I use the trail NP XL in early mornings bc it is pretty quiet
at first i thought the fps was really slow bc it is so quiet, the sound of it hitting a can is louder than the gun firing
could be bc its the first NP airgun i got, compared to the others its quiet
but see what you think of it.

One main reason I chose a PCP is less moving parts. The barrel is fixed and there is no spring to move air. It is a lot more accurate than a Crosman break barrel I had.

you're going to have to use poison to even come close to controlling the number of rats
no way you could shoot them all without drawing all kinds of attention to yourself

there are several alternatives
pm me if you are interested

napalm? 

Both rifles came in today.  I set up the fusion with the scope from the NP (way better) and also built a silent duct seal pellet trap for indoor practice.  The fusion is a little loud for 1am but not too bad - certainly NOTHING like that Beeman Kodiak.  Its .177 pellets seem tiny compared to the .22 pellets.  I am a little concerned about stopping power as the pellets only go about 3/8"" into the duct seal. I assume the duct seal is tougher than a rats body. I'm using wad cutters for practice and have some mushrooming pointy ones for hunting rats. Hope they penetrate better. same 7.56 grain weight.  My heavier hunting pellets come on Monday.

Having a slight focusing problem with the scope as I'm only shooting at about 5-7 yards and minimum distance is supposed to be 10.  Not terrible but could be better.

I have a bug hunter coming on Monday that has a minimum distance of 3 yards.  http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B005VRYHNI/?tag=2ahawaii-20

woot!  Just killed my first rat.  First shot at one and got 'em     He was sticking his head out of a burrow across the stream.  *pshtt*, a little squeek, and down to the waterline he tumbles and lies dead   

I rubber banded my cree flashlight to the barrel. It's like shooting in daytime.  Obviously not the best mount but it worked.  Scope was more clear too with a little more range than I had indoors doing target practice.

I had shot 32 pellets at the target before hunting with the same charge of co2. I'm supposed to be able to get ~50-60 shots per cartridge(s).

Noise?  yes, there is a short pshtt but an occasional one shouldn't bring unwanted attention if I don't fire it too often. It is quieter outside than inside the house.  I'll still try the nitro NP during the daytime to check out it's noise due to its superior kill power but I think it will be too loud for late night.

woo hoo!  I am now 3 for 3. 

the second one was a big one across the stream.  Can't positively confirm a kill but I damn sure hit it. It went deep into the underbrush where I couldn't see it. It was squeaking and thrashing around for a a good 30 seconds then stopped. Definitely not a clean kill.

The third was another big one on my side of the stream only about 6 feet horizontal away and 3 feet down from me. it was slowly walking away along a ledge by the water. I aimed for the middle of head just back the ear area since it's head was down. Got it in the neck close to the head near the spine.  It fell in the water, thrashed under the water for about 10 seconds. I thought it would drown at that point however, it got to the wall and started to climbup to the ledge.  Got almost it's body length out of the water before it fell back in, sank, and stopped moving. I watched it slowly be carried away by the current.

If it had been a higher power rifle I think that third one would have been an instant kill as the pellet probably would have came out it's face.

I've edited the last 3 posts for clarity and typos.

Damn, it's 2:43 am and I have to get up at 7:15 for work.  Good night.

congrats on the kills!   

let us know how the NP goes.

I've been shooting the Nitro in the house using the "bad" scope.  not nearly as accurate.  Going to swap scopes now.  It's a good bit louder than the Fusion however it is penetrating ~3/4" into the duct seal.  The fusion only did about 3/8".

The owner's manual says it needs roughly 100 rounds shot through before it gets broken in and quiets down more.  So I'm just shooting playdoh for now.  Hope it does get quieter but I don't think I'll be shooting it outside at 2am like I can the fusion.

The third rat last night would have lost it's face for sure with the NP.

Dang, i had to look for 15+ minutes along the stream before I found a rat tonight.  I used the trail NP with the good scope (the 3-9x scope is a lot better than the fixed 4x).  The medium-large rat was on a branch overhanging the water by 2-3 feet but was still well below the top of the other side (for safety backdrop).   The shot was loud enough I heard someone say "what was that?" in a yard a couple houses down.  If he had bothered to look he would have seen a rat shaking violently for a couple seconds before losing its grip and tumbling into the water.  It did not resurface nor did I see any sign of movement under the water.

just got another (5th).  and yes, the trail np is WAY too fucking loud at 2:15am. 


I will not be shooting it again late night when all is still and everyone is asleep.

Too bad the NP is too loud
But congrats on all the kills!

Ask Stang about his Stoeger ATAC.

That thing is quiet.



Glad you've had success !
Keep the reports coming. 

  I was much too tired last night to do any hunting since I had been only getting 3-5 hours of sleep each of the few previous nights.

 Today my new scope arrived.  For ~$90 it's a damn nice scope. Way better than even the one that came with the Trail NP.  I thought the lighted reticules were going to help but since I have the bright flashlight I don't need them.  Also - haven't set the traps since the rifles came in.  It's more fun actively hunting.

 Put the new scope on the Fusion, put in new co2 cartridges and started zeroing it.  I guess the scope was set for something very different from my rifle and ranges I'm shooting at since the first shot was 5" away from where I aimed (at 6 yards!).  Quite a few pellets later I had it zeroed in pretty good.  Now it was time to start firing some of the new pellets that also came today - Gamo RED FIRE - the hollow points with the red cone of plastic in them.  I figured since they are a different weight I may need to re-zero a little bit.  Shot the first one and it was about an inch low and 1/2" to the right.  ok, click the dials a little bit.  Next shot - almost the same spot. *click click click click*.   A little closer now.   *clickity click* some more.   DAMNIT  -  2" low.    At least now that I've put well over 150 pellets through the rifle since I got it the noise has started to quiet down a bit.

   Earlier, I had noticed that with my hole puncher pellets if they didn't slide smoothly into the barrel as I pushed the bolt forward they tended to fly a little off course.  NONE of the Gamos were going in smoothly.  I try a few more and the aim kept getting worse.  Now I'm thinking these gamo hunting pellets just aren't going to work with my rifle. Boy, am I going to write a scathing review on Amazon!   Screw all those people who swear how accurate they are.   I resign myself to the crossman pointy tips.   I go to rezero again since I've done so much clicking.  The first shot with the hole punchers - I didn't even see where it hit and couldn't tell with all the holes everywhere.   Put a fresh target up.  Shoot again at the target in the very center of the sheet (multiple bulls on the sheet).  It hits about 4" low and 1" to the right.        Did the Gamos do something to the rifle??  I shoot once again and I can see the pellet flying to the target through the scope.  It punches through the paper and I hear it fall to the bottom of the target box. DOH!!!    I had run out of co2 *lol*  No wonder the shots had been getting so bad (and noise so quiet...)

  Put new co2 in and try the Gamos again.  3-4 shots and a several clicks later it seems to be doing ok.  Put up a fresh target and get this:



  Each bulls is barely bigger than a dime and smaller than a penny.

  YAY!  The Gamos are going to work =)


  For giggles I took a pic of the duct seal behind the target.  I had mashed it the other night so only the shots from the past 2-3 days are showing.  The really deep holes with shiny pellets are from the Trail NP.  The shallower ones are from the Fusion.  I think you'll be able to tell which ones were shot with low co2 pressure.



  Ok, so it's hard to tell how deep they are from looking straight on. 

  Here is an angled shot. The clean holes where you can't see a pellet are probably the Trail NP. Some of those pellets went almost an inch deep.



  Decide the accuracy is good enough for hunting and I should still have enough co2 for a few more good shots.  Go outside and start looking.  Almost immediately I see one straight across the stream by the water.  Line up a head shot and hit him just behind the jaw. He jumps and falls into the water as a good size blood slick forms around him.  That Gamo really made him bleed.  He was dead in just a few seconds.

  Only  two or three minutes later I see 2 of them a bit further away (30 feet?) on a "beach" part of the bank (low tide).  Give the dial a couple clicks (1/4moa each click) and nail one of them. Not sure exactly where I hit but he flips, spasms a couple times and dies there on the beach.  Of course the other ran into the shrubs/weeds but it wasn't long before he came out to check on his dead comrade.  I don't have a clear head shot so I say screw it and aim for the rib cage area.   *pfft!* *whack* *squeal* He hops a couple times and runs off further away into more shrubs where I can't see him anymore.  Can't say if he is dead right now but he aint doing so well for sure.

  Kept looking for more for about 10 minutes and didn't see anymore.  It starts raining and I decide to come in and tell tonight's story.  If it stops raining I'll change co2 carts and go out again.

Current count:

Shot - 8
Traps - 67.  (one drowned in a bucket of water a couple days ago)

+ 1 more shot. He was on a branch just above the water. he started going back up the branch towards thick brush so had to fire quick.  Hit him, he fell in, and swam towards shore where I couldn't see what happened to him.  Another one having a bad time if he lived.

Shot - 9
trapped - 67

I find that Beeman and H&N pellets load and seat into the breech of the barrel very nicely
I like the Crow magnums and Kodiak, as they are the heavier weight ones for Beeman and H&N
both brands are basically the same.

Shot 1 tonight

2ahawaii rat hunters! I wanna join!

2ahawaii rat hunters! I wanna join!

You'd better get on over to Mo'ili'ili then.  Shot 4 tonight.  One of them was under my house (on stilts) and I was able to retrieve it.

Here is my trophy - body about 6" long.  Pretty happy with my aim. I haven't missed yet.



Yes, that circle under it's eye is the entrance.  It didn't come out the other side though. I don't think that shiny spot is the pellet. I think it's just glare off the blood from the flash. 

Maybe I'll go post it in the hunting pictures thread lol.

Body count:
Traps (stopped setting them) 67
Shot 14

Boo-YAH!

Nice keep it up, love your post! Motivates me and the crew to go & eradicate critters.
Used to do rat hunting in hikai, rats used to steal my fishing bait. Thought it was giant a'ama crabs. When I found out it was rats used to spray the pile with a full auto bb gun. BBs used to spark up the rock holes like tracers. Super fun till City poisoned the place.
Good luck and go getum.
Aloha