Is it hard for anyone else to kill squirrels with .22 calibre?

[sharroff]

FredAz,



Yes, someone did say E=MC^2, and I did use that in my math and finished the calculation to get to ft/lbs per the below.



My long math:



(grain weight of pellet * fps*fps ) / (2 * acceleration of gravity * number of grains in a pound)



or for the .177 example



(10.3 * 870 * 870) / (2* 32.16 * 7000) or



7796070 / 450240 = 17.3 fps, which is the number I posted, and is not off by a factor of 2

 

[Redick]

I just knocked off 2 with no problems. Head shots only!

 

[BigTinBoat]

FredAz,



Yes, someone did say E=MC^2, and I did use that in my math and finished the calculation to get to ft/lbs per the below.



My long math:



(grain weight of pellet * fps*fps ) / (2 * acceleration of gravity * number of grains in a pound)



or for the .177 example



(10.3 * 870 * 870) / (2* 32.16 * 7000) or



7796070 / 450240 = 17.3 fps, which is the number I posted, and is not off by a factor of 2

Why did you use: (2 * acceleration of gravity * number of grains in a pound) as your divisor? For total energy(E) you would use Acceleration of Gravity x Lb's, right?

You used what you did because the ME is really "Kinetic Energy", not Mechanical Energy, which is what Fred was saying

 

[sharroff]

A good writeup is here:



https://www.pyramydair.com/article/What_is_Muzzle_Energy_August_2003/5

 

[BigTinBoat]

A good writeup is here:



https://www.pyramydair.com/article/What_is_Muzzle_Energy_August_2003/5

Exactly and this statement shows you where you made your mistake, thinking it is E=MC2 instead of Ek= (M*V2)/2

" That last number is a constant created by multiplying two times the acceleration of gravity by 7,000 - the number of grains in a pound"

If Muzzle Energy were "Energy" then the formula would just be ((M*V2)/ (Acceleration * MASS)

Instead Muzzle Energy is "Kinetic Energy" which is 1/2 the total energy.

 

[Kim]

>Instead Muzzle Energy is "Kinetic Energy" which is 1/2 the total energy.

Yep. Kinetic energy is 1/2 * (mass) *( velocity * velocity)

or KE = 1/2mv^2

Total energy is KE + PE (potential energy), which is used evaluating falling objects that have only PE at the top of their drop and only KE at the bottom

E=mc^2 is Einstein's equation for energy and mass equivalence - using "c" which is the speed of light

//

Yesterday I picked off a juvenile ground squirrel (RAW HM1000 / 35FPE / 22cal) from about 25 yd. He was a small target in the weeds and facing me, but he dropped immediately and tail-twirled to an instant death. On inspection I couldn't find either an entrance or exit wound. After flipping him over I found the pellet under the skin on his back (2nd pic with twig pointer), but I still couldn't find the entrance wound. There was a little scrape at the edge of his mouth - that was the clue that the pellet entered his mouth. (not at the speed of light though )

 

[Bander124]

Have not had an issue using and air gun of any caliber I own. My sweet spot for a .22 is 20-22fpe in the boiler room they just drop.

although the last 2 I poped of my bird feeder was a .177 at 17fpe and .30 at 90fpe head shots on both the .177 kicked a bit the .30 flew backward or super jumped but was departed b4 he hit the ground. 

 

[Monkyshine]

Moe you sure got lots of rebuttals. They are tuff critters, I perform pest control on farms and presently I am working one farm over now for giant squirrel problem. They tell me they are getting into the equipment wiring. I went from shooting 25 heavies and now I operate with two .30 caliber Dreampups one rigged for night duty other during the day. I now center mass shoot squirrels at 60y regularly for removal and they hit the ground 98%. Energy is king just how you need to get the job done counts for me. If they sit stable on my bait stations I will head shoot but at my distances I like to use my whole vertical plane available. So there is my ten cents. 55ft/lbs at 60-65 yards.

 

[Vermilion530]

18.1 grain JSB's moving at 800+FPS do the trick for me well. Sometimes the ground squirrels will get down their hole after being hit but that's just due to adrenaline. Head or neck shot and they don't take one step. .22 is plenty of pellet.

 

[Guest]

I hunt with .177 and .22 springers making 12-15 fpe. Side of the head between the eye and ear and a third of the way up right behind the front leg broadside only are the only shots I’ll take. Occasionally if I’m close enough I can angle one through the eye and out the opposite ear. Brain shot they drop like a stone and two seconds later they start to flop for about five seconds. Heart shot they jump and run around for about five seconds before they expire but there is no flopping. With either shot if they are still moving after 5 seconds I made a bad shot. Bad shots on game are gut wrenching but it happens from time to time to everyone. The older I get the more patient I am in waiting for the perfect shot. I’m still not patient enough every time. 

 

[Guest]

Something else that might help for the more powerful air rifles would be to aim where you want your pellet to exit. For quartering away body shots aim for the opposite shoulder. I learned that hunting deer with a bow for the quartering away shots and hunting from a tree stand. It’s easy to shoot too high or low on angling shots and miss the vitals. Air rifles are like arrows all they are doing is poking holes. Accuracy is king.

 

[Ghostranger169]

+1 to neck\base of skull shots(if you have the accuracy). .177 and up. Virtually any pellet. Grey squirrels here in Florida.

Shoot them in the head, risk of missing the brain(bothersome flopping around 10 seconds after they drop too)

Shoot them in the chest, risk missing the heart/lung(which they will run almost exactly 3 yards and then fall stone dead)

Any decent hit in the neck, and they drop like a sack of guts. Lights out, no movement