# Range and damage



## oilburner (Jan 24, 2009)

Hello everyone. My name is Mark, I got an air rifle for Christmas and just got around to getting it out today. It is a Remington Vantage 1200 (.177) It came with a scope so I put it on and tryed sighting it in today in the warm 36 degree upstate NY air (a heat wave compared to the past couple weeks and what's to come). I'm sighting it in at about 40 yrds at this point, (also using a bipod) that's basically the distance from my garage door to the tree line out back ( if your wondering why 40 yrds). I'm relatively satisfied for now with a grouping of about an 1 1/2" at that distance, so my question is this... What kind of range can I expect to hit something, lets say the crows that rip the trash apart, the skunk that's sprayed my dog twice in the past 9 months (dumb dog), or the occassional small game animal (squirrles and rabbits), and actually kill it? I figure accuracy is one thing, but if it bounces of the animal then what's the point of going for the long shots, right? Is there a formula somewhere on the web for this type of question, or more tham likely I would guess someone here could answer the question based on personal experiance. Thanks for any advice, I'm sure this won't be my last question. Mark.


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## darkgael (Feb 10, 2006)

You may find people who tell you different but 40 yards is a lot to ask of a .177 cal pelllet. They may start out fast, depending on the gun, but they also lose energy quickly. A skunk at 40 yards is a "big" animal for a .177. Too great a chance to wound, IMHO.
Crows.....perhaps. Other small game I'd keep close. A .22 pellet gun is a much better choice for air gun hunting.
Yes, I know there is a video or some such of a boar taken with a .177. And elephants have been killed with .22s. And....
Keep the shots close. Make sure that hunting with an airgun is legal where you live.
Pete


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## oilburner (Jan 24, 2009)

And that's what I was looking for, thank you very much.


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