Can You Kill Rat with BB Gun [Proven Methods Discussed]

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It can get quite frustrating if you have a rat in your home. They can damage your property, contaminate food, or even spread diseases. You must make them run away, or you can kill them, but can you kill rat with bb gun?

BB guns are air guns that are not used to kill rats but can only injure them. These bb guns fire small steel balls, making them potentially deadly, yet they cannot instantly kill the mouse.

Other air guns are similar to bb guns that can kill rats, including pellet guns and air rifles.

Why Is a BB Gun Not Strong Enough To Kill a Rat?

Ball Bearing guns cannot kill rats; instead, they can only injure them. They are pretty brutal as they damage the animal to the extent that it might die later in a cruel manner. The metal missiles or steel balls from bb guns can penetrate the skin and thorax and even cause bone fractures.

To kill a rat humanely, you will need a powerful air gun, whereas bb guns are too low-powered to kill a rat instantly as it shoots. They can penetrate the skin but not the internal tissues due to their reduced power and only cause the rat to die brutally.

This killing of animals is against humanity, so one might opt for a more subtle way to kill a rat.

What Is The Difference Between An Air Rifle And a bb Gun?

They all fall into the term of air guns with slight differences in their function as some air guns might not have enough power to kill a rat and only injure them, such as a bb gun, whereas an air rifle is more suitable for killing rats.

The main difference between an air rifle and a bb gun, i.e., air rifles can fire various caliber projectiles. In contrast, bb guns can fire only one projectile motion, making them more competent in killing rats.

BB guns shoot small projectile motions as they have low strength. Air rifles can fire projectiles similar to bb guns and attain higher movement.

So for the competitive shooting of rodents, farmers prefer an air rifle.

Will A.22 Air Rifle Kill a Rat?

Yes, air rifles of .22 and .25 calibers can quickly kill a rat, but you can use them for shooting at a close range of about 700 FPS. Usually, an air gun that fires from 400 to 500 FPS can quickly kill a rat, but we prefer one with a higher range. One can use these guns for shooting rats from a shorter field, giving them a headshot.

People usually prefer an air rifle of .177 air gun caliber while shooting from a long-range, with an average velocity of 921 FPS. One can use them from a more subtle distance, and you can target the rat more efficiently.

Which Is The Best Rat-Killing Rifle?

Air rifles are of various ranges and can kill a rat, but they all may be slightly different, and it depends on which one you want to use according to the situation.

For shorter-range headshots, a.22 caliber air rifle is. It has low initial velocity and high muzzle energy, which helps it shoot at closer ranges.

The .177 air rifle has a higher initial velocity and low muzzle energy. This air rifle is better suited to shooting at relatively long ranges. It has a 6-yard higher kill zone range than the other.

Because a.177 air rifle is 25% more effective than a.22, we can conclude that larger calibers are more effective in hunting down small animals like rats.

Will a CO2 Pistol Kill a Rat?

Multi shots CO2 pistols are bb guns that shoot with pressure, so we will stick to the above answer that it cannot instantly kill a rat but injure it, which may lead to its death.

A rat can be pretty hefty, and compressed-pressure air guns are preferred and more suitable for killing rats rather than a CO2 bb gun.

If you are considering using CO2 air guns, prefer targeting the head or severe fortitude, although challenging to achieve. This will ensure a chance of killing them humanely rather than the callous killing of rats.

So we would not prefer or advise a CO2 pistol or bb gun to be used in killing a rat; instead, we prefer a high-pressure air rifle.

How Much Power Does a BB Gun Have?

A bb gun is an air gun with a smoothbore barrel and steel balls of about 0.33 to 0.35 g. They are powerful enough to hit and move across the skin but not fast enough to instantly penetrate the internal tissues and kill the animal.

These bb guns can fire up to 550 FPS, and using them to cause injuries to the animal is quite mean.

BB guns are powerful enough to have a shot, but why kill a rat in such a brutal way when we can use an air rifle with a speed of 1000 FPS that may cause an instant kill? One may use a bb gun if there is no other option but to prefer an air rifle over a bb gun.

Can a Plastic BB Gun Kill a Rat?

No, a plastic bb gun cannot even injure a rat to the extent that it may die later. Plastic bb guns are also airsoft guns with plastic bullets that may hurt the animal. These airsoft guns can fire projectile motion, are far safer than any other bb gun, and can be used in shooting practices.

The primary difference between these two bb guns is only in the ammunition they fire. Typically, bb guns have steel balls used for targeting and cruelly killing an animal, whereas these plastic bb guns have plastic pellets, so they are not powerful enough to kill a rat.

Plastic bb guns have only a few hundred FPS, rendering them ineffective in killing mice.

Conclusion

BB guns are air guns that can potentially kill a rat depending on the gun’s strength as they shoot small projectiles. They are known for their cruel killing of animals as they have low FPS, so the bullet may not penetrate the tissues. To protect the animal from such brutality, one can kill them with an air rifle.

Air rifles with a higher FPS can instantly kill a rat without having it bear much pain like with a bb gun. They differ slightly from bb guns only in their velocity; that is why people tend to prefer an air rifle over a bb gun in case of killing a rat.

References

Gallyas, F., Zoltay, G., & Balas, I. (1992). An immediate light microscopic response of neuronal somata, dendrites, and axons to contusing concussive head injury in the rat. Acta neuropathologica, 83(4), 394-401.

Shively, G. E. (1997). Poverty, technology, and wildlife hunting in Palawan. Environmental Conservation, 24(1), 57-63.

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