TexasCHLforum.com

A friend has an old (breakdown model--beautiful condition) Browning .22 semi-auto. He wants to shoot pest birds with it in our residential neighborhood using subsonic ammo. He believes that it will be quieter than a pellet rifle. My concerns:

1. It's illegal to discharge a firearm in our neighborhood

2 I don't believe that it will be all that quiet without a suppressor--which he does not have.

Comments?

Crash

Yeah I think I would move out of my friends neighborhood.

Not only is it illegal to discharge a fire arm, birds are protected from being killed, unless they are game birds and then only during legal hunting season. Sub sonic 22 long rifle is still lethal and can kill or injure other people. In certain circumstances, people can get permission to shoot exploding shells that are only designed to make noise to scare away the birds, but that has to be approved by the city council (at least where I have heard about) And it is difficult to get that permission and is usually assigned to animal control.

I would strongly advise you friend to try other ways of dealing with birds. I have heard that hanging aluminum pie plates in trees helps, and they won't accidentally kill children on bicycles.JMHO

Well, it's illegal.

I shoot subsonic ammo at ABRA meets, Lapua Center X, and it is indeed much quieter. I doubt it is quieter than a pellet gun, though.

Here on the old ranch, where homes are very far apart, I doubt anyone off rhe property would hear anything. Depending on the neighborhood spread, that might be a problem. You still have the problem of where the bullets end up, assuming that your pal isn't a perfect shot and that each bird will not be good enough to stand in front of a berm, like a firing squad set up. If he misses and the bullet keeps on going to end up taking out somebody's grandkid, it will be a huge problem, a great deal worse than pest birds.

Crash wrote:A friend has an old (breakdown model--beautiful condition) Browning .22 semi-auto. He wants to shoot pest birds with it in our residential neighborhood using subsonic ammo. He believes that it will be quieter than a pellet rifle. My concerns:

1. It's illegal to discharge a firearm in our neighborhood

2 I don't believe that it will be all that quiet without a suppressor--which he does not have.

Comments?

Crash

Where do you live? Could be entertaining...

Bitter Clinger wrote:

Crash wrote:A friend has an old (breakdown model--beautiful condition) Browning .22 semi-auto. He wants to shoot pest birds with it in our residential neighborhood using subsonic ammo. He believes that it will be quieter than a pellet rifle. My concerns:

1. It's illegal to discharge a firearm in our neighborhood

2 I don't believe that it will be all that quiet without a suppressor--which he does not have.

Comments?

Crash

Where do you live? Could be entertaining...

A loft apartment in downtown Dallas? JUST KIDDING! I have no idea where he lives.

Thanks to all for comments. Responses to questions/comments:

We live in a neighborhood where the houses are generally 15 - 20 ft apart.

It is not against the law to shoot pest birds such as starlings, sparrows, etc., but not with a firearm within city limits and we are inside the city limits.

At the angle my friend would be shooting, if he misses the bird, the bullet would wind up outside the city limits, probably on a neighboring ranch. And, or course, he would be responsible for it.

My solution may be to take him with me to a shooting range and demonstrate just how loud it is--and read him the laws about discharging a firearm within the city limits and being responsible for the projectiles.

Thanks again,

Crash

Crash wrote:
It is not against the law to shoot pest birds such as starlings, sparrows, etc., but not with a firearm within city limits and we are inside the city limits.

I stand corrected

http://tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/wild/rehab/protected/

You should have him check out the guys on youtube that shoot pest animals with pelate guns. 22lr is going to be loud without a suppressor.

Not sure id want to be caught shooting a real gun with a suppressor illegally.

Crash wrote:Thanks to all for comments. Responses to questions/comments:

We live in a neighborhood where the houses are generally 15 - 20 ft apart.

It is not against the law to shoot pest birds such as starlings, sparrows, etc., but not with a firearm within city limits and we are inside the city limits.

At the angle my friend would be shooting, if he misses the bird, the bullet would wind up outside the city limits, probably on a neighboring ranch. And, or course, he would be responsible for it.

My solution may be to take him with me to a shooting range and demonstrate just how loud it is--and read him the laws about discharging a firearm within the city limits and being responsible for the projectiles.

Thanks again,

Crash

If you are smart you would not in any way be involved with this guys shooting activity except to tell him not to do it at all. It's illegal.

rotor,

I'm sure you're right. I'll just tell him it's illegal, it will still be loud without a suppressor, and he's responsible for where the bullets wind up.

Crash

A co-worker gave me a box of Aguila Super-Colibri several years ago, and I have fired some through my 10-22. It does not cycle the bolt, but it is very quiet, perhaps even quieter than one of the modern spring-piston air-rifles, but at around 500 fps with a 20g projectile it doesn't offer anything in terms of energy that a .22 caliber air rifle can't replicate. My Benjamin Marauder in .22 cal. is my go-to for pest up to raccoon size and much quieter than most spring-piston guns.

Middle Age Russ wrote:My Benjamin Marauder in .22 cal. is my go-to for pest up to raccoon size and much quieter than most spring-piston guns.

I've got a Benjamin 392 in .22 caliber. That is not a pellet gun I want to be on the receiving end of. And yes, I can vouch for the fact that it will take out a raccoon instantly with a well placed shot.

I bet that Marauder is a beast of a pellet gun.

Simple bolt-action follow up shots (up to 9) make it pretty handy. It takes some pumping on the hand-pump I have to feed the air reservoir, though, and it isn't a terribly easy pump to use. Manageable though for a 50+ year old in OK shape.

Crash wrote:A friend has an old (breakdown model--beautiful condition) Browning .22 semi-auto.
He wants to shoot pest birds with it in our residential neighborhood using subsonic ammo.
He believes that it will be quieter than a pellet rifle. My concerns:

1. It's illegal to discharge a firearm in our neighborhood
2 I don't believe that it will be all that quiet without a suppressor--which he does not have.

Comments?

Crash

rotor wrote:

Crash wrote:Thanks to all for comments. Responses to questions/comments:

We live in a neighborhood where the houses are generally 15 - 20 ft apart.

It is not against the law to shoot pest birds such as starlings, sparrows, etc., but not with a firearm within city limits and we are inside the city limits.

At the angle my friend would be shooting, if he misses the bird, the bullet would wind up outside the city limits, probably on a neighboring ranch. And, or course, he would be responsible for it.

My solution may be to take him with me to a shooting range and demonstrate just how loud it is--and read him the laws about discharging a firearm within the city limits and being responsible for the projectiles.

Thanks again,

Crash

If you are smart you would not in any way be involved with this guys shooting activity except to tell him not to do it at all. It's illegal.

IMO, noise would be the least of my concerns. Maybe he should try an owl decoy.

I personally have tried owl decoys and they have not worked. One employee kept having her side view car mirror destroyed by a bird. Must have felt the reflection was a threat. I have had a large solar type window cracked by pecking birds. Put up owls without any effect. I actually bought a Gammo whisper pellet rifle for destructive squirrels but I too am in a city with laws against shooting so I live with it rather than break the law. I once asked a guy at an apple orchard outside Lubbock how he dealt with birds. His answer was you start your orchard far enough out where there are no birds.