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Hunting 3rd rat and still no instant kill .177

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Davidpingu

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I’m not a frequent hunter but I’ve had a few issues with rats burrowing in my garden and they’ve got into the house a couple times which is what got me into airguns again.
Thankfully they’re not indoors anymore, traps and some concrete sorted that but I think they will always be there in my garden.
I concrete in a hole outside and a new hole appears within a week so I just set up a camera pointing straight at the burrow so I can monitor rat traffic.
I hit 2 outside last year with my .177 smk cp2 and both ran.
Last time I shot rats was early 2000’s and my .22 ratcatcher would knock a rat out cold, I never had runners.
Fast forward to this year and more rat activity so I’ve used said camera to monitor behaviour and make sure I was all set up for my first .177 clean kill.
I didn’t rush the shot and deliberately waited for a straight on shot that would result in going though both head and body.
I took the shot and had the typical thrashing around and it made it to cover a couple feet away.
I was convinced this was a clean shot, waited about a minute, no movement. Slowly walked over, could see the body poking out from behind a slab propped against a wall. I WISH I’d shot it again then but was convinced it was dead as I could see there was a lot of blood, more than I’ve ever seen before.
I slowly moved the slab back from the wall and the damn thing shot back 2 feet to its burrow.
I cannot believe after that amount of blood loss it was still able to bolt like that.
Basically chaps I feel bad. My memory of hitting rats stone dead with the .22 has got me wondering is it the better tool for me if I just want no nonsense kills?
I don’t shoot anything else and I’m not looking at shooting past 20 yards. This setup I have is purely to kill rats and I’d like it to be the most humane tool for the job.
.177 seems ample given its size in relation to a rat but they seem like little machines.
After last years runners I went to H&N Crow magnum pellets. I’m convinced given the massive blood loss they are a good pellet but what more can I do to drop these rats clean?

Shot placement today was face on just below the jaw. I know this isn’t a clean brain shot but given the shot angle I wanted to ensure I got head, lungs and hopefully heart rather than take the risk of skimming the top of its head.
I’m torn between trying to get precise brain shots leaving little margin for error or just getting something with bigger calibre to create more shock and stop it getting back up again.
I don’t want to create the usual debate but how many runners do I cause before either getting proficient with .177 or going for something heavier hitting?
I can hit a 5p grouping at the same distance so while accuracy can ALWAYS be improved I don’t feel it’s necessarily the main factor in this. I’m no professional. I can shoot straight but simply won’t get the target/hunting time a lot of you guys will so I’ll always be a novice level in that respect.
What do you guys recommend? Thanks in advance
 
Most of my shots with 22 tend to drop them without much movement or bouncing around.When I was using 177,there was a lot more rats managing to move or bounce a fair distance with headshots.I could hear 177 go straight through and hit backstop while 22 seems to dump more energy over a larger area.I find 22 shuts them off more effectively.
 
Hiya mate,
First off i'd chrono your CP2 & see what power it's chucking out, also of you're using pointed or domed pellets at the mo it's worth trying flatheaded pellets like Hobbys, Econ ll's or H&N Heavy Match.
Head/brain shots are the way to go with rats as they're tough little buggers, bear in mind a rats brain is only about the size of a blueberry so a clean kill is'nt guaranteed.
I've shot hundreds of rats & still get a few runners & ones that thrash about now & again though i do find some a few yards away stone dead, they seem to be able to run off without realising they're dead.
I switched to a sub12 .25 a few years back to lessen the inevitable pass throughs & do defo get less runners with it.
Rick😜
 
GrahamHenderson said:
What power is set up you have? ...
Click to expand...
The CP2 is in long barrel form. I’ve not chrono’d as I don’t have one but I was expecting about 6.5 to 7 ft/lbs.
I currently sit about 10 yards away so I thought still good power at that distance?

I was told CP2 was the “perfect tool for the job” running that power it should ensure full energy transfer and no pass through.

Pellets are H&N crow which from what I saw cause plenty of trauma.

At this point I’m thinking I sell up and go KRAL NP02 in .22 so I’ve still got something useable out to 35m if ever needed.

It’s annoying though when the gun is specifically marketed for pest control. I just wanted to repeat the experience I had with my crossman and I was told this was a viable option during a time the crossman is/was tough to get hold of
 
I bought a pp750 for a small garden rat problem and have been satisfied. It's sub 6pfe, but power isnt the issue, it's shot placement and calibre. I use JSB hades in 177. The gun loves them and they work. I've taken a dozen or so in the last couple of months. Most of the time head shots make them fall over with a twitch and done, but all of them shoot straight through and I have had a couple of runners where I was certain I hit the rat. More power wont stop that and a rat isnt solid enough to make a pellet deform unless you're hitting it with way more than 12 pfe. Those Hades are very soft, but I still need to shoot a brick to flatten one. I think calibre plays a bigger role and if I were buying again, I'd be getting a .22. At distances below 15m, the pellet has a pretty laser flat trajectory in both calibres and still has 90% of it's muzzle velocity on impact, so the bigger pellet would be just as accurate but it would transfer more kinetic energy. I have some rules which help, never shoot offhand, always braced, off a bag or bipod, always head shots, always scoped and zoomed, never more than 10m, never rushed and happy to let the shot go if I'm in any doubt about any of it. I've had one where I couldn't find the body, but I didnt look too hard to be honest, the fox takes all the corpses away.
 
I had a similar problem with rats 15 years ago which got me back into air guns , I bought a cheap .22 Gamo Gas Ram, I was shooting the rats and they were shrugging it off “like is that the best you got”!
It stated 16 joules on the barrel when my brother put the gun through the chronograph it was 6 ft-lb, I bought a new gas ram from Custom air seals in Australia, de burred everything fitted a new piston seal as most are damaged from the factory, re tested it a shade under 11 ft-lb this gave me the stopping power to take them out cleanly… Power may be the problem!
 
Respectfully, face shot, anywhere near the jaw line means that shot, was a miss.
A larger calibre may knock it out, but that is not a good shot placement and it's the point of impact that needs fixing, not the calibre.
All of us who shoot rats have taken a bad shot, at some stage, they move, there is timing, it is easy to rush the shot after waiting, but 10m is doable, the thing can do it, so don't be deterred, just work on it.

I avoid head-on shots if I can.
To cleanly dispatch a rat, I want to hit it in the brain, neck, or heart and lungs, those are three points of impact, spread out, if side on, but all bunched up from the front, and in the case of heart and lungs normally obscured by teeth and jaws straight on (chance of deflection and wounding).
 
stevetw said:
I had a similar problem with rats 15 years ago which got me back into air guns , I bought a cheap .22 Gamo Gas Ram, I was shooting the rats and they were shrugging it off “like is that the best you got”!
It stated 16 joules on the barrel when my brother put the gun through the chronograph it was 6 ft-lb, I bought a new gas ram from Custom air seals in Australia, de burred everything fitted a new piston seal as most are damaged from the factory, re tested it a shade under 11 ft-lb this gave me the stopping power to take them out cleanly… Power may be the problem!
Click to expand...

What range? At 30m a 12 ft lb gun will have only slightly more impact energy than a 6ft lb gun at 10m. At 40m it's likely to be less, but these ranges are regularly hunted with that energy. If you're drilling holes straight through em, I cant see how more power will help.
 
I hear you. Guess I need to take that one on the chin, no pun intended. I do shoot with the gun rested and thought I was doing the right thing by going straight on with a centre mass shot.
I think the experience of 3 out of 3 runners is really starting to affect my confidence in this gun.
I’m using a Zulus scope now which allows me to go back and watch the shot placement.
First two I went with side on headshot with laser pointer to the same result.
 
Are you zeroed at that range?
The closer we are the bigger the difference between scope centre and point of impact, so even small changes (going from 10m to 8m) can put the point of impact lower, requiring hold over.
Closer than first zero are critical shots.

If you don't want to put out range cards, or use an app to work out where the pellet should be at any distance, consider zeroing at the closest point the rats are, then at the furthest point the pellet would be high, but high is less risk of wounding, than low, just make sure your backstop is safe obviously.
 
I have several airguns (and a small Rat problem due to keeping bantams) My go to gun for rats is the cheapest a Kral NP02 . Its accurate packs a punch close to the legal limit and with a flat head pellet will stop a rat dead in its tracks. Being PCP it also allows a very quick second shot if you are unsure if its fully dead after one. Its also a vey good gun in its own right, as I say accurate, cheap, fun and easy to use. Plus if you want you can use the adjuster on the side to drop the power down to a lower level. If you are thinking about one it gets my vote.
 
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