22cal - 25cal squirrel hunting question

Your question is way to broad for us to answer. What velocity and therefore FPE is the question about?

My record shot so far on jackrabbit, with a .22 Marauder Pistol, is 58 yards using Crossman Premier Hollow Point. My FPS is around 650 average. I still have room to hold over at 55-60 yards, but the trajectory decays too badly to feel confident about shooting farther.

A 500 FPS .25 won't shoot any farther than a 600 FPS .22. true the .25 will hold energy better dues to higher weight... Trajectory is simply a function of the acceleration of gravity and the time in flight of the pellet.

Half the time I hunt ground squirrel with a .22 PCP (Daystate 30 fpe using 18.1 gr JSB), and the other half the time with a .30 PCP (FX 78 fpe 44.75 gr JSB). With a .22 shooting 870 fps, I CAN hit out to 100 yards, question is would I? In a light wind, to take a squirrel shot that far out would many times result in a wounded animal that runs back into its hole and suffers while it dies. So, with my .22, I limit my shots to when I'm certain I can take a head shot, usually about 75 yards or less. With the .30 cal., at 885 fps, I take shots out to about 115 yards. If I aim at the neck area, that gives me a head/neck/chest area to hit, and anywhere in that area results in a kill. These are with good conditions and no more than a light breeze. The windier it gets the shorter the range I can be accurate at. 

Longest, 73 yards ( measured after shot) w/ .177 & about 17fpe , AA410.

NO need for .25. .177 inside 50 yards is good for a head shot and any head shot will drop them.

A few Southern Gray Squirrel's:

Three airgun's three shooters three different max ranges for each preference.
Top TKO 22xx HPA .22 30 yard max due strickly to the hunter feeling good about his placement.
Middle Benjamin Discovery .177 50-60 max depending on wind ( my rig that day)
RWS34 Panther .22 "40 yards" but I have seen him go to 55 with that rig and a sure shot.

I have also taken a lot of them with a QB78 HPA in .177 55ish yard max.

John

Your question is now about the individual shooter's confidence and ability. I have not shot squirrel yet, but p-dog and jackrabbit I have a range card for 60 yards, P-rod .22 and 14.3 grain CPHP.

Also consider woods hunting...southern grey squriel. I've taken them out to 65 with marauder, Taipan veteran, both in .22. With my 25 Vulcan out to 75. My favorite is the Taipan Veteran, very easy to carry for a 3 to 4 hour hunting session. Personally I like to stalk and sit for squriel. I have not had an opportunity in open field hunting where the wind can limit your accuracy.

Most of my .25 squirrel hunting was with a .25 Crow magnum springer back in the late 80s, or early 90s. It was a good killer, but not much past 30 yards. In the last ten years, I went PCPs , most of my hunting has been .22. I like mine smoking 950 fps with 18 grain or 16 grain. Longest shot on a fox squirrel was 83 yards, was dead before it hit the ground. My kills are usually clean, if I keep all my shots under 60 yards & use higher fps. Sometimes when I get a new rifle, they are in the high 800s or very low 900s, I don't know why, but I seem to lose a few squirrels, not a lot , but one is too many. Then I jack them up to 950 + and no loses. I have a Royale 400 that shoots @ 1000 fps 18 grain jsb. With that rifle I have taken over 250 tree squirrels & I might be able to count on one hand the shot squirrels that got away . The small accuracy loss & I mean small, at this higher fps is worth it to me to have more humane kills. I am not sure a .25 would make them any deader. I know people take a lot of squirrels at 800 fps, I used to take some with my blue streak when I was a kid. If you are a superior shot and can put it through the eyeball every time, 600 fps would be enough. 

Grandfather, lots of variables to consider for your question. Here is a little test for you. Get some cheap paint balls and glue to a cardboard box. Start at around 50 yds. Keep moving Target further out as you shoot. When you can't hit 5 for 5 pb you have exceeded your distance. Up to 50 yds I grab my David Slade tuned FWB 124d shooting jsb 8.4 @ 860 fps. Out to 70/80 yds I use the cricket compact .22 with jsb 18.1 @ 865 fps or the synrod .25 @ 860 for another zip code. Now starlings that I hate and hunt with a passion I will shoot at any distance. Have dropped them at 85 yds with the FWB 124. Just keep in mine your kill zone is about 1" and your distance and accuracy will (should) keep you in check. Forget the tree rats and hunt starlings with a passion.

My last tree squirrel was shot about 15 yards away with a .177 JSB 13.34 to the head. DRT. Shots at distance, I like a rest, it helps. Distance is in ones shooting abilities and confidence.

I've taken cotton tail @116 yds. ground hog @ 85yds. w/Wildcat 22. 
​I've finally got my impacxt shooting like lighting and am going to try her out in the next day or so on squirrels (tree) reds and grays maybe some blacks. we're getting a heavy population of black squirrels. 

"Grandfather"Good stuff guys. Trying to decide on 22 or 25 cal and your personal experience is helpful. Thanks again, Tom

Click to expand...

Both the .22 and .25 cal. should be lights out with a well placed head shot. However the .25 cal. will be more effective if you want to take chest shots particularly shooting an expanding hollow point. The .25 also tend to be more powerful in fpe and the pellet less effective by wind at longer ranges. Bill

With a .25 Royale 500, I routinely take them at 85 yards with JSB Heavy II.

For me, what I do is shoot only as far as I can consistently hit my intended target with in a half inch. So it would be a one inch circle half inch in all directions.For me that is no more than 50 yards for now. With that being said most of my shots are between 25 and 40 yards. I try to get in as close as possible. Less chance for a miss. 

grandfather go with the 25 cal for squirrels.i started with the 22 disco/maximus which did good and then got the 22 Mrod and it did well also.now I use the 25 for squirrels(head shot only)...I now have three 25 cal PCP rifles,two Mrods and 25 sumaltra carbine.
as for distance I have killed them out to 47 yards...

What ever caliber you choose you need to know and be comfortable with your gun and your ability. I hunt on private property with the understanding that I need to kill as many rodents as possible per land owner. I routinely shoot out to 80 yards with the Brocock Bantam in .22 and well over 100 yards with Impact in .25 and I always aim for head, neck ,heart lung which is fatal.

The deciding factor for my last gun caliber was the local access to .22 pellets and mail order only for .25. I will end up with a .25 someday but for me it's .22 and shoot till the sun goes down.

Grandfather, Some good advice here from the gallery. The best answer is what was stated above. Go with what you are confident that you can get a good head shot with. I have taken squirrels with .22 powder burners and had body shot tree rats crawl off and disapear. I switched to a .17 HMR and the ballistic tipped rounds tore meat to shreds with a body shot. Not to mention some again crawled off. 

I decided to try a .22 FX Royale and head shots. The slower pellet, and retained energy, plus the accurate head shot had them All DRT! This season I am using a modified Kral Puncher Breaker at 50 FPE in .25 and really prefer it. The short size allows it to be handled in thick stuff and in a blind easily. Again being able to take head shots confidently at any distance is key.

Even though I can make a ragged hole at 100 yards with the gun, I would not try it on a moving squirrel or in wind. Just because I am shooting off a bench with low wind, and solid bag, does not mean I would make that shot in the woods off a bi-pod or tree. I don't want a wounded animal out there suffering. A clean kill is what any true hunter is striving for.

So for me, the .25 is my preference. If the shot is a slight bit off, the pellet mass should still do the job.

Accuracy = DRT (Dead Right There)

These are all head shots at around 56 yards

Impact 25 or wildcat 22 regularly 60yds. I wouldn't be afraid to stretch either 80yds. Confidently.
I'm talking about tree squirrels. Ground squirrels/grounhogsg 100yds easy.
Twice as expensite to shoot 25. I wouldn't give up my wildcat 22 but I think if it were 25 I'd feel the same. The wildcat (Thor0 is my favorite platform.