Greetings chums , the weather is warming up nicely.Im all set for a day zeroing in my 4x32 1077 this week.I got a old yard sign hanger,like a big upside down U and poked it in the ground where i can suspend water balloons and cans.
Im not an advocate of shooting critters , people shoot what they shoot , i like water balloons.But its brought to my attention that groundhogs are both agreesive and rabid in some cases.

I only got here from the UK last year where we dont have any rabies or groundhogs , whats the scoop there lads?Thing is there are so many around here , pretty much every tree and shrub has a groundhog hole,they were setting up camp under the back porch last summer,an old ruined barn in the woods seems to be thier HQ.
Do they really carry rabies ?

Theres too many for shooting and i doubt a 1077 would take one out anyway , whats my best plan do you think?

Hi there, whereabouts did you land up? Canada or US, i am in Nova Scotia, and loving it, so nce to have room to breath and be surrpounded by people that are friendly and want to help, took a while to get ued to it i can tell ya! anyway i see we share the 1077 too, i just fittd mine with upgraded valve parts to up the power, thanks to 4 eyes for the info on where to get them, so i am a happy bunny! anyway just thougt i would say hi, oh yeah in you previous posts about targets, i'mnot really into shooting critters, unless they have to be gone, like rats etc, so i made up a multi target board, it has a large flat area where i staple paper rifle targets i get from canadian tire, and i put a tee piece on to which overhangs both sides, where i hang swinging targets like beer cans and 4 litre milk jugs they are goo cos they move when ya hit em, and alo if its windy they are callenging to hit, i set the targets out to about 40 to 50 feet, and it works well, anyway just thought i'd say hi, cheers CC

9 out of 10 voices in my head told me to do it!!

Hi Col Chimp , im in Pa and pretty much liking it , not a million miles from Canada or indeed the airport So far i havnt felt a need to bolt for sanity and keep the ol'fingers crossed.
This is my 2nd summer coming up and im really looking forward to it , long hot dry summer , i totally love it.
Nice going on the upgrade by the way and kudos to ol'4 eyes for helping out,pretty knowledgable guy.
Im with you on the critters , birds and critters get a free pass in my yard , as much as it might amuse me to paintball the squirrels i wont.

Rats however are very much on my target list and i operate a shoot first ask questions later policy there with no chance of a commute to just a stoning.
Ive reason to suspect they share that barn with thier rabid buddies the groundhogs who might very well be a late addition to the hit list.

It will be an interesting few days in the coming week as id best not be out there firing off airguns on a sunday i guess.
I only got mine a few months back and its been too cold to want to sit out there and zero it in.
It should be pretty close already as it is preowned.I got it with a crosman 357 6" and a box of Co2 with 12 bottles for $100.The pistol came with spare magazines and a padded case and the 1077 with its scope and a case.
I added a 1377 pump to the clan last month which i use for target plinking,its amazingly accurate for a pistol and easily as powerful as my 1077..i think..its close.

I also added a spare clip and 3 more magazines for a total of 4 to the 1077 , with a spare swap out clip thats 24 shots in the blink of an eye and 2 more loaded magazines waiting to swap out , devestating for any critter not on the welcome list.
Same with the 357 , added more magazines for speedloading , woe betide any rat that wanders out of those woods.

hi jake.... sounds like u've made it thru most of our winter.... april coming & it should start to warm up some.... out here in az. we r having 70-80f daytime & 38-45f at night but i'm north of tucson at about 3k' so we r cooler then phoenix & even tucson 40 miles south.... can't tell u much about the ground hogs & i'm sure u already know they can do some damage to vegetation no less the danger of the holes they dig.... believe u have several others then the 1077 & it will take that to drop the hogs (unless u club them w/the butt).... u guys stay well, blue sky & green lights to all.... i'm off to grab a brew & take my quad for a spin in the river bottom.... cheers!.... pops

Sounds like a blast 4 wheelin , closest i get to that is a john deere tractor.Yeah i figured them thar hogs would need more pursuadin than a .177 pellet.Ive other weapons much more suitable for the job if required.
Happily i was told this morning that its rare for these groundhogs to have rabies but it can happen.
They are tearing up the yard though so i will take measures to evict them and hope they head back to the woods rather than in the yard.

It being a Sunday i made my own rule about i wouldnt fire it on a sunday..tsk..came back to bite me in the bum.Beautiful day it was too.
Tomorrow im going to put a deck chair out back and go through a few bottles of Co2 and get the rifle tuned in as close to perfection as i can.
Its pretty close already,i fired off 1 bottle of air with it, about 50 shots, i probably could have squeezed a few more out but wondered about losing power around the end.It might have been closer to 60 shots , cant really remember other than roughly.

sounds like ur getting ready for spring planting....check out this* site for hog info:
http://www.hoghaven.com/all.html
there go ur veggies!.... good gunning & stay well.... pops

jake, forgot to ask r u sure ur getting 50-60 shots on the 1077?.... if that's w/the 12g powerlet i'm only getting 3 good clips & part of a poor 4th.... pops

I get about the same number of shots per CO2 as Pops.

The past few months, I've switched to using my air pistols. My PX4 and PPK airpistols are so much fun to shoot. I really have to use my 1077 more. I bought it new a few months ago and really need to put it through it's paces and work in the action.

Hi Pops , yeah i was getting at least that.Looks like our buddy four eyes is the same , sounds like somethings up with your 1077 bud , maybe a leak ?

I stopped after about 60 shots and when i released the air bottle i heard a bit escape so it wasnt entirely empty.
It is the small Co2 bottles and 12 shot clips,like i say i plan to sit out for a half hour tomorrow if its warm and burn up a bottle or two.Ill come back on with what results i get and ill watch to see at what point power decreases.

Your right about the spring planting , i had a fantastic garden last year so this is the 2nd year im putting veg out there.I broke my back digging out the ground and putting up a 5 ft deer fence all around and that wasnt cheap.
From day one the law of the backyard states all critters get a free pass but there is fine print which states ..except if found guilty of veg garden abuse.

Squirrels and rabbits abound out there man , any number of them , deer too , i have yet to see any of them raid the garden,squirrel could easily climb over but i havnt witnessed that.
Theres plenty other food around for them in that theres an abandoned 11 acres apple/peach orchard which just produces windfalls these days.

I seen a big fat hog today out back and could have popped one at his ass but the jurys still out on them.I see you have left a link for me which im going to read now.
If i discover they can tunnel under the fence and raid the garden..well..its damning evidence and im not prepared to give them the benefit of any doubt.

Thanks for that link Pops , i dont go for the cutesy image of them but raised an eyebrow when reading they will eat windfalls if possible and theres certainly plenty of that around.
They are all definately up for eviction without question however capital punishment is off the table.
Going by the timeline on that link i reckon the one or two ive seen lately are just waking up.They are stubborn buggers you know.Last year i lobbed a smoke bomb or three down a hole and man o man did that smoke that hole out , same hog was back in business by dusk,didnt care.

If it was just one or two hoggies i wouldnt bother,we are talking double figures last summer and if they are all breeding this year..well..
Problem is the old ruined farm that adjoins our property,11 acres of woods and ruined buildings.
They wander over here cos its nice grass to eat i guess and they can drink out of the koi pond , ive seen squirrels doing that so im guessing the hogs do too.

I really should be looking into eviction notice for them this week before they do breed,ive no experience in groundhogs or how to rid the yard of them.
Should be an interesting few days as ive got my mind made up tonight , theres 3 holes i know of on our property and countless over on the other property.
Time for some wagon fixin tomorrow.

Hi there,for max power i usually change out my co2 after 5 clips, as after that the shots usually drop off, and even though there is a gas escape when i change them, it is still not enough to propel the pellets for anything other than ever decreasing range plinking, for power you gotta change the capusle at around the 5 clip mark, maybe 6 on a good hot day, but in the winter i have sometimes only got 2 clips worth anything, but thats just down to the properties of co2 expansion etc, well thats my 2 pen'orth cheers CC

9 out of 10 voices in my head told me to do it!!

Welcome Jake, I shoot a modified 1377c,
I've re discovered air guns and shoot in the back yard, it's the best shooting range I ever shot at, total relaxation.
It's all the same anyway, you still have to put them in the 10 ring, and the walk to targets is a lot shorter : >)
I only shoot vermin now, besides paper.

My 1077's trigger is smoothing out nicely. However, I just ordered a new clip, so I'll have to see how the new clip will affect trigger pull.

I've got the 1077 making pop cans dance at 30 yards. I'll move up to 40, then hopefully stretch that out to 50 yards.

I find that a deliberate (not jerky) pull on the trigger gives my better, more consistent shots than using slow pulls. Anyone else observe that from their 1077?