.22 Subsonic or High Power .177

[roper1]

Have pigeons in the granaries & the feed mill, want to fix that without putting holes in the tin.

Thoughts on pros or cons to either setup appreciated. Thanks!

[jungleboy]

Pretty sure both will let the sunshine through if you miss. Maybe some 410 with rock salt or maybe a paintball gun.

[tool]

Bag of rice?

[Johnny G1]

My 177 will put a hole through the board and roof.

[New2Elk]

I wouldn’t use a high power .177. I’m pretty sure that would go through. Regular .177 works well enough for pigeon if you hit them in the head. My brother and I used to go to the neighbors and clean up a lot of pigeons when we were kids. Never had an issue with regular .177 there. I also used a really short .22 ammunition once in one of our sheds. I think it was something like a .22 Flobert Round which I’m assuming has less power than even the .22 subsonic. It didn’t punch through the tin but left enough of a dent that it was pretty close. And caused enough of a weak point that it could do damage in the long run.

[Pioneer2]

Best to deal with them in the dark with a flashlight and either a pellet gun+ body shots or .22 Lr with #12 snake shot.They won't fly and you can pick them off the rafters.

[3blade]

22 LR birdshot if you really have to shoot inside. FIL does that if I’m not around. No holes.

Had pigeon issues on the farm, crapping all over everything in the quonset. I would sneak to the far open end, had wifey bang on the closed end, and i got practice pass shooting with a 410. Killed most of em. Some got wise to the game, and would stop in a dead tree out in the middle of the yard to look for me. Standard 22LR took care of them. No pigeons since November.

[bat119]

Open the loft door get a couple buddies ready with shotguns send a guy up to flush them out

brings back the old days

[Pioneer2]

Get them all while they're roosting this is not for sport.

[Dean2]

177 and 22 Subsonic is guaranteed to punch through the roof tin and up to 1/2" of board on top of that. I tested them, all the way down to CCI quiets at 700 FPS on plywood and tin for shooting critters that don't fly in a Grainery.

If you must shoot them inside lightly loaded #12 shot at about 800 fps out of a smooth bore is the best option. I hand loaded them in a 410 gauge hull, no penetration to the boards or tin. Did not test 9 shot but it would probably work okay too. Since pigeons can fly and you don't have to shoot them inside I agree with the guys that say shoot them as they come out or scoop them with a net at night.

[Groundhogger]

Originally Posted by bat119

Open the loft door get a couple buddies ready with shotguns send a guy up to flush them out

brings back the old days

^this was my MO for a number of years when my nephew used to have time to go groundhog hunting. Loved having him there because he seldom missed with his 870. I used to bring a slingshot with me to flush them out and minimize damage, but I used 1/2" ball bearings which didn't seem to fly fast enough, or be small enough to put more than a minor dent in the tin roof. A direct hit on a pigeon is another story.

If you've shot allot of pigeons, you know there is likely to be a number that get the h*ll out of Dodge after a few shots, then there are those that hunker down and take their chances. Those that do will tuck themselves into dark corners where barn beams meet the roof or side of the barn, and poke their heads out once in a while. I've hit them with the slingshot (hit ratio very poor, like 1/20) and on one occasion, even ricocheted one ball bearing into a hidey hole after probably 30 attempts. The pigeon did not fare well.

We're there to shoot groundhogs which farmers have no time for, but their eyes tend to light-up if you can take some pigeons out.

I used to be into airguns before the options got a little technical, but I'm on my 3rd pigeon gun trying to find the best combination of low weight, modest power, decent accuracy, etc. This spring, I'll be trying a new Crosman 2240 (CO2-powered, .22cal single shot bolt action pistol) with a Crosman 1399 stock I've had for 35 years attached to it. Sub-500, so not PAL rated which is good. The other 2 air rifles were .22s as well, one shooting around 600fps (tuned QB-79) the last one at about 400. (Diana 24) They all kill pigeons, but the Crosman might be the most ideal, as it's VERY light, and the shots are almost entirely in an upward angle, with little in the way of support.

Re: pellets-I try very hard to find wadcutters that shoot accurately, and have found them the best for killing pigeons. Let's be clear-all pellet types I've used work, but hollow points don't seem very special at these speeds (not even sure they open up?), pointed pellets seem to pass right through. Perfect shots at the base of the neck=pellet choice matters less. At upward angles, with fidgety/spooked birds-you usually have very little time to get a shot off so I'll be honest-I aim for centre-mass and let the wadcutters bust their way in. They seem to do more damage on body shots.

Lastly, I have used 22LR plenty of times, but in the bottom of the barns during winter. Stone foundation/rafters/no tin roof. You're shooting over livestock, but the farmers have known me for some time-the trust level is there. I used to use CCI CB Long, now there is CCI-quiet-22 that achieves exactly the same thing out of a LR case. Make sure your gun is zeroed for these loads specifically, the velocity is rated @ 710fps, but reports are that it's even slower. At 50 yards, you can see these bullets leave the barrel when shooting outside.

So, every groundhog outing means a centerfire rifle, a shotgun, an airgun and if I'm with a capable shotgunner, a slingshot too. Most fall to the airgun over the course of the year.

[trapperdodge]

Slingshot.

[270person]

12G. #9 shot. Patch roof later.

[urban rednek]

While it would not be as much fun as hunting them, this looks like an effective solution for dealing with the pigeons.

https://imgur.com/gallery/uPzNKig

[CMichaud]

Haha...I can relate. They crap everywhere!!!

Used both snake and 22.

There is the odd hole in the tin here and there but as mentioned, quick to patch!

[roper1]

Originally Posted by urban rednek

While it would not be as much fun as hunting them, this looks like an effective solution for dealing with the pigeons.

https://imgur.com/gallery/uPzNKig

Ingenious!!!

[roper1]

Originally Posted by CMichaud

Haha...I can relate. They crap everywhere!!!

Used both snake and 22.

There is the odd hole in the tin here and there but as mentioned, quick to patch!

I'm going to try both this weekend & see the results.