RetiredUSNChief
Member
I've hunted squirrel with everything from .22 Short to .22 Magnum. The key isn't in the power, of course, since about anything will kill a squirrel. It's in the accuracy.
A headshot from a .22 Short or a headshot from a .22 Magnum...it's all the same.
Granted, with the lighter .22 rounds you can take shots at the body without excessively messing up the meat.
As for range...anything the bullet impacts will act to reduce its velocity and stability. They're lightweight bullets, after all. And that includes the air itself. The old adage "what goes up must come down" is absolutely true. However, it's NOT true that it comes down with the same velocity. Terminal velocity is a very real thing...and for a .22 LR round, it's just under 200 fps. For a tumbling .22 LR round, it's about 50 fps slower.
I'm not saying these aren't dangerous velocities. However, they're nowhere near the muzzle velocities from your rifle.
As for using a shotgun...nope, not for me when squirrel hunting. I put up with enough pulling pellets out of rabbit, I have absolutely no desire to do so with squirrel. I CAN hunt rabbit with a rifle...but pretty much only in open fields. Stomping through brush where I would normally hunt rabbit? Nope. So it's shotgun for rabbit and rifle for squirrel whenever I hunt small game.
A headshot from a .22 Short or a headshot from a .22 Magnum...it's all the same.
Granted, with the lighter .22 rounds you can take shots at the body without excessively messing up the meat.
As for range...anything the bullet impacts will act to reduce its velocity and stability. They're lightweight bullets, after all. And that includes the air itself. The old adage "what goes up must come down" is absolutely true. However, it's NOT true that it comes down with the same velocity. Terminal velocity is a very real thing...and for a .22 LR round, it's just under 200 fps. For a tumbling .22 LR round, it's about 50 fps slower.
I'm not saying these aren't dangerous velocities. However, they're nowhere near the muzzle velocities from your rifle.
As for using a shotgun...nope, not for me when squirrel hunting. I put up with enough pulling pellets out of rabbit, I have absolutely no desire to do so with squirrel. I CAN hunt rabbit with a rifle...but pretty much only in open fields. Stomping through brush where I would normally hunt rabbit? Nope. So it's shotgun for rabbit and rifle for squirrel whenever I hunt small game.
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