Have 300 blackout, 9mm, and 30-06 to work with, completely discounting my 223.
I want as quiet as possible. Anyone got a load that will work near silently w/o suppressor?
Quiet is the main goal here and ethical dispatch.
Printable View
Have 300 blackout, 9mm, and 30-06 to work with, completely discounting my 223.
I want as quiet as possible. Anyone got a load that will work near silently w/o suppressor?
Quiet is the main goal here and ethical dispatch.
Just kick it, no boolits needed.
The girlfriends little brother chased in with a mop handle. Didn't work real well.
Got a little patch of back yard, seen him 3 nights in a row. Thinking of using 300blk with 200 grain lee run boolit and 1.5 grains of titegroup.. Any thoughts?
Yeah, a pellet gun to the noggin.
The 300-9mm-30/06 are just a little dangerous for city work unless your on the edge of town shooting away from town. At slow speeds the big projectiles bounce like a stone on the surface of water. It takes a long barrel 26" to get quiet 24" is semi quiet. The best thing I have found for varmint control is a 22 rimfire rifle that will shoot Super Colibri well. It takes a precise head shot on oppsums no matter what you use. The darn things can really stand up to body shots like Godzilla.
For big bore big pest quiet I use a 375 Win with 250 grain cast over 2.5 grains of Bullseye. Or, the 44 Mag using a 44 special case to decrease dead air space with 429303 in a Encore with 26" barrel again using 2.5 gr Bullseye. Nice thing about the single shot T/Cs is they are easy to check that the bullet left the barrel. The bigger bore of the 44 seems a little quieter than the 375.
I'll still use the Super Colibri for the little opposums.
While your mind seems set, the thing to set is a trap. Ask yourself "who is smarter" , that possum or you. Bet youtube shows some homemade traps. Explaining a homemade device on that firestick to the copper wont be easy. Good luck...
My hushpuppy load is a 190g .30 at about 400 fps.I'd have to check but in the 30-06 i think it was 2.5 of Win. Super Target Or Bulls-eye.its quiet.
my favorite is cci minicaps 710 fps and real quiet out my bolt action 22 , like a pellet gun on steroids !
They don't run very fast, chase it down and use a baseball bat to put it down. A mop handle is a bit light.
I use a .357mag with a 158 gr cast lead bullet and around 2.5 gr of Hodgedon Clays, IIRC. I believe that they chrono around 350-400 fps. They will go through an armadillo or possum, so I ensure that I have shooting down at them so that the bullet goes into the ground afterward. It is quieter than a .22LR round, although not as quiet as the super quiet .22 rounds that are probably nothing more than just primer when shot in a bolt action. A single shot is unlikely to give anyone a sense of direction on where the sound came from, especially late at night when most people are inside.
With a semi-auto, you probably won't have enough power to cycle the action. When experimenting with extremely low power loads, you need to ensure that the bullet cleared the barrel before firing a subsequent shot. Personally, I would not use a semi-auto for any load that could not properly cycle the action.
a live trap, cat food, and a 30 gal garbage can.
They go for the food, trap closes, drop the cage in the water, blub, blub, blub.
Any animal control will lend you a trap
Save yer ammo for them 2 legged varmints
Where there is one possum there are more, you're just seeing one. Something that works on dogs chasing a bicyclists is squirting them with ammonia-water solution. They don't like it and quit chasing bikes! Might work on possums too, I dunno. Sounds like an excuse to get a bow, crossbow or maybe a good pellet rifle to me though.
I got into an altercation with a possum that wouldn't come out from under some steps where some stuff was stored. I'd poke at the bugger with a broom handle, he'd bite onto it, I'd drag him most of the way out, he'd let go...repeat ad nauseum. Then he knocked over one of those plastic jugs of mineral spirits and hid behind it so I had to drag that out from under the steps with the broom handle...possum bit into the plastic jug of mineral spirits and wasn't amused-finally ran off and we didn't have any of them digging in our garbage for about 3 years-seems he spread the word not to mess with that house over there!
Now we have dogs...
I realise your possums are different to the ones in this country and New Zealand. The way I used to nail them was lean a 3x2 against the tree or wall they wish to climb, like a lot of people animals are lazy, and will take the easiest route. fix a piano wire noose half way up that is just large enough for possum to put head through, again like a lot of people we know they will keep walking through, and noose will tighten around its neck. The risk of discharging a firearm in town to kill a possum is not worth loosing your guns over. Or heaven forbad shooting some one.
This depends on what kind of guns the calibers you listed are in. For example, I tried this load in a 26" 1917 and a Rem 700 22", both .30-06. Loaded a 90gr cast Lee SWC over 1.5grs Red Dot, and it sounded like a .22LR in the Remington, but like a pelletgun in the 26" 1917. So even a slight difference in barrel length can make a huge difference. The same load except with a jacketed 90gr Hornady XTP didn't even clear the muzzle. Can't remember where or why I got them, but had a few left so figured I'd try one. Anyway, this is doable, but you have to be very careful because these type of loads penetrate much more than most people would believe til they see it, and as others have said, they are dangerous and need to be used with extreme caution. Make very sure you have a safe backstop, and if you don't, then you don't want to take the chance by taking the shot. They skip, ricochet, and do God only knows what else, so be very careful.
Every city, even the small ones, have an animal control group. Borrow a live trap, bait it, catch the critter. Call animal control, they will come pick it up. I have done that with cats, stray dogs, a couple of raccoons and a parrot. Discharging a firearm in the city limits will not go good for you if you get tagged. We as a shooting community, don't need that kind of press, and you as an individual, probably don't want to make the acquaintance of some new lawyer friends that will take all your money.
For slow moving vermin, I use a shovel.
As was mentioned, an arrow is quiet and effective.
I will echo similar comments....
Do you not have an animal control in your town/city? That's their specialty....
Frequently, as others here have stated - they will lend you the trap.... Set the trap, catch possum, call animal control....
My #2 solution would be a tall trashcan with catfood inside and a board leading up to it.... Possum smells food... Walks up... Climbs down to get food... Stuck.... You put lid on trashcan and take it somewhere away... Either dispatch it somewhere far away (And have a drain hole in your trash can)... or turn it loose - which I wouldn't do for fear of spreading disease/rabies....
This way - you don't have to be the guy sitting out in the dark in your back yard (IN TOWN) holding a big hunting rifle.... That sort of thing gets the police called....
Thanks
I agree that animal control is the best option.I would not take the chance of using a big bore subsonic round.A .22 rifle from what I have been told can be very quiet using subsonic shorts, a disposable latex baby bottle nipple and some duct tape , google it.Then google the laws concerning shooting a firearm with an unregistered suppressor and call animal control or buy a live trap.
Option 1) Tiger. Very quiet, automatically disposes of corpse. Downside, illegal to own, most likely will eat you too, and your dogs, cats, neighbors, etc, etc.
Option 2) Live trap. Very quiet as well, downside, you now own a trap with a confused possum in it. Upside, simply drive out of town and relocate. Downside 2, possible illegal to relocate (check your local laws).
I'd go with option 2. Simple answer, no possibility of collateral damage to you, your neighbors, or anything else.
slingshot with steel balls.
Thank you all for your input!
Way more replies than I had hoped for.
I have a generous backstop of firewood and I see him in front of it often.
I understnd city ordinance.
And will be using a lighter weight boolit in a 22 inch 30-06 garand. Have a lee 93 grain that will probably fit the bill.
For the record, I said without a suppressor, but if it comes down to it, I have a few buddies that have legal .22 and 9mm cans that could be invited over for a night.
If i cant get this load down to my liking, i will call animal control.
I understand the problem you're having. Town where I live has animal control, but Christmas will get here before they will if I call them. Town I work in, doesn't even have animal control, so people have to do it themselves. So not every town has them, or has them available when called. I won't tell you to not do it, because I have had to do the same thing myself. However, I do ask that you think hard about if this is first necessary, and second, safe. On the necessary part, there's various options that you can use that have been mentioned, and a bow is probably one of the quietest, and doesn't have to be a modern hunting bow, but a simple stick and string that you make or even a $20 kids bow is plenty for these kind of purposes. On the safety part, it really isn't worth taking any chances there so if you're not sure you can do this completely safely, just don't do it. The trap is probably the safest option that anyone has come up with, so wherever it was that mentioned that first, I like the way you think. Even if you have to buy the trap yourself, if you have a possum/cat/etc now, you will have another in the future so it is a worthwhile investment that will be used again, just a matter of when.
We had a groundhog living under the back deck, I wasn't to upset with him -until- he started raiding the raised beds we grow stuff in. I used a .22LR to the head from inside the house, just open the window far enough to shoot through. Back yard is fenced with a wooden fence and there is a shed that blocks the noise as well. Borrow a .22 rifle if you must shoot him, other than that, trap/drown works too.
We have animal control, they just arent worth a damn here. Kinda like our local polIce.
If i couldnt do this safley and discretly with a wide margin for error, I wouldnt do it.
That being said, what are your favorite quiet critter zapper loads?
Even if i dont use them it would be a handy starting point to use for the future.
My cousin used to use a 2x4 with a large nail through it. One of the real big ones. They'd run'em down, and when they'd turn, whack, right through the top of the head. Good luck no matter what action you take.
I have killed at least 15 with a .177 to the head! Out at the ranch I use anything from a .22 lr to a 257 Roberts, and even a .45 Colt. Back in the mid seventies on Thanksgiving night, I went to bed around 10 pm and heard a racket in our garden at t he ranch. I looked out the window and there were two large possums messing with the trash can. I opened my window and blasted one with my .22 Mag Ruger SS. The possum crumpled up and fell out on the ground his partner was heading away at fast walk and I nailed him too. The next morning I go out and the possum I shot off the can is gone! There is a large pool of blood where he was laying and I trail of blood out into the pasture. The other possum was hit square in the head and laying where I shot him. The next year on Christmas day we had a repeat of the whole show. I wake up around 11 PM and there are two possums on the trash can. This time I had my .22 rifle and nailed the first one in the head, and got the second one as he ambled away. The next morning both possums were laying where they dropped the night before. When I picked them up I noticed one of the possums had a huge scar on his mid section where he had been shot. The skin had healed up but he had no hair on the scars, and I am pretty sure he was the same possum I shot the year before.
Gary
Cb long in a kids rifle. I use my own... A pristine old marlin single shot with a pull back hammer.
Pellet gun quiet, .22 effective at possum range.
I had good training in gun care, so it shoots perfectly after exactly 50 years and two months, and a whole lot of livin'.
German shepherd ... though a 22 caliber pellet works better. My old shepherd brought one home on the last 100 yards of a walk one night then dropped it on the living room floor and ran off to the bedroom when I looked at her thinking she was in trouble. After checking it out myself for a few minutes I was sure she had killed it from the crunching I heard so I went to get a trash bag to put it in. Came back with the trash bag and it was gone. By that point she wouldnt leave the room to help me find it thinking I was upset with her for bringing trash in the house. Still blame that dog for the broken picture that occurred that night while trying to find that furry turd.
177 pellet or wood baseball bat. Alum ones don't do the job. Live trap & pellet to the head is easiest, then throw into the trash. Yes they do play possum. One tricked me too.
Make a load for your .223 using an air-rifle pellet and about 0.75 grs. B'eye or other fast powder, std. primer. Check zero in basement or wherever. POP! BTDT on various critters, just never on possums.
Like Griz said just trap em and let a/c take em out of there for you.
I've tested loads for quietness and the best is a small charge of something like shotgun with the remaining volume filled with polenta or corn grits and a light boolit. I wouldn't do it in a 30-06 though. The 300 would work if the barrel was long enough but if it's a semi-auto then stuff is going to get into the gas port.
Any chance you could use the pistol and rubber bullet/hot glue stick boolit?
You propel them with only a magnum primer (no powder)....
I wouldn't hesitate to use a wheel gun of any CF pistol caliber if I had one...
A head shot will kill a possum - but it's low enough power so that it won't really hurt a person if there's a ricochet....
Otherwise - I would use a 22 short cb cap in a rifle... All you will hear is a *pop*....
Thanks
I can't count the opossums I have caught by hand, stepping on it will kill it.
Just don't do that in any of the lefty-loon places like Boulder, CO.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/08/28...tcmp=obnetwork
Obviously this guy should have perused this thread before doing it on raccoons...
Pellet Gun
Parents have been using Purple Marlin fly bait mixed with Cokeacola. Coons and Possums make about 30 feet after drinking it. Problem is keeping neighbors pets out of it. Trapping works well Take in live trap wire ends down and a rope drop in creek the covers trap. problem solved. In almost all states releasing a wild animal to a difrent area with out documented quarintine is illeagal, prevents spread of dieseases and such. Dad has trapped critters in the garden for years. In leg holds a ball bat or heavy club worked fine. Dont get bit though. A conibear trap will leave a corpse in the trap. A live trap if seen is easier to defend but the animsl inside is an issue. Though with the live trp cats and dogs ( pets) can be releasd un harmed. The marlin coke mix isnt selective anything that drinks it is done. We used it mostly in the barns for rats coons possums skunks.