FPE needed to kill various animals
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Printed Date: 26 Nov 2024 at 9:09pm
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Topic: FPE needed to kill various animals
Posted By: paulo.baronceli
Subject: FPE needed to kill various animals
Date Posted: 09 Jan 2023 at 8:40pm
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Found this on another forum and thought about sharing it here. They all seem a bit low to me, but what are your thoughts? I would add, just by my own experience (probs all wrong!): Small/Medium Turkey: 20FPE Big Turkey: 25FPE Magpie: 12FPE Black Bird: 6FPE Small Mice: 0.65FPE head only (I did it with a plastic BB pistol at 2m ish!!) Rat: 4FPE 
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Replies:
Posted By: kruzaroad
Date Posted: 09 Jan 2023 at 10:27pm
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I just work off under 5fpe is out. 6 fpe is enough to punch into a skull on small critters. ( pass on possums never had the pleasure of air rifling one) Body shots in happy around 10fpe On the sig that's about 70m. |
Posted By: J-S
Date Posted: 10 Jan 2023 at 11:14am
The quoted minimum FPE would be the retained energy down range required for efficient kill - not energy measured at the muzzle. So for an 18FPE air rifle, 5fpe is probably the retained energy out at 80yards, so its useful to know the energy required for a clean kill, as well as the ballistic info for your gun / pellet combo so you can judge the safe distance you can stretch to dependent on the animal. ------------- https://www.instagram.com/js_airguns/" rel="nofollow - J S Airguns Air Arms TX200('s) Theoben Sirocco HW77 FWB 300s Webley Patriot One or two others... Current projects: Too many.. |
paulo.baronceli wrote:Posted By: kruzaroad
Date Posted: 10 Jan 2023 at 11:30am
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So what would be the fpe for a possum? I know dam well that Ive head shot a possum with a 22 sub, it's dropped from the tree and had a swip at me when ive gone to get get. Read a few posts that recon if you throat shoot it works well. Whats ppls actual experiance with possums? I'll be heading out some time this year to shoot few in a differnt area and could do with a few real life experiance on the subject, to avoid taking shots that might only injure ( Though from my experiance a wounded possum will often head down the tree) |
Posted By: paulo.baronceli
Date Posted: 10 Jan 2023 at 12:43pm
You're dead right, although the muzzle energy can also be a good indicator. The deceleration is exponential after a certain distance, but before then the retained energy drop isn't substantial. Of course it will vary a lot depending on a number of factors - pellet weight, wind, etc, etc - but I still believe that muzzle energy can be a good quick indicator for someone that doesn't want to get too technical about it. Maybe the other forum's post referred to the energy retained at the target, not muzzle, which would explain the lower than expected - at least for me - numbers. ------------- |
Posted By: nunga
Date Posted: 10 Jan 2023 at 3:01pm
Ive been shooting Possums for years. around 19pfe to the head or chest will do the trick, But with possums shot placement is the key, even more so than other animals. You can shoot a possum 5 or 6 times in the body and it will get up give you the finer then run away. They are very hard to kill and not good to leave them like that as it will be a slow and painful death. So head shots or chest for possums ------------- 2nd place HP springer - WFTF World Championships 2014 |
Posted By: kruzaroad
Date Posted: 10 Jan 2023 at 3:17pm
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That will give me 15m on the sig. 1322 not at all. Haven't sorted the 362 for pellet yet but I'd suppect 10m-15range. Cheers Nunga, that's info I'll store away. |
Posted By: mercs
Date Posted: 10 Jan 2023 at 5:42pm
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Agree with Nunga head or chest. I use .22 Gamo Black Knight 21 ft/lb on H&N FTT. Hi Paulo, I would like to hear about your BSA Spitfire and does the Umarex SurgeMax rail work? cheers
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Posted By: paulo.baronceli
Date Posted: 10 Jan 2023 at 6:00pm
Is there anything specific you’re wanting to know about the Spitfire? I found it to be quite a good gun, and probably amongst the most accurate in my collection - quite beautiful too. If I was to be extremely critical, the gun is quite heavy - maybe part of why it’s so accurate - quicks a bunch, and is very noisy, as my one is the muzzle-break version with no thread for a suppressor, but overall, no regrets for buying it, I really enjoy the rifle and can surely recommend it - a lot of value for your money. It’s the same as the BSA Lightning, but with the Gamo 10 shot mag and a different barrel finish. The rail on the SurgeMax is a normal 20mm picatinny. If you’re thinking about buying it, I would surely say that unless you get a very good deal, you can probably do better with your money. It’s quite a heavy and powerful rifle too, but it is rough as guts. Quite clunky and the rear stock is full metal, which makes it quite cold to use in the winter, and I don’t know if that’s because I don’t use it much, but even lubricating it often, the barrel break is quite tough and don’t feel as smooth. I’ve heard good things about the Stoeger RX20 (Or S4000 in the USA), which is in the same price range, but seems to be a much better gun. ------------- |
Posted By: Billbobnz
Date Posted: 14 Jan 2023 at 8:41pm
| I had a BSA spitfire that I modded. Came to me without the mag. I absolutely loved the feel of the rifle and shot .22 H&N terminator pellets very accurately. It destroyed a hawke scope and I sold it off to fund another project and missed it ever since |
Posted By: mercs
Date Posted: 15 Jan 2023 at 8:47pm
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I was looking at the BSA multi shot when lockdowns were looming and grabbed the locally available Gamo Replay 10 to run through its paces while the world waited. I could not be more pleased with my Gamo as it is very accurate and a pleasure to shoot but still keep an eye out for the BSA versions.
BSA had a lovely stock and I understand at the time they came with a British made hammer forged barrel. cheers all 
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Posted By: kruzaroad
Date Posted: 16 Jan 2023 at 11:33am
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So what's a .25 like for a possum gun? I imagine it would have the fpe needed to bowl a Possum. As well as giving me an excuse to consider a dedicated opossum gun. 1322 .22: bird, sig .177: bird, rabbit, hare, opossum to 15m Weihrauch .22(Hopefully in Feb) rabbit, hare, cat, Maggie, opossum close range .25 possum, cat, goat Close range. Wallaby if ever get the chance. See what work brings. |
Posted By: paulo.baronceli
Date Posted: 16 Jan 2023 at 3:44pm
Do you reckon you can take down a goat with the pellet gun? Legit asking, because I never heard of it. The .25 pellet will surely have much more momentum, which would in turn give more penetration, but it's still an interesting thought. And how close you reckon you'd need to be? ------------- |
Posted By: kruzaroad
Date Posted: 16 Jan 2023 at 6:11pm
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Page 23 of youve got to be out there to see. Author should be able to answer that. |
Posted By: paulo.baronceli
Date Posted: 16 Jan 2023 at 7:47pm
Just saw it, that’s quite neat. Sometimes we underestimate the power of these rifles, but that’s just proof they are quite serious business. ------------- |
Posted By: kruzaroad
Date Posted: 16 Jan 2023 at 7:58pm
| They pig and deer hunt in America with air rifles. |
Posted By: paulo.baronceli
Date Posted: 16 Jan 2023 at 8:09pm
I saw some videos, but in all of them they were using either big bore guns - usually .50 - or air bolt propellers, .25 for that size game is new to me. Impressive. ------------- |
Posted By: kruzaroad
Date Posted: 16 Jan 2023 at 8:31pm
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There's another pic on site where a .25 been used for a wallaby. This is a 20mm over 4000 fps air rifle. https://youtu.be/1jTnrjVxtV They definitely arnt the air rifles I grew up with. |
Posted By: kruzaroad
Date Posted: 16 Jan 2023 at 8:39pm
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Come to think of Paulo I'm going to be moving closer to town, down state hyway 2. I'll be setting up 50m shooting range you'll have to stop by. Also hit a mate up about getting shooting on a 70 arce orchard in pakiwhai, which he recons got big hares on. So I hit him up about another shooter too. He gets in professional pest shooters, so I sujested that he ask them first if they mind, as it can keep the hares wary. Let you know when I find out in a week or two. |
Posted By: kruzaroad
Date Posted: 17 Jan 2023 at 11:27am
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Just finished having a look at opossum anatomy. I can see why 19fpe would be a recommended amount of energy. The extra thickness of bone and muscle protecting on the side for a heart shot, it's also tucked right behind rotor socket of front leg, that adds the leg bone into the equation for a lot of shots. The brain has a relativity small area for size. There's a rigde down the center of skull that is pretty thick and high, that would challange a pellet shot dead center of skull. There's a good bone running under the eye that would deflect or take the impact out of upwards shot to side of head. I'm assuming that the best upwards shot is through the neck to the rather large lower part of brain. Best side shot high on skull behind eye. Lung shot. Most all of the lower lung can be reached without having to penitrate more than ribs and flesh. Back of head looks like good spot. But all said and done a mighty tough critter with small cal. |
Posted By: paulo.baronceli
Date Posted: 17 Jan 2023 at 1:04pm
Looking forward to that! Let me know where and when and I'll try to be there. The orchard seems to be less than 10 mins from where I live, and it would surely make for an awesome late arvo or early morning exercise. I really need to get some new permissions to shoot, as down at my block neighbours are starting to move in, the turkeys are buggering off the region because of the noises and human presence, and it's getting harder and harder to get safe and good sessions down there. ------------- |
Posted By: kruzaroad
Date Posted: 17 Jan 2023 at 1:39pm
| Will do when find out. |
Posted By: RangerPete
Date Posted: 28 Sep 2024 at 4:32pm
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Would be interesting to come up with a NZ pest list and our own recommended minimum FPE required for each species in NZ. Could have a group discussion sharing experiences from everyone about their encounters with a said species and what they feel is the min FPE needed for that species. You guys keen to start a NZ list? I think first we'd need to define the parameters for "min FPE required". It cant be just as a once off, flook shot. It would need to be the minimum energy required to repeatedly reach vitals and ethically dispatch a species. ------------- Walk quietly, but carry a big stick. |
Posted By: nunga
Date Posted: 28 Sep 2024 at 4:52pm
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Well i know that my nitro piston hatsan .25 using predator polymags 26gr spits them out @735fps and is around 30 pfe. I have taken out many goats with that out to 25 meters with that combo. But that was with chest shots. If i hit them in the head it will drop it on the spot but will not kill it and needs to follow up close range with another shot to finish it off ------------- 2nd place HP springer - WFTF World Championships 2014 |
Posted By: RangerPete
Date Posted: 28 Sep 2024 at 5:10pm
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Thats interesting, and some serious numbers for a break barrel, wow!!! See its considerations like that that we would need to clarify (shot placments) before being able to define the Min FPE needed. I think because the majority of hunters dont take head shots, and because a heart/lung shot is every bit as fatal, we should probably consider heart/lung shots as being the standard. So maybe it should be defined as "the minumim FPE required to achieve a heart/lung shot"? That may include having to go through the scapular. Of course if you hit a humerous that changes everything! Or another approach would be to say, in order to cleanly kill a (for example) rabbit, with 10 out of 10 shots, regardless of angle or shot placement, how many FPE would you need. ------------- Walk quietly, but carry a big stick. |