Revelation of a Cockroach Hunter

Ji in Hawaii · Post by **Ji in Hawaii** » Sun Oct 07, 2012 8:13 pm

As anyone who has spent any time in Hawai'i may know we have roaches the size of small lobsters. My wife usually lets me know when she spots one, and I'll usually grab my lever action Daisy model 10 to do the dirty deed. This gun shoots steel BBs at about 325 fps. What I have been discovering is that this gun just doesn't possess enough ooph for one shot drops on these zombie terminator roaches. 2 nights ago my wife screams there's a large roach running across our living room floor. I grab my Daisy and pop the monster once. He slows down but does not stop. I pop him again... then again, and again, and again. My wife is having a great laugh as I circle the beast and pump ten more rounds into him. She wants to grab the video camera and record the battle but I refuse. Finally I get desperate and grab my 1911 Colt and chamber a round. I point it at the beast, squeeze the trigger, and the beast is finally blown in half and stops twitching. Of course this was a Korean made airsoft 1911 shooting 6mm round plastic balls at 350fps.

I'm guessing a .177 BB weighs more than a 6mm plastic ball but the added diameter (frontal area) made the difference velocity being about equal. I went online and found a all metal Winchester '92 clone airsoft gun (refuse to call a smooth-bore a rifle) that shoots the same 6mm plastic ball ammo at over 500fps

which should be good roach medicine as well as rabid poodle pack problem popper (another story). So question is anyone here familiar with the Bravo model '92 airsoft clone. Looks pretty awesome. Each recharge of "green gas" into built in reservoir supposedly good for 4 magazines (25 rounds x 4) of shooting. Man do I miss living on Maui shooting deer, pigs, and goats instead of roaches and poodles.

http://www.evike.com/product_info.php?products_id=37497
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajGeRACkvyU&feature=plcp

2571 · Post by **2571** » Sun Oct 07, 2012 8:38 pm

Locked up a guy once who was very, very drunk. He was laying on his bed, shooting roaches off the ceiling with a .22.

Hit quite a few, but upstairs neighbor had gotten tired of his Friday/payday roach safaris and finally called 911.

AJMD429 · Post by **AJMD429** » Sun Oct 07, 2012 8:48 pm

Not familiar with that gun, but my son used to take a plastic-pellet shooting handgun out when he closed the chicken coop, and always shot a mouse or two, which the chickens promptly ripped to shreds and turned into eggs for us.

1894c · Post by **1894c** » Sun Oct 07, 2012 9:27 pm

i hear that a poodle can make a fine meal...and is there a daily bag limit on poodles...and is an out-of-state poodle license expensive and does it have to be a guided hunt...just asking... :)

El Chivo · Post by **El Chivo** » Sun Oct 07, 2012 9:38 pm

don't try this with a springer, but I was told the way to kill insects was to dry-fire with a pumped up Benjamin Sheridan. The air blows them apart without using a projectile.

May not work for dog sized insects but then again it might. I'd hate to see someone get popped in the eye with a .177 pellet.

I have been thinking about getting an air pistol to carry while hunting; sometimes I see a rabbit on the way back but don't want to shoot it with a deer round. Same with snakes; I would love to bring back a snake and have a nice belt.

J Miller · Post by **J Miller** » Sun Oct 07, 2012 10:04 pm

Sooooo, where's the pics of the trophy bug with you posing with your gun?

Joe

1894c · Post by **1894c** » Sun Oct 07, 2012 10:06 pm

J Miller wrote:Sooooo, where's the pics of the trophy bug with you posing with your gun?

Joe

that's a great question... :)

gak · Post by **gak** » Sun Oct 07, 2012 10:52 pm

I haven't seen the Bravo 92 before--but it looks good. Sad thing is a danged air rifle has got that forend nose down much better than an actual 'spensive centerfire gun (Rossi) does!
..."guided hunt"

Blaine · Post by **Blaine** » Sun Oct 07, 2012 11:02 pm

In the old Quad Barracks @ Schofield Bks, we had those monster roaches....We would find those little lizards and turn them loose in the room. Half a dozen lizards would keep the roaches knocked back pretty good. Up in the attic, where we could find lizards pretty easy, you could still see the bullet holes from the Pearl Harbor Attack....

John in MS · Post by **John in MS** » Sun Oct 07, 2012 11:29 pm

"Sooooo, where's the pics of the trophy bug with you posing with your gun?"

I'm sure he rushed it right to the taxidermist.... probably be back in a few weeks,
mounted on a nice walnut plaque...

Hey, Ji, did you opt for a full head/shoulders mount, or just a Euro-style skull and antennae mount?

I am not without cockroach-blasting experience, myself, back in the mid-70's.
Limited to a .177 Daisy 880, I also found the .177 pellets a bit sub-optimal for reliable one-shot stops.

At first, I remedied this with James Bond-style exploding pellets, and these had the desired
roach-fragmentation effect as long as they were on the cement floor of our garage/driveway.
Night hunts were extra-cool, due to the dramatic flash and pop when they hit. However, I
later defected from the Jack O'Connor "small-bore/high velocity" camp and became a devotee of the Elmer Keith
school... big, heavy pellets going slow. Purchased a Benjamin pump-up .22 air pistol, and never failed to get a 1-shot stop
after that.

In case you're wondering about those explosive pellets, [don't try this at home, yada yada], I packed the
hollow cavity of the pellets with the fine-grain, silver flash powder from de-milled Black Cat firecrackers,
and then formed an impact detonator from the white parts of the heads of kitchen matches. The back end of a
match served to pulverize the match-head Willie Pete into place, and the judicious grinding/wedging of enough of this
mixture into place resulted in a tightly-packed seal that kept my bug-lethal payload in place for its 650 fps joyride to
roach obliteration... These were loaded backwards to put the detonator up front, and worked a treat!

One hazard was that grinding too hard could set off the charge, resulting in matching blisters on thumb and forefinger.
Although they weren't needed, of course I had to try the bigger, .22 version. For this, I used the Crosman wadcutter
pellets of the era, which were truly cavernous compared to the standard .177" RN diabolos. Seriously, it felt like I was
shoveling mountains of powder into the .22's, vs. the .177's. Naturally, the bigger cavity diameter required the sacrifice of
quite a few kitchen matches for 1 pellet, with commensurate grinding and wedging to create a secure, durable detonator.
Given their labor-intensive nature, only a few of these bunker-busters were ever assembled before the backyard bug
wars drew to a close, but field trials were a total success. When fired against a brick wall at night, the .22 Crosman
erupted in what would, to a roach, surely have been a cataclysmic roar, and the flash was easily as large as a U.S
quarter in diameter!!

Every word of the above is true... and again, due to our disgustingly litigious modern society, I must again advise readers
earnestly NOT to attempt to emulate any of the above!! (Remember, folks, I was a highly-trained 15-year-old professional...)

Now, imagine the kids of today trying to have this much fun... swathed in bubble-wrap, bike helmets, safety glasses, hearing protection and asbestos -- er, scratch that -- "fire-proof" gloves. Heck, just imagine their trials in even FINDING "strikes-anywhere"
kitchen matches, these days...

{here, shakes head in pity for kids being raised in the sorry nanny-state of today...}

Ji, thanks for that trip down memory lane!

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a sudden, irresistable urge to go outside for a nice, refreshing drink from the garden hose...
and, where DID I put that Three Dog Night 8-track, anyways??

How did we ever survive those perilous and un-enlightened times?

John

RustyJr · Post by **RustyJr** » Sun Oct 07, 2012 11:47 pm

Now that's funny right Thar I dont care who ya are

RustyJr

Griff · Post by **Griff** » Sun Oct 07, 2012 11:54 pm

Actually, all joking aside, I fully expected to see a new pair of "roach killer" cowboy boots.

But, Ji, I like your story better!

Rusty · Post by **Rusty** » Mon Oct 08, 2012 12:04 am

Y'all are gonna have to excuse Jr.

When I got up to go to work he was watching "CARS" and laughing at "MATER"

AKA Larry the Cable guy.

I never did manufacture anything like exploding pellets, but did find out that a strike anywhere match placed down the bore of an El gamo .177 pellet rifle with the head just sticking out of the bore would make quite a CRACK when it hit a concrete block wall. This also required some fancy footwork to extinguish the remains before it aroused too much attention.
And to think we lived thru it all.

Blaine · Post by **Blaine** » Mon Oct 08, 2012 12:11 am

Rusty wrote:Y'all are gonna have to excuse Jr.

When I got up to go to work he was watching "CARS" and laughing at "MATER"

AKA Larry the Cable guy.

I never did manufacture anything like exploding pellets, but did find out that a strike anywhere match placed down the bore of an El gamo .177 pellet rifle with the head just sticking out of the bore would make quite a CRACK when it hit a concrete block wall. This also required some fancy footwork to extinguish the remains before it aroused too much attention.
And to think we lived thru it all.

I'd carefully sand down the heads of the strike anywhere matches until it snugly fit all the way down the barrel, and they would fly pretty accurate for about 50 feet or so...

Ji in Hawaii · Post by **Ji in Hawaii** » Mon Oct 08, 2012 4:11 am

El Chivo wrote:don't try this with a springer, but I was told the way to kill insects was to dry-fire with a pumped up Benjamin Sheridan. The air blows them apart without using a projectile.

Back in the day I used to shoot roaches with my Crosman model 1377 air pistol and just air ten pumps, used to blow them to bits. A tad messy but got the job done. The seals wore out on that gun, and it's in storage somewhere. Aftermarket parts availability for the model 1377 is pretty amazing now. May have to go dig it up.

Ji in Hawaii · Post by **Ji in Hawaii** » Mon Oct 08, 2012 4:23 am

J Miller wrote:Sooooo, where's the pics of the trophy bug with you posing with your gun?

Joe

Mr. Kukaracha was resting in pieces after I was through with him, not a pretty picture.

My wife just a little while ago said she saw 3 roaches casually walk in front of her as she was looking in the pot cabinet. I took my dive light and my 1911 under there to take a look and was able to drop 2 of 3 but #3 I saw escaping into a rust hole in the vent pipe of the kitchen drain. This pipe is so far in the corner of the cabinet that I don't think it's ever been checked. It's 51 years old and when I shine the light I could see all these antennae sticking out of the hole waiting to come out. These disgusting creatures had come up from the sewer lines and were sneaking in through that hole. I quickly ducktaped that rust hole, and I will be spending my Monday replacing that rusty pipe with new ABS pipe.

Ji in Hawaii · Post by **Ji in Hawaii** » Mon Oct 08, 2012 4:37 am

BlaineG wrote:In the old Quad Barracks @ Schofield Bks, we had those monster roaches....We would find those little lizards and turn them loose in the room. Half a dozen lizards would keep the roaches knocked back pretty good. Up in the attic, where we could find lizards pretty easy, you could still see the bullet holes from the Pearl Harbor Attack....

Grizz · Post by **Grizz** » Mon Oct 08, 2012 8:05 am

Hey Ji

That's how I deal with spiders. Why waste good lead when a big chunk of air obliterates them? Roaches are armored tho...... probably need the ammo can.

back in the early NYC days I camped in an apt in Harlem that had metal kitchen cabinets with rolled edges. Roaches lived in there until I showed the city folks what a simple propane torch can do... flame thrower to the rescue. they decided it was worthwhile the morning they discovered a dozen trapped in the bath tub.

I offered to selectively breed them to get a dog size model that we would keep as a pet. Feed it table scraps as long as it kept the mini-roach population under control. No enthusiasm for that plan tho.

Best,
Grizz

Back in the day I used to shoot roaches with my Crosman model 1377 air pistol and just air ten pumps, used to blow them to bits. A tad messy but got the job done. The seals wore out on that gun, and it's in storage somewhere. Aftermarket parts availability for the model 1377 is pretty amazing now. May have to go dig it up.

Canuck Bob · Post by **Canuck Bob** » Mon Oct 08, 2012 8:24 am

It's threads like this one, termites, and snakes makes me appreciated -30 Arctic cold fronts much more.

J Miller · Post by **J Miller** » Mon Oct 08, 2012 8:28 am

Friends Call Me Ji wrote:
J Miller wrote:Sooooo, where's the pics of the trophy bug with you posing with your gun?

Joe
Mr. Kukaracha was resting in pieces after I was through with him, not a pretty picture.

My wife just a little while ago said she saw 3 roaches casually walk in front of her as she was looking in the pot cabinet. I took my dive light and my 1911 under there to take a look and was able to drop 2 of 3 but #3 I saw escaping into a rust hole in the vent pipe of the kitchen drain. This pipe is so far in the corner of the cabinet that I don't think it's ever been checked. It's 51 years old and when I shine the light I could see all these antennae sticking out of the hole waiting to come out. These disgusting creatures had come up from the sewer lines and were sneaking in through that hole. I quickly ducktaped that rust hole, and I will be spending my Monday replacing that rusty pipe with new ABS pipe.

Better watch out for you kitty cat. That monster looks like he might have been sizing the kitty up for lunch.

Back in the 70s in Phoenix we lived in a mobile home. We had a roach problem and no amount of cleaning could get rid of or even control the ugly things.
One day we found they had infested the crack between the trailer wall and an interior three sided hutch. No way to get any bug spray in there.
I had an idea. I used a can of carb or break cleaner with the spray nozzel and stuck it in the crack and hosed the whole area. OMG you never seen so many roaches run for it in broad daylight. They didn't get far though as the fumes of the cleaner killed 'em.
We went through three or four cans of cleaner in the kitchen and although it stunk for a while we had finally gotten control of them.

Ahhhh the good old days before dechlorinated aerosol cleaners.

Friends Call Me Ji wrote:
BlaineG wrote:In the old Quad Barracks @ Schofield Bks, we had those monster roaches....We would find those little lizards and turn them loose in the room. Half a dozen lizards would keep the roaches knocked back pretty good. Up in the attic, where we could find lizards pretty easy, you could still see the bullet holes from the Pearl Harbor Attack....

That little Gecko sure bit off a mouth full, didn't he?

Joe

FLINT · Post by **FLINT** » Mon Oct 08, 2012 11:27 am

El Chivo wrote:don't try this with a springer, but I was told the way to kill insects was to dry-fire with a pumped up Benjamin Sheridan. The air blows them apart without using a projectile.

May not work for dog sized insects but then again it might. I'd hate to see someone get popped in the eye with a .177 pellet.

I have been thinking about getting an air pistol to carry while hunting; sometimes I see a rabbit on the way back but don't want to shoot it with a deer round. Same with snakes; I would love to bring back a snake and have a nice belt.

THis is exactly what I used to do.

we had roaches for a while when I was young.

I had a crosman 1377 - and would just pump it a few times with no pellet and then splat them - you have to be pretty close obviously, but not necessarily right on top of them.

JimT · Post by **JimT** » Mon Oct 08, 2012 12:52 pm

I love the way they run in fright
when I turn on the kitchen light.
And when I squish them on the ground,
they make a pleasant crunchy sound.

Weird Al Yankovic

We have big roaches here in Mozambique. Lots of them. Sometimes you think it's a mouse running across the floor but it's just a durn big ole roach. Twyla has killed some with her machete.

Ji in Hawaii · Post by **Ji in Hawaii** » Mon Oct 08, 2012 1:35 pm

JimT wrote:
We have big roaches here in Mozambique. Lots of them. Sometimes you think it's a mouse running across the floor but it's just a durn big ole roach. Twyla has killed some with her machete.

Aloha Jim, great to hear from you!
I know Madagascar has the biggest roaches on Earth. I wonder if any make it across the channel to Mozambique?

Madagascar Cockroach

Twyla uses a machete eh? Hmm... I have a newly made boar spear that might do the trick.

Please give my aloha to Twyla.

JimT · Post by **JimT** » Mon Oct 08, 2012 3:37 pm

Thank you Ji ... for the well-wishes... NOT the roach photo. Geez. I think a 410 or a 28 ga. shotgun would be just about right. Not sure I would quick enough with the spear.

Blessings to you my friend.. good to "connect" with you after all this time.

Post by **Ysabel Kid** » Mon Oct 08, 2012 9:59 pm

Y2K just showed me that leveraction a few days ago. He loves Evike stuff for this airsoft wars. Now that they have a leveraction, I just may have to get into this! Those are hardly toys though. His AR-15 full-auto version will shred a can in half in seconds flat!

stretch · Post by **stretch** » Mon Oct 08, 2012 10:02 pm

Geez, Ji - ya need armoured cav for that sort of critter!

I gotta try those exploding HP pellets. I wonder if just a little bit
of wood glue or something might work to hold the pyrotechnic portion
of the program together better - see Paco's 41 Mag bear story
under the articles page and you'll see what I'm getting at.

-Stretch

Ji in Hawaii · Post by **Ji in Hawaii** » Tue Oct 09, 2012 3:34 am

JimT wrote:Thank you Ji ... for the well-wishes... NOT the roach photo. Geez. I think a 410 or a 28 ga. shotgun would be just about right. Not sure I would quick enough with the spear.

Blessings to you my friend.. good to "connect" with you after all this time.

Aloha Jim, Amen, good to "connect" again. Always regretted missing you by half a day in Hondo Texas back in early 2008, I was really looking forward to that. Our mutual friend and old forum member AK Church has been filling me in on your Africa adventures. Stay safe, and again please extend my aloha to your lovely better half Twyla. Always admired her scrimshaw work.

Ji in Hawaii · Post by **Ji in Hawaii** » Tue Oct 09, 2012 3:38 am

Ysabel Kid wrote:Y2K just showed me that leveraction a few days ago. He loves Evike stuff for this airsoft wars. Now that they have a leveraction, I just may have to get into this! Those are hardly toys though. His AR-15 full-auto version will shred a can in half in seconds flat!

If you get one please let me know what you think of it. Looks pretty awesome on YouTube reviews. 6mm @ 575 FPS definitely takes it out of the toy category. I hear you can get various weights of 6mm balls which may make for a good urban mousie popper.

piller · Post by **piller** » Tue Oct 09, 2012 10:49 am

I use a 6mm airsoft pistol for killing these big Texas grasshoppers. They are 1 to 4 inches long, and the airsoft works well on them. The pistol I use is one of the CO2 varieties and I sometimes use the 20 gram rounds. The 13 gram rounds will occasionally bounce off the bigger grasshoppers. It sure is fun to go hunting something that can offer you so little target. Most of the time the grasshoppers will try to move away from you by hiding behind the stem of a plant. The plants are usually PillHer's flowers, so shooting through the stem is not an option.

El Chivo · Post by **El Chivo** » Tue Oct 09, 2012 11:39 pm

this place crawls...

Blaine · Post by **Blaine** » Mon Dec 07, 2015 4:54 pm

Bump

jkbrea · Post by **jkbrea** » Mon Dec 07, 2015 10:01 pm

Here's a link to a CO2 powered Colt style SAA that shoots BBs. It only hold 6 round that you load into the back of a fake .357 size round. Size, weight and operation is very similar to an actual SAA. They are fun and run about $100. Mine shoots about 1-2" at around 25'.
http://gunsoftheoldwest.com/2015/02/uma ... x-shooter/

bmtshooter · Post by **bmtshooter** » Tue Dec 08, 2015 8:01 am

Many years ago when I lived in Louisiana my brothers and I would drop a "strike anywhere" kitchen match down the barrel of my old .177 Benjamin pump. The match would explode on impact with a hard surface out to about 10 feet. Great for bringing down wasp nests from under the eaves of the house. Thankfully we never set the house on fire. Today I simply drench the nest with a bucket of soapy water. All wasps dead & a little less risky.

Lassiter · Post by **Lassiter** » Tue Dec 08, 2015 8:55 am

2571 wrote:Locked up a guy once who was very, very drunk. He was laying on his bed, shooting roaches off the ceiling with a .22.

Hit quite a few, but upstairs neighbor had gotten tired of his Friday/payday roach safaris and finally called 911.

I love this.......you can't make this stuff up! A day in the life of a cop

Daisyman · Post by **Daisyman** » Wed Dec 09, 2015 2:28 pm

I've been giggling through this whole thread. Like you said, you just can't make this stuff up!! I used to shoot grasshoppers off the fence with my Daisy 107. It was always a bonus to get a pair mating! Feel kind of guilty about it now.

PriseDeFer · Post by **PriseDeFer** » Tue Dec 15, 2015 9:00 pm

Even against those big alpha boars in full charge a cool head and a Red Ryder spitting solid steel shot will save you. Use the near side shoulder shot from your Africa days to break them down and move in fast for the kill. Then will come the deep drinking and the telling of it and the silver beards will smile to see the old skills attained not betrayed.

66GTO · Post by **66GTO** » Tue Dec 15, 2015 9:30 pm

Daisyman wrote:I've been giggling through this whole thread. Like you said, you just can't make this stuff up!! I used to shoot grasshoppers off the fence with my Daisy 107. It was always a bonus to get a pair mating! Feel kind of guilty about it now.

As a kid I roamed everywhere around our house and nearby woods with my Daisy pump (the scissor action kind-I forget the model) that had the flip up peep sight. I hate to think of the number of birds I killed with that BB gun. I got bored with that and started shooting bumble bees. Now that was a challenge, but I got pretty good at it.

Daisyman · Post by **Daisyman** » Wed Jan 06, 2016 10:10 pm

That was a model 25, the best Daisy they had. Daisy would sell to wholesalers all the bb guns they made at reduced prices, except for the 25. For that they had to pay retail. You done good to get one!

AJMD429 · Post by **AJMD429** » Wed Jan 06, 2016 10:31 pm

bmtshooter wrote:Many years ago when I lived in Louisiana my brothers and I would drop a "strike anywhere" kitchen match down the barrel of my old .177 Benjamin pump. The match would explode on impact with a hard surface out to about 10 feet.

Now THAT I gotta try...

Blaine · Post by **Blaine** » Thu Jan 07, 2016 12:28 pm

AJMD429 wrote:
bmtshooter wrote:Many years ago when I lived in Louisiana my brothers and I would drop a "strike anywhere" kitchen match down the barrel of my old .177 Benjamin pump. The match would explode on impact with a hard surface out to about 10 feet.
Now THAT I gotta try...

It's a lot of fun until Mom catches ya at it.

mikld · Post by **mikld** » Thu Jan 07, 2016 12:58 pm

1892 wrote:i hear that a poodle can make a fine meal...and is there a daily bag limit on poodles...and is an out-of-state poodle license expensive and does it have to be a guided hunt...just asking...

I once worked with some Pacific Islanders who ate dog on occasion. Black toy poodles, less than 10 lbs., were their favorite...

Ji in Hawaii · Post by **Ji in Hawaii** » Tue Mar 01, 2016 4:39 pm

I did some WWII concrete bunker explorin' last month on a hill above my home, and here's what I found...

Ben_Rumson · Post by **Ben_Rumson** » Tue Mar 01, 2016 6:46 pm

But why the cammo on the inside of the bunker?

Ji in Hawaii · Post by **Ji in Hawaii** » Wed Mar 02, 2016 12:23 am

I'm not sure what's worse the graffiti or the roach poop.

Thunder50 · Post by **Thunder50** » Wed Mar 02, 2016 10:09 am

I used to take my BB gun and load two matches, with the match heads touching and shoot them in the air. At least one would light and leave a smoke trail.

At a farm my friends dad owned, we would take our 22's and I would put quite a dent in the grasshopper population. They would hide on the other side of the sunflower stalk and they must have thought they were safe. Then I would shoot the stalk in two. Down at the pond, we would try and get dragonflys (I leave them alone now) on the wing. Tough target. Very few were ever hit, too fast and agile.