How Many FPS?

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Bad Habit

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So, after trying the breaking the neck method and failing miserably(couldn't do it by hand or by the broomstick method), and the bash in the head method(bruised up the shoulders, was worried it didn't work right away), and the pellet gun method(quick and easy, the bunny got to enjoy some weeds just as it was being done), I've decided I want to buy a pellet gun to use for dispatching. My mom's boyfriend said I could borrow his, but not, like, have it at the house, just use it when I want to butcher. That's all well and good, but I want to have my own on hand in case somebunny gets hurt and I have to do them asap.

I'm looking at different ones, have decided I like the pistol style better. Trying to decide my price range, but then realized... Shouldn't I find out how many fps it needs to go before I decide on how much I am going to spend?

I intend to use pointed tip pellets, rather than round tip ones or bb's. I don't know if that makes a difference.
 
I'm not sure of pistol or rifle matters but 400fps or higher and the pointed do seem to give a cleaner kill. The rounded blew a big hole, caused the eyes to bulge, and the rabbits thrashed all around spraying blood out of every part of it's head and face. Then I got pointed bullets and the rabbits just fall over with a little blood leaking out of their heads and their back legs jerking a bit. Especially important if you want nice clean pelts when you're done. I would suggest higher fps if you can get it. I had to replace my cheap rifle that was about 400fps and got one that goes to 800fps. Huge difference. The lower fps pumped all the way would kill an adult large breed rabbit but not easily. The 800 at half the suggested pumps recoils in my hands a little since I'm holding it away from me and I trust it more for putting down retired breeding stock and other adult rabbits.
 
Anything over 500fps requires a firearms license in Canada, and I don't have one of those. So I guess I should look at 500fps? Would that kill them? I'm not sure what Trevor has, it's some kind of an air rifle though and he doesn't remember how many fps it is.
 
Properly aimed a 500 fps will certainly stun them and then bleeding out will kill them. I wouldn't trust it to kill a mature rabbit. I would go with the highest fps you can get, better safe than sorry IMHO.

The choices are limited in Canada - As BH stated, anything over 500fps requires a firearms liscense and we have two choices of airgun ammo - BB's (round balls) and pellets(squared off) that come in two sizes .177 calibre and .22 calibre.

I am sure a more experienced gun person can recommend which ammo and calibre will be a quicker kill.

I only plink with my pellet gun but have a 495 fps .22 Diana Panther that gives quite a good sting to any coyotes or raccoons I find when out and about.

Most gun shops also have a couple air rifles and should be able to help you out on which one will work for you. You may also get to try them out and feel the difference between a pump action or break barrel to determine which is easier for you to use. Sorry, your looking for a pistol :)

Here is a Canadian forum where you may find a used one - http://www.airgunforum.ca/forums/

There is a good airgun supplier in the Peterborough area, here's the link. - http://www.airgunsource.com/store/index.php?cpage=intro
 
We have a 420 fps pistol, and it works fine. We hold it an inch or two behind the head and between the ears. It takes .22's. We got it new from WalMart and it was right around $100.
 
For the price of a good pellet pistol you could buy or make a rabbit wringer. Quick, clean, and easy, but you can't plink beer cans with it. Just another option, and less chance of a mess up. When it happens follow up shots can be tricky.
 
Dood":15m2505b said:
Properly aimed a 500 fps will certainly stun them and then bleeding out will kill them. I wouldn't trust it to kill a mature rabbit. I would go with the highest fps you can get, better safe than sorry IMHO.

The choices are limited in Canada - As BH stated, anything over 500fps requires a firearms liscense and we have two choices of airgun ammo - BB's (round balls) and pellets(squared off) that come in two sizes .177 calibre and .22 calibre.

I am sure a more experienced gun person can recommend which ammo and calibre will be a quicker kill.

I only plink with my pellet gun but have a 495 fps .22 Diana Panther that gives quite a good sting to any coyotes or raccoons I find when out and about.

Most gun shops also have a couple air rifles and should be able to help you out on which one will work for you. You may also get to try them out and feel the difference between a pump action or break barrel to determine which is easier for you to use. Sorry, your looking for a pistol :)

Here is a Canadian forum where you may find a used one - http://www.airgunforum.ca/forums/

There is a good airgun supplier in the Peterborough area, here's the link. - http://www.airgunsource.com/store/index.php?cpage=intro
Click to expand...

Thanks for the link! the one in the peterborough area is awesome, I'm actually going there tomorrow, I'm only about 45 mins from peterborough.

You can get the pointed pellets as well - that's what Trevor has. Maybe you need a firearms license to buy them, though. I am sure that I can convince Trevor to buy/give them to me, since he LOVES rabbit meat, and is excited to have it again. He's one of those people who hates to have the same thing twice, and last night after dinner, he asked mom when she was going to turn the leftovers into stew - he was worried she'd do it while he was away on training, lol!

Whatever gun we used on Tuesday, killed them instantly. No screaming(thank god), no bleeding out... but he put the barrel to the back of the skull, just below and between the base of the ears, pointed towards the nose. It didn't come out the other side, and they did kick a lot, but we had a hammer at the ready in case it didn't work, and I poked them in the eye right away to make sure they were unresponsive.

I am worried that with a wringer, I will still have issues. I don't have a lot of hand/arm strength, and I was unable to successfully break a neck using the brookstick method. I would hate to spend that money on a wringer, and then be unable to properly use it... I am not a rich person, and I need to fully research what I am buying before I buy it, and make sure that I am spending my money wisely.

Can you only get a pistol type in CO2? I don't want to have to continually invest in the CO canisters, and all the pistols I am seeing are CO2. I might have to get a rifle, and I don't particularly like that idea.
 
It's got the power at a max of 460 fps but you may not have the strength to pump it high enough to get to that power. The reason why CO2 is popular.

You should see if you can test out some pump action pistols or rifles to see.
 
Bad Habit":1au3krw5 said:
I am worried that with a wringer, I will still have issues. I don't have a lot of hand/arm strength
Click to expand...

OAF says that you don't pull. You hold the legs and then lean your body backwards.
 
I put down a retired 15lb buck with a 400fps rifle using the recommended10pumps which was not difficult
 
I am using a Crossman .22 air pistol, pump, 460fps, with hollow point pellets. I ordered it through Home Hardware.

So far, I have only used it on 3 rabbits, but am quite pleased. I chose a pistol for ease of handling while working with a squirmy rabbit, and pump style so that I always know that it is at full power. I give them a treat, and shoot at point- blank range while the are enjoying it. I then finish them by either cutting the throat, or a second shot directly in the heart. Don't do that if you plan on eating the heart, though!

I had ... unfortunate ... results with other methods, I'm now sure that they are completely unconscious, or dead, depending on accuracy. It can be quite messy, but I think it's more humane.
 
I use A .22LR rifle and I think that is what I will stick with but I know its tricky to use firearms in Canada so I would suggest the Crossman Nitro Venom .22 pellet gun. I think its about 800 fps.


whoops just saw the post about 500fps limit. I will look around to see whats out there for you
 
Not sure about Canada but the FPS can be confusing since a .177 pellet can be faster in FPS than a .22 pellet but the heavy bigger .22 pellet can have more of a wallop on impact. What you want to look for is foot pounds. There are several free and easy to use foot pound calculators on line if you do a simple search and all you need to know is the advertised FPS, how many grains in your pellet and distance you want to know at. Anything around 10 is plenty but up close like you would use it probably less. My pellet gun puts out around 11 or 12 foot pounds (.22 cal highly recommend over .177) and the pellet just zips through any part of the small game critters. Clearly it's way more than you need but figure out the recommend FP of energy required then you can calculate the pellet guns you want and leave out the ones not powerful enough.

Pellet gun manufacturers often embellish FPS ratings or use super light pellets to get that number which are not used for hunting. So take the FPS ratings with a grain of salt.
 

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