# Ballista captive bolt gun



## bbbuddy (Jul 29, 2002)

Just checking in to review the Ballista captive bolt gun, made in Germany.

My main reaction to using it for the first time is WOW this is the holy grail of humane harvesting!

The Ballista is entirely stainless steel, and works with a spring. Pull back to load it, push button to release bolt. Very high quality.

Bunny NEVER knew what hit him. He didn't have to be hung upside down, he didn't have his neck broken, Just laying quietly, put smooth end against his forehead and push button and just like that he's gone.

The Ballista is only $60 and imported by http://www.bunnyrancher.com/store/c1/Featured_Products.html

I have no relationship to them other than buying the product.

Here's a video from their website: [ame]https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=v-UCckkjQec[/ame]

This is one of the best purchases I have made in a long time:nanner::nanner:

Hope this helps others who want an easy humane option!


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## Fire-Man (Apr 30, 2005)

bbbuddy said:


> Bunny NEVER knew what hit him. He didn't have to be hung upside down, he didn't have his neck broken


Nice Piece!

Question, Why would the bunny have to be hung upside down doing it another way? Why would the bunny even have to be hung----you save the hides?

Just curious, interested in others methods---I been cleaning them a long time, I use a steel pipe and skin/dress them in around 5 minutes.


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## Lookin4GoodLife (Oct 14, 2013)

Wouldn't he have to be hung upside down to bleed out?


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## bbbuddy (Jul 29, 2002)

Some people hold them upside down to wack the heads to kill.


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## Fire-Man (Apr 30, 2005)

Lookin4GoodLife said:


> Wouldn't he have to be hung upside down to bleed out?


OK---You said in your original post with the bolt gun "he didn't have to be hung upside down" so if you hang them upside down to bleed out normanally, why would he Not have to be hung to bleed out with this method?


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## bbbuddy (Jul 29, 2002)

Fire-Man said:


> OK---You said in your original post with the bolt gun "he didn't have to be hung upside down" so if you hang them upside down to bleed out normanally, why would he Not have to be hung to bleed out with this method?


 Well, you misunderstood what I was addressing - the method of KILLING, not what happens afterwards.
He didn't have to be hung upside down for killing, he didn't have his neck broken for killing. Got it now ?


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## Fire-Man (Apr 30, 2005)

bbbuddy said:


> Well, you misunderstood what I was addressing - the method of KILLING, not what happens afterwards.
> He didn't have to be hung upside down for killing, he didn't have his neck broken for killing. Got it now ?


Got Cha!

I feel this Bolt would be safer for people that normanally shoot them. Probably easier for some than the broom handle or so many other methods of doing the deed. You can buy a pellet gun for not much more and then you could use it for small game hunting. Its Just What a Person wants to do with their money!! BUT it is a neat tool----alot of processors use something similiar for hogs, cows, etc.


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## Lookin4GoodLife (Oct 14, 2013)

Got it, my bad.  Nice device.


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## simi-steading (Sep 27, 2012)

Poor bunny.....























When's dinner?


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## bbbuddy (Jul 29, 2002)

Fire-Man said:


> Got Cha!
> 
> I feel this Bolt would be safer for people that normanally shoot them. Probably easier for some than the broom handle or so many other methods of doing the deed. You can buy a pellet gun for not much more and then you could use it for small game hunting. Its Just What a Person wants to do with their money!! BUT it is a neat tool----alot of processors use something similiar for hogs, cows, etc.


I don't have the balance to broomstick, I used a pellet gun before, but it takes compressed air cartridges which you can't leave in the gun, so it was basically one cartridge per bunny.
I bought a pump air gun and it didn't kill the bunny. A 22 just seems like "overkill" plus you can't be off on aim even a little. 
Breaking their neck...well people are paralyzed with a broken neck and still alive so it just never seemed like a kill, if you know what I mean.

This, however, takes no aim, no ammo, no strength, no balance, and no fear from the bunny.

So this bolt gun solves all possible problems it seems to me!


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## akane (Jul 19, 2011)

I would like a captive bolt gun but a pellet rifle is much cheaper and works just as well. My rifle didn't take cartridges. Slide in pellet, pump handle, point, shoot, rabbit goes from unconcerned to dead as fast as you can blink.... Only problem I ever had was I got a pellet to slide backward in the chamber (rifle comes with a warning in the instructions) and I partially crushed it so we had to take the gun apart to get it. I hang rabbits because it's easiest to skin and let unwanted organs fall right out. My hands get all cramped up trying to brace with one and pull things with the other.


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## crittermomma (Sep 26, 2013)

It did seem more humane for the rabbit than other options - thanks for sharing!


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## MDKatie (Dec 13, 2010)

This is neat, and if I didn't already have a pellet rifle that works perfectly, I'd consider buying it. My pellet rifle doesn't need to be pumped or need air cartridges, and the pellets are less than a penny each. It kills instantly and doesn't require much effort. I will pass it along to my sister who wants to raise rabbits eventually.


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## Lookin4GoodLife (Oct 14, 2013)

Katie, how does your rifle work if it's not pumped or has a CO2 cartridge? I have a pretty decent Beeman pellet rifle I got at Walmart, but you have to pump it just once. Maybe that's more of a "cocking" than a "pump".


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## MDKatie (Dec 13, 2010)

Lookin4GoodLife said:


> Katie, how does your rifle work if it's not pumped or has a CO2 cartridge? I have a pretty decent Beeman pellet rifle I got at Walmart, but you have to pump it just once. Maybe that's more of a "cocking" than a "pump".


It's a spring loaded pneumatic break action...according to my DH. :thumb:


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## Lookin4GoodLife (Oct 14, 2013)

Oh I gotcha I guess that's what mine is. The barrel breaks, you put the pellet in there, bring the barrel back up and it's ready to go.


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## bbbuddy (Jul 29, 2002)

That's why I bought the Ballista. I had purchased a spring loaded pellet gun (for MORE than the Ballista!) And when I used it I had to shoot the poor bun 2 times in the head, he was still screaming, so I had to find a pipe and bash him on the head...right after that horror I found and purchased the Ballista.

It works just like in the video...


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