AusVarmint

Hello,

Does any one know about the Umarex 850? Would it be good for pest control work? I know nothing about air rifles at all! It costs $999 all set up with a scope and bipod from QGE.

So any help would be appreciated.

cheers,
Peter

The 850 is quite a good rifle,the only thing that puts me off it is that it is powered by Co2.
Co2 can have temperature issues and therefore it can change the rifles overall performance such as varying POI etc. The air powered version "Dominator" is definitely worth a look though.
Someone with more experience with the Co2 rifle hopefully will enlighten you better than I can.
Cheers,
Ray.

Hi Pete,

I had a look at these about 3 years ago. I was attracted by the price vs quality, and the convenience of the CO2 cartridges. At the time, I worked out it would take about 5 years to offset the (more expensive) price of CO2 cartridges against having to get a dive bottle (with cheaper refills) for a PCP. So it was looking promising, except I had the same question relating to consistant accuracy that RayG mentions. I had been told that the reduction in temperature from shots fired in rapid succession could lower the temperature of the action and effect accuracy.

However, I know a hell of a lot of target pistol shooters who use CO2, and it is accurate for them.

So for pest control, I supposed it will depend on what sort of pest (as the CO2 is limited in power compared to the more powerful PCPs) as to how appropriate it would be. I was wanting to target shoot, so I went the PCP route, and have not been disappointed. But that's not to say the CO2 wouldn't do a good job on pest from rats down, at ranges less than 25m.

I'll be interested in hearing from someone who has one.

regards, curan.

So would I like to hear from some one who has a CO2 as i say, I have nothing to do with air rifles except for shooting sparrows in the back yard a fair few years ago. But a PCP would be ok but they are more expensive.

I mainly chase pigeons, hares and rabbits so it would need to be able to knock them over, be quiet and easy to refill.

Thanks for the replies Rayg and Curran.

Peter

[quote pete]

I mainly chase pigeons, hares and rabbits so it would need to be able to knock them over, be quiet and easy to refill.

A direct answer to your question on ease of use and power is yes. The 850 would do well on pigeons, rabbits and other small stuff but I would have reservations about a hare,it would have to be a well placed head shot. Co2 is a good propulsion medium but it has its power limits also. To give you an idea of what I mean,having used a Co2 Hammerli .177 target rifle years ago,it was reasonably powerful for a target gun,it would shoot at about 650 Fps with a 7.5 round nose pellet and I did take a lot of pigeons with it (At up to 30 yards) but it did not have enough grunt to down a Rabbit. The 850 should put out a fair bit more power than that though.
Cheers,
Ray.

[quote="RayG"]...... The 850 should put out a fair bit more power than that though........[quote]
Hi fellas,

Found my old links from when looking at these a while back.

http://www.umarexusa.com/product/H%C3%A ... m,3,37.htm

This site gives the (claimed) figures of 760 fps for .177, and 655 fps for .22.

regards, curan

[quote-curan]

This site gives the (claimed) figures of 760 fps for .177, and 655 fps for .22.

regards, curan[/quote]

Here are some possible 850 power numbers for those cals.

.177 @ 760fps = with 7.5g pellet:9.3fpe and 10.5g heavy pellet:13.5 fpe thats a Rabbit donger.
.22 @ 655Fps = with 13.4 g; 12.7fpe,14.3g:13.6fpe and with 15.9g:15 fpe and I reckon I would have a go at a Hare with it if the range was right.(I use JSB pellets the numbers are based on the similar (to the 850) performance I get with my gas ram .22 SLR 98 which shoots all those pellets at 700+fps and averages 15.5 with the 2 lighter pellets and gets 16 fpe with the 15.9pellets)

I have found that hares are a hard animal to put down, if not hit in the head.

I am a complete novice in regards to air rifles so thanks for the help.

Do you think it would be better to look at the PCP?

Thanks,
Peter

IMHO....If you want to stick to birds and rabbits etc the 850 would do the job and you would be able to learn the tricks to shooting with the C02 variances quite easily. Otherwise going for a PCP would be a good decision based on consistent accuracy and better power alone.
Welcome to the wonderful world of Airguns Pete. Enjoy!
Ray.

Thanks for all the help Rayg. Do you think it will handle hares? Or do you think I should bite the bullet and go PCP?
Cheers,
Peter

Pete,

I'd be spending arond a $1000 on a BSA from Vicity Arms. The 850 is a bit plasticky for me. As I understand it the capsules are fairly expensive to. I had a Hornet and it was good quality and solid. The latest FX pump would be the go if you can't sort the filling of a scuba tank. I see on some of the overseas sites they convert the 850 to a bottle similar to a Rapid. Have a look at the Yellow 54 forum. Has a whole section on them.

[quote="pete152"]Thanks for all the help Rayg. Do you think it will handle hares? Or do you think I should bite the bullet and go PCP?
Cheers,
Peter

I would bite the bullet peter,I think a PCP would be a better way to go for the long term for Hares or any other small game shooting. Also in PCP you have a better choice of calibres to play with (.177, .20,.22 and .25) and none of the little wrinkles of C02.
Whitey has given you a good starting point in AG,s the BSA guns are good value for money.
Also you have some good Airgun people in Brisbane to talk to e.g. Potter firearms for one.
Ray.

Thanks Whitey and Rayg, I think I knew I would have to go the PCP way but have been putting it off for awhile now.

Thanks, I think I will pay Potter's a visit.

Cheers,
Peter

pete152 wrote:Thanks Whitey and Rayg, I think I knew I would have to go the PCP way but have been putting it off for awhile now.

Thanks, I think I will pay Potter's a visit.

Cheers,
Peter

Rob Potter has a very nice Swedish Logun Axsor .22 there.That would get you sorted out.
He also has JSB pellets,Hawke scopes,MDE charge gear etc.
Give him a ring first on 0755 493044.
Lewis

Hey Lewis!!!!!!

Nice to see you are still watching over us!