Kubo,
I am left handed. Does it have a stock that I could live with?
1eyedJack and the Dawg

Sure I think the XS-B26 would be fine to shoot lefty as far as the stock is concerned. The stock is contoured the same on both sides.

The only difference is the safety which engages automatically when you cock the rifle, is located on the back end of the receiver and is meant to be pressed with the right thumb as you grip the stock. But I guess you could press it with the left thumb also or release it before you aim at the target. Here are diagrams of it

{{gwi:90048}}

{{gwi:90049}}

The BAM XS-B26 is also a clone of the German made Weihrauch HW 95 (another $400 air rifle) which is what Beeman sells in this country as the Beeman R9. You can use the HW 95 operating manual and it describes the operation of the XS-B26 exactly.

how noisy is the gun when it shoots. I can not have a gun go off. I wonder since it looks like it goes above the speed of sound and therefore will have a noise shock wave.

If it sounds too loud like a gun going off the neighbors will be all over me. I want something quiet. for example a 22 rimfire is way too noisy.

Ole Dawg you are a supreme hunter and you will adore this one with the killer pellets. Reading your adventures with the woodchucks three times now I know you will really be a great match with this one. Although if you can use a 22 rimfire long rifle that would have a lot more kick.

I really like the design on the pellets. They look awesome. Just order a box. there are 200 in a box. it will take you awhile to shoot 200 woodchucks. haha.

I remember many years ago we used to get a box of 100 22 long rifle bullets for under a dollar. these are pellets with no gun powder and they want like $13 for 200. So they are not really cheap.

Thanks for the explanation on the fancy hole in the stock. You were right not to get that one. I might have made the mistake. I think you have the best gun well researched.

The XS-B26 is not very loud. It is a pop and not even a very loud pop considering the power of the rifle. It is louder for the first 100 rounds then it quiets down. There is no crack to the sound. I think a decent and well tuned springer is quieter than a CO2 airgun because you don't get the sound of the gas. It has more recoil than a C02 gun no doubt about it, but it is manageable. You have to get used to a high power springer especially a light weight hunting model you cannot grip the rifle tightly I just support the front of the stock on my open palm without gripping it, and let it recoil the way it wants to & don't fight it. There is a bit of technique but just takes a little practice to get used to working with the recoil not against it, and once you figure that out they are very accurate shooters. The .22 airgun pellet is going around 750-800 feet per second depending on the choice of pellet -- compare that the speed of sound at sea level which is 1087 feet per second. [The .22 pellet is subsonic so no sonic boom to contend with.]

The Predator Polymag pellets are an expensive pellet no question about it. You can get the decent Crosman Premier .22 hollow points for $5-6 for a tin of 500 at Walmart and they are respectable hunting pellets. The Predators are a very specialized pellet designed for tough to kill pests humanely and also pretty much guaranteed not to overpenetrate. I will not say more until I get a chance to use up the free samples on some live game. I will see if they work before I "invest" in a tin.

There are harder hitting pellet guns available than the XS-B26 in .22 but not in the small lightweight package it is easy to carry mine is 6.8 pounds which is a bit lighter than they advertise (which is fine with me).

The BAM XS-B30 hits harder 900 fps vs. 820 for the B26, but it weighs a 9.4 pounds. The XS-B21 in .22 shoots 800 fps, similar to the B26, but weighs a whopping 9.9 pounds and is much longer too. Just my opinion but I think the XS-B26 is the best of the BAM airguns for best control, it has the best trigger of the three by a lot and a bit more accurate as well, and I can't see lugging around an a 10 pound air rifle in the field when 6-3/4 pounds more than does the job.

kubo,
U mentioned recoil. Just what does it compare to? I had everything from .250 to .458win mag. also a 375 H & H. Surely it could not be close to .300 win mag?
1eyedJack and the Dawg

speed of sound is 1078 I was thinking it was 770.

10 pounds has to be for target shooting. some like them real heavy. it is one way to reduce the feel of recoil.

Ole Dawg the recoil has to be much less than a 22 rimfire which is real soft recoil. I would not worry on the recoil.

OK, lets see some results now!

I wasn't worried about the recoil. I shot the .458 win mag one day at the range 62 times and at $2.50 per factory load that mounts up fast. I needed the empty cases, formed fired, so that I could reload them to work up a accurate round. The .375 H and H I once shot 75 times. IT was worse that the .458 since the .458 had a muzzle break on it. BOY with that installed the shooters left and right move away quickly. The shock wave from that break is considerable.
LOL
1eyedJack and the Dawg

Ole Dawg

sounds like this air rifle will knock you on the seat of your pants. hahaha. this is a kindergarden toy not a cannon.

I think you are such a good shot you can get them with the cheaper pellets. you seem to get them at close range. At long range the velocity can be lower and make better use of the more expensive bullet.

Not sure about the scopes. It seems hard to believe one really needs such an expesive scope. They sell some cheapo scopes at Wal Mart. It seems to me one needs a good scope with big recoil. but with an airgun my feeling is the lower cost scope might do ok.

Now I am not saying that the more expensive scope is not super nice to have. But I can guess not necessary on an airgun. Before spending a lot on a new scope, you might try to move the scope over from your present CO2 airgun onto the new one.

I was trying to get info before. But did not find it. But I am pretty sure that the pump air guns are not so good. Like I said before they used to lose pressure after a few uses. The quality of a springer is suppose to be much better. I think this kind will last almost forever. Of course the CO2 is pretty good but limited on the velocity.

This was a big reason I did not dash out and get the $82 one. I was worried it would not last. I would be much more willing to purchase a springer over the other design.

Of course I am assuming this kind has the energy stored in a metal spring instead of an air pressure chamber. the stupid air pressure chambers leak. of course we probably pumped it up too much. but they never lasted more than a month or two. they were a waste of money. but that was a long time ago. we used to buy the crossman air rifles. piece of junk. even when you hit a squirrel he walked away. never got a one. shot a few out of the trees. but never killed one. Not that we know of anyway. that was at least 40 years ago. I can only assume they make them better now, hopefully. But then the springer is better. they did not have these high speed ones back then. they did not even list a velocity that I remember. I dont know if they had the .177 back then. I only remember the .22 and they did not mount scopes on them back then. Scopes used to be very expensive back then.

We used to have a huge pear tree and a nice apricot tree in the back yard. they always had squirrels on them. so we had lots to shoot at as kids. Never got a single squirrel with the gun. Did get lots with a live trap we made.

The recoil is less than a .30-30 nothing like a big hunting rifle like you have. The recoil is much more than a .22 rimfire though, I think people are quite surprised when they go to a spring air rifle. The recoil of a spring goes in both directions like an artillery piece. First the recoil goes back then it recoils to the front.

spring airguns are harder on scopes than other rifles, even some big hunting rifles. You need scopes that are especially rated for spring airguns, or else the airgun will destroy the scope very quickly, even expensive scopes that are not shockprproof. The reason is that the springer recoils first to the back and then too the front, whereas a firearm just recoils in one direction. They chew up scopes very quickly if you don't get an airgun scope.

I got a message from Ole Dawg. I like this guy. He is so cool. anyway. His cancer operation to remove the tumor was sort of successful. Here was his note.
...................................

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

My Friends,

I have just returned from the cancer surgery and the news is good. I am a cancer survivor. However I have been left with a rather large (between a nickel and a quarter, $US) hole in my forehead. Naturally I told the doctor not to stitch it up so that I would have a large scar to talk about.

Lets see, how does this sound? "I got shot in the head, but since they did not get me right between the eyes they did not kill me" or "I had a piece of shrapnel in there and it started moving around and the doctors were afraid that it might cut a blood vessel in my brain and kill me" or maybe "I was working with 5/8ths inch rebar driving it into the ground and I slip and fell and a piece went thru my head" or of course I could just tell people that I had a cancer that was eating a hole into my brain which is the truth. I of course took my camera and I have attached some photos of "The Hole". The doctor took more than I and because he left such a big hole, he made me promise not to tell anyone his name. LOL His name means "The Flower" in Dutch. Figure that one out or just GOOGLE IT. LOL

All the news I have for now and my thanks to everyone for their prayers.

1eyedJack and the Dawg

....................................

If he is 1eyedJack how did he get it between the eyes. Dont ask. I wonder if the doctor looked like a groundhog. Ole Dawg is too mean to let a little bullet hole between the eyes slow him down. Gell well quick Ole Dawg. We need you around here. the Groundhogs did not miss you however.

Thanks Kubota on the info on the springer air gun. Looks like we do need a special scope. I would have ruined a more regular scope. I happen to have one. Looks like I will need a new one again. Technology always wants something slightly different. keeps the economy rolling.

I hope you get some practice on a groundhog or at least a squirrel. They are easier to find. A racoon would be big. I plugged a skunk once about 35 years ago with a 22 rim fire. I think it still smells in the woods. Never again. I did it from a good distance. dont try that one up close. haha. you be sorry.

My neighbor shot one last week at night and went out and picked it up and throwed it into the woods and he didn't smell. He used a 12 ga. shotgun

Now why didn't we think of that. A 12 gauge should do the trick. Around here I would get arrested for that trick.

Besides this air rifle being legal for me, it is also more sporting and more fun.

Ole Dawg good to see you back. How do you feel. I hope you have full and super fast recovery.

Welcome back ole dawg glad to see you are up and about.

I might have to change my name to 3eyedJack and the Dawg
Observe the third eye

{{gwi:90050}}

>>>ole_dawg

Gee, you almost brought up my breakfast, wish you the best of luck.

{{gwi:90051}}

Sorry about that, but I am as happy as a pig in a poke (bag) for you Yankees. I am cancer free now and he could have dug half way to China and it would not have bother me.
1eyedJack and the Dawg

I sold my old van today to two Mexicans. I offered one a paper towel to check the oil and he dipped the transmission and promptly told me he was a mechanic so I thought what the hell. He is a mechanic and he knows.
THey wanted a test drive so I let him and when they left it was pouring water out of the tail pipe, but you know a mechanic knows about these kind of things. Tonight I sleep with my Colt.
LOL
1eyedJack and the Dawg

I catch them in have-a-hart cages (to make sure I don't injure my cats or neighbor cats) and plant the chucks in the pond.

I used to relocate them, but saw an authoritative article in a newspaper that said there was no point to that (all the viable spots were filled). And I can't shoot them in my suburban neighborhood. I tried stabbing the first one in the cage with an arrow, but it wouldn't die for hours (and sprayed blood on me - think of rabies).

I just keep the cage draped in black plastic sheeting and drown them. Its a pain disposing of them. I dig 2' deep holes and leave them for the trees to eat. It only takes 10 minutes in bad soil... But I'd rather not have to do that.

If anyone knows a safer AND more humane way, let me know...

I just think of them as giant destructive moles and leave it at that. And it sure doesn't bother me to kill a mole or vole!

Holy Cow, A none bleeding heart. I love you and don't even know if you are male or female.

Two things...

Dawg, careful they don't call you a dirty dawg! Plus it looks like you got a spare place to store your ammo! Just hold your hand out and snap your head forward when you need to refill! Just kiddin Dawg! Glad you are better.

Yarden, maybe try a garden fork or pitch fork when they are in the cage--try clear plastic for no splashback. I would think 2 or 3 tines thru the head or neck would take them out pretty quickly. Or back the vehicle tailpipe up to the cage, especially with the plastic on the cage and just one opening.

>> * realworld 3) I mentioned I was working on a way to zap them

Looks like it may have been done, came across this on eBay,

the Rat Zapper is discussed on Garden Web in many threads.

http://search.gardenweb.com/search/?term=rat+zapper

kkfromnj:
Huh ? this looks like a Havahart to me ;->
Looks Like a Havahart to me ;->
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250156839050&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:US:1

I have seen and tested some of these mice and rat zappers, they do not work very well there is nothing to guarantee the critter stays in the electrodes. There are size dependant, more like a rat or mouse chaser after they get a poke.

Note to Ol_Dawg, glad to hear you are doing better. Best wishes for your future.

It had the zapper there yesterday but the seller maybe changed the listing or something.

I do not want to zap a rat. I want to vaporize all wood chucks. Lets get a million volts on those buggers.

How about having them walk on a plate of alternating wires so they will be in contact with both plus and minus voltage. then have the plate trigger. this could include 2 plates. one on the ground that does not move and the one that triggers or moves to turn on the electricity. That way he is standing on the plates for sure.

What happen to Kubo? Where are you dude?

I was on vacation for a week.

I came back and the moderator deleted the entire thread about controlling pests with an airgun. Somthing about it being too "upsetting". How do you like that? Who in the blue hell is running Gardenweb these days, a bunch of vegetarians? I will tell you what is upsetting, losing an entire orchard crop to varmints.

From now on I am not helping one other person on this forum with pest control any more, they can eat up your whole garden and orchard for all I care.

Kubota, start it up again, but maybe if you don't mention shooting little birdies out of trees maybe they won't pull it! lol. I thought that was an excellent thread... you almost had me convinced to go get an air rifle & scope... but I haven't seen the groundhog here in a couple months. But I liked the serious & educational tone of that thread--this one's a little foolish sometimes.

That's fine. No need to repeat it -- I already got my points across. If you want to read the thread again, it is still available on Google. Search for "Garden pest control using an airgun" and click on Cached page.

I've decided that groundhogs aren't funny when they destroy all the pole beans and all the cucumbers and trample down the flowers. I caught 2 groundhogs last week and dispatched them. The live trap is now a permanent part of my garden, unfortunately.

>>yardenman The live trap is now a permanent part of my garden, unfortunately

Welcome to the club

I don't have a woodchuck problem, now I have a bird problem in the orchard with birds eating the fruit. But I am gradually eliminating the problem.

Korey K got banned. I don't know what he did to get banned? His post were not outragious IMHO.
1eyedJack and the Dawg

>>>Korey K got banned

Holy Moly

I have friends in town who are Chinese and they have a woodchuck problem in the garden. They live trap them then release them elsewhere or else drive them into Boston and sell them to a Cantonese restaurant.

And no, I am not kidding about the Chinese restaurant part. Old Chinese saying "If its back faces heaven, you can eat it".

Im a big eater of Chinese food, YUM,YUM. That might explain those exotic sounding dishes with the meat I just cant put my finger on. Next time Im in NYC over in Chinatown Ill have to get their recipe, I might have a goldmine in my backyard.

If you have not had any luck trapping your woodchuck invader, I have a new method to try. I got mine only after a day of doing battle. You need to find the burrow, mine was under my porch. I could see where he dug under to get under the porch.
This could also work where they burrow under the fence to get into the garden. You take some nylon line, and make a simple slip knot. Tie one end to a fixed post or something solid. Using twigs or anything you can to place the open loop of the knot, which should be wide enough for the woodchuck to put his head and shoulders through, at the place where he travels in and out of his burrow or garden. He will go through the loop and when it tugs on his belly the loop should tighten up around him, and that's it. If it doesn't get around his belly and catches his leg, he can probably chew the line off. If you do catch him you will probably still need a cage to get him into before you can transport and release him.

Good luck.

Woodchuck is recognized as good food to eat by many people including Americans. Nothing wrong with that. You can do a google search and come up with Woodchuck recipes.

The chinese would never serve up a live animal to Americans. They want it all for themselves. That is a rare delicacy.

I wonder how much money he can sell the woodchuck for. Can you find out. However, it probably is illegal to sell a wild animal. But I have no problems with a woodchuck and I doubt anyone one else would either. But it would be best to keep a low profile.

Berniman

What you discuss is called a snare. They are usually made from stainless steel wire. You can purchase them from some sellers for trapping. They come in all different sizes and methods of making. Well minor changes in the method. You can also make them yourself from wire.

This thread is incredibly long. Almost 300 posts this year. Might make a record.

After not seeing/catching one since Apr 18th, got one this morning.

Moo Goo Gui Hog?

{{gwi:90052}}

There is no better way to get rid of a woodchuck than to use a Conebear trap. I used a model 330 and it was big enough to get him in the neck. Had a photo of it here, but the web people removed it, and blocked my access to sending up a personal page photos.. So much for freedom of speach and expression... They are the worst creatures to ever set foot in a garden. After losing all my unusual and rare egg shaped squash, as well as peppers, sweet potatoes and some of my fruit tree limbs, it was time to get out the death trap, as they would just bypass the live traps, after 2 seasons of failed attempts, and many different trail scent markers and baits. The one I got was big, about the size of a medium sized dog, and much bigger than a cat.

Why does everyone think groundhogs are hard to catch? A couple of vertical long boards in a V shape, some sliced apple and lettuce in a Have-A-Hart trap at the end and you get them everytime... The only problem I have is remembering to do it routinely (and after this year, I don't think I will have that problem).

What you do with them once trapped is your business.

Well, Hmmm. I didn't have sufficient time to review all these neat posts, but I'll share what I know. Number One: I live in the boondocks and I have planted clover in my yard. Pretty, low growing, can take a mowing, and attracts bees. When we mow, we create strips of unmowed areas which the deer and bunnies and groundhogs and 'coons are happy to eat, and they leave my garden alone. It has been this way for 18 years. I remember in all things gardening that "Nature, to be commanded, must be obeyed."

I have a twenty pound "whistle pig" (groundhogs as we call 'em) who lives under a building about twenty feet from both my big gardens. The only thing I've lost thusly this year is the top of the chickweed I had in a part of the garden I purposely neglected to weed after the big veggie boom.

I found that, thinking this year for the first time we should trap the coons out, that they were in there looking for slugs under the straw in the aisles. Hence, a boom in slugs. I'll never do that again. I knew the raccoons had been there 'cause they make little "crop swirls" in the straw digging for the grubs.

If you live in town or a populated area, if it is feasible, I suggest you create a buffer of what the critters prefer. I have never ever seen in almost twenty years, a groundhog, deer or raccoon choose vegetables over rich sweet clover. I also pick my tomatoes when they "pink up" and I've found they only get a nibble after they are fully ripe. I leave the nibbled ones (very few, and usually late, or in the dry season), and they come back for more of the same ones which were, for all intents and purposes, lost anyhoo.

Off my soapbox. Best of luck! And these posts are funny! Very creative!

The old woman, Marsha

here is a cool very short video on getting rid of Groundhogs. very funny too.

A long time ago, I had a place in New Jersey with a big garden. A woodchuck lived under my wood pile. He would leave the empty corncobs on the ground all nicely shucked, just like a person had eaten them. He would walk right by me in the driveway, and look at me like I was trash. Then he found out about the muskmelons. He would take one bite out of each one just as it ripened. I was furious. I called up my buddy and told him to bring his 22 rifle. He told me he was a crack shot. The woodchuck was 25 feet away from us, up on his hind legs. My buddy fired off round after round, and the chuck didn't even move. When we went to get more ammo, the chuck disappeared.

A day or two later, I found him eating another melon, and chased him under the wood pile. I was in a very bad mood. I got the gas can and matches. I jumped on top of the wood pile and spilled some gas where I thought the hole was. I tried to get a match going, but I couldn't, probably because my hands were shaking so bad. I finally threw a lit match into the woodpile and ignited the gas fumes, and a sheet of flame about 6 inches high immediately spread over a 10 foot area. About two seconds later, there were four tremendous booms, and four long jets of blue fire came out of the ground all around the wood pile. I guess the fumes had gone into the woodchuck hole, and the flames had shot out of all the exit holes.

Well, I figured that was the end of Mr. Woodchuck. I didn't see him for about a week. That Saturday, I was talking to my neighbor, and he said, "You'll never guess what my dog brought in the other day. A naked woodchuck! I never saw anything like it!"

Lily Dude

That is way too funny. I may never stop laughing.

Dan

Before we know it, the scourge of many gardens will be back. New Jerseyâs Game of the Week.

{{gwi:90053}}

NO ONE seems to be having a woodchuck problem in 2008

groundhogs love sliced apples. When I'm trying to trap them it's all I'll use anymore.

Hi all, kind of new to this forum. I might have posted last year, but I don't recall. Anyway, we have app. 2/3 acre here behind deer fence, with all the rest (woods, fields, pond) not. As you've probably assumed, the fenced-in area is for my good stuff -- my daylily collection, hostas, and new-to-me veg garden. (Never have had one before.) At one end of the fenced area is a smallish barn -- with a nice little burrow letting out into my garden.

One of the windows in my home office looks out onto the garden, and all this summer, I watched the resident woodchuck waddle out and start eating. He started with my broccoli before I knew he was there.

I won't kill an animal, and I didn't have a Hav-a-Heart trap, so he (she? it?) and I immediately came to an understanding. He/she/it can eat all the grass, clover, and chickweed he/she/it wants. The daylilies, hostas, and veg are mine.

And it's worked very well, probably because there is so much grass here. If he/she/it starts waddling too closely to the veg bed, I make a big to-do on the patio, jumping up and down & yelling. He/she/it immediately makes for the burrow.

Yes I know, someone here's going to tell me it's just a matter of time before the thing destroys my garden, and I take to extreme measures.

Nope, I'm with the Marsha who leaves unmowed grass and a natural buffet buffer for critters.

If necessary, I'll buy a Hav-a-Heart trap, catch the thing, and release it in the state park down at the end of our lane.

Anyway, maybe there's a lot of joking on this thread, but I am not reading through the whole thing to find out. :))) So my comments are actually pretty serious ones. Anyway again, I can't worry about one fat woodchuck -- not when I have mice behind the walls here and in the pantry and two cats who are sleeping on the job!