Back in April, looking forward to a stay at home summer of COVID 19, I decided to reacquaint myself with the air guns that had sat undisturbed in my gun safe for the past 8 or 9 years. I also decided to begin a serious campaign against the squirrels on my deck, in my bird feeders, and in the backyard. I would account for each kill, and after a short while I also started to keep track of which of my air rifles made the kill.
These squirrels were not lured into and ambushed at a special feeding station. These were squirrels that I saw on my deck or in my yard while eating breakfast or reading or otherwise doing something else. Most of these squirrels were shot from my deck door or off my deck. To date (today) I have 86 confirmed kills. Early on I would get a kill almost every day. Some days I got as many as five kills. As the summer progressed, the surviving squirrels became wilier and wilier and it might be a week between kills. Nowadays most squirrels that I see are about 50 yards away and moving very quickly.
I used a variety of air rifles:
HW50 .17 – 14 kills
Challenger target rifle .17 – 37 kills
Marauder .22 – 7 kills
Crosman 2240 w/15 inch barrel .22 – 2 kills
Diana Stormrider .22 – 19 kills
The HW50 is accurate and hard hitting, 10.5 fpe at the muzzle. But no one likes to leave a break barrel continuously cocked at the door. And at my age, 73, cocking the HW50 is a chore. It is equipped with a 4X scope
The Challenger is very accurate! But 7.0 fpe is pretty marginal. Except that I was mostly shooting at 5 to 15 yards and aiming for the head. This is when I became acquainted with the “dance of death” caused by head shots. The first 10 or so kills were using the target aperture sights. These worked OK, but the field of view is limited and as summer progressed it was difficult to separate the squirrel from the tree. So, I replace the aperture sights with a side focus scope.
I didn’t start using the Marauder until late July. Earlier I was tuning it for lots of shots with 2500 psi fill. When I was done tuning, I was getting 16.4 fpe and lots of shots. Of course, the Marauder is very accurate. But is large and awkward for use at the back door.
The 2240 has a 15 inch barrel, a stock, an enhance valve, and a moderator. A pretty handy package! But I never really got a trigger that I liked. It is getting 10.6 fpe. In my memory I killed more than 2 squirrels with it, but my notes say otherwise.
The glowing reviews in Hard Air Magazine and on the internet turned me onto the Diana Stormrider 2 with a regulator. There was the usual delay getting it from Pyramid air and some teething problems with the regulator. To date I have gotten 19 kills with the Stormrider running at 16.9 fpe using a Bug Buster scope. I find that its light weight and relatively short length make it for me the perfect backdoor air rifle. I have hit several squirrels at 35 or so yards offhand.
These squirrels were not lured into and ambushed at a special feeding station. These were squirrels that I saw on my deck or in my yard while eating breakfast or reading or otherwise doing something else. Most of these squirrels were shot from my deck door or off my deck. To date (today) I have 86 confirmed kills. Early on I would get a kill almost every day. Some days I got as many as five kills. As the summer progressed, the surviving squirrels became wilier and wilier and it might be a week between kills. Nowadays most squirrels that I see are about 50 yards away and moving very quickly.
I used a variety of air rifles:
HW50 .17 – 14 kills
Challenger target rifle .17 – 37 kills
Marauder .22 – 7 kills
Crosman 2240 w/15 inch barrel .22 – 2 kills
Diana Stormrider .22 – 19 kills
The HW50 is accurate and hard hitting, 10.5 fpe at the muzzle. But no one likes to leave a break barrel continuously cocked at the door. And at my age, 73, cocking the HW50 is a chore. It is equipped with a 4X scope
The Challenger is very accurate! But 7.0 fpe is pretty marginal. Except that I was mostly shooting at 5 to 15 yards and aiming for the head. This is when I became acquainted with the “dance of death” caused by head shots. The first 10 or so kills were using the target aperture sights. These worked OK, but the field of view is limited and as summer progressed it was difficult to separate the squirrel from the tree. So, I replace the aperture sights with a side focus scope.
I didn’t start using the Marauder until late July. Earlier I was tuning it for lots of shots with 2500 psi fill. When I was done tuning, I was getting 16.4 fpe and lots of shots. Of course, the Marauder is very accurate. But is large and awkward for use at the back door.
The 2240 has a 15 inch barrel, a stock, an enhance valve, and a moderator. A pretty handy package! But I never really got a trigger that I liked. It is getting 10.6 fpe. In my memory I killed more than 2 squirrels with it, but my notes say otherwise.
The glowing reviews in Hard Air Magazine and on the internet turned me onto the Diana Stormrider 2 with a regulator. There was the usual delay getting it from Pyramid air and some teething problems with the regulator. To date I have gotten 19 kills with the Stormrider running at 16.9 fpe using a Bug Buster scope. I find that its light weight and relatively short length make it for me the perfect backdoor air rifle. I have hit several squirrels at 35 or so yards offhand.
