Mouse Safari in the Barn
From time to time, I like to do something different with my airguns. This week, I was getting my lawnmower ready for the upcoming mowing season. I was noticing all the mice running around the barn, so the thought occurred to me that hitting a mouse with an airgun would definitely be a challenge! So.....
What gun should I use? I tried using a custom pistol with a large scope, but it isn't designed for short-range work, and the mice were coming by my position from 2-10 feet....yes, feet, not yards! So an open-sight gun would be useful.
My barn is old, with sheet metal on the outside of a wood structure. The wood is so old that I coated the barn with some left-over sheet metal to further keep the weather out. The wood had dried and seasoned, and every board left a gap for rain and snow to get in. The dog pen is to one side, and I keep the dog food in the barn. I imagine that is what is attracting the mice, since my kids almost always spill a little food when feeding the dogs. (I actually keep the dog food in an old ice chest to keep the rodents out of it.)
Since I wasn't too worried about hitting anything of value in the barn, other than the mower and boat I keep out there, I sat up on my ATV in order to get a comfortable place to shoot from. I used a Marksman 2004, which is a Chinese-made copy of the Beeman P3, and a newer pistol from RWS, made by Diana in Germany. It is the model 5G Magnum. This is a very powerful little pistol, and very accurate as well.
Now hitting a mouse is not an easy thing. I wasn't using the shot-gun approach, but rather trying for the "Marksman Award" by hitting it with a single projectile. I got several shots at the mice over the next hour, but it wasn't until I had missed several times that I finally connected with one. This one was taken with the Marksman 2004. An excellent, low-cost version of this gun is the Beeman P17.
The ammo I used for this little outing was the RWS Super HollowPoints in .177. They are very consistent, and high quality. When shooting at such a small target, you really need a pellet that shoots straight in your gun.
In retrospect, the Desert Eagle from Magnum Research, in .177 caliber, would be a very good gun for the fast shooting that is required for mouse hunting. You get an 8-round clip, and very fast second shots since the gun is a true recoil operated semi-auto. The magazine turns with the action of the blowback, and not by the squeeze of the trigger.
So, hunting season isn't actually over, now is it?
What gun should I use? I tried using a custom pistol with a large scope, but it isn't designed for short-range work, and the mice were coming by my position from 2-10 feet....yes, feet, not yards! So an open-sight gun would be useful.
My barn is old, with sheet metal on the outside of a wood structure. The wood is so old that I coated the barn with some left-over sheet metal to further keep the weather out. The wood had dried and seasoned, and every board left a gap for rain and snow to get in. The dog pen is to one side, and I keep the dog food in the barn. I imagine that is what is attracting the mice, since my kids almost always spill a little food when feeding the dogs. (I actually keep the dog food in an old ice chest to keep the rodents out of it.)
Since I wasn't too worried about hitting anything of value in the barn, other than the mower and boat I keep out there, I sat up on my ATV in order to get a comfortable place to shoot from. I used a Marksman 2004, which is a Chinese-made copy of the Beeman P3, and a newer pistol from RWS, made by Diana in Germany. It is the model 5G Magnum. This is a very powerful little pistol, and very accurate as well.
Now hitting a mouse is not an easy thing. I wasn't using the shot-gun approach, but rather trying for the "Marksman Award" by hitting it with a single projectile. I got several shots at the mice over the next hour, but it wasn't until I had missed several times that I finally connected with one. This one was taken with the Marksman 2004. An excellent, low-cost version of this gun is the Beeman P17.
The ammo I used for this little outing was the RWS Super HollowPoints in .177. They are very consistent, and high quality. When shooting at such a small target, you really need a pellet that shoots straight in your gun.
In retrospect, the Desert Eagle from Magnum Research, in .177 caliber, would be a very good gun for the fast shooting that is required for mouse hunting. You get an 8-round clip, and very fast second shots since the gun is a true recoil operated semi-auto. The magazine turns with the action of the blowback, and not by the squeeze of the trigger.
So, hunting season isn't actually over, now is it?
posted by Randy Mitchell at
7:26 AM
2 Comments:
How did the RWS Diana 5g shoot? I've found it to be a real monster of a pistol and quite accurate.
By
dangerdog666, At
12:17 AM, April 04, 2008
I, too, have been pleasantly surprised by this pistol. It is nicely accurate, powerful enough for close-up work on most small game, and simply a lot of fun to shoot!
By
Randy Mitchell, At
6:30 AM, April 04, 2008
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