Crosman rat catcher co2 rifle

[jultaylor1972 2]

For a beginner would this be any good for rats and rabbits? I'd hate to waste my money before I hear peoples opinions. Thanks in advance.

[bunny bouncer 0]

Hi they are great little gun so easy to tune & easy to use

i had one last year with a few little tweeks they run nice

at about 11 ftlbs more than enough for rats & rabbits

at 20/25 yards

stu

[Guest jrt]

There great little rifles. ive had pcps and there to much hassle with all the charging equipment, i have a

v-mach springer and a fully customised ratty now. the ratty is pellet on pellet at 25 yards, ive only tested it at this range because i only shoot upto this range, but its capable of more, well mine is i dont know about the standard untunned version.

GET ONE MATE I LOVE MINE. pics in siggg

Edited May 19, 2007 by jrt

[stubby 175]

Id say go for the KING ratcatcher rather than just the ratcatcher, the difference being the air source, the first runs on the little co2 catridge, bout 20 or so shots then change, where as the king gives you the larger bottle on the back which will give you around 200 shots, search the net, theres quite a few places doing really good deals on a complete set up, silencer,laser dot,scope etc

for feral pigeon clearance inside buildings these are great little guns and will take out rabbits too if your close enough, which will help you get better in your field craft skills,

[Big bald beautiful 1,231]

straight from the box doing about 8ftlbs so not up to rabbit shooting.

they can be tund but the money you spend on tuning and the extra co2 you will be better with a spring gun

supersport or a lightning

[LDR 29]

how much do you wanna spend on one???

[jultaylor1972 2]

how much do you wanna spend on one???

Around £100 ish. Thing is, as you well know; a big rifle is no good for me cos I have such little arms I'd need something no bigger than 39" total length. Any ideas?

[Hob&Jill 258]

Only shot one once, hopefully I wont have to again I couldnt get a 1" group at 20 yards

Might have been me, or the gun I was shooting but....

 

I reckon a small springer like the BSA Supersport, Lightning or Meteor would be more suited and far more practical

[Guest jrt]

Mate my advice would be to scrap the bsa ligtning idea, get a hw95k there miles ahead in build quality and the rekord trigger isd 100 times better.

Or you could get a second hand ratty and mod it.. you can pick them up for buttons, there a decent little rifle for inclosed areas, when modded there even better. i use mine out to 25 yards..

the king ratty is an other option, but the prob with them is youve got to fork out £££ when youve run outta gas, they sell them in pairs.. i was paying £15 for 2. you get allot more shots with the king, but defeats the object really, when the average hunter only gets a few shots of on a hunt.

 

 

 

JrT

[LDR 29]

she's had a go shooting my hw97k when we went to scotland, she needs something a bit shorter!!

[ChrisJones 7,975]

£100 should get you a decent second hand springer but buyer beware as quality varies greatly.

 

I wouldn't use a CO2 Ratcatcher on anything other that close range rats. By close range I mean upto 20yards. No one likes the rat but that doesn't mean you can fill him with lead so that he dies of poisoning instead of a skillfully placed shot.

 

If you want to hunt you need 12ft/lbs and above. That means either shopping smart or saving money for something a little better.

 

Ratcatchers chrono at around 7-8 ft/lbs and that depends on weather conditions and how many shots have been taken from the cylinder (King Rats are more stable though)

 

Cold weather drops power considerably on these CO2 rifles. A frozen January morning in days of yore saw the standard Ratcatcher doing less than 4 ft/lbs which is shit and reserved for tin cans.

 

We also found that after 15 shots at 8 ft/lbs the standard Ratcatcher dropped 0.2 of a ft/lb per shot. That means it went from 8 ft/lbs to 7.8 on the next one and then 7.6 on the one after that, until it was time to re-gas.

 

Get the best you can afford for the money you have. If you can only afford shit then save for a few weeks and look for something that you can use properly. Injuring wildlife to save a few quid is not on.

Edited May 21, 2007 by ChrisJones

[Guest jrt]

 

If you want to hunt you need 12ft/lbs and above. That means either shopping smart or saving money for something a little better.

 

 

My 95k has a sweet spot of 10.5ft/lbs this is more than enough for any quarry on the list upto 40 yards in the capable hands, acurracy is the main tool you need, not power. no rifle should be putting out 12ft/lbs this is bang on the legal limit and will defo go over with lighter pellets. you say "above" then the guy will need an fac licence . anywhere from 10.5-11.5 and you should be safe.

[Funky_monks 0]

When I worked in a tackle/gun shop, the ratcatcher was our most popular line.

 

If you have a bit more cash and want a PCP, then the Air Arms S200 is fairly light and short, if I remember correctly. They've been around long enough that there should be second-handers kicking about.

[ChrisJones 7,975]

My 95k has a sweet spot of 10.5ft/lbs this is more than enough for any quarry on the list upto 40 yards in the capable hands, acurracy is the main tool you need, not power. no rifle should be putting out 12ft/lbs this is bang on the legal limit and will defo go over with lighter pellets. you say "above" then the guy will need an fac licence . anywhere from 10.5-11.5 and you should be safe.

You should be using legal limit non FAC air rifles. 12 ft/lbs is the legal limit for non-FAC so let's not argue semantics over sweet spots and technicalities. Lower power air rifles are not for taking game they're for shooting paper targets. Anyone that can consistantly hit head shots, at 40 yards, with a 10 ft/lbs rifle, is either a great liar or a British Champion incognito. Accuracy is the tool but don't run before you can walk. The name of the game is getting an air rifle that's up to the job and an 8ft/lbs Ratcatcher isn't the tool.

 

All air rifles should be regulary chronographed to ensure that they're working legally. As you say non FAC air rifles can't be above 12 ft/lbs so if they are you're committing a criminal offence, if you don't have a firearms certificate. Nothing wrong with having an FAC air rifle if that's the route you want to go down. The sweetest shooting rifle I've seen, to date, is an 80ft/lbs Rapid 7. Don't right off firearms totally.

 

Buying second hand rifles from free ads papers is very risky and you could be buying illegal tools that are over the limit. Much safer to buy from a reputable dealer but they are usually more expensive.

 

When I worked in a tackle/gun shop, the ratcatcher was our most popular line.

 

If you have a bit more cash and want a PCP, then the Air Arms S200 is fairly light and short, if I remember correctly. They've been around long enough that there should be second-handers kicking about.

S200 is far superior to the Ratcatcher although it'll be alot more than £100 to buy it, sight it and fill it.

Edited May 21, 2007 by ChrisJones

[Guest jrt]

My 95k has a sweet spot of 10.5ft/lbs this is more than enough for any quarry on the list upto 40 yards in the capable hands, acurracy is the main tool you need, not power. no rifle should be putting out 12ft/lbs this is bang on the legal limit and will defo go over with lighter pellets. you say "above" then the guy will need an fac licence . anywhere from 10.5-11.5 and you should be safe.

Anyone that can consistantly hit head shots, at 40 yards, with a 10 ft/lbs rifle, is either a great liar or a British Champion incognito. Accuracy is the tool but don't run before you can walk.

 

 

 

 

Not arguing mate, but i dout a rabbit at 40 yards knows the differnce between getting hit with a pellet producing 10.5ft/lbs to a pellet thats doing 11.5ft/lbs? the few ft/lbs is not worth bothering about, its dead with a nicely placed head shot anyway, 11ft/lbs is enough. nuff said