Cartridge for beaver

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I actually have a 357 lever, a Rossi 92. The trouble is that it is an octagon barrel version and cannot be scoped. I can get away with the peep on a stationary squirrel at 20 or 25 yards, but a headshot on a moving skrat or beaver at 30 or 40 yards requires a scope for me.
 
I actually have a 357 lever, a Rossi 92. The trouble is that it is an octagon barrel version and cannot be scoped. I can get away with the peep on a stationary squirrel at 20 or 25 yards, but a headshot on a moving skrat or beaver at 30 or 40 yards requires a scope for me.

Good point. I’d want a scope too.

A Marlin 336 with a 4x scope shooting 110 grs FMJ over a minimum charge of 4198 at 1950 FPS would be the ticket! Or a later suffix Savage 340 (drilled and tapped for the Weaver side mount). They’re cheap. A beech stocked D suffix can be had for like $320.
 
I have tried the SSS but they tumble in most of my rifles.
Could be total urban lore, but Ive heard from more than a few sources the heavy Aguillas are really designed for the AR conversions to stabilzed well in the 1/7 to 1/12 barrels floating around as opposed to standard rimfire 1/16 barrels.

Regardless, a 30 caliber plinker (110 grain sp or 150 cast) over some unique or trailboss might be overkill but certainly isn't challenging to load up and hunt.
 
I would rather avoid buying something in a new caliber. Aside from 22lr, I have 556/223 and a 30-06 cast load that shoots accurately enough for this and throws a 118 grain flat nose bullet at about 1600 FPS.

If you don’t like the .22 you can try the others. A the -06 with 118@1600 sounds like a winner and as above the .223 with an FMJ will just make two holes, I have used them to kill hogs, in a trap.
 
...I shot it with a .22lr rifle, but I think that it was a marginal choice. I made a 35 or 40 yard headshot with an Aguila HV copper plated solid. It blew up the upper jaw on one side, but failed to penetrate the skull...

No disparagement intended, but OP, are you certain this isn’t a matter of shot placement, more than anything else?
 
No disparagement intended, but OP, are you certain this isn’t a matter of shot placement, more than anything else?

My thoughts as well. I've shot enough critters with the 22 LR to know that a properly placed shot will stop them DRT. I will add, the Aguila solids aren't a very good choice for hunting. Consider switching to a hollow point round such as CCI's mini-mag or Federal blue box HV. I use both and have had good luck on all sizes of critter from squirrel up to coyote. If you really want a change in caliber, I'd recommend the 22 mag. Cheap enough to shoot and rifles are readily available, and not too expensive. I probably wouldn't use an '06 unless I just wanted to watch things explode. Lots of noise and recoil for the same results: a dead varmint. Just my two cents worth.

Mac
 
No disparagement intended, but OP, are you certain this isn’t a matter of shot placement, more than anything else?

I suppose that is possible. That said, I hit a 2" by 3" target at 40 yards that was moving. I cannot do any better. The 22LR has a significant enough margin of error on a muskrat, squirrel or rabbit that if I can hit it, the critter isn't going far. Clearly this isn't the case with a beaver, a much bigger animal with an apparently thick skull. I can't do better than to hit it somewhere in the head. So I seem to need something with more horsepower. A bigger slug would have sealed the deal with a hit that proved to be inadequate with the 22.
 
I suppose that is possible. That said, I hit a 2" by 3" target at 40 yards that was moving. I cannot do any better. The 22LR has a significant enough margin of error on a muskrat, squirrel or rabbit that if I can hit it, the critter isn't going far. Clearly this isn't the case with a beaver, a much bigger animal with an apparently thick skull. I can't do better than to hit it somewhere in the head. So I seem to need something with more horsepower. A bigger slug would have sealed the deal with a hit that proved to be inadequate with the 22.
I believe the shot placement query is not about head shots, but more of a brain shot vs "somewhere in the head". Not ragging on marksmanship, I don't think, but rather placing the bullet in a better spot in the noggin than the upper jaw, good optics may help......
 
I believe the shot placement query is not about head shots, but more of a brain shot vs "somewhere in the head". Not ragging on marksmanship, I don't think, but rather placing the bullet in a better spot in the noggin than the upper jaw, good optics may help......


Again, machts nicht. I can't do any better on a moving target.
 
I spent 5 seasons in New Brunswick, late fall deer hunting. Guides were required and one also ran a trap line. Seemed every morning the man would have several beavers in his truck. He was a hide trapper, never thought to ask what he did with the carcass. He did say he used a trap that actually drowned the beavers.
 
I've killed multiple beavers and muskrats using a .223 and Nosler 55BTs, buuuut I was preventing pond damage and not concerned with pelts.

You might want to look at using a shotgun also, 6 shot does a number on both rats and beavers as long as the beavers are close in, 4 shot is even better. Most effective time to shoot with a rifle them was dawn & dusk, shotgun with a light at night works great. A high velocity varmint bullet pretty much fragments when it hits water up close, but I still always took shots with the animal against a bank. This is why I'd rather use a HV varmint round over any .22 rimfire around water.

Honestly the most effective way to get them is with traps. When we initially bought our place complete with 9 acre pond and beaver infestation I went the rifle-shotgun-back-hoe route at 1st (stopped short of explosives, but that's how frustrating the little %^^$# are). Then I went the Jeremiah Johnson route and actually had much greater success. Traps while not "fun" are a 24/7 weapon.


Agree.


I had to get rid of 33 muskrats at night and it's time consuming.

Traps work 24/7 without you needing to be there.
 
I control nutria with a scoped Browning SA22, I normally kill several hundred per year. My favorite ammo Is CCI mini mag HP. Nutria can weigh up to 12-15 lbs. not nearly as large as beaver but any more power is unnecessary. I tried 223 bolt action with varmint bullets, although very accurate power was devastating and much louder.

Bull
 
22 mag would be my choice. Or maybe a 22 hornet. Never had a chance to hunt or trap them.
 
I can't do any better on a moving target.

Not to beat a dead horse, but that is why people use shotguns for hunting when the shooting is fast and the game is on the move. Agreed, you did hit it in the head, just not in a vital location. I'd think that #6 shot or bigger would put several pellets in the vitals and anchor that critter.
 
Not to beat a dead horse, but that is why people use shotguns for hunting when the shooting is fast and the game is on the move. Agreed, you did hit it in the head, just not in a vital location. I'd think that #6 shot or bigger would put several pellets in the vitals and anchor that critter.

Definitely not. Remember, when I see these things they are in the water swimming. All I can see is the head. If a 22LR slug won't penetrate the skull, 6 shot will not either. I thought about using a shotgun, but I think it would take buckshot to do the deal reliably.
 
I actually have a 357 lever, a Rossi 92. The trouble is that it is an octagon barrel version and cannot be scoped. I can get away with the peep on a stationary squirrel at 20 or 25 yards, but a headshot on a moving skrat or beaver at 30 or 40 yards requires a scope for me.
223 or shotgun and 00 buck are THE best. I sold most of the 223 kills but I always take head shots. I use HP varmint bullets. How ever far you can hit a rolling tennis ball, that is how far you can shoot. If you shoot and it isn't floating after, you didn't kill it. But it might die and you MIGHT find it the next morning.

Buck shot just for getting rid of them with spot light and shot gun at night. Get up high where you can see reflection of the night sky in the water and you may not even need the light. I've got a few places I can do that and I use my 223 with a scope for that.

After those... what ever i am carrying.
rwb beav.jpg

beaver hunt 2.jpg rwb beav.jpg
 
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I’ll second the .22 Mag folks. The fmj will out penetrate any .22 LR if you’re worried about it bouncing off the skull and a JHP will anchor the critter with a good shot quickly.

Plus they’re not as loud as a .223 and you won’t need to tinker with finding a load in the reloading room. :thumbup:

Stay safe.
 
beaver are a surpisingly hefty animal. their hide is tough, and they usually have quite a layer of fat on them and are quite heavy boned. I have to admit I failed to recover a couple of hard hit beavers I shot with CCI .22 magnums. If you hit them square in the brain you might be good. I don't have any experience with the .223, but would think a 22 hornet or similar round would be good...likewise I would think a 9mm or .38 special would work fine, but if you are selling the hides I don't know what the larger holes would do to value.
 
beaver are a surpisingly hefty animal. their hide is tough, and they usually have quite a layer of fat on them and are quite heavy boned. I have to admit I failed to recover a couple of hard hit beavers I shot with CCI .22 magnums. If you hit them square in the brain you might be good. I don't have any experience with the .223, but would think a 22 hornet or similar round would be good...likewise I would think a 9mm or .38 special would work fine, but if you are selling the hides I don't know what the larger holes would do to value.
If you hit them any where but the head with anything that makes a hole, it hurts the value.
 
If you hit them any where but the head with anything that makes a hole, it hurts the value.

Yup!................Once tried a .22 short to the head as the beaver was on the dam not sliding down the drowning wire yet when found, Well needless to say, That did not work!:confused: 22 LR did, up close and personal.:thumbup:
 
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