Too much velocity??

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  • Last Post 21 July 2015
bandmiller2 posted this 19 July 2015

I had the good fortune, as a kid, to grow up next to a large tract of game rich land, and hunted with my trusty Stevens 22/.410 just about every day. I was aware of seasons and bag limits but never paid much mind. Squirrels were my game. I had poor luck with high velocity 22 shells seemed they just zipped through the critters and they kept going. My favorite rounds were short hollow points when I could find them or just standard speed shorts. Those slugs always stayed in the squirrel and seemed to drop them faster. Long rifle hollow points were noisy and made a mess. Was I sucking wind as a kid or were those valid observations. PS I was too poor to use the .410 on squirrels. Frank C.

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delmarskid1 posted this 19 July 2015

I almost always used shorts in the Winchester 67 I was “loaned” by my Dad. My shots always passed through. I never got a chance to try hollow points in shorts. I still ignore them, or would if I could find them! I like standard velocity LR's. 22 shorts lately have been marked high velocity and make as much or more noise than my slower LR's.

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onondaga posted this 19 July 2015

I enjoyed the .22 shorts for squirrel too.  3 years ago I gave my adult son my favorite .22 that shot shorts. It was a Deluxe Remington 552 Speedmaster, still in superb condition.

Gary

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bandmiller2 posted this 19 July 2015

Today I use a lot of the short mini-caps that make almost no noise primarily for varmint control. As it has and always will be shot placement is king. A long barrel 22 is much quieter than a short barreled or pistol. Anyone that has not tried a good precharged pneumatic air gun is in for a pleasant surprise. Frank C.

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John Alexander posted this 19 July 2015

Frank, If I am remembering right, Layne Simpson wrote about reaching the same conclusion as you did about 22 short HPs being the best RF ammo for squirrels.

When I lived where there were squirrels big enough to eat, I believed that standard velocity LR were the best compromise for noise and accuracy -- and if you had a rifle that could take advantage of it, match ammunition was even better. Best of all, after I became a bit more affluent, was 4 grains of Bullseye behind either a Sierra 40 grain “Hornet” RN or a 225415 in a 222. 

More recently I have found the CCI BB Longs to be near noiseless, have good accuracy, and enough umph for immediately final results with head shots on pests up to the size of raccoons at the bird feeder. 

I also agree that my precharged air rifle is better yet on pests up to the size of the red squirrels that destroyed a couple thousand dollars worth of awnings before I declared war on them. John

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gnoahhh posted this 19 July 2015

My favorite squirrel getter is my own two hands. Stalking them in the back yard, and pouncing on them and wrestling them into submission (teeth are optional) is very satisfying. When I'm feeling lazy I like either shorts or CB Longs too, but doing it that way is less of a challenge. :)

For “real” hunting in the woods I either use one of the target rifles (which prefer Eley Tenex, making each squirrel a valuable commodity considering the cost per shot), or better yet, a Hornet with 6gr. 2400 or Li'l Gun under the 55gr. Bator. A lot louder crack, but oh so satisfying.

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OU812 posted this 19 July 2015

A 22 caliber air rifle pellet moving at a slower 550 fps will easily kill a squirrel. Some modern pellet rifles are suppressed (very quite) and legal to shoot in city limits.

I have killed lots of squirrels using CCI CB Longs, but they are louder than my suppressed air rifle/pistol.   http://www.crosman.com/airguns/air-pistols/marauder-pcp-air-pistol-22-cal>http://www.crosman.com/airguns/air-pistols/marauder-pcp-air-pistol-22-cal     ...

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bandmiller2 posted this 20 July 2015

My only complaint with CB longs is they tended to be position sensitive, with the small powder charge in the longer case. Probably if your always shooting up it wouldn't matter. Frank C.

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John Alexander posted this 20 July 2015

i always kinda assumed that whatever bad effect powder placement changes had on the CB Long was probably more than offset by starting the bullet a lot closer to the rifling instead of have it rattling down the part of the chamber that is case diameter and hitting the rifling at a good clip. BUT that is pure speculation.  I haven't fired even two groups to test and see so if there is any truth to it. Hmmm, that would be fun to do I will see if I can get my hands on some of the short ones and see what is what.

John

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bandmiller2 posted this 20 July 2015

Likewise John I really can't say one way or the other. I have taken down many garden Nazi's (woodchucks) with those CB loads. Frank C.

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tlkeizer posted this 20 July 2015

Greetings,

I started my hunting with a .22 “Chimpmunk", it liked .22 shorts better than long or long rifle. My father-in-law had a .22 Remington that liked Winchester Super-X Long rifle in standard velocity best, I had a .22 revolver that liked Stingers best. When my wife inherited the rifle I had five or six part boxes of .22's, so did some firing of groups to see what the rifle preferred. For those of you into statistics, I did use 10 shot groups which I rarely do. One ragged hole at 35 yards was good enough for me as the hole was about twice the size of the .22. Most .22s I have had or used preferred the standard velocity in long rifle. So, Bandmiller2, I think you had a valid observation as a kid; that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

TK

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highstandard40 posted this 20 July 2015

For me it's LR subsonic hollow points. I've had good luck with the CCI offering and also the ones from SK.

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onondaga posted this 21 July 2015

After I gave my Remington 552 Spedmaster that loved Remington shorts to my son I put together a custom Squirrel rifle on a Ruger 1022 stripped new action. It is worth more than my Jeep currently and it has a favorite ammo that groups sub 1/2 MOA at 50 yards. I hunt squirrels with CCI  long rifle standard velocity. Second place for the rifle is Winchester Super X, Third is CCI blazer ammo. The worst out of 10 different tries was Aguilla and Eley Club in my rifle that were so bad, I couldn't tell which was worse..

Gary

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RicinYakima posted this 21 July 2015

I'm happy with standard velocity with the nose resized in Paco Kelly's little die to just fit the chamber. It makes a WC that is fine at 50 yards, but unstable over that range.

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Duke M posted this 21 July 2015

Oh yes, 22 shorts with a hp was my favorite squirrel killer as a kid in my old Stevens Model 15. I have not seen any in years so I took my Paco Kelly tool and hollow pointed some. I've been killing rabbits in the garden with these modified shorts in a Winchester Model 69A and they are as devastating as I remembered. Just nasty.

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