Squirrel hunting 22lr vs pcp

Those videos of Prarie dogs getting blown apart by these hyper velocity small carts is insane. Can't imagine doing that in a neighborhood full of grays, too bad, it would be a blast!
I was using my A17 on ground squirrels, they'd just look around when their buddy was vaporized.
 
The 17hmr in the CCI H.P. or Hornady ballistic tip have very little penetration simply grenading upon surface of contact.
They are IMO the perfect round for pesting at 150 yards and under.
It it NOT a round you Hunt with !!! it F's stuff up period !!

Fun as it is to be in fields of 100's of Ground squirrels & splattering most hit with a .17 hmr... taking it down quite a few notches, reeling in the range to 60 yards and under a decent PCP and some good ranging D.O.P.E. is actually just as much fun and a WHOLE LOT CHEAPER !!!!

I dislike .22RF in such fields as near EVERY shot be it a hit or not ... ricochets (n) even tho the bullet shot hits field dirt. It is nowhere as safe for a small group to be shooting together and scattered upon a field with .22Rf rounds whistling about. .17 hmr as well pellets do not behave similar.
 
The 17hmr in the CCI H.P. or Hornady ballistic tip have very little penetration simply grenading upon surface of contact.
They are IMO the perfect round for pesting at 150 yards and under.
It it NOT a round you Hunt with !!! it F's stuff up period !!

Fun as it is to be in fields of 100's of Ground squirrels & splattering most hit with a .17 hmr... taking it down quite a few notches, reeling in the range to 60 yards and under a decent PCP and some good ranging D.O.P.E. is actually just as much fun and a WHOLE LOT CHEAPER !!!!

I dislike .22RF in such fields as near EVERY shot be it a hit or not ... ricochets (n) even tho the bullet shot hits field dirt. It is nowhere as safe for a small group to be shooting together and scattered upon a field with .22Rf rounds whistling about. .17 hmr as well pellets do not behave similar.
I got into PCP's because of a gun shy dog on the property, that was when everything went down hill, or a rabbit hole as it may be. Got the Sapsan first and it went south, SUPPOSE to be getting a replacement soon, a YEAR later. Then got a Maverick and another one. Went to get squirrels and...the WIND was blowing the pellets around so badly the squirrels were pointing and laughing. Quite embarrassing. The place I shoot is wide open, virtually no place to hide so I have to go long. To make matters a bit worse, I have to shoot towards a road from the cover, it's raised so there is a bit of a backstop so I have to be super careful, we, my spotter, tells me when the cars and bicyclist's/motorcycles are coming. I have to be a bit elevated because of that. So that said I'm 70-90 yards on most shots. Attached is a photo, I'm on the right under a tree and the critters are everywhere else, the road is on the left.

IMG_9375.jpeg
 
  • Like
Reactions: moodyblues
They’re great little pistols, I’ve had a few through the years. Couldn’t imagine accuracy would be to good running 17 mach2 down a 22 bore. Although ruger kinda does the same thing with 22lr/mag convertibles of course not as drastic. 22 mag runs a larger diameter bullet so 22lr always left a lot to be desired in the accuracy department. The non convertible single six is the way to go for 22lr.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Dr. Kralenstein
At 40 yards 30cal hades leaving my maverick at 940fps blows a grey squirrel about 4 foot straight away from the branch they are on then the descend happens! Also it all happens very quietly.
I don’t do much deer hunting anymore so my powder burners rarely see the light of day.
I forgot to add some pics of two from a couple weeks ago. With the shock of energy the 30 cal hades have shot placement isn’t as crucial. Lol
F3883686-9894-4F98-85E9-395B73D26311.jpeg
2C8FE0F4-9846-4390-ADED-6310456C18CC.jpeg

There was no sign of life or suffering in the 1 minute it took to walk over to each of them.
 
  • Like
Reactions: moodyblues
I don't think you have to go to a 30 caliber to see a quicker death. I see a difference between my 32 fpe 22 and 25 using simple domed pellets versus my 177 and lower powered 22 (Prod). They all work with decent shot placement but the squirrels seem to die quicker with more penetration. My lower power 25 killed a small one with a shot pretty far forward by crushing the skull. I've only had three pellets from 22 squirrels with my two at 32 fpe fail to go completely through the squirrel. None of the 3 required another shot and only 2 of them ran at all after being hit and they did not go far. I don't have any guns between 18-19 fpe and 32 fpe so I don't know exactly where the line is.
 
  • Like
Reactions: moodyblues