Sparrows in the Barn

[JBinMN]

If ya don't want to shoot them, put a fake owl in the rafters or somewhere nearby. That should do it.


Here ya go: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Dalen-Gre...d-Owl/16213264

[racepres]

If ya don't want to shoot them, put a fake owl in the rafters or somewhere nearby. That should do it.


Here ya go: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Dalen-Gre...d-Owl/16213264

oh...i don't mind shooting them..I rather prefer it

just it is time consuming. The owl has Not worked in the past...they soon learn it is Fake!!
Maybe something Fuzzy??

[keyhole]

I have found .22 rat shot to be more effective from a rifle for some reason.

I have been shooting for 55 years (man, how times flies) but have never heard the term "ratshot". What do you consider "rat shot"? just .22 LR #12 birdshot cartridge?

Our place has been overrun with mice and other rodents. If the little suckers stay still for a couple of seconds they succumb to .177 springer air pistol quite nicely. Ratshot sounds even better.

[Vopie]

Yep, .22 shot shells often referred to as "rat shot", mostly by older farmers...

[JBinMN]

I keep the barn swallows from building in my shop and porches with a stuffed raccoon toy. Just hang it where they want to build. After a few passes they move on to "safer" places.

^^^ He mentioned that earlier.. Why not give it a try. maybe a fake snake would work too.

Or, just shoot the hell out of them.
LOL

[racepres]

22rf with #12 is Not Rat Shot for here in my part of the Rhubarbs..
The 357 shot loads are not enough to anchor them...the 44 cal shot loads work well...but, do Not shoot the siding nor anything you don't want slightly messed up [refrigerators included, ask me how I know].
Birds seem easy to Kill, easier yet to scare...Rubber snakes are cheap too...heck real ones are easy to come by...but difficult to Train...LOL

[meadmkr]

Rather than using shot have you considered using wax or hot-glue bullets? I've used the plastic ones in building-clearning training and they hurt like he** being shot with 'em (don't ask!) We used 'em with just primers but a small amount of powder may up the damage from stun to kill. If you have a mold for the 32 a hot glue gun with a few sticks will give you a few cylinders worth.
From the commercial side places sell both the plastic and the wax bullets used by many speed-draw competitors.

https://www.waxbullet.com/collections/wax-bullets - just one of a handful google found quickly
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/31...eter-box-of-50

Also:
https://www.americanrifleman.org/art...d-wax-bullets/

[Bazoo]

I welcome barn swallows. They eat a mess of skeeters.

[Peregrine]

I welcome barn swallows. They eat a mess of skeeters.

This thread is about sparrows, I hope no one is shooting Swallows! Their acrobatics are unrivaled, watching them weave and dive after flying insects is fantastic entertainment! Jet fighters have nothing on them (well okay, maybe speed ).

[Peregrine]

i found the federal birdshot hotter and has more shot than th c.c.i. but none are cheap

That is my experience as well. Even ignoring the extra shot in the federal they pattern a lot better. The CCI's has a variety of sizes of shot in them, ranging down to truly tiny dust shot which won't even make it through cardboard at more than poking distance.

[Bazoo]

Somehow I read swallows... not sparrows.

[Drm50]

Unless you want to make a sport out of it traps are the best. The gassing them out will get some
but most will get out and come back. Shooting them if you have enough to be a problem is not
very practical. Some set out poison grain, but I never have fooled with that. I have never been
comfortable poisoning anything.

[racepres]

I do Not want to make a career out of it...sport tho...maybe?
Note these are Sparrows..not Swallows!!! PITA they are...
Been smokin them with the little 32S&W's with zero structural damage..but waiting on smaller shot to get a more dense "pattern".
Plastic [glue] projectiles is probably a great idea, but, I don't think this old "bicycle" gun is Up to the Kind of precision required...and my eyes definitely are Not!!
Yes, I could switch armament, but, Hey, this is the first real usefulness the old I.J. has Shown!!!!

[meadmkr]

You might check for an airsoft laser pointer to give you a cheap/removable way and gerryrig it with a few zip ties

[Ballistics in Scotland]

With a side-by-side or a revolver, you can get good results in poor light with one of those cartridge-shaped laser boresighters in anot her chamber.

I rescued a swallow that was bluntening his beak on the inside of my workshop window today. It isn't the first time. I rescued a couple that had got trapped in a building stairwell, and were obviously close to pegging out. A bird that energetic can't go long between refuellings. The weaker just made it onto my telephone wire and sat there gasping till he felt able to fly off. If I believed in those mobile things he mightn't have made it.

It confirms my belief that like a lot of creatures that are well endowed with speed, teeth, spines or armour, swallows are a whole lot less bright than sparrows.

[Ballistics in Scotland]

This thread is about sparrows, I hope no one is shooting Swallows! Their acrobatics are unrivaled, watching them weave and dive after flying insects is fantastic entertainment! Jet fighters have nothing on them (well okay, maybe speed ).

Back in the 70s I met an ancient Saudi falconer and dealer in falcons, who insisted that his peregrine could fly faster than any aeroplane. His father had told him that, probably in the late 1920s, and it stood to reason the old man wouldn't have made up a thing like that.

[turtlezx]

close to 200 mph fastest critter on earth

[halvey]

Were making me Nuts...22RF is so-so!![with shot]
Can't use much penetration because I don't want Holes nor other damage...
Settled on 32S&W . 1.5 gr Bullseye, business card cutout over powder, fill with 7-1/2 shot. [it's what I have at Hand] and an over shot Cottage cheese lid Cutout. Crimped with a Hornady 30cal "insert" [PITA]
Loaded into old I.J. Breaktop Six shooter.
Only Put two down, injured?....Some.
No Holes in metal, no discernible damage in Barn
Went for a 3rd session last Eve...They seem to have told their "friends" about the Situation...For now they are Evicted...
Probably worth going smaller shot, [gotta source some, small amount], and slighly increased [maybe 2gr] of Bullseye..
Another day.
Just thought I would take a Moment to share!!!!!

How much shot do you think that is? 1/4 oz? I'm looking at making some very light loads for my .410 for barn shooting.

[racepres]

How much shot do you think that is? 1/4 oz? I'm looking at making some very light loads for my .410 for barn shooting.

In the 32S&W?? Not much...not enough in fact. In the 32S&W long? I'll weigh it...Seems effective enough, but I believe smaller shot will be more so!!
Went and weighed just now, because I get busy this time of year... from 46 to 48 grains of Shot in the 32S&W long... That's about a tenth of an Ounce by my Calculations

[Ballistics in Scotland]

In the .410 a full case of pearl barley should work well, and give a better pattern than rice. Watch out it doesn't get anywhere it will be a weed, though.