Which springer for squirrel hunting?
- Thread starter drsquall
- Start date
My .177 Model 48 had a harsh shot cycle when stock but after putting a Vortek kit in it was just as fast solid thump.Was putting out between 17-18ftlb. I traded it for a tuned HW50s .22 and don't regret it at all, love the HW50. Haven't been able to hunt with it yet due to season now being out.
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I'm right handed, cock break barrel springers left handed, kick a football left leg plus a few other things..can shoot a recurve right or left handed, can also shoot trap either way almost equally well, so Im weird right along with you.
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My take based on 40 years of doing so, and tuning a multitude of rifles to do so….Is the HW35 for a number of reasons.
The most important of these being loading. Being able to depress the locking catch, the gun can be closed in total silence. No detent, no ball lock up. Depress the locking bar and close up as if no lock up.
I lost count of the number of squirrel put to flight by the casual action of the clunk caused during loading of most rifles.…including the squirrels in the neighbouring trees you had not even seen yet.
The second reason for my choice (in the case of the 35 grooved forend ) is the groove perfectly meters the hand positioning when shooting up into trees. A vital aid to maintaining hold consistency when aiming at all the different angles. To some extent the HW98 can offer similar aid to hold consistency.
The semi short barrel of both these models is also a boon if in a hide.
The HW98 taking over this choice if above 12 ftlbs and greater range option coming into play….good gun.
The most important of these being loading. Being able to depress the locking catch, the gun can be closed in total silence. No detent, no ball lock up. Depress the locking bar and close up as if no lock up.
I lost count of the number of squirrel put to flight by the casual action of the clunk caused during loading of most rifles.…including the squirrels in the neighbouring trees you had not even seen yet.
The second reason for my choice (in the case of the 35 grooved forend ) is the groove perfectly meters the hand positioning when shooting up into trees. A vital aid to maintaining hold consistency when aiming at all the different angles. To some extent the HW98 can offer similar aid to hold consistency.
The semi short barrel of both these models is also a boon if in a hide.
The HW98 taking over this choice if above 12 ftlbs and greater range option coming into play….good gun.
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As far as hunting with springers, most of my experience has been with Diana/RWS springers, the 48 and later the 34.
I'm a lefty and the 48 stock is ambi, no issues there. The 48 is heavy, but easy to attach a sling to.
Both of my guns have/had Vortek kits, really smoothed them out.
The 34 is a TO5 Panther version, and the 48 stock has been "bed linered" makes the stock very scratch proof.
I'm a lefty and the 48 stock is ambi, no issues there. The 48 is heavy, but easy to attach a sling to.
Both of my guns have/had Vortek kits, really smoothed them out.
The 34 is a TO5 Panther version, and the 48 stock has been "bed linered" makes the stock very scratch proof.
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I just picked up a used D48 in .22 with a born on date of 2004. It is a T05 iteration. The internals were original and the grease was so old it was everywhere and flaking off like failed paint. I cleaned it up and installed a vortek full power kit with piston and breach seal. I’m right handed but shoot lefty and I am quite pleased with this rifle! I took it to the range today and became very comfortable with it in no time. My ”go to” gun for squirrel was my D460 which I also took with me today. I must admit that the 48 was much more comfortable and intuitive to reload. I love the 460 but hate that the anti bear trap release moves forward as the underlever is set to battery. Love the rifle though.
My 48 is scoped and I find it necessary to add a padded cheek riser to have a comfortable sight line to the scope. The 48 stock has a bit of a low comb. I wish they still made the 52 stock available. Buy a quality air rifle and you’ll be happy with you purchase long after the lament of expenditure is gone. Keep it long enough and it will be worth more used than you paid for it.
whatever you do, shoot it much and don’t give up on it. It WILL come to you.
My 48 is scoped and I find it necessary to add a padded cheek riser to have a comfortable sight line to the scope. The 48 stock has a bit of a low comb. I wish they still made the 52 stock available. Buy a quality air rifle and you’ll be happy with you purchase long after the lament of expenditure is gone. Keep it long enough and it will be worth more used than you paid for it.
whatever you do, shoot it much and don’t give up on it. It WILL come to you.
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I am ready to play with itI just picked up a used D48 in .22 with a born on date of 2004. It is a T05 iteration. The internals were original and the grease was so old it was everywhere and flaking off like failed paint. I cleaned it up and installed a vortek full power kit with piston and breach seal. I’m right handed but shoot lefty and I am quite pleased with this rifle! I took it to the range today and became very comfortable with it in no time. My ”go to” gun for squirrel was my D460 which I also took with me today. I must admit that the 48 was much more comfortable and intuitive to reload. I love the 460 but hate that the anti bear trap release moves forward as the underlever is set to battery. Love the rifle though.
My 48 is scoped and I find it necessary to add a padded cheek riser to have a comfortable sight line to the scope. The 48 stock has a bit of a low comb. I wish they still made the 52 stock available. Buy a quality air rifle and you’ll be happy with you purchase long after the lament of expenditure is gone. Keep it long enough and it will be worth more used than you paid for it.
whatever you do, shoot it much and don’t give up on it. It WILL come to you.
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Cold and windy at the range today. 25 yard groups were good and 50 was so difficult I just quit trying. Shots taken on an official ARA target. you can tell the 25 from the 50 yard cards.
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My pick as well. It has enough power to reach out to the ends of my abilities (40, maybe 45 yards) under normal hunting circumstances. More importantly for me is that it's light and fairly flat at these distances so hold over isn't as hard as slower calibers. A 177 in the boiler room is better than a 22 in the dirt. Before you 22 guys jump on me, I had a Hw50 in 22, used it and kept the 177 because the 177 worked better for me. Ymmv.
Ron
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All you need is a .177 if squirrels are your only prey. Some Weihrauchs do need an immediate teardown some don’t. There have been many “if you can only have one springer” threads and the HW95/Beeman r9 is always well represented. In the past couple years the HW50s has become really popular and it has all the power you need for squirrels. I have a HW97k .177 and a .22 HW50. The 97k is a chunk to lug around but they both kill squirrels no problem. I wish I would have got the hw50 in .177 instead of .22
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I have a bit over a dozen air rifles, most are squirrel certified, either one of five of them are excellent choices, an HW-30, HW-95, HW-80K, a Hatsan mod. 95 .22 cal. Springer, and a GAMO Gen 1 Swarm .22 cal. wood stocked Bone Collector, but my dedicated Squirrel getter is my Crosman .177 cal. Vantage NP, it's fairly light, carries nicely, points naturally, is super accurate out to 40 yds. with heavy pellets, at 875fps with a 12.5 gr. pellet it's shooting reasonably flat and getting 20~22 FPE depending on the pellet used.
It's topped with a 3x9x40 AO UTG Hunter scope, the only modification I had to do to it was lighten up the trigger pull, it was terrible out of the box, but 20 minutes of labor and a tiny bearing later produced a smooth 1-1/2 pound trigger, it's the best $119.00 I ever spent, I highly recommend the Crosman Vantage NP or the Crosman Optimus Springer, they both are much higher quality than their price points suggest.
It's topped with a 3x9x40 AO UTG Hunter scope, the only modification I had to do to it was lighten up the trigger pull, it was terrible out of the box, but 20 minutes of labor and a tiny bearing later produced a smooth 1-1/2 pound trigger, it's the best $119.00 I ever spent, I highly recommend the Crosman Vantage NP or the Crosman Optimus Springer, they both are much higher quality than their price points suggest.
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