# Question about Daisy powerline 880 pellet gun and squirrels



## Mako22

My son has this pellet gun and everytime he shoots a limb rat it just runs off. He is shooting them under 30 yrds with hollow point pellets (.177 cal). Does he need to switch to pointed head pellets to get a kill? He pumps it 10 times as the book says and has even hit a couple in the head but they just get up and take off like nothing happened. These rats are ruining our pecan crop and so I asked my son to lower their numbers for me in the evenings after he does his home work.


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## don

man when I was a kid I would lay them tree rats down with an 880 powerline.....10 pumps and lights out.....didnt matter if it was a bb or a pellet.....I killed rabbits,coons,possums with out the O in front,tons of birds and a few things I probably shouldnt have with that gun....I stll have it and all three of my boy's grew up shooting it.....I've had that gun 36 years


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## chadf

Who knows how many critters died from my daisy.
That gun will kill a squirrel.


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## Tomahawk1088

I never really liked the hollowpoint pellets. I don't think they do too much expanding. All pellets Ive shot flatten out anyways. I used these ones called "Magnum" which were pointed and they did pretty good work. When the squirrel got hit it would spin its tail around and fall out the tree. They were shot with a Pumpmaster at around 700 fps if I remeber correctly. There are many new pellets out now that may work better. I wonder how the red ballistic tipped pellets work?


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## Alan in GA

Sounds like you're "underpower". I repaired airguns for years - the 880 is not that powerful when new much less than when the seals wear out....and they wear out quickly on that model.
I would looking into something .20 or .22 caliber and better quality than the 880. Just my opinion.
With the price of pecans, I'd use something like a Beeman or RWS to get control of those tree rats!
I've used my R9 w/Leupold 3x-9x EFR in airplane hangars [feral pigeons], roof rats in home supply stores, and in grocery stores for ANY bird that stayed long enough for the State Health Inspector to see it!
I spent as much $$ on my air rifle as my hunting firearms.....worth every penny to enjoy a GREAT air rifle.


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## Mako22

His gun is only 10 months old so I doubt its the seals.


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## TrailBlazer999

Woodsman69 said:


> His gun is only 10 months old so I doubt its the seals.



Don't say that. I bought one recently and the seals went out 3 days later. They don't make them like they did when I was a kid. Get something a little better quality.


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## Mako22

TrailBlazer999 said:


> Don't say that. I bought one recently and the seals went out 3 days later. They don't make them like they did when I was a kid. Get something a little better quality.



Okay I just shot it and I pumped it 10 times, after the third pump it didn't seem to get any harder to pump. Shouldn't the tenth pump be a good bit harder to pump than the 3rd pump was? I shot a two litter bottle full of water and the pellet penetrated at 20 yards but did not exit, not sure if it should have exited anyway.


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## chadf

Mine use to shoot through a five gallon bucket of oil, don't ask how I found out.......

They don't make them like they use to. Last daisy I bought broke/snapped in half(stock-barrel) while I was  swatting carpenter bees with the stock.
Cheap.


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## Mako22

chadf said:


> Mine use to shoot through a five gallon bucket of oil, don't ask how I found out.......



Oh I bet there was a butt whopping that came along with that story, LOL


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## chadf

Woodsman69 said:


> Oh I bet there was a butt whopping that came along with that story, LOL



I will say the shot shouldn't of been aimed at the bottom of the bucket. The top would have done the same.....


Granddad would have whooped me had he known. Simple!


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## holler tree

Go get that ruger from walmart it will smoke a squirrel i had to make my son stop shooting them out of the neighbors yard


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## georgia357

Woodsman69 said:


> Okay I just shot it and I pumped it 10 times, after the third pump it didn't seem to get any harder to pump. Shouldn't the tenth pump be a good bit harder to pump than the 3rd pump was? I shot a two litter bottle full of water and the pellet penetrated at 20 yards but did not exit, not sure if it should have exited anyway.




Try the same shot pumping the rifle 3 times and see if it does the same.  That will tell you if the seals are good or not.


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## tv_racin_fan

georgia357 said:


> Try the same shot pumping the rifle 3 times and see if it does the same. That will tell you if the seals are good or not.


 
You could also oil it to see if it improves. 

My son had an 880, it shot clean thru the mailbox.. First shot was claimed an accident but the next 50 weren't. I could tell he was experimenting with power because some were just indentions on the one side and others went thru the first side and just indented the second side and some were slap thru everything including the flag. That one was real accurate to. The second one he got was not nearly as powerful or accurate.


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## Tomahawk1088

Beeman has a two barrel set for I think around $200. Its got a .22 barrel and a .177 barrel. Its one of those single shot break open ones.


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## eric411

I have one of the Ruger air rifles (break barrel) and it puts down a squirrel every time with the hollow point pellets. Maybe talk to your son about shot placement? Squirrels can take some hits and keep going without flinching running on the adrenaline I guess. I always try and wait for front shoulder shots or spine shots depending on their position. Right below the head where the neck meets the shoulder has proved to be the achilles heel of the squirrel in my area.


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## rayjay

Know anybody with a chronograph ?  That's the only way to KNOW what velocity you are getting. I have a Daystate PCP air rifle that shoots JSB Heavy 177 pellets at 850 FPS as verified on a chrono. This is the ideal velocity for a heavy 177 pellet.  A lung shot on a squirrel at 50 feet gives a full pass through.


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## Stieet

My .177 Gamo silent cat break barrel shoots red ballistic tip "Predator poly mag" pellets sub sonic very well. Zeroed at 20 and 35 or so yards. Catch one on sale and really thin out the pecan thief's.


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## gahunter12

I need to get myself a good air rifle. I have 3 pecan trees, and they have just about cleaned me out.


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## Mako22

gahunter12 said:


> I need to get myself a good air rifle. I have 3 pecan trees, and they have just about cleaned me out.



Yep they will kill a crop


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