❓.30cal Springer Hunting: What is your experience?

[JungleShooter]

❓.30cal Springer Hunting: What is your experience?
(Low powered PCPs also count!)


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With a slow .30cal pellet — 
how would you describe the impact and the damage? 
I am particularly interested in pigeons....
(If you have the specs of your shot, even better: range and — MV, or gun and pellet.)

➋
Do you have recommendations for this type of scenario? 


Thanks for any input you might have. 👍🏼

Matthias

[Blowpipe Sam]

I always wondered if anyone hunted with the .30 caliber Hatsan Mod 135.  The utility of a thirty caliber gun with a maximum range of thirty yards is suspect.

My mod 135 is .25 caliber.  IMO this is a much more practical caliber for the mod 135 power plant.  Velocities are closer to a .177 cal springer and the trajectory is similar to a .22 cal springer.

But the gun itself is just as big, heavy, and awkward as the .30 caliber.  IMO these Magnum springers are the “Siege Artillery” of my airgun battery.  They are employed from prepared, static positions.  Preferably over bait and always from a tripod.  Twenty minutes of humping the Anatolian anti squirrel cannon over rough terrain will leave me panting and unable to hold the gun steady.
I’ve only killed squirrels with this gun.  Mine likes 25gr JSB Kings, makes about 31 FPE, and the terminal performance is overkill on arboreal rodents.  With practice I can hit targets out past forty yards and shot placement is not as critical as it is for smaller calibers.  Magnum springers get a bad rap for not being accurate but I disagree.  A well tuned magnum matched with the right pellet and an experienced shooter can shoot as accurately as any other spring powered air rifle.

The mod 135 would be a poor match for pigeons.  Pass-throughs would be the rule.  You would need a solid back stop or plenty of nothing down range.  The pellet would still be packing a lot of energy when it came out the other side.  I think the 30 cal mod 135 is better suited to short range (under thirty yards) engagements against medium sized varmints.  Raccoon, Opossum, Coyote, Bob cat.

I hope to test my .25 cal on some “Ballistic Armadillo Medium” soon.  I shot an approximately 8 pound Armadillo about a month ago with my Beeman Raider PCP.  It is tuned to 26 FPE with 20.06gr H&N FTT.  I shot it through the vitals at 30 yards range.  It did the usual gymnastics indicative of a lethal hit but managed to scamper into cover before I could chamber another pellet.  The next day a strong smell of deceased Armadillo was evident around the brush pile where the critter took cover.

I’m hoping to thin the Dilla’ population some more this spring.  I’ll be using both the Raider and my magnum Hatsans.  If I’m successful I’ll post on the Hunting gate.  Check out my “Trash Panzer down” post.