22lr squirrel ammo?

[brewer12345]

See I thought about the quiet ammo but didn’t think it was fast enough for longer shots.

Personally, I rarely take shots at squirrels from more than 35 yards away. I prefer to stalk closer and will pass on shots that are farther, and most of the time I am taking 25 yard or so shots. At that range it simply doesn't take much. When I shoot shorts I use the CCI HVHP offering and it is extremely effective on squirrels and rabbits. This is a 27 grain bullet advertised at 1100FPS or so and I have never had a critter that didn't at least fall out of the tree and allow me to administer the coup de grace. Most often they are done with one shot.

For preference with LR I like the CCI standards and the Aguila subsonic. The latter is advertised at 1025 FPS and it is pretty quiet. With the CCI quiets I have shot a squirrel or two with the segmented ones at 25 yards or less. Very effective terminal performance. I suspect the segmented mini mags would almost be too destructive.

 

[tactikel]

Any .22 will work. I killed many squirrels in an apple tree near a neighbor's house with CB caps! All head shots all drt!

 

[RedlegRick]

Whatever I happen to have handy. Most all .22 out there tends to group about the same in my little rifle, so I make little distinction between brands

 

[Hookeye]

I killed a bunch with pistol, there reg HV .22 LR.
How much velocity loss?
Killed em just fine.

 

[Obturation]

My go to around the yard squirrel and various critter load is cci cb long. This ammo does not stabilize in every barrel so a little tinkering can get you decent results, i keep it under 30ish yards. I like cci standard velocity for use when noise isn't an issue. I tried to figure out a way to use aguila super colibris effectively but they're just too short (light) to stabilize , if they hit the mark they are effective to a degree as well. Ive used aguila sss (60 grain loaded into a 22short case) with really good results on critters but they are a strange load to figure trajectory but can be rather accurate. I generally use a savage 72 or a winchester 250 for all of my pest control solutions , the savage being my favorite.

 

[Spats McGee]

That whole ricochet thing seems like a load of hooey....,

I don't even hunt squirrels and this was my first thought. Methinks the OP's buddy might not like to admit to missing a few shots . . . . .

 

[Axis II]

Personally, I rarely take shots at squirrels from more than 35 yards away. I prefer to stalk closer and will pass on shots that are farther, and most of the time I am taking 25 yard or so shots. At that range it simply doesn't take much. When I shoot shorts I use the CCI HVHP offering and it is extremely effective on squirrels and rabbits. This is a 27 grain bullet advertised at 1100FPS or so and I have never had a critter that didn't at least fall out of the tree and allow me to administer the coup de grace. Most often they are done with one shot.

For preference with LR I like the CCI standards and the Aguila subsonic. The latter is advertised at 1025 FPS and it is pretty quiet. With the CCI quiets I have shot a squirrel or two with the segmented ones at 25 yards or less. Very effective terminal performance. I suspect the segmented mini mags would almost be too destructive.

I cant seem to get very close to them as its public land so they are very spooked. Its also part of the Appalachian mountains so I generally sit on a hillside and pluck them off kind of far. Now, when I'm home we tree them with a dog and generally shoot 30yards. Hill country I've found is a little hard to stalk effectively.

 

[Axis II]

I forgot to add in there the concern about sending a lead RN flying through the tree tops. Hey, I wouldn't have believed the whole ricochet off the head either, but that was weird to hit it in the top of the head/ear area and have it drop out of the tree to only be knocked out.

 

[243winxb]

22lr bullets, below the speed of sound, are quieter . Bullet alloy goes from pure lead to 2% antimony in some match grade ammo.

Some 22 lr ammo has an outer surface coating of antimony to keep from leading, then lubed.

That squirrel ducked.

 

[troy fairweather]

I picked it up and it moaned so I attempted to hit its head on the tree and it started freaking out so I dropped it and shot it again in the head. I’m pretty sure it was just knocked out.

my dad allway made use crush the head with are boots, he had some wake up in his game pocket before.

 

[Texas10mm]

I've killed many squirrels and rabbits with a .22 caliber pellet rifle.

Once you've done that a .22LR seems like cheating. Pretty much anything will do. I usually use HP field rounds, generally Federal bulk.

I can't begin to count the squirrels I've killed with a .177 pellet rifle. Headshots out to 30 yards. If that .177 pellet will punch through a squirrel skull at 30 yards....

 

[RedlegRick]

As an aside, I've found Remington CeeBee caps do tend to stabilize a bit better in my rifle than CCI or Aquila CB caps. Only trouble is finding them around here.

 

[243winxb]

Good point above. The twist rate in the barrel may not produce good accuracy, using shorts or low velocity ammo.

 

[Shimitup]

Got to keep in mind a .22 to a squirrel is the size of a cannon ball, what ever is accurate.

 

[brewer12345]

I cant seem to get very close to them as its public land so they are very spooked. Its also part of the Appalachian mountains so I generally sit on a hillside and pluck them off kind of far. Now, when I'm home we tree them with a dog and generally shoot 30yards. Hill country I've found is a little hard to stalk effectively.

Then just use whatever is most accurate.

 

[gatorwade]

CCI CB Longs was the go-to in the squirrel guns on our norcal farm. Accurate in any gun, but not so much after 50 yards. Very quiet. The jack russels would be on mr. bushytail rat at the first bounce. Great fun and games in the orchard.

 

[herrwalther]

Unless squirrels are going through some radical evolution I wasn't told about, a .22LR is not going to bounce and ricochet off their skull. I often hunt squirrels in my yard with .177 or .22 pellets, much less power than a .22LR and I haven't had any ricochets off a mythical bullet proof squirrel.

 

[Merle1]

No one is trying to cover up a bad shot. This squirrel was hanging upside down on a tree and when I shot him I watched it slowly let go of the tree and fall to the ground. Upon picking it up and walking away it moaned and moved. I went to hit its head on the tree to kill it and it freaked out on me. The ricochet is just a theory my buddy came up with and also saw several posts with the same theory on rimfirecentral.com.

I would hazard a guess that it was a near miss that just barely grazed the head - I've seen the same thing with deer.

 

[LoneGoose]

I used to take only head shots on squirrels, until an old guy taught me to "bark" them out of the tree. You have to shoot the tree branch just below his head, and a sliver of bark and wood will fly up and brain him. No mess. Yeah, you have to finish them with your boot.

 

[theotherwaldo]

Back when I ate squirrel I mostly used 00 buckshot through a wrist rocket or a .177 air rifle (once I could afford one).
The idea of shooting a bullet into the air without a solid backstop makes me nervous.

 

[DeepSouth]

CCI shorts have been my squirrel round for lots of years

Same here, I have some strange love for the shorts. I shoot way more shorts than 22lr.

 

[chsparkman]

Remington Subsonic is a great squirrel round. It's hollowpointed and quiet, especially in my 581 or BL 22, which both have 24" barrels. My Ruger 77/22 is my most accurate 22 rifle, but the Subsonic is a little louder since the barrel is only 22". Yes, there is definitely a difference. That being said, my favorite way to hunt squirrels is from a deer blind with my Ruger #3 in .223 with 45 grain cast bullets and a small amount of pistol powder.

 

[300Whspr]

Remington Subsonic was always my favorite for tree rats also. Haven't hunted them in a few years now, but ive still got 3/4 of the last brick I bought probably 15 years ago.

Any 22 ammo will do the job, but the standard velocity / subsonic is much quieter than the high velocity.

Any reports of a 22 bullet ricocheting off of a squirrels' head are frankly, a little squirrelly. More accurately stated as "I missed."

 

[Riomouse911]

I can admit I pretty much scalped a fox squirrel with a 20 yard shot from an 1890 Winchester .22 Lr many moons ago... tried for a head shot and was a touch high. It stiffened like they’ll do after a good hit and fell about 20’ down out of the tree and layed still so I thought it was down and out. I plunked it again from about 10 feet when it came to and started walking towards the nearest oak.

I guess one could call it a ricochet off the squirrels noggin, since the bullet kept going after hitting it.

Stay safe!

 

[crestoncowboy]

We have fox squirrel, red squirrel, flying squirrel and gray squirrel. The red are small, often called boomers. Gray are invasive pests and larger. The fox are relatively new but huge compared to even a gray. I use anything but if available I prefer cci standard (just ordered more, 179. Dollars for 5k) I've never seen one knocked out. Ive seen deer though so it's certainly possible. I've fired hundreds of thousands of 22lr at anything from flying pocket change, to pine cones and rocks, to an angry black angus bulls testicles growing up and have never noticed one bit of difference in hp lrn or any other 22lr.
Some of the old folks used to boil the head and crack open the skull to eat the brain. I've witnessed it myself, although I wouldn't partake. They would have been pissed with all this head shot/ skull breaking talk.