordable.

Yes a wise move to buy a 22lr.

If you want recommendations sugest u start a new thread giving details of expected use, price range, new or used. Then buy the popcorn.

[Permie]

[quote="Oldbloke"

Yes a wise move to buy a 22lr.

If you want recommendations sugest u start a new thread giving details of expected use, price range, new or used. Then buy the popcorn. [/quote]

Cheers, will do now,

[John]

Rabbit hunting is one of my favourites I’ve hunted all sorts of larger game around Australia but still love going out busting a few bunnies I use both my 22. Gamo cfx air rifle and cz22lr depends on the day both are effective and quite enough not bother any one near by I’m having great results and a lot of fun with the air rifle it does take a little more thought behind each shot for clean kills but it’s a great way to hone anyone’s skills.
I have been running crosman 16.7g red flights they perform really well in my cheap gamo and I use cci standards in my cz which again my rifle really likes
A .22lr running subs or standards might be a little easier but air rifles are a lot of fun and addictive I’m finding after many years hunting larger game with big centerfires
I bought my cheap gamo a few months ago just to teach my son to shoot on the cheap and I’m addicted and about to buy a new fx pcp I like them that much

[Stix]

Rabbit hunting is one of my favourites I’ve hunted all sorts of larger game around Australia but still love going out busting a few bunnies I use both my 22. Gamo cfx air rifle and cz22lr depends on the day both are effective and quite enough not bother any one near by I’m having great results and a lot of fun with the air rifle it does take a little more thought behind each shot for clean kills but it’s a great way to hone anyone’s skills.
I have been running crosman 16.7g red flights they perform really well in my cheap gamo and I use cci standards in my cz which again my rifle really likes
A .22lr running subs or standards might be a little easier but air rifles are a lot of fun and addictive I’m finding after many years hunting larger game with big centerfires
I bought my cheap gamo a few months ago just to teach my son to shoot on the cheap and I’m addicted and about to buy a new fx pcp I like them that much

Post up some pics & tales some time...

i love shooting bunnies with small cal stuff, but where i shoot them in lucky to get within 120 of them, so i for one would love to hear about your escapades with the little air driven slugs...

[pierre]

I might not understand the request, but you want something:
- Quiet. I don't know if anything exists quieter than a subsonic .22LR with silencer. But this narrows it all to subsonic, as it is the only way to keep such silence. I possess a .22LR and a HW97K air rifle (20J). The .22LR is much quieter... and you can't even compare the power, it's 10 times more. The loudest part is, by far, the impact noise. BTW the thing that looks like a silencer isn't one, but you can add some home made things for a slight decrease in noise.
- better accuracy ==> only higher weight can give you that, so possibly a subsonic 9mm carbine... But you shouldn't underestimate the power&accuracy of .22LR, it does good on coypus at 50m...

I don't know Australian regulation on silencers though... (I'm from France where they are under the same regulation as cartridges, thus legal, and I really wish your rabbits could come here )

[rc42]

Hi Pierre,

Australian regulation on silencers has them categorized with military equipment such as hand grenades and full auto machine guns but the chances of civilians getting the latter are probably higher.

Without them the quietest 22 rounds are the low velocity LR rounds like CCI Quier, RWS Z Lang and a couple of others, also the 22 Long rounds with 29 grain projectiles are quiet if you can find them as are the CCI Short CB rounds if your chamber will take them.

Most of these suffer from inconsistency as they have so little powder that even small differences start to matter, they are all around air rifle levels of noise and have muzzle energy similar to the more powerful air rifles but probably don't have the long range accuracy of the air rifles..

[pierre]

Hi rc42
Here, they've always been legal to possess, but have only been made legal for hunting recently (january 2018). And this never caused any problems... too bad for you you can't have those.
Without silencer, the noise is indeed very different, and much higher than air rifles. I believe the latter makes more noise due to the spring than due to the air, thus I'm not surprised a very low power firearm may be as quiet.
About long range accuracy, my HW97K (4.5mm) begins being wildly inaccurate past 40m and only gets decent under 30m, while subsonic 22LR are accurate at least at 50m (couldn't try more because of the optics). The problem is obviously the bullet weight : 7 grains vs 40 grains, the air gun bullet gets slowed down much faster; and the influence of even slight wind is higher. At 25m though, the air gun is accurate enough to get headshots on a static rodent. (Which is illegal in France though, no air rifle may be used for hunting.)
good day !