Does anyone have a recommendation as to what the best air pistol for hunting rabbits would be and if there is a take down or compact big bore air rifle that is capable of taking deer out to 40 yards?

I live in an urban area, and in my state of Massachusetts air rifles are not regulated like guns are. Though its currently not legal to hunt deer with an air rifle if that were to change I'm wondering if there's an air rifle capable of killing deer that is also compact or better yet take down so that you could fit it in a back pack.

A nice air pistol would serve to hunt rabbits in industrial parks. I could use an air rifle, but the pistol is a little more covert.

I would say yes, but good shot placement will be necessary and tracking skills to go along with that. I had a Quackenbush big bore .308 and took several coyotes with it at ranges out to 40-50 yards.

It's already been proven many times over that today's modern airguns are capable of cleanly killing deer. As far as tracking goes, I have a Drahthaar puppy who loves to track deer and coyote.

I've heard good things about the Quackenbush but they seem hard to get a hold of.

I'm hoping someone on here has some experience with other brands. Maybe someone uses an air pistol for covert dispatches?

Bump. There's got to be a few airgun enthusiasts on Trapperman?

There are plenty of options available. You just need to figure out what you really wanna do. You can get some options that will make 40 yards look like child’s play if you’re willing to spend the dough.

I have a 50 cal quackenbush.Capable of taking deer.Lots of options out there of various calibers even larger than 50 cal.Remember they are custom guns and dont look for a cheap deal.They cost a bit.Powderburners are less expensive,but a airgun is awesome.Another thing is you need to fill/recharge air gun and need a way to do it .Carbon fifer scba tank ,regulator,fill whip and way to fill tank usually a special compressor are necessary.That should set you back about 3-4 grand. Check out Leathal Air.They have some cool stuff,I can tell you they are scarry powerfull.I have shot them and they ROCK! You can check out some of the Airgun fourms that are on line.A good one is GTA.

I like the .308! the 45-70 seems to work also. .243 is a flat shooter for long shots.

The short answer to your question for rabbits is any air rifle that can produce a minimum of 10 fpe (foot pounds of energy) at the poi (point of impact) is more than capable of taking a rabbit. Type of pellet matters (diabolo, round head, slug, poly/metal tip, etc.) as well as shot placement. To calculate fpe you take the average velocity of the air rifle (feet per second or fps) and square it then multiple it by the weight of the pellet and then divide by 450240. This gives you the starting point of fpe at the muzzle, not at the poi but it is good to know. For instance, if I use the Benjamin P-mod (around $400) which is a .22 pistol shooting a 16 grain Polymag and can be fitted with either an AR style stock or the one it comes with you get the following:

(736*736) * 16 / 450240
541396 * 16 / 450240
8667136 / 450240
19.25 fpe at the muzzle

As this combination is only accurate out 30 yards we need to figure out how much energy the pellet will have at 50 yards just to be safe. The easiest way to do this is to use a program like Hawke ChairGun Pro, but you can also figure out what the fps is at any distance with a chronograph set at that specific range and calculate it with the above formula. Per ChairGun, at 50 yards, this setup will produce about 11 1/2 fpe at 50 yards. The baseline we're looking for is 10 fpe (it actually takes much less fpe to kill a rabbit, but I recommend doubling the required amount just to make sure) so technically you could take rabbits out to 50 yards with this setup (meaning velocity and pellet) provided the equipment is capable of producing sub-inch groups at that distance.

I stated sub-inch groups because the kill zone on a rabbit is approximately 1-inch for a head shot and 1 1/2 inches for a heart/lung shot. This is also a good spot to touch on my differences between precision and accuracy. Precision is what the device is capable of producing while accuracy is the shooter's ability. For this example, the equipment is generally not precise enough to allow smaller groups past 30 yards no matter how accurate the shooter is. On the flip side, take a Daystate Huntsman Regal XL ($1,200) that has the precision to shoot 1/4-inch groups at 40 yards and put it in the hands of someone like me who shakes worse than a Chihuahua with Parkinson without shooting support and now we have to look at my limits and not the air rifles. Precision and accuracy are also part of the equation based on the power plant of the air rifle. There are five different types of power plants with the two suitable for hunting/trapping being spring/gas piston-ram (break barrel, side-lever, and under-barrel configurations) and precharged pneumatic (PCP) [Note: there may be one exception to this with the Seneca Aspen as it is a beefed up multi pump but I've not tested it yet but hope to shortly for trapline use). These power plants are the only ones capable of generating enough fpe at the poi to consistently take animals. This is also why you'll see hunting regulations stating that deer hunting requires a minimum of .35 or .40 caliber based on the state you're hunting in and may have other criteria such as an air cylinder which is only on PCPs. Lastly, if you're going to get into air rifles you need to have a chronograph as it is the only way of confirming how fast the projectile is going and how many effective shots you can get. I cover more on this subject on my YouTube channel at Wildlife Control Training Group with my review of the .25 Brocock Compatto.

Specific to your deer hunting question, at this time there is no compact air rifle that meets the requirements I am aware of. The smallest is the Benjamin BullDog ($800) which is a .357. I've seen several deer shot with it (in Kentucky) and the number one problem I've witnessesed is the lack of blood for a blood trail. I don't know if the problem was the 81 grain slug just wasn't big enough or if it is the caliber. If you'd go this route, I'd recommend using the Nosler slugs just in case. Some states have a .40 caliber restriction and that is where I think anyone considering using an air rifle should start looking. I don't have any experience with the .50 Umerex Hammer ($900) so I can't say if that would be good or not. It is being marketed as the most powerful production air rifle which may be true but since it still has not been released for sale I'd say it's a mute point. For deer hunting in Kentucky, I have a .408 Precision Air Rifle ($1,350) and a .45 Western Big Bore ($1,900) air rifle. Other big bore air rifles include the Seneca line in .35-.50 calibers ($700), Airforce Texan .35 - .45 calibers ($1,000+), Professional Big Bore Air Guns .308 ($1,550), and some others by Gamo, Hatsan, Evanix, Ataman, and more($900+). The .408 shoots a 230 grain slug while the .45 shoots a 475 grain slug and can produce 1-inch groups at 100 yards. In terms of how loud the air rifles are, the BullDog is the quietest but I wouldn't call it backyard friendly and would recommend hearing protection. Another item that needs quickly pointed out is that this is not a cheap sport to get in to. Big bore air rifles will require you to to purchase specialty air tanks and/or compressors as they eat air. You don't/can't really use a foot pump ($175 - $400) to fill the air cylinder as you can the P-mod or use a standard scuba tank ($25 - $300) with a top rating of 3,000 PSI. You will need to spend almost as much, or even more, on the equipment required to fill it and if you don't buy a compressor ($1,250+), you'll need to find someone that can fill the 4,500 PSI carbon fiber tanks ($400 - $800) for you.

Here is a basic table for preferred minimum fpe at poi (note, this does not take into account type of pellet or shot placement):

Bird (Pigeon, House Sparrow, Starling) 5 fpe
Rat 10 fpe
Chipmunk 10 fpe
Squirrels 10 fpe
Skunk 10 fpe
Opossum 20 fpe
Raccoon 20 fpe
Coyote 30 fpe

Thanks for all the info!

That's great stuff Eric. I used a foot pump to fill the cylinder on my Quackenbush .308 and I can tell you that after the fall was over I had abs to die for! LOL

@beaverpeeler

I can imagine. The Benjamin Marauder has an air cylinder of 215 cubic centimeter air cylinder with a max pressure of 3,000 PSI that I used to fill with the foot pump until I got my first air tank. I forget how many strokes it took to fill from 0 (aside from quite a few), but to keep it topped off I know it took between 60-80 each time. Do you know what the air cylinder capacity is for the Quakenbush and the fill pressure? The Western Big Bore is 4,400 PSI which is why it can through that 475 grain slug quite a distance.

Update For those Interested:

I've added a Seneca Aspen .25 to my collection (or addiction based on point of view). It is more than capable of taking a coyote from 3 yards away and can be pumped from 0 to 3000 PSI without any additional equipment. It takes around 80 strokes to fill the air cylinder from empty and around 5-8 pumps to replenish optimum pressure while using. (Note that the .22 does not have enough power in my opinion for a coyote skull shot which is why I went with the .25.) On the down side, to maintain the 30+ FPE required to penetrate a coyote's skull with a round domed or diabolo pellet (for those that don't know, coyotes head shot with air rifles do not bleed anything like when they are shot with a .22 rimfire) you have to recharge, i.e. use the pump, every 3 - 4 shots. The shot count won't be an issue for many trappers, but I wanted to point it out as it is by no means a fill in the morning and use all day air rifle. The air rifle comes with two self indexing magazine and a single shot tray allowing an adult to control how many projectiles can be used when not under direct supervision as well as different types of pellets and slugs. Pumping stroke pressure I believe is around 30 pounds so many of the younger and those of us that are older would be able to charge it especially once the initial charge is done. There is a high and low power transfer port selector, but whereas high power gives you 30+ FPE in .25 caliber, the low power only gives around 18 FPE which I don't recommend for anything except squirrels, rabbits, and birds. Accuracy seems to be decent for most applications, but like most air rifles along these lines I wouldn't recommend it for wildlife control work. The scope it comes with leaves a lot to be desired and for trapping, I'd recommend not using it. There are no sights on the air rifle so a cheap red dot that can fit a 3/8" (11 mm) dovetail rail is my preferred choice of optics. Where legal, this air rifle would make a good gift for kids (I'm not putting an age as safety is more about the individual than how old they are) to use on their trap line where live animals must be put down or for anyone looking at another option over a rimfire.

Here's what you need …..

The Lewis and Clark Expedition:

The Girandoni air rifle was an airgun designed by Tyrolian inventor Bartholomäus Girandoni circa 1779. The weapon was also known as the Windbüchse ("wind rifle" in German). One of the rifle's more famous associations is its use on the Lewis and Clark Expedition to explore and map the western part of North America in the early 1800s.

History and use
The Girandoni air rifle was in service with the Austrian army from 1780 to around 1815. Many references to the Girandoni air rifles mention lethal combat ranges of 125 to 150 yards and some extend that range considerably. The advantages of a high rate of fire, no smoke from propellants, and low muzzle report granted it acceptance. It did have problems and was eventually removed from service for several reasons decades after introduction. There was also a version sold to civilians after it was removed from military service. While the detachable air reservoir was capable of around 30 shots, it took nearly 1,500 strokes of a hand pump to fill those reservoirs. Later, a wagon-mounted pump was provided. The reservoirs, made from hammered sheet iron held together with rivets and sealed by brazing, proved very difficult to manufacture using the techniques of the period and were always in short supply.
In addition, the weapon was very delicate and a small break in the reservoir could make it inoperable. It was also very different from any other weapon of the time, requiring extensive training to use.
The Lewis and Clark Expedition used the rifle in the demonstrations that they performed for nearly every Native American tribe they encountered on the expedition.[1][2]
Design and capabilities.

The rifle was 4 ft (1.2 m) long and weighed 10 lb (4.5 kg), about the same basic size and weight as other muskets of the time. It fired a .46[3] or .51[4] caliber ball and had a tubular, gravity-fed magazine with a capacity of 20 balls. This gravity-operated design was such that the rifle had to be pointed upwards in order to drop each ball into the breech block. Unlike its contemporary, muzzle-loading muskets, which required the rifleman to stand up to reload with powder and ball, the shooter could reload a ball from the magazine by holding the rifle vertically while lying on his back and operating the ball delivery mechanism. The rifleman then could roll back into position to fire, allowing the rifleman to keep a "low profile". Contemporary regulations of 1788 required that each rifleman, in addition to the rifle itself, be equipped with three compressed air reservoirs (two spare and one attached to the rifle), cleaning stick, hand pump, lead ladle, and 100 lead balls, 1 in the chamber, 19 in the magazine built into the rifle and the remaining 80 in four tin tubes. Equipment not carried attached to the rifle was held in a special leather knapsack. It was also necessary to keep the leather gaskets of the reservoir moist in order to maintain a good seal and prevent leakage.[5]
The air reservoir was in the club-shaped stock. With a full air reservoir, the Girandoni air rifle had the capacity to shoot 30 shots at useful pressure. These balls were effective to approximately 125 yd (114 m) on a full air reservoir. The power declined as the air reservoir was emptied.


Garry-