Silent pellet rifles

[C.C.Martins]

To the gun guru's:
Are the pellet rifles sold as silent really silent? At 1300fps, there's going to be noise seems to me. I was looking at a Gammo Whisper. I try to be discreet when keeping sparrows and starlings at bay, currently using a crossman 1000 and for ammo 7.4 gr destroyer pellets. Has a good "crack" to it that makes me cringe a bit say on a Sunday morning....very happy with the crossman, good accuracy but silence and accuracy would be ideal.
Any help would be great,
Tom

[flyin-lowe]

I have purchased a couple different pellet guns over the years. Not cheap but not the high end ones either. Gammo's and others in the $100.00 plus range. None of them have been accurate enough to routinely kill sparrows with. Some of the professional grade ones that people have seem to be vary accurate and consistent but I have never had one you can get from a retailer that I could get close enough with. If you could get 10 feet away from one you might hit it but trying to hit consistently and 15-20 yards I can't hold a group the size of a sparrow. Plus the first time you miss you won't be able to get that close next time.
In full disclosure I have been shooting guns for a long time, I work in law enforcement and have held out highest shooting award for 23 years. If I could get a good deal on a high end air rifle I might try one but won't ever buy one off the shelf from a retailer again.

[Bird Brain]

Nothing will be silent if it breaks the sound barrier. The less feet per second, the quieter it will be. I use a Benjamin multi pump, and only give it 2 pumps for sparrows, 3 or 4 for starlings. Super quiet. Why break the sound barrier for a little o sparrow?

[MB12RING]

I have a Benjamin marauder .22 cal. with a 4-12x50 hawke scope and love it. They are really quiet and really accurate. Bought as a combo package about 6-7 years ago. Can still take out a starling at about 60 yds every time unless it’s real windy. I shoot heavy, slower pellets of about 21 grains but they’re the most accurate from what I’ve found. They aren’t cheap but I have messed around with the gammo and others and could never get consistent accuracy with those. Worth the investment I feel.

[Martintown33]

Tom, I have a gammo whisper with scope. It’s relatively “quiet”…. As pellet air rifles go. I sight in the scope every season and clean the barrel. I find a clean barrel helps with consistent accuracy on a pellet rifle, which is a problem with many of them. With a sandbag gun brace, I’m able to hit a nickel size target at 45 feet, consistently. That’s good enough for me. I like the gun. 1 pump and ready to go.
Rob

[Whippy]

Give this a try. A lot quieter that a pellet gun, doesn't go too far but will garner some attention. For long shots you're better off with a pellet gun or a .22 short. But for the well being of your housing and projectiles that die out pretty quick, it just might be an option for you. I shoot them at targets in my garage out of a rifle and pistol. Hearing safe.

[C.C.Martins]

All,
Much thanks!! Appriciate the insight. I'm relying a lot on traps but if a sparrow is focused on a house its not going to be disuaded, so gotta shoot. Iv got it dialed in, I can hit a quarter size target consistently (again, short range really) but boy, one day someone's going to come knocking.
My budget and shooting conditions here will keep me buying off the shelf, I carried an M4 most of 26 years and love rifle shooting but I can only keep trying to find that balance...
My targets are 10-15 yards max. Dont really need to reach out too far which is good, if I had 3 acres of property and no neighbors I'd go with something more powerful to be sure, BUT I do not, so am looking for stealth.
I agree, soon as it breaks the sound barrier you get the crack...I should work out the number of pumps and try diffrent pellet weights because your right, how many pumps do you need for a sparrow? You just need to hit it once.
Maybe a heavier pellet, but I have 4 tins to burn through.

Whippy.....sir....my garage is also my range! I open the house door, close the main garage doors and shoot from the back kitchen counter....please do not tell my wife. It will be my sleeping quarters.

Rob,
What type of pellets do you use?

Again, thanks for the replies folks!
Tom

[Doug Martin - PA]

After many years of trying many expensive and/ or high powered pellet rifles for sparrows.......

Daisy 901 with stock scope is simply hard to beat. it's a 10 pump air gun. I go between 5-7 pumps.

It's the best bang for the buck and pretty darn quiet. Accuracy is amazing. You must use this pellet however.

H&N barracuda extreme hollow point. The whole ticket cost less than 100 on amazon.

Once sited . it is dead accurate for starlings and sparrows from 15-40 yards. No spring kick.

My other guns are in the gun case. Downside is pellets are tricky to load under the scope. But not it's that bad.

Don't tell anyone lol it's a Martin secret. Those with expensive guns don't believe it either.

Doug

[Thomabear]

I have a Benjamin marauder .22 cal. with a 4-12x50 hawke scope and love it. They are really quiet and really accurate. Bought as a combo package about 6-7 years ago. Can still take out a starling at about 60 yds every time unless it’s real windy. I shoot heavy, slower pellets of about 21 grains but they’re the most accurate from what I’ve found. They aren’t cheap but I have messed around with the gammo and others and could never get consistent accuracy with those. Worth the investment I feel.

The Benjamin Mararuder is what I shoot in 22 cal. with a 4x12x50 scope, bipod and LW barrel. They aren’t cheap but they are extremely accurate, quiet and worth every penny. My best groups are from shooting the JSB Diabolo Exact Jumbo Heavy .22 Cal, 18.13 gr. pellets.

[Martintown33]

Tom, I use the gamo red fire .177 cal pellets. Consistent groups on nickel size target at 15 to 20 yards, using gamo whisper 1 pump pellet rifle, with scope and shooting bag stabilizer.
Happy hunting,
Rob

[C.C.Martins]

Thanks Rob

[birdman in buckhead]

I recently bought a Crosman Legacy 1000 pump style air rifle that shoots both bb's and .177 pellets. It's not silent, but fairly quiet depending on how many pumps. Two things I really like are it's very light comparared to my Crosman F4 pellet gun and the "fiber optic" front sight that makes aiming very easy. I did not even attach the cheap scope that came with it. Good for sparrows, starlings and plinking.

[C.C.Martins]

Birdman, that is the exact pellet rifle I have, shoots straight and is fantastic. 6 pumps for a starling and it penetrates those iron wings. I too discarded the scope, the sights work good enough and the front sight is great.
I use crossman pellets in it, seems to like them alot-go figure.

[BumBee]

I've owned and shot .177 pump pellet rifles, break barrel pellet rifles, and pre -charge pneumatic pellet rifles.
never had the need for a larger caliber.

The pump pellet rifle is a pain in the arm pumping enough air pressure for one shot.

The break barrel pellet rifle is loud enough to get neighbors attention.

The pre-charged pneumatic pellet rifle is a pain in the pocket. Have to have a charging system
in which it can be as expensive as the lower end PCP rifle, A manual pump is available to which
I've used for a while when I was younger.

it's like anything else, have to learn how to use it.
here is one break barrel.
>
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nm5n2YLoG10

[Spiderman]

Tom, I use the gamo red fire .177 cal pellets. Consistent groups on nickel size target at 15 to 20 yards, using gamo whisper 1 pump pellet rifle, with scope and shooting bag stabilizer.
Happy hunting,
Rob

That is the best pellet I have found also for accuracy.

I use a Gamo Varmint Hunter with a 4X scope.

[Conrad Baker]

If you decide to get the Gamo, you will find it quieter but the trigger is horrible at best. Check out "charliedatuna". He sells replacement triggers for the Gamo for $30. You can easily change it in about 10 minutes, and makes a world of difference. When shooting your air gun, if you open a door or window, and shoot from inside the house/garage it will greatly reduce the sound your neighbors hear. Just don't extend the muzzle past the doorway or window, and the sound is greatly reduced to the outside. Also makes you less visible to the sparrow than standing in the door or window.

[Martintown33]

I will check into that Conrad, for my gamo whisper.
Rob

[C.C.Martins]

Thats great thank you, I think I'll go with this one. I know there is no such thing as a totally silent pellet that travels at 1300fps but I'm going to try to tampen it down. I appriciate the info on the trigger. Tried one of the pellets Rob suggested on a starling through my crossman, he didnt get far.

Iv shot from inside, it works great but can't cover the gourds or house. I was shooting sparrows and starlings off a platform and suet feeders from inside the house. To get sparrows at the suet feeders I attached a small wooden platform under it so they can sit and eat vs hang on.
Thanks sir,
Tom

[Conrad Baker]

Thats great thank you, I think I'll go with this one. I know there is no such thing as a totally silent pellet that travels at 1300fps but I'm going to try to tampen it down. I appriciate the info on the trigger. Tried one of the pellets Rob suggested on a starling through my crossman, he didnt get far.

Iv shot from inside, it works great but can't cover the gourds or house. I was shooting sparrows and starlings off a platform and suet feeders from inside the house. To get sparrows at the suet feeders I attached a small wooden platform under it so they can sit and eat vs hang on.
Thanks sir,
Tom

Try to find some heavier pellets. The heavier pellets will have a lower velocity, and might not crack the sound barrier (1100 fps or 770 mph). Check on Pyramyd airguns site. They sell lots of pellets. If you can buy a sampler pack to try the heavier ones for accuracy it would be cheaper than buying several tins of pellets that you might not use.

edited to add: I just checked their site, and if you're shooting a .177, they have some 10 grain pellets, which should slow things down a bit. Those will really thump the sparrows.

[Conrad Baker]

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