I'm probably in the neighborhood of 8 ft lbs with the PG4 kit. That is sufficient for red squirrels, they are smaller than Grey, although it is used on much larger ground squirrels. The vast majority of my shots are 10 to 15 yards. Occasionally 20 or a bit more. For those distances it has been a flawless performer as long as I do my part. I wait for a good shot, if the squirrel is active, or nervously moving I simply pass the shot. I do not hunt when it is windy either. I use whatever rest is handy, usually a sapling or tree, although if it is very close I will go offhand. I was thinking about a pair of shooting sticks, but there seem to be rests readily available where I live and the elevation of the squirrel from the ground to well up in the tree make shooting sticks less useful. Once a gun has the minimum required foot pounds of energy for the intended quarry, any additional energy only buys you a little bit more flat shooting range. Big increases in energy in a springer rapidly increases the weight of the gun and make it much more sensitive/difficult to shoot accurately. The HW30 is a rare combination of low weight, forgiving gun to shoot, accurate, high quality. It does place more emphasis on hunting skills, getting closer to the quarry, taking the right shot, but hey that's why they call it hunting and not shooting. In more open country than the thick woods of Maine, it might not be the best. I personally would not equate an HW30 with a Red Rider BB gun. In my view they are much more accurate, much higher quality and shoot with more authority, but that is only my experience. 700 fps with a 7.3g pellet is enough for squirrels at 25yds and under with accurate shot placement. Shot placement is what kills, a higher velocity pellet simply carries the pellet further once it passes through the animal. I get complete pass throughs as it is. If I needed a higher velocity (increased range) gun for everyday pesting I might consider a multi-pump .177 Dragonfly II. Lightweight, more power (range) that the HW30, accurate, simple, no recoil so easy to shoot accurately, and good value for the money. A .177 would be much flatter shooting than a .22. put a light weight 3-12x scope on it, grab your pellets and go.
