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Best .22 hunting ammo?

12K views 50 replies 37 participants last post by  wellbuilt 
#1 ·
Looking for .22 hunting ammo that drops squirrels or cottontails where they are at or at least slows them down.

Was squirrel hunting with my son, in Iowa this Saturday, and almost positive every squirrel was a John Wayne impersonator. I'd hit them and they'd get up and run off. Was using 40 gr Aguila lrn standard velocity ammo.

Prov 1:26 I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;
 
#37 ·
Old thread and I'm guessing the OP has long since moved on.

But for those that are wondering, squirrels are actually very tough little critters for their size. Most any .22lr CAN kill them pretty reliably, but you'll never have a 100% knockdown rate unless you're getting spine or brain shots, and even then they have an uncanny ability to flop in the wrong direction and get caught up in a crotch, buried in fallen leaves etc.

It's unfortunate, but you shoot enough of them and you're bound to lose a few.
 
#45 ·
That's with any critter. I don't hunt tree rats much anymore, but don't remember them being tough at all. ( Then again, the theory makes sense for folks who hunt them with scatter guns) Have lost a few over time however.

Currently killin feral hogs at a rate of 3 to 7 per week . ( 22lr don't cut it) Use 30cal in 308 or 7.62x39mm.

You kill enough jacks and your bound to loose a few as well.

Unless you have enough gun...lol.

Pic below: Bunny hit in the gut at around 250 yards. 7.62x51mm 168gr OTM fired from an 18in bbl M14. Instant death every time. ( If you know where to look, you can shoot 100s of them over a 4day. Reason = An almost non existent coyote population.
The problem is that they arent gonna let folks creep on them close enough to use a shotgun or 22lr. ( Triple that in winter)

11B
 

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#38 ·
...Fortuneate Son's last post here was on 9/11, so there's still a good chance that he's still reading along with the rest of us.
I've heard that before about the "toughness" of squirrels, especially the big gray's.
However, I still have to side with goat daddy and suggest a move to .22LR hollowpoints (or possibly CCI SGB's).
Even though an apple may be a poor comparison to a living, breathing squirrel, notice the amount of damage each type of round does to that apple.
When comparing each variation against the others, that standard would transpose directly to their effect on live game....

 
#39 ·
While I appreciate the difference between hollow points, flat points and round nose bullets (though at standard 22 velocities and ranges I've rarely seen reliable expansion), the toughness of squirrels is no legend or joke.

Long story short, I had to trap entirely too many red squirrels out of my basement a little while back (without me knowing it seems they found an entrance, brought last years black walnut crop in and quietly made themselves at home). It was very annoying...but it did allow me to have somewhat controlled circumstances when I dispatched them inside the live trap. I figured out pretty quick that the only way to put them down cleanly and reliably without them scrambling around, flopping or otherwise moving around long enough to potentially get lost if they were out in the woods was with high-spine and brain shots. Anywhere else and they seem to have at least 10-15 seconds of movement in them, which is plenty of time to scramble up into a hollow tree or deep under a bush.

About the only animal I would dare claim is harder to kill is an Opossum, and that's just because they're too dumb to know they're dead (for the record, opossums have a tiny brain, and headshots need to be pinpoint perfect...but a double lung shot will kill them relatively quickly and very reliably).
 
#40 ·
where I used to live I had a real squirrel problem. I had the only pecan tree for several hundred yards and it was a squirrel magnet. I killed 200+ squirrels out of that one tree in my time there before I stopped keepin count. All I used was a Crosman pump 22 and CCI CB 22's. I liked the CB 22 longs the best. I only put 5 pumps in the pellet gun and I don't remember but one or two squirrels ever making it out of the back yard.

I also killed a few with an old Whamo Wrist Rocket shooting .530 lead balls. That knocked the crap out of them. It just broke all the bones in the impart area.

At my new house I had a bit of a rabbit problem because this area was just old farm fields and the rabbits were thick. I have killed 19 so far and used the same 22 pump with 5 pumps in it.

I have killed more animals with that one gun than all my other guns put together. I think for a prepper/survivalist an air rifle is one of the most useful guns you can own.
 
#46 ·
Fragout's post reminds me of the time I went deer hunting with a friend who'd never hunted before.
He did ok, but fell asleep while we were sitting down in a hole (that's ok, it was early).
Eventually, he got impatient and saw a squirrel in a tree, maybe 20 feet away.
All 170 grains of that .30-30 actualy ripped that squirrel in half, although we only ever found a few scant parts.
...suffice to say, after that, it was time to go home.
 
#47 ·
Yep I snap shot a rabbit once with a 30-30. I wasn't thinking about what I was carrying. The rabbit jumped and ran and I thumbed back the hammer and shot the rabbit. The pregnant rabbit. There were little baby rabbits laying on the briar leaves because the momma rabbit exploded. I still feel bad about that and wish I had never done it.:(

Like stan sass said all you need for squirrels and rabbits is an air rifle. Every prepper should have a couple and a big stash of pellets anyway.
 
#48 ·
One shot one kill on a squirrel, all you need is 22 cal CBs 700 FPS
The slow moving round launches the squirrel from the tree .
No noise they don’t here you shooting .
Best of all the rats can’t hold on , all the energy is used up pushing them off the branch .
Shoot them with CCIs and the Bullet gos right thru and a lot of the time they stay in the tree .
 
#51 ·
Yes CCI .22 lr load.
I haven’t used the CCI CB s in 30 years
I use a green box I think it Remington amo .
I shoot a bunch of Winchester hollow point with the copper coating .
Reg federal round nose is most accurate
All this ammo is 20 years old .
I’ve shot some new Federal ammo last week out of 200 rounds
They all fired in my pistol
 
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