Air rifles shots up in the air? FSB's team wild

Paul at Fechan

Well-Known Member
right, so it's like this. Shooting up in the air at birds on branches with fac or even 12 ft/lb jobs. Where do you stand? I see any up in the air shot from an air gun without a backstop as unsafe since where is the pellet coming down? out of sight in most cases I'd bet. In woodland where horizontal field of vision are restricted you can't afford to send shots off where potentially they could come down and injure people near by or livestock in fields just over, can you?? :-|.

So I see the team wild guys dinging away at pigeons in the last FSB episode and I was very uncomfortable with the idea of a 30 ft/lb fac air rifle sending shots at birds when some were said to have been 'scared' but obviously missed. I do like the program but I didn't like the lack of concern for the type of shots being made that with perhaps an explanation about the fields or fallout area behind was 'safe' etc and that is essential before shooting, I could have understood maybe.

:scared: that's the first time I though WTF, maybe i'm being silly?
 
Get real thousands of corvids have been shot like this and will continue to be shot this way even using .22 rf shorts.

What next complaints about people shooting geese in the air without a backstop using 10g magnums a BB's !
 
I agree Paul, I'd rather shotgun them out the trees to ensure any pellets land close as no one wants to send off a bullet of any calibre without knowing where it'll end up! Well I wouldn't anyway!! I have used No.22 shot on a .22 rifle. It's almost like grains of sand, ideally used inside shed so they don't penetrate the asbestos roofing. Really safe and suitable for the shooting team wild was doing this week. Worth a thought.
 
'get real'? seriously don't be a dick. Are you're saying it's safe to fire a .22rf in the air, if so you shouln't hold an fac because a .22rf can travel between 1-2 kilometers if fired delibrately in the air.

I'm not talking about wildfowling get a grip
 
I kicked 4 guys off a woodland next to my house (100yds) they were shooting "branchers" with 22rf, the ricochets were crazy, it sounded like an old western. You can tell when they go over your head BTW. The guy claimed he was only shooting with a safe backstop, I pointed out that the branches where the crows were were the thickness of his thumb.....

I was prompted to say something when a bullet came down ten feet from me and cracked onto a plank that was lying in the garden, my daughter was in her pram asleep nearby..

Nothing wrong with shooting birds in trees but the location, and caliber / bullet need to be appropriate. A 30gn 22 round coming back down may not have the energy to kill but it would definitely hurt, and the thought of one hitting my little girl was enough to make me do something. Apart from that it would put a nice ding in your car roof or break a slate on your roof...

Its all down to common sense. Like many things in life.
 
hang on a minute
we are talking about air rifles here not .22lr

an air rifle pellet weighs as little as less than a tenth of a .22lr and whether or not fired through a 30ftlbs FAC rated rifle or not the chance of it carrying enough energy to injure under terminal velocity (assuming a vertical shot) even if the unlucky victim happened to be hit.

IMO it would have to be a freak of almost biblical proportions to injure someone from such a shot. but hat said I wouldnt be doing it in a public park!

there are hail stones coming down with more weight. around here lately anyway,
 
I doubt the fall out range of a 12ft/lb pellet will be much further, if as far, as a no 5 fired out of a 12 guage!! Probably much safer as with the air rifle only lets go of one projectile rather than 20!

You are also forgetting the noise aspect... Air rifles are slightly more noise friendly than a shotgun!!!!!

I think all this pulling apart of our only decent hunting TV show is getting rediculous, lets shut them down and have nothing eh!?
 
I can't see a problem using an air rifle for this purpose, not a 22 as someone else said though...
 
hang on a minute
we are talking about air rifles here not .22lr

an air rifle pellet weighs as little as less than a tenth of a .22lr and whether or not fired through a 30ftlbs FAC rated rifle or not the chance of it carrying enough energy to injure under terminal velocity (assuming a vertical shot) even if the unlucky victim happened to be hit.

IMO it would have to be a freak of almost biblical proportions to injure someone from such a shot. but hat said I wouldnt be doing it in a public park!

there are hail stones coming down with more weight. around here lately anyway,

5.5mm air gun slugs weight around 15gr usually and at 12 ft/lb a slug is doing 600fps. A fac air rifle at 30 ft/lb is sending the slug at 940 fps and lets not forget a .22rf subsonic is only travelling a liitle faster at about 1000fps and weighs usually 40gr. The shots at woodies I saw were at about 25-45 degrees I would say.

Air rifles are not safe because they are less powerful and even a pellet with significantly reduced energy can cause serious injury at distance.

Up and down high angle shots are generally safe yes I'd agree
 
At the end of the day it depends on location as to what's safe and what isn't. I often shoot squirrels and pigeons in trees at various angles with my .17 sub 12ft/lb air rifle but the trees are surrounded by large fields with no one around - I wouldn't use the 22lr or 17hmr as they will chuck the bullet through the quarry species and also over the boundary - that would be a criminal offense as well as dangerous in the areas I shoot.

If I had permission on land that was vast, and no public access, I may think differently about using the rimfires. Although there is something satisfying about knocking pigeons and squirrels down with an air rifle so probably wouldn't use anything else anyway :)
 
if you read mr lewis actually states 22 rim short which has about the same energy as an fac air ,which i think can with sense be used in trees but never a 22 lr.bother to read before you slate.
Get real thousands of corvids have been shot like this and will continue to be shot this way even using .22 rf shorts.

What next complaints about people shooting geese in the air without a backstop using 10g magnums a BB's !
 
in the lead shot days .a charge of SG sent up at a high angle over still water ,took a long time to decend ,and it wasnt pitter -patter rain drops they would sting ,we spoke it over , and took more care over the fallout area - clear of greenhouses
 
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right, so it's like this. Shooting up in the air at birds on branches with fac or even 12 ft/lb jobs. Where do you stand? I see any up in the air shot from an air gun without a backstop as unsafe since where is the pellet coming down? out of sight in most cases I'd bet. In woodland where horizontal field of vision are restricted you can't afford to send shots off where potentially they could come down and injure people near by or livestock in fields just over, can you?? :-|.

So I see the team wild guys dinging away at pigeons in the last FSB episode and I was very uncomfortable with the idea of a 30 ft/lb fac air rifle sending shots at birds when some were said to have been 'scared' but obviously missed. I do like the program but I didn't like the lack of concern for the type of shots being made that with perhaps an explanation about the fields or fallout area behind was 'safe' etc and that is essential before shooting, I could have understood maybe.

:scared: that's the first time I though WTF, maybe i'm being silly?
yup silly as a silly thing :D
 
Having been shot in the forearm at 5 yds with a 12ft/lb HW80 I can say they do hurt!!(and the operation to remove the pellet) But would it be lethal shot at an upward angle say 60 degrees or more? Im not so sure...straight up they are no more dangerous than hailstone, They did a test on mythbusters using a 30-06 and a 9mm...both falling at terminal velocity (I.E straight up to a stop and then tumbling back) would not break skin...different matter if it retains its balistic arc..

Having said all that I still wouldn't want to get hit at 200 yds from an air rifle no matter what its power.
 
There is a Mythbusters programme (it is somewhere on YouTube) which proves bullets, falling (after reaching terminal velocity and under gravity only) tumble in their descent, and are not dangerous.

From impact results they proved that if there was a direct hit on a person then it would be felt but far from lethal - and if I remember correctly they were using 9mm.

I do shoot .22 FAC air upwards at corvids, pigeons and tree rats - but only at very steep angles and only where I know there to be a safe fallout area without buildings, houses or footpaths for a looooong way.

That said, despite the Mythbusters results, I will not shoot any rimfire (or centrefire) without a certain safe backdrop.
 
Meteorite? Hope you all wear helmets outdoors or better still err on the side of caution and stay in.
Risk assessment, sure you wouldnt shoot a 22 bullet stray alongside village or towards a farmhouse but if the fall is open country..... so unless a corvid or squirrel is on the ground you dont expect a keeper or farmer too shoot it with a 22...oh and village boys shouldn't shoot airguns without approved backstop.... different planet too that which I was born and raised on; different planet too the one my teenage son enjoys. Theoretical bollox brainwashed by urban lifestyle.
 
pointing a rifle in the air and firing it when you can't see where the shot's going to land is dangerous, shots fired at shallow angles are just bad news waiting to happen especially in low light conditions. Tell you what, I'll stand corrected if the use of airguns in the manner has never lead to an incident where a person has been harmed.
 
pointing a rifle in the air and firing it when you can't see where the shot's going to land is dangerous, shots fired at shallow angles are just bad news waiting to happen especially in low light conditions. Tell you what, I'll stand corrected if the use of airguns in the manner has never lead to an incident where a person has been harmed.
sorry you must have been watching another video? or are you just going to insist on assuming that every air rifle shot is capable of rimfire ranges ?
 
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