22lr squirrel ammo?

[Axis II]

What's your preferred 22lr ammo for squirrel hunting? I currently use CCI standard but after a chat a buddy and I had last night about RN ammo ricocheting off a squirrel head it got me wondering. I did shoot a gray squirrel in the head at 50yards and it didn't kill him so we think it ricocheted. What about sending a lead RN zipping through the tree tops and the air? How about a hollow point or segmented bullet? I also heard the high velocity stuff cracks too loud and scares them away to use sub sonic rounds?

Your thoughts?

 

[Hookeye]

The glancing shot would do the same with any other bullet.

I have some CCI quiet segmented. Have yet to zero for it (CZ455)
Purchased just to be more polite in pest removal.

Think squirrels seeing/hearing a hunter moving more of a concern than rifle report.

 

[Bull Nutria]

hollow points tend to ricochet less and pack a serious wallop. may be hard to find standard velocity HP ammo. My favorite is CCI mini mag HP.

Bull

 

[Vern Humphrey]

I have killed a lot of squirrels with solid .22s. I don't believe a .22 will ricochet off a squirrel's head -- if it did, the squirrel would be left unconscious anyway.

 

[earlthegoat2]

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

When I use a rifle I hunt with .22 Magnum CCI Maxi-Mag TMJ. It has a small flat nose and is non expanding. I don’t believe an expanding bullet is necessary whether it is a 22 LR or 22 Mag.

If you can get a solid hit on the front portion of the body of a squirrel it will not live long and will usually at least fall out of the tree.

I use this round more because I also use this same gun on feral hogs and am not going to re-zero for a different round. So far though I have no need for a different bullet for squirrel.

 

[Texas10mm]

There's NO way on God's green earth that a .22 LRSV is going to ricochet off a squirrel's head at 50 yards. A bad shot is a bad shot. Quit trying to reinvent physics to cover for a bad shot.

 

[JeffG]

Winchester Wildcats, or Remington Golden bullets.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

I've still got two cases of Wildcats -- and I save them for hunting.

 

[troy fairweather]

I like cci velocitor they are close to the stinger ft.lb. I use the mini mags to. For my Rossi 62 or remington 33 I use the best shooting standard ammo.

 

[brewer12345]

Whatever is most accurate will do. I generally use cci standard velocity or aguila subsonic.

 

[cheygriz]

Remington Golden Bullet and CCI Stinger.

 

[Ks5shooter]

Any 22 lr will do.

 

[wankerjake]

I've never had any trouble killing them with any 22lr ammunition I happen to be shooting at them

 

[Deus Machina]

My family generally just used whatever they could hit with. Squirrels are small and thin enough any hit in the right spot will knock out something important.
My great uncle swore by something dad still has a box of, some soft lead hollowpoint. He said it deformed and killed quicker, dad says that's just what the gun liked.

 

[Dudedog]

These used to work well for me for rabbits, but haven't used any in a while.
Trading bullet weight for velocity however
Aguila Supermaximum


Grams
Grain
1.94
30
VELOCITY
Muzzle ft/sec
100 yds ft/sec
1,700
1,190
ENERGY
Muzzle ft/lb
100 yds ft/lb
193
111

 

[Thomas Mayberry]

CCI mini-mag HP

 

[Wisco]

CCI Standard is my go-to round for everything except the tiniest target groups, then I use Eley. CCI Standard the most economical/accurate ammo I’ve found and what my 22s are zeroed with.

You can vital shoot squirrels pretty easy, too.

I wouldn’t let a ricochet or two dissuade me from continuing to use Standards. While all animals deserve a swift death, I’m pragmatic enough to know squirrels aren’t exactly elk or moose or even the abundant whitetail.

 

[Steve S.]

I have tried to reason with squirrels before, they are a hard-headed animal. I use CCI “Quiet” rounds - good to 50 yards if sighted properly - no ricochets yet - dead squirrels.

 

[Axis II]

I have killed a lot of squirrels with solid .22s. I don't believe a .22 will ricochet off a squirrel's head -- if it did, the squirrel would be left unconscious anyway.

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.

 

[Axis II]

There's NO way on God's green earth that a .22 LRSV is going to ricochet off a squirrel's head at 50 yards. A bad shot is a bad shot. Quit trying to reinvent physics to cover for a bad shot.

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.

 

[Axis II]

I have tried to reason with squirrels before, they are a hard-headed animal. I use CCI “Quiet” rounds - good to 50 yards if sighted properly - no ricochets yet - dead squirrels.

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

 

[Bfh_auto]

I killed a squirrel with an air soft gun. I don't think a 22 will ricochet of one.
I have missed many squirrels.

I prefer mini mags or super-x

 

[Good Ol' Boy]

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.

 

[Good Ol' Boy]

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

Subsonic rounds out of a unsuppressed rifle in .22 are noticably quieter than standard loads.

They do require adjustment on a scope but are just as lethal on small game.

 

[Labguy47]

CCI shorts have been my squirrel round for lots of years