Squirrels, .25 pellets, JSB Kings vs Polymag what would be your choice?

[BlackICE]

Using my squirrel feeder I nailed 2 so far. The 1st one was with a .25 JSB kings at 940 fps at the muzzle, 22 yards to the target. The pellet went through the body and I believe got both lungs, maybe heart too. The squirrel went flying at impact, DRT.

2nd squirrel was sitting on the back legs hunched over, used a .25 Polymag at 920 fps, bad shot placement into the guts, no hits to the lungs or heart, no exit wound, but an extremely nasty surface wound with guts hanging out! The squirrel ran off as if it wasn't hit at all. I found it about 30 feet away.

Vote to which is the better pellet to use. I think the Polymags have little penetration even on a little squirrel, but cause huge wounds that IMO would be fatal to a squirrel if hit at any meaty area. The JSB Kings could just fly right through less vital area with little damage if you don't hit the vital. Leading to a slow death.

We all can't be expert marksman 100% of the time. I have also used a 12 fpe .177 to the heads of squirrels, so far 3 for 3 DRT.

So which is the better pellet to use is you just want them terminated and don't care about runaways?

 

[Ranchibi]

I would choose the projectile that is the most accurate out of your airgun.....

 

[ChuckHunter]

My vote is for the domes!
Squirrels are tough critters and penetration is a must. Polymags are ok at close range but in my experience lose their accuracy after about 40 yards.
If you want a little more punch try some FX 34 grainers. They fly really well anywhere from 880 to 920fps.

 

[sonnysan]

I used h&n Kodiaks and jsb hades out of a variety of pcps before I graduated to slugs about four years ago.

 

[RoosterCogburn]

I bought a few tins of polymags a while.back. the effect is undeniable... but anything past 35y became a crap shoot, this was shooting them from a p35x at 885 and a uragan 1 at 940. It was so wild I weighed every pellet in 2 tins. The pellet to pellet weight differential was wide. When sorted and matched. No problems. But, it is very time consuming. I dont personally enjoy having to size, weigh and sort every single round I get. Domes.

 

[daddypaddy]

domes. 22 yards really close for .25 at that speed lol. bet the sound of the impact is awesome!
out to 50 yards you can do domes at 750 fps and get a ton of quiet shots that won’t scare the other squirrels away

 

[BlackICE]

These shot were taken when my webcam wakes me up early in the morning. I'm half asleep and not in my best for aiming, I had these Polymags never tried them for game, so gave them a go. Thought maybe any body placement would be good enough. If I was awake I could/would put just a 12 fpe .177 into the brain.

I don't have any shots more than 35 yards. The Polymags are a little worst in accuracy and the point of impact was about 3/8" left at 22 yard compared to the Kings. I was surprised at the damage to the flesh. Many on the forum said that pellets don't expand. I doubt if any squirrel could survive long with such a wound. If a dome was used with the same $hitty shot placement I would think the squirrel would have suffered longer and ran further.

 

[RoosterCogburn]

I don't have any shots more than 35 yards. The Polymags are a little worst in accuracy and the point of impact was about 3/8" left at 22 yard compared to the Kings. I was surprised at the damage to the flesh. Many on the forum said that pellets don't expand. I doubt if any squirrel could survive long with such a wound. If a dome was used with the same $hitty shot placement I would think the squirrel would have suffered longer and ran further.

Polymags flatten out and not in a small way. Polymags, metal mags, and the baracuda hunter series do open up and expand nicely.

 

[M4Slugger]

Your rig should dictate what you use.. Squirrels don’t care.. 22 yards in brain is like pushing the BRB ( Big Red Button ) i.e. “E-Stop.”

 

[Bobr]

Polymags are great hunting pellets get a better shot placement my cricket loves them

 

[cmatera]

Assuming roughly equal accuracy, I choose penetration over expansion on tough game like squirrels or raccoons-domes.

 

[Csbrown5]

Would you use Polymag on a deer?

 

[scubajeeper]

Hades

 

[beerthief]

Using my squirrel feeder I nailed 2 so far. The 1st one was with a .25 JSB kings at 940 fps at the muzzle, 22 yards to the target. The pellet went through the body and I believe got both lungs, maybe heart too. The squirrel went flying at impact, DRT.

2nd squirrel was sitting on the back legs hunched over, used a .25 Polymag at 920 fps, bad shot placement into the guts, no hits to the lungs or heart, no exit wound, but an extremely nasty surface wound with guts hanging out! The squirrel ran off as if it wasn't hit at all. I found it about 30 feet away.

Vote to which is the better pellet to use. I think the Polymags have little penetration even on a little squirrel, but cause huge wounds that IMO would be fatal to a squirrel if hit at any meaty area. The JSB Kings could just fly right through less vital area with little damage if you don't hit the vital. Leading to a slow death.

We all can't be expert marksman 100% of the time. I have also used a 12 fpe .177 to the heads of squirrels, so far 3 for 3 DRT.

So which is the better pellet to use is you just want them terminated and don't care about runaways?

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I only use wadcutters (flat nose) pellets and head shots , Whoa! just think of the tremendous THUD a .25 wadcutter would make on a squirrel head . I will give it a try

 

[MOhunter]

I'd use what's accurate in each gun I shoot. But....when it comes to squirrels, I eat what I kill, so I'd prefer less mess. I think domed with any good hit will be my choice.

 

[swopever]

What ChuckHunter and MOhunter said above. Whatever shoots best out of your gun to 40 yards. In .25 cal, about any projectile out to 40 yards on target will do the trick for squirrels. When it comes to .177, .22, and .25 ....... size matters! I've shot squirrels with the exact same FPE in .22 and .25 and there's no doubt the bigger size .25 is better at DRT regardless of shot placement.

 

[6gun]

Using my squirrel feeder I nailed 2 so far. The 1st one was with a .25 JSB kings at 940 fps at the muzzle, 22 yards to the target. The pellet went through the body and I believe got both lungs, maybe heart too. The squirrel went flying at impact, DRT.

2nd squirrel was sitting on the back legs hunched over, used a .25 Polymag at 920 fps, bad shot placement into the guts, no hits to the lungs or heart, no exit wound, but an extremely nasty surface wound with guts hanging out! The squirrel ran off as if it wasn't hit at all. I found it about 30 feet away.

Vote to which is the better pellet to use. I think the Polymags have little penetration even on a little squirrel, but cause huge wounds that IMO would be fatal to a squirrel if hit at any meaty area. The JSB Kings could just fly right through less vital area with little damage if you don't hit the vital. Leading to a slow death.

We all can't be expert marksman 100% of the time. I have also used a 12 fpe .177 to the heads of squirrels, so far 3 for 3 DRT.

So which is the better pellet to use is you just want them terminated and don't care about runaways?

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Both my 25s love kings and they work great on rodents. The hades pellets work really well in my main hunter (dreamline compact) and at least give me some extra pop and behave a lot like the kings do. The pmags work great for me but if they don't group, they don't matter. The pmags also have a tendency to leave stupid ground squirrel meat all over the place too . Polymags shine when you're low on stopping power and need the advantages you can get. 25 isn't short on power in this application. Choose what your gun likes best and I think you'll have a lot more fun. It's rare that they shoot well but there's crow mags too for some ultra gore and drt expansion.

 

[BlackICE]

I'm just surprised in 2 ways with gut shooting a squirrel with a 0.25 Polymag. The pellet was going 920 fps at the muzzle, squirrel only 22 yards away.

1. The amount of damage in the entrance hole to the side of the squirrel.

2. Even with that extreme wound, the squirrel still ran off quickly 30' away.

Must have been very shallow penetration.

 

[6gun]

I'm just surprised in 2 ways with gut shooting a squirrel with a 0.25 Polymag. The pellet was going 920 fps at the muzzle, squirrel only 22 yards away.

1. The amount of damage in the entrance hole to the side of the squirrel.

2. Even with that extreme wound, the squirrel still ran off quickly 30' away.

Must have been very shallow penetration.

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In my beer league garage plumbers putty performance comparison they do tend to penetrate comparatively shallow but the energy deposition is really high. Granted me and my pals little setup was knowingly THE best case terminal performance. Polymags, crowmags and hybrid slugs had a very unique capability (not unlike the vmax or varmint grenades for powder burners). The expand quickly and aggressively and stop or break up.

Squirrels keep ticking with mortal wounds that are astonishing. Even a 40+fpe 25 hades shot from 30 yards and they'll scurry 6 feet away and die.

 

[Vetmx]

I'm just surprised in 2 ways with gut shooting a squirrel with a 0.25 Polymag. The pellet was going 920 fps at the muzzle, squirrel only 22 yards away.

1. The amount of damage in the entrance hole to the side of the squirrel.

2. Even with that extreme wound, the squirrel still ran off quickly 30' away.

Must have been very shallow penetration.

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Squirrel, like deer, coyote, groundhogs and other animals rarely behave the exact same way even with the same exact shot placed to the vitals. It’s the same to a lesser extent when you shoot them in the head. Some just fold up. Others turn into acrobats. Some get the shivers or lay there running. You’re sending a Poly pretty dang fast. So what you experienced on the entrance hole is the cavitation blowback. It caused all the disrupted internals to escape the route of least resistance. You basically set off a hand grenade in there and the entrance hole was the pressure relief.

I‘ve had squirrel with everything blown out the opposite front shoulder hit the afterburners. Then the next shot is a pencil hole through the rib cage and that squirrel just falls off the tree and gives a couple kicks. The only advice I can give is for a guy to use what works best for him from experience. Enough experience that it becomes definitive data.