I've shot more squirrels with my Marauder pistol than with either of my 25 calibers. I got it first. I lost a couple early when I was using the tune it came with, 13-14 fpe at the muzzle. I retuned it to 16-18 fpe and the last 15 haven't moved more than a couple feet. I aim for head shots when reasonably possible but sometimes I hit the head but the angle of the squirrel is such that the pellet goes into the neck and out the shoulder. It happened to me today with a 25 caliber PCP. Squirrel flipped a bit but took no steps. Sometimes I hit the shoulder area. I shot one with a pump up 177, a 1377, at about 5 fpe. The pellet did not make it through the shoulder. To me that is unacceptable. My Prod at the original tune would not shoot through a squirrel from the side. I hung one on a tree (a dead one) and shot it with multiple types of pellets. With the new tune a straight side shot will go through as will a head shot. An angled shot will not but goes through enough of the squirrel they still drop. I hit one in the front shoulder and found it in front of the back leg on the other side, for instance. The squirrel took a step or two and dropped.
My Prod likes copper plated H&N FTT and that is what I've used to kill most of the squirrels. I have also used Crosman domed and hollow points, however. The hollow points do not expand at Prod velocities. Muzzle velocity is a little over 700 fps.
I think my 25s kill them a little quicker. I only used my Avenger on a couple, it is noisy. It is tuned to shoot FX 25.4s at 930 fps. All shots passed through but I put a follow up in one of the two squirrels it killed. I hit the shoulder area but it angled back and came out the opposite rear leg. The squirrel was still moving when I was reloaded so I put another in it. I don't think it would have run off but I took no chances. I've killed 7 now with my P35. It likes H&N FTTs which in 25 weigh 20 grains. It is tuned to shoot them at 875 fps. I got pass throughs on 6 of the 7. On one I got both front shoulders and found the pellet under the hide on the off side. None of these squirrels have taken even one step after impact.
My shots have not exceeded 30 yards. At this sort of range, I think a 22 is fully adequate as long as you have upper teens in fpe at the muzzle. I know lower can work but in my experience if you go lower you definitely want to hit the brain to be confident of them dropping. Body shots will work if you have a bit more energy and you hit them in the front half of the body.
I am not at all in the :"energy dump" camp. I don't even like the phrase. We kill animals by stopping their brain. Either by hitting it with our projectile or removing it's oxygen by hitting vital organs and causing blood loss. Our projectiles make holes. The holes need to be deep enough to reach the vital organs even if our shot hits the front shoulder. I like having enough penetration that side shots go through which seems to equate to a little over 2 inches penetration in wet magazines. I test new guns and projectiles before shooting game with them. If you can get 2+ inches penetration with expansion I think that is fine. But if I have to choose, I choose adequate penetration. To date, all my squirrel kills have been with pellets that did not expand. They work fine. But I may use a slug at some point with one of my 25s. They will still penetrate enough and the reduced penetration would reduce the velocity of the projectile at exit. Expansion of slugs seems to be very velocity dependent, however. At longer range I may not get any expansion but they should still kill fine like a domed pellet would. My P35 likes H&N Slug HPs but I can't find them to buy in the lighter weights. When I do, I may test them on a squirrel or two. They will expand a little at 25 yards.
As an aside, it is possible to disrupt an animals nervous system with a high velocity projectile impact but it takes a lot more velocity than air rifles generate. It is also possible for the temporary wound channel tissue to be permanently damaged but it takes more velocity than we have. I think the "energy dump" phrase may come from these situations but they are only really possible with powder burning rifles. Pistols and air rifles/pistols are too low in velocity to have these affects. We just make holes - which can work very well.
My Prod likes copper plated H&N FTT and that is what I've used to kill most of the squirrels. I have also used Crosman domed and hollow points, however. The hollow points do not expand at Prod velocities. Muzzle velocity is a little over 700 fps.
I think my 25s kill them a little quicker. I only used my Avenger on a couple, it is noisy. It is tuned to shoot FX 25.4s at 930 fps. All shots passed through but I put a follow up in one of the two squirrels it killed. I hit the shoulder area but it angled back and came out the opposite rear leg. The squirrel was still moving when I was reloaded so I put another in it. I don't think it would have run off but I took no chances. I've killed 7 now with my P35. It likes H&N FTTs which in 25 weigh 20 grains. It is tuned to shoot them at 875 fps. I got pass throughs on 6 of the 7. On one I got both front shoulders and found the pellet under the hide on the off side. None of these squirrels have taken even one step after impact.
My shots have not exceeded 30 yards. At this sort of range, I think a 22 is fully adequate as long as you have upper teens in fpe at the muzzle. I know lower can work but in my experience if you go lower you definitely want to hit the brain to be confident of them dropping. Body shots will work if you have a bit more energy and you hit them in the front half of the body.
I am not at all in the :"energy dump" camp. I don't even like the phrase. We kill animals by stopping their brain. Either by hitting it with our projectile or removing it's oxygen by hitting vital organs and causing blood loss. Our projectiles make holes. The holes need to be deep enough to reach the vital organs even if our shot hits the front shoulder. I like having enough penetration that side shots go through which seems to equate to a little over 2 inches penetration in wet magazines. I test new guns and projectiles before shooting game with them. If you can get 2+ inches penetration with expansion I think that is fine. But if I have to choose, I choose adequate penetration. To date, all my squirrel kills have been with pellets that did not expand. They work fine. But I may use a slug at some point with one of my 25s. They will still penetrate enough and the reduced penetration would reduce the velocity of the projectile at exit. Expansion of slugs seems to be very velocity dependent, however. At longer range I may not get any expansion but they should still kill fine like a domed pellet would. My P35 likes H&N Slug HPs but I can't find them to buy in the lighter weights. When I do, I may test them on a squirrel or two. They will expand a little at 25 yards.
As an aside, it is possible to disrupt an animals nervous system with a high velocity projectile impact but it takes a lot more velocity than air rifles generate. It is also possible for the temporary wound channel tissue to be permanently damaged but it takes more velocity than we have. I think the "energy dump" phrase may come from these situations but they are only really possible with powder burning rifles. Pistols and air rifles/pistols are too low in velocity to have these affects. We just make holes - which can work very well.
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Could someone explain what exactly is happening when an animal runs in circles that has received a deadly hit to the head?
Howler,