.30 caliber for squirrels? Why and why not?

If you're hunting squirrels for food / fur, you might wind up with less yield with a .30 over something smaller. I would personally use nothing larger than 22 cal, but for pesting no problem.

Now I would also make the argument that if you are indeed planning to hunt larger critters, you would want a .30. I'm not saying there's any harm in having a squirrel rig and another for larger game, but if you can hit squirrels with a .30 - the larger game are going to be easy prey. Keep in mind that you can adjust the power on the fly with many different platforms.

Cost of ammo, shot count, pellet pass through on pests. I like .25 best works on raccoons, coyotes, squirrels.I have found that a gun with 50 ft/lb muzzle will easily take raccoons and I feel they are harder to kill then coyotes and possums. Now with FX's hybrid slugs in .25 you can take coyotes at longer distances. I find the 25 grn pellets more then adequate and I really like the Hades for head and heart lung shots on squirrels. With an interchangeable barrel gun you could always step up to .30 if you felt the need. I use to take raccoons with a Diana 34 in .22 but I wore a head band lite and only succeeded with shots through the eye( reflection) while they were in my trees or studying me from my yard.

I was wondering the same thing but I bought a .22 as a starter just so I could do some relatively cheap plinking. .30 cal pellets are more than twice the price of .22 and my 22 shoots through 1 1/2 inches of sheetrock. I can't see needing anything bigger to kill a squirrel.

I will still get a .30 but it sure won't be shooting twenty five bucks worth of pellets every week. That's only 100 pellets by the way.

Beast222

You need to look around and get better prices for your pellets . I order from pyramid air the jsb 30 Cal 150 count tins run about 17.99 if you buy 3 tins you get a 4th free and shipping is 7.99 I believe . It's usually a little under 60.00 for 600 30 Cal jsb's and if you look on line most of the time you can find a 10%off coupon 



Thanks 



Dan 

Beast222

You need to look around and get better prices for your pellets . I order from pyramid air the jsb 30 Cal 150 count tins run about 17.99 if you buy 3 tins you get a 4th free and shipping is 7.99 I believe . It's usually a little under 60.00 for 600 30 Cal jsb's and if you look on line most of the time you can find a 10%off coupon 



Thanks 



Dan

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I was looking at prices on Amazon so that's where I got those numbers. I forgot about the buy 4 for 3 deals, Thanks. 

AOA actually has a better deal on jsb ammo right now. $15.40 a tin buy 4 get 1 free. They have higher shipping then pyramyd air but if you have to pay tax like I do through pyramyd it’s cheaper. 

Free Standard Shipping on Qualifying Orders over $82.00! (Details)
Hatsan Edge 22 Cal. Air Rifle Combo with scope.
Was $129.99
Now $79.99

Kittery Trading Post.

That's the deal that I found just to put a rifle in my hands while I save up for the dream gun. It will kill squirrels, walls, windows,etc etc.

https://www.kitterytradingpost.com/hunting-shooting/airguns-pellets/air-rifles/hatsan-edge-22-cal.-air-rifle-combo-75687.html?cgid=0

I used to hunt deer with a .30 caliber powder burner when I was a teenager. I wouldn't want to take a squirrel with that. Even though that gun is still in our immediate family I wouldn't want to use it on a squirrel. But I am thinking would be ok using a .30 caliber air rifle for squirrels and on up to small deer. I have watched a few videos of .30 air rifles being used for squirrels. I was always a pretty good shot and would be thirty or forty yds. away, tops, from the squirrels. I would probably be further away from a small deer, or coyote. I need to look at the most humane way to go if I take me a spike deer to eat. The power adjustment options I have been studying on the rigs these days seems the way to go since, yes, I have been studying how to skin me a squirrel and make dumplings.

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I don't know what cartridge we are discussing, but generally, a comparison between a .30 air rifle and most any .30 caliber metallic cartridge rifle is not very meaningful. A much heavier projectile travelling at supersonic speed results in far more tissue damage than a subsonic lead pellet. That said, I believe a .22 air rifle is very lethal on squirrels out to any practical distance. But, it is wholly inadequate for deer sized animals. 

Cant go wrong with an adjustable 30, great all around caliber but...a little more cost in air and ammo.

.30 is just fine for squirrels. Head shoot them and you’ll lose no meat. 

Most of your 30's could be compared to a sub sonic 22 powder burner. Your shooting a 44 gr. pellet at 70 -80 fpe of energy, the 22 shoots a 40 gr. at sub 100 fpe. The pellet cost, air consumption, noise, and pass thru problems are all thoughts that need to be considered. When toned down in power you'll experience a more loopy trajectory, this makes your ranging more critical verging on exact. Where as a 22 with an 18 gr pellet, and a 25 with a 34 gr. pellet will shoot very similar to each other at ranges to 70 yards. With triple and double the amount of pellets, along with reduced air it's worth considering. The thought of blasting a Squirell off the soffit of a home only to have a pass thru do additional damage. 44 grains flying in a populated area is another thought. tflatts did a great job educating the forum members on reduced fpe requirements. The slugs now becoming much more common is another option for added power, and increased ballistic capabilities.

The .30, depending on the power level of your chosen gun. Will have many more limitations as to where you might shoot them. A .22 PCP at 28-32 FPE will take sparrow to raccoon-sized critters at most practical air gun hunting ranges. With less noise, or danger to others from pass thrus. Don’t get caught up in the “chase for more power” you’ll only recreate a .22 rimfire. With all the limitations that come from trying to use one in a tight environment.

The .30, depending on the power level of your chosen gun. Will have many more limitations as to where you might shoot them. A .22 PCP at 28-32 FPE will take sparrow to raccoon-sized critters at most practical air gun hunting ranges. With less noise, or danger to others from pass thrus. Don’t get caught up in the “chase for more power” you’ll only recreate a .22 rimfire. With all the limitations that come from trying to use one in a tight environment.

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I'll second this.

I have a leshiy with a .30 barrel set up at 550fps for poly mags. At 30 ftlb. Shop arround you can get vortex(rebranded jsb) .30 for arround 10-12$ a tin. I use StrelokPro for my scope tape and put a whapppp on them in my yard. And with the huge arch in trajectory not as worried about distance of pellet travel or energy carried in ricochet. And if one wasn’t eating them meat damage is no concern. But there’s not a lot to eat in the ribs any how 

I do not have any personal experience with the .30, but based on what I read and watch, I have a couple thoughts. Funny enough, I started a thread asking about the worthiness of this caliber a while back. It certainly has become more popular and more available since that time. 

As others have noted, cost can be a negative factor. As for a positive, pure knockdown power at lower speeds. Check out @tflats99 and his channel EDgun Leshiy for more on this. He tunes his guns to shoot the .30 at low speeds, while still being very effective. With good shot placement the meat should be fine to eat if you are hunting for food. 

All that being said, I use my .177s and .22s for squirrels. Even though I own a .25 I never use it as it is too powerful for my backyard. The .22 at 32fpe max has enough stopping power and has even taken a fox. 

I use my 45 cal texan on squirrels and rat. Why? Cause I can duh 

There isn’t Why not 30, when shooting ground squirrels!

tree squirrels are a different thing.

Renz

An accurate .30 with a power adjuster would be fine for just about anything. Tree squirrels are at close range 25-40 yards. Bullfrog did a video on the Texan SS .308. He shots both Pellets (squirrel) and Deer with the same gun. It just has to be accurate enough to take head shots, so you don't damage a squirrel's meat.