Hiya guys back to the loft in this one trying to thin out the corvids causing problems in this farm building using my new HW77 .177 12ftlb and Pulsar C50 and JSB 10.34 grain pellets.
It’s always satisfying to watch your videos. Where I live in Scotland we’re blighted by corvids to the detriment of other bird species. Keep up your vital work.
I do pest control in Scotland,if you need some corvids culled and your not to far away from me I can come and sort it out for you, South east of Glasgow is where I’m at
First class Simon. I too live in Scotland and we have a large flock of corvids landing on the roofs. We could do with you here too. Keep on knocking down the vermin.
I'm with you Simon, I've had the PCPs and now have a 1997 hw97 in 177 and a 2001 hw97 matching pair. Pin point accurate at 50 yards. Both with MTC viper scopes. Love em both. Great little video mate. Great work.
The difference in sound between the springer and PCP rifles when fired is quite remarkable. Great shooting and commentary as always. Give Jack a scritch behind the ears for me!
Great video , was,out over my permission the other day with my HW95k ( .177 ) which I decided to take out rather than my 12g so gave the pigeons a rest whilst I did othef pest duties , great out to 40/45 yards as the weather was ideal and even gave me the chance to punch paper out to 70+ yards for a bit of fun
Great vid as always. Far out the HW77 is such an iconic rifle and reminds me so much of my teenage years when I first got into airguns....I always wanted an HW77 but was perfectly content with my Webley Vulcan Deluxe in .22 before moving onto an Air Arms Khamsin. Thank you for the nostalgia and quality shooting. All the best mate.
I have not been involved with shooting airguns since before the pandemic. A lot of reasons, mostly personal. But I must say, that it is refreshing change to see someone shoot with an air rifle that looks like an air rifle and not a tactical assult rifle wannabe. That the gun is an iconic spring powered air rifle was a bonus. Thank you.
Back in the day I used an HW77 and Theoben Fenman to great effect. For many years they were my only option, and then they remained the affordable option even after the advent of PCPs. Today I still use a very tuned HW95 but only for leisure or hide shooting. For any serious work I always use PCPs. Less movement, less noise, faster shooting. If I am not doing clearance work then I don't mind using a springer and, in fact, I prefer it due to how much more I feel I have to concentrate and practice shot follow through. If it's a serious rat or pigeon infestation I always use PCPs though (FX Wilcat FAC running 40 FPE in .25, and a .22 Theoben Rapid).
Hi Simon nice to see you use a springer for pest control. I do pest control around the property with a HW35 a HW 90 ande a BSA Lightning GRT all in .22 caliber. They all work superb witin the 27 yards. Thanks for posting
Great video always good to watch especially this one as I'm a Springer shooter . I've got a hw97k in .22 and very accurate rifles. Can't wait for the next video, keep up the great work. All the best 👍.
Great shooting buddy. Love springer shooting. I've a hw99s In .22cal tuned by sandwell field sports. It's so accurate. It can match my hw100 and bsa ultra all day long.
Great stuff as usual. I prefer the high body shot, I used to take head shots until i shot the beak of a Crow and it flew away ! It took me ages to catch up with it to finish it off🙈🏴.
I went the same route as you at the same time Simon. Hw80 rapid mk1 in 95 maybe 96. Then hw77 in 98. Totally agree with the pcp cost of needing all the other kit with them. Then I kept busting seals on the rapid mk2 so sold it and bought a hw77 and hw97, came full circle lol
Hi Simon, Thank you for your video and commentary, advice, etc. I agree. The Rapid Seven and pcp's were game changers, no question. However, with a pcp, you can set yourself set up to virtually not move, looking through your scope, waiting. The only movement being your hand to move the cocking lever and pull the trigger. I'd love to hunt more with my springer. However, the clicks and noises from cocking the gun and your shot let off means in many cases, your cover is blown. When that happens, you're done! Especially with Magpies, Crows, and Jays. Regards, Ian.
Thanks for the video Simon, master hunting. 👍👍When I was shooting mostly 12 ftlb I realised I could be near as effective with gas ram as I was with pcp with practise. A springer or ram shows up your faults that creep in using a pcp.
I'm still trying to get my head around the power restrictions concerning airguns in the UK. We have none in the US, apparently. I read some UK govt pamphlets and they refer both to Joules and foot-pounds requirements! Sounds like America is not alone using both metric and imperial units. And, when I lived in Scotland (late 70's early 80's) as a foreign teen airgunner I was apparently in violation of multiple laws! Regardless, I'm sticking to joules.
Ye luckily i have a firearms licence so i can have high powered ones too BUT! i do more pest control with a 12ftlb air rifle as its a lot safer and i actually enjoy the challenge.
Thanks for posting. It was interesting to watch and listen. I wondered if there was any chance of seeing some of the Rare Nesting Birds that you help to protect, especially Lapwings.
It’s amazing how accurate you are considering the size of your target. A magpie head has to be about the size of a dime. I’d be real lucky to hit it once let alone time after time like you do. Nice shooting Simon and I hope that Jack is doing well.
We live in a cottage in west central Scotland and magpies and crows are a real nuisance. We've got a flock of laying chickens which we like to let free range around our land and the magpies and crows will not only eat the eggs if they can get into the coop, but they'll also chase the hens off their nests in order to eat the eggs. What's really annoying is that they seem to like to puncture the egg shell and take a small amount of yolk before losing interest. It's such a waste and stresses our hens out big time. When I was a teenager I used to shoot air guns at my parent's house and was pretty good at it even if I say so myself. My friends and I used to cull crows, pigeons and sometimes rabbits on farm land (with permission of course). The rabbits had myxomatosis and were usually blind so it was easy to get very close and put the poor animals out of their obvious misery. It was more of a duty to be honest and we didn't get any enjoyment from it. The crows on the other hand were a real nuisance to other livestock and it was quite satisfying to thin them out a bit. Like you we always tried to get clean headshots and we usually did. But it does take discipline to NOT take a possible shot when you feel the chances of a clean kill are just a bit too low. Fun fact - one of my friends had an HW77 back in those days (circa mid 1980s). My gun at the time was an ASI Rangemaster 0.22 which was an okay gun but not quite on par with the HW77 which was state of the art back then. So now we have to obtain an airgun license in order to own and shoot an airgun in Scotland but I think I'm going to put in an application so that I can humanely protect my chickens from attack when necessary. Also, it gives me a fairly humane way to dispatch any of my own hens that need to be euthanised. Having endured an attack by two domestic dogs whose owners thought it was fine to just let them roam the countryside, we lost 3 hens with one killed instantly, one euthanised by the local vet and another euthanised by me by neck dislocation a week or so after the attack when it was clear she was not improving. The neck dislocation was effective and caused her no suffering but on balance I think a point blank airgun shot would have been just as humane and less upsetting for me. I'm in two minds though because sometimes we also get foxes and airguns are certainly not a humane weapon to use against a fox. But I think I'll go for an airgun license in the first instance and then maybe progress to a shotgun license if foxes prove to be an ongoing problem. Thanks for the video - good to see you carrying out your work in a responsible manner.
Ye nice one Craig i would deff go for the airgun in your situation and as for the foxes you will be surprised there are fox shooters all over the Country i know quite a few up your end of the world.
Hi Simon great shooting nice rifle and scope and as you say with a springer all you need is a pocket full of pellets, I picked up a lovely hw77 made in 1983 i did a full strp and fitted a few mods its 22 and so accurate lovely guns anyway keep up the good work slmon all the best fred
Outstanding shooting again Simon that hw77 seems like it’s shooting spot on also that stock mate says it all.All the very best 👍🏻🏴👍🏻🏴👍🏻🏴
Another top video simon.your right about the air rifles.i went from using bsa and webley air rifles to a hw35 export in the 80s and the difference was Morris minor to modern day car in comparison. German technology cant be beat.and like you say an affordable price.keep them coming mate.
Hi Simon Just watched this again and had to tell you about my ratting sesion last night I took my s200 and atn as usual but also took my new second hand hw80 and red torch on top intending just practicing I never got the s200 out the 80 was so much fun Very accurate and shot 10 rats from 15 to 20 mtrs and 1 at a measured 40 mtrs Possibly a lucky shot but dropped it like a stone Definitely be using it next week 👍👍
commented the other day simon about my hw77 in blue laminate tuned what i bought, well i got out to use it and its a tool and half. got a normal hawke on top but just looking for a cheap nv for the rats. nice shooting👍
Hw77 classic guns I use my 30 year old hw97k 😂still as left shop never lost power accurate not the word for it but now I'm in my 50s it's a heavy bugger after few fields looked at new pcp guns was going to walk out gunshop with daystate but decided why I love my 97k ready for service as sometimes bait twangy now but 50yards kills pigeons and rabbits with headshots
Put a nylon mesh (scarf/woman's stocking) over that big blue objective that is scaring them off. Might make your video a tad darker but covering that big blue "eye" would be a good idea.
Back to basics, nice shooting again. The HW35 is an excellent springer to start out with and cheaper then the 77 but the same high quality. Think weirauch makes the best springers out there. Need to get myself a hw98 again as its such a nice rifle.
Another nice vid Simon. Forgive me but having been of the piste for a while but I have to ask, is the old boy still with you? I lost mine late June this year at 15. He just lay down and gave up (time to make the call)
Hi from France ! As I watched and still watch your videos, I was confronted to a rat invasion and some are really big . Well, I've a spring break barrel Gamo Varmint 14 ft-pound (19 joules in France, which are still free sale) and I shot one huge with a Gamo Red Fire projectile at 10m .
Hi Simon 😊 great shooting , and a realy nice 77, you've obviously got plenty of springer practice in, and it shows. A question came up about leaving your springer cocked, as a long time springer user I can say don't worry about it , I've left quality springers cocked ,and of course unloaded in a safe place overnight, then re,chrono'd them, whith hardly any differance, I also contacted a well known uk manufacturer on this question, and they said they'd left a springer cocked for months and only noticed loss of a handful of fpe. So they had full confidence in their spring supplier. So in my own opinion a vermin session is not going to be a problem, a quality spring would take a very long time to loose power. If in doubt put it through the chrono every once in a while , for your own peace of mind. Hope this info is some help to you. Thanks for the video mate, stay safe, best wishe's to you and your's, Stuart UK.
My HW77 will blow a magpie to bits. I use Eley Wasps blue tim, and it is devastating out to 70 yds. I no longer shoot crows as they are intelligent birds, moreso than a lot of people I know.
Hi mate, great videos you’ve got, thinking of getting this air rifle, but not sure what calibre to go for, will mainly use for squirrels, and maybe some rabbits
