# varmint hunter airgun by gamo with pba raptor pellets



## squirrel sniper101 (Nov 13, 2006)

i was just wondering how big of an animal i can take with the varmint hunter airgun with pba raptor pellets and how far can i take the shot


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## Rockajimbo (Jun 2, 2006)

I recommend not to take bigger game than rabbit if you are very very comfortable shooter and get those groups tight at the estimated range, because the small pellet won't be too forgiving in where it hits and won't explode huge enter wounds when it hits like ie. .17 hmr . Depends on the range and caliber and of course the shooter, but from my experience .177 can easily take rabbit sized animals from 40-50 meters humanely with precise shot to heart/lungs or head. Myself I own Gamo Shadow 1000 .177(same base gun as varmint hunter) and Baikal mp-513m in .22. I would even suggest mp-513m from Baikal if it's available in your area because of it's sturdy structure, seems to be build to last from dad to son and it packs lots of punch to cut the pellet deep into thick rabbits skull from long range and is precise too for it's price. And you can always buy that fancy laser/lamp/scope -kit from Gamo separately on any gun.

And surprisingly Gamo seems to have bad reputation in some cases but I personally don't have bad statement about it. They are very well machined and smoothens up after couple of thousands of pellets. Mine is absolutely smooth shooter and has eaten something like 5000 pellets and has new spring in it now. So go for it if you like the looks and the feel of Varmint hunter 

And lastly, forget those raptor pellets. They seem to be rubbish. After long usage of that light weight pellet in spring powered gun won't do good for it's structure and the extra speed you get from those pellets shed fast on long range so I would go with some traditional lead pellets. The idea on raptors ain't bad but when it goes supersonic it loses accuracy, in some lower end air gun they may do it but no in high powered piece of equipment. It may sound cool to have 1200fps or something but it won't retain it's energy at longer ranges well. If you would like some recommendations on pellets the average weight range seems to fit nicely in tight groups. I've used Pro magnums 8,3g mostly because of their nice trajectory and accuracy so try out and find the most precise.

Don't know if helped or confused you or made any things more clear but main thing is that you can easily shoot rabbit sized animals with .177 from 50 meters no problem if you know what you do and know you don't make the animal suffer and let it die wounded after days. The fps won't make things better if the projectile with that velocity ain't stuck in fatal spot of animal.

This came up longer post than the question would have needed but hope it helped out somehow, and remember to practise before shooting towards innocent animals, they are not made to suffer.


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