Slow .25 or .30 cal for squirrels

Jump to latest Follow Reply
D

dtraub215

Member
Dec 10, 2021
15
0
North Carolina, United States
I recently purchased a .22 marauder for pesting of squirrels. It’s ability to quickly dispatch a squirrel is underwhelming. I am now thinking I should get a larger caliber to stop them from running off. Not sure if I should pass up the .25 and go straight to .30 cal.

How much louder is the impact from a .30 compared to a .25. Ideally these would be fired at lower speeds to minimize pass through energy. Thank you very much for any insight. 


Donald
 
I am using a jsb 18 at about 800 fps. I have used a .177 my entire life and finally got a .22 thinking it would help with them running off. I prefer to take body shots, most are between 25-65 yards. I can’t tell you how many I have shot where the bullet passes through both shoulders and it still takes another shot and maybe a dog to find it. The .22 definitely kills them, just not as quickly as I was hoping. 
 
Upvote 0
You’ve got to take head shots if you don’t want them leaving. Between me my oldest son and my dad we’ve put quite a few squirrels down with airguns. .177 springers up to .25 cal pcp, results are the same most of the time. Head shots drop them and body shots don’t always, they’re tuff little critters. We take headshots almost exclusively, if they’re on the ground I’ll take a shoulder shot from time to time. They get in a hole most of the time with body shots while in a tree.


Impact is much louder in my opinion. I’m needing to get a .177 barrel for my NP02 for shooting squirrels while we’re deer hunting for that reason. Hope this helps some.

Beau
 
Upvote 0
I think a .30 will be a bit too loud with impact. I will probably end up with another marauder. Likely almost cheaper to buy a used one than to convert mine to .25
Click to expand...

I eat them. A .30 seems like overkill and would potentially mess up the meat on a body shot. Plus you don’t get as many .30 pellets in a tin. Honestly a .22 is sufficient for squirrels. 
 
Upvote 0
Anything that hits the squirrel and still carries 5 ft lb of energy is enough to kill him slam dead. Just like any other animal on the planet it's not enough to kill him slammed dead you don't shoot him in the right place.

If you've had that many runoff you know the right place is about the size of a quarter whether you shoot him in the head or you go for body shot.

I have found with body shots but I consistently shoot lower on the body and I should and I have to consciously pay attention to get that shot well up into the chest cavity.

65 yards is a long stretch for killing a squirrel because you have to hit that quarter. it can be done I've done it too I don't recommend it


 
Upvote 0
.30 is more than you need but body shots will still cause them to run away as other have said shot placement is key and body shots is not where you want to aim even a .22 LR won't always stop them with a body shot. Also try 21 gr kodiaks as well great hunting pellet and will give you a little more knock down power provided you hit them in the right spot head or heart/lung shots are always best.
 
Upvote 0
Unpopular opinion: Body shots outside of the kill zone are not ideal, but they do occur. In my limited experience squirrels don’t get far with .25 shots in the body. I was able to shoot a few with a follow up shots or stand over them and deliver headshots after they fell from their trees. I’ve killed a few with body shots that landed outside of the immediate kill zone and posted about them. I only experienced one where I thought I shot it while in a tree and it was whining like it was wounded hiding behind some foliage. When I moved from my cover to send a follow up kill shot, it shut up and ran off like nothing was wrong. I honestly am still unsure if I hit it the way it took off running. I think it may have faked me out. I lost track of it when it crossed a property line through the canopy. Or perhaps I did hit it. That’s the only questionable shot on a squirrel. My farthest shot on a squirrel with a .25 pellet is approx 50 yards. It was a body shot and it crawled not ran. I ultimately stood over it and killed it up close. 


The ones in the pic below dropped from trees and didn’t run a foot. I honestly don’t think they ran an inch. One died before I got to it. I ultimately cut the sow’s throat with a knife. I’ve since learned to send follow up shots when I’m unsure. Other members may have had squirrels run off on them, but in my limited experience it’s not guaranteed to occur. The main thing is to continue to practice to improve your shooting abilities so that you can take the best kill shots. Then you don’t have to worry about this sort of thing occurring too often.

E161991A-50F4-4D94-BF4E-FF9378AE303E.1640584368.jpeg




 
Upvote 0
You may need to tweak your shot placement. For bodyshots, you should be right above the front leg on a broadside shot for a heart lung shot. Pay no attention to the overkill caliber I used on this shot, as a .22 cal would have done the same thing with the Polymags ammo. This is what I used because this is all I have.

https://youtu.be/1Eo03LwwEuc

Another thing to consider, is the JSB Exact lead alloy is a little hard and since it's not a hollow point, it has very little expansion. Use the JSB Hades or Predator Polymags with your current gun for higher DRT (dead right there) probability.
 
Upvote 0
I use a .25 impact compact m3 to hunt small game. However, when you get past a .22 you really need to think about shot safety. 25's and to a greater extent 30's are extremely dangerous at long rages. for example taking 450 yard shots with my .25 goes though 3/4 inch plywood with ease.

that's my food for thought on that subject. I think .177 for small game is plenty myself.
 
Upvote 0
My leshiy 2 in .22 is shooting hades at 860fps, and I can put down a squirrel past 50yds drt without too much work. Just gotta hit him in the right spot. Shooting 18 grain at 800 is plenty of power to put them down. You may just need to adjust your aim. What distance is your marauder sighting in at? Are you compensating for distance? When you recover the squirrel, does the shot placement look good?
 
Upvote 0
I rarely lose a squirrel shooting any of my .22s, including springers. Shot placement as already mentioned, is critical with a round nose Diablo pellet, and just generally important, with any pellet. But if you are going to body shoot, you need to go to a Predator Polymag or JSB Hades. The Polymags are not as accurate from my experience, but under 40 yards will leave a huge wound cavity. The JSB Hades are very accurate in my Air Arms S410 .22 and extremely deadly.
 
Upvote 0
The caliber isn't as crucial as the pellet used. For quick kills, you need a blunt pointed pellet that transfers energy to the target (or deforms to a blunt tip.) Hunters have always gravitated to two extremes when it comes to bullet performance. Accuracy with low drag designs with minimal resistance or the brush buster with blunt nose and sledgehammer performance. 

When the rimfire manufacturing company CCI set out to design the perfect squirrels bullet, they used a flat nose bullet for hollow-point knockdown performance with minimal damage to edible meat.


 
Upvote 0
IMOP all states and squirrels are different, such as size and hide thickness. I have hunted squirrels with an air rifle for many years. Shot placement and good ammo is key. I quit using pellets for one reason they do NOT expand. So, you may encounter a squirrel to run off from time to time using pellets. Slugs are my go to for hunting squirrels, they perform extremely well. .22cal. setup with slugs is a perfect combination.

.30cal. Too much plus I don't know about the trajectory issues. 
 
Upvote 0
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back
Home
Forums
Resources
Menu