Newbie Here - Squirrel Kills with a Weihrauch HW50S Hunter .177

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eclipsor

Member
Jun 23, 2020
18
1
Virginia
Hey guys!



I have (had?) a squirrel infestation at my backyard bird feeder, so I came to this forum asking for advice. The knowledgeable fellows here pointed me towards the HW50, which I ordered from AGoA. I received it yesterday and promptly sighted it in. Long story short - I made two kills yesterday and three today. The kills were made with JSB Exact .177 Pellets in 8.44 gr. There are still a few more stragglers that I need to deal with, but I have made a large dent in the problem in just over twenty four hours.

Here are pics of the kills for anyone who is interested.



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Thanks for the compliments and advice, guys.



The average distance for these kills was right around ten yards.



Just got my sixth kill this morning. I will definitely be purchasing some of those hollow points from Walmart, because it was slightly more disturbing than the previous kills. He was looking straight at me and I think I hit him a bit low. Right in the nose, I think. So much blood and flopping/rolling around. I went up and got him with another in the brain as quickly as I could. Doesn’t make me feel good at all.



In the future, I am only going to take side-on shots, just behind the eye. These little nutters annoy the poop out of me, but I hate seeing them suffer.



Here’s a pic of my gun...

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Upvote 0
Id disagree. Sub 12 rifles in 177 are common in uk for squirrel. They don't have sufficient power and trauma to humanely kill squirrels with body shots. Also easy to miss vitals or hit bone and not kill, a 177 doing 20+ fpe maybe but head shot is the more reliable shot on squirrels with a sub 12 springer, you won't catch anyone body shooting squirrels in the UK with a sub 12 rifle. Head shots are most reliable at any power and with air rifle accuracy you might as well take them. If you're shooting a magnum spring gun with iffy accuracy id be more apt to take a body shot but a 12yard shot with a hw50 its easy to tuck one behind the eye
 
Upvote 0
for reference I've probably shot 4-5000 squirrels in the UK and another 2 or 300 in the US. Whilst most may die its definitely an iffy shot to take. Theres definitely a different sense of ethics here than in Europe though, in the UK its pretty much if its not dead almost instantly its a bad shot, here it seems to be if you recover it dead then its fine
 
Upvote 0
Tell that to the squirrel in this thread. Very detailed pellet trajectory and trauma caused. 
https://www.airgunnation.com/topic/177-hades-hunting-report/

This isn’t the only only one, I have taken many a squirrel with a sub 12fpe springer in .177. Will update if I can find the links, kinda late here now. 
Found another: https://www.airgunnation.com/topic/177-12fpe-spring-gun-efficacy/

Matter of fact, I almost prefer a vitals shot to a head shot. The margin of error for missing the shot is way lower with the vitals. The brain of a squirrel is a pretty small target, while the lungs are much larger. A sub 12fpe gun in .177 is very capable of devastating both lungs and a good probability of hitting the heart or a major vessel as well. Death is certain & quick in my experience. 
 
Upvote 0
Its possible. It just isn't as reliable. Squirrels are pretty tough for size animals. There's a reason nobody in the UK would do this. Head shots are the most humane shot at any power. If i was shooting a 70fpe 25 is still go for a headshot. Its a small target but not really much smaller than the ideal kil zone in the body. Also if you miss a headshot you either miss or hit the neck which is usually a quick death too. 
 
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