Dart gun question

I have a model 389 cartridge fired rifle. It has settings 1-5. What range do you typically use each setting? What color cartridge are you using?

I use the green rounds. With those rounds, i keep my gun on 2 power. Gets me out to 30 yards and that is the farthest that i want to shoot.

Give me a call and I can help you out, I am a Pneu-Dart dealer

PharmerBrown - I have the model 389 as well, and it was one of the best investments I made in my deer business. The worst investment was buying the deer in the first place!!



I use the green charges, and at 10 yards I used 1power...20 yards/2power...30 yards/3 power and at 40 yards I used 4 power. I never shot past 40 yards, but I believe if you had to, 5 power would be used at 50 yards.

It was nice to have a 10 yard range with that gun. That way I didn't have to pack my pistiol around for the shorter shots, and all that went with that, ie pistol in hand when you should have had the rifle...rifle in hand when you should have had the pistiol.



You must be careful judging distance because you can run the dart into the deer, which is another reason I preferred the area right where the neck fastened into the shoulder of the deer. The hide is much thicker in the neck, plus the deer more frequently offers that perpendicular angle in that area of the neck that darting requires. I got to where I didn't even like the hip anymore. It seemed sometimes to take longer for them to go down when hit in the hip.



Shoot and sight your gun at all those distances to make sure your're spot on, and remember that deer are almost always closer than they look.



Hopin the best for ya PharmerBrown!!!

Thanks Mark! I truly appreciate the info. Merry Christmas!!!

PharmerBrown said:

Thanks Mark! I truly appreciate the info. Merry Christmas!!!

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You are truly welcome...and a Merry Christmas to you and a God-Filled New year as well!!!

Great spot on answer Mark

Mark is dead on, same with my gun.



I shot mine at 50 yards on #5, two darts in the same hole 1" high!!!!!! Very accurate gun.



I shot a yote at five yards once, it didn't over penetrate on #1 and they are thin skinned. I have seen a deer darted at 70 yards with one on #5 also.

Which dart guns brands are good? Also where do you get the sedative for the darts, I figured from a local vet?

Pneu Dart is hard to beat. I prefer the cartidge fired.

I use a Pneu Dart cartridge charge which is a Marlin conversion. It shoots well but practice with the different sizes and realize wind affects the shot significantly. I mostly use 2cc set on 2 at 15 to 20 yards. Fairly good success ratio. I am beginning to realize when i get a good hit and the deer doesn't go down well that you should find the dart and use a needle to see how much of the drug is left in the dart. I am finding 10 to 15 % don't unload the drug completely. I would also advise to keep a very good supply of Pneu dart on hand. The lead times even now are extremly long to get darts if you want a specific dart.



Has anyone changed from Pneu Dart to other brands that are satisfied?

Antlercam said:

Has anyone changed from Pneu Dart to other brands that are satisfied?

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I had an 11mm fast twist barrel made to fit my x caliber. Its not the tube that pneu dart sell, its a custom. Can slide one or the other in or out in seconds.

I have been using the 11mm dan inject darts more for captive animal work in the last year. I still use Pneu dart for wild & where a human safety template needs to be met (pressurised darts cause headaches here). I'm happy with the dan inject darts out to 30m on quiet animals. I'll use the x caliber & pneu darts to 40m happly,& change to a rifled paxarms & pneu darts for 60m. For real long shots, paxarms rifle & capture darts with zulu flights fitted, but impact trauma needs to be considered.



The dan inject rifles have some better & some worse features then the x caliber. The best feature is the silent pressure adjustment. The pneu dart is loud. They are also less likely to attract the wrong type of attention as they dont look like an assalt rifle.



If I could only have one, I'd still pick the x caliber, & pneu darts.



Cheers Sharkey



Edit. Imagine our dart supply down here? I keep a couple of hundred darts in all the sizes I use, in both red & green ,as supply is "irregular".