Squirrels at 40 yards. Recommendations

You have Squirrels at 40 yards? My suggestion is TAKE NO PRISONERS!!!

Hw97K or TX200, and have the one you pick tuned.

You can get a HW97K from Krale, scope, and tune for under $1K.

Hi Jim, I'd like to try and help, may I ask what pellets have you tried? If you have only used big box store brands ( as in crossmans ) I suggest you try 14 grain JSB and H&N brand pellets and go from there.You may have luck with JSB RS,they worked well in my magnum springers. I suggest you explore that path before purchasing another air implement. I purchase my pellets from Pyramid Air .Buy 4 pay for 3 mix and match.(shipping reasonable) lol, get a pellet pen while your at it. They are packed in a very effective way that so they will arrive with minimal damage. Do not buy them over amazon to avoid damaged pellets. Once you have become an addict like most here are you will have a descent selection of pellets to go thru to find what your next implement is most accurate with. Good luck !

I am getting 1/2 to 3/4 inch groups at 50 yards and 21+fpe with my Diana 54 in .22 using the 15.89gr JSB Monster redesigned. Although I really do like the PCP's a bit better for lighter weight, accuracy and longer ranges the start up costs for PCP is a bit high. A Benjamin Fortitude and a Yong Heng compressor is only a little more 50-$100 than the Diana 54.

You have a lot of really good advice here. Seven or eight years ago I had a similar problem. I bought a Marauder package from Airgun Depot,gun scope mini tank. Killed 26 tree rats in 4 months. I was hooked. Now 4PCPS and 8 springers later & - $20,000 or so I leave the squirrels alone and shoot paper.

Easy answer if you want to kill a few squirrels go to Walmart. If you want a hobby buy a HW50, HW97 or a Marauder in 22 cal and welcome to the club.

I get great groups EASILY out to 35 yards with my diana 48, hw97, hw80, and asp20. All springers and I'd confidently pull the trigger on a squirrel at those distances.

Love my springers, and trust them implicitly. Biggest issue, for me, was the learning curve. My Asp20 gives the most FPE.

I think before you go to the dark side you should have a go at this problem with a middle weight springer. The magnum springers shoot hard and are hard to shoot. The best compromise between accuracy and power is in the middle weight springers. So a 12 to 15 fpe 0.177 or a 14 to 17 fpe 0.22 would probably match up to your requirements fairly well. There are a LOT of guns in that class. My BSA GRT Lightning 0.25 is a 16 fpe rifle and it will shoot into a dime at 25 yards all day long. My Diana Model 36 (which is a Model 34) is a 0.177 and is as accurate or more accurate than the BSA. The D430L I just got is literally the most accurate out of the box rifle I have ever shot (never shot one of those high end target springers). But that 430 just shot a target of 20 three shot groups at 38 yards and the average group was a little smaller than a dime. That is an untuned factory rifle. Those TX200s are legendary for their accuracy. I don't know about their triggers.

The bottom line here is any good quality spring rifle that falls into the mid-power range will probably do the job for you. If it were me and there weren't already half a dozen air rifles leaning against the wall. If I had to do it all over again and start with exactly one spring rifle, I think I would probably go with one of the Diana N-Tech guns probably a 340. That said Airguns of Arizona is running a special on HW97k rifles that would be pretty hard to pass by. I would start with a .177 as you are wanting to shoot 40 yards. But a .22 would do as well because you are only shooting at one distance. Just zero your optic at that distance.

Now then, your optic, get an SWFA 10x42 scope. You will never regret getting that glass EVEN IF you decide that it is too nice for your air rifle ... Good luck, welcome!

Oh, and Michiganders advice above is good advice worth re-reading.

Lots of opinions here so I may as well interject. A PCP would be the ticket but cost keeps me away from taking the plunge. I'd be confident in popping squirrels at 40 yards with my .22cal Sig ASP20 ! I find it easy to get within 25 to 30 yards of Grays. Ground squirrels are a little harder to get close to.

I think what bogey47 said is good advice. If you are only going to shoot squirrels then a decent medium power springer would do you well. However if you feel like this is going to be a hobby I would invest in a pcp set up. There is no real need to buy a pcp set up and worry about air and other items if you will only occasional be using the gun to pop tree squirrels. Just my opinion on the matter.

I have springers and pcps, and if I wanted to up my chances of taking out a squirrel at 40 yards, I'd go with PCP. You've gotten lots of good advice on rifles, but I'll suggest a used AA s510 in .22 or .25. I'm close to your age and a hand pump is not a problem. I've taken 5 rats and a squirrel in the last month, and have another 30 shots in my s510 .25 before I need to pump again. Filled it back in December. It's a five minute operation, and not in the least taxing. $50 chinese pump and you're good to go.

I think what bogey47 said is good advice. If you are only going to shoot squirrels then a decent medium power springer would do you well. However if you feel like this is going to be a hobby I would invest in a pcp set up. There is no real need to buy a pcp set up and worry about air and other items if you will only occasional be using the gun to pop tree squirrels. Just my opinion on the matter.

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Kind of disagree. This is a hobby for me, and I remain 100 percent PCP free!! Lol.

So far, for me, springers are my exclusive non-firearm guns. I consider this a fairly big hobby of mine for a few years, and I seriously doubt I'll ever dabble in PCP land. Probably, for me, one issue is expense of all the extras, another is space for the extras, and a third is "maintenence" while a fourth is i will often just sit there and shoot hundreds of rounds with my springers without having to get off my bum. Just watch the spinners spin, see the targets move and reset them, and just enjoy everything from the shot cycle to my concentration on my technique. I agree that I have to coax my guns to shoot well, but i have learned the foreplay very well and am satisfied with the outcomes. I doubt I'll end up in PCP land, BUUUUUUT I also thought at the beginning that i was only ever going to get one single springer..........

I own and shoot both break barrel springers and pcp. Knowing what I've learned over the past few years and what I've spent along the way achieving that knowledge, the pcp guns will spoil you with their consistent accuracy and lack of recoil.... recoil which lends to the downfall of springer accuracy, especially out to 40yds. So yes, the obvious gun would be a quality barreled pcp…..but now you need to fill it every 30-50 shots, it is a more expensive (tank-compressor) or tiring (pumping) endeavor.

IF I were to do it over again, knowing what I know now, I likely would've spent more $ on a higher quality spring gun with a higher quality trigger and spent more time learning the ammo it shot best and the best way to rest it for consistent hits at 40yds.

I'm guessing your squirrel problems are REDs, they're the only species I've had issue with chewing their way through to gain access, and they are always a challenge to shoot, unless they're sitting still and eating. Good luck with your rifle choice and elimination of the pests.

If you want to stick with a spring gun a RWS 54 in .22 would be the ticket. Powerful, about 23 ft pounds from memory. The gun rides on rails to absorb reverse shock so gun is extremely accurate for a springer.

The best tool would be a . 25 PCP more power and heaver pellets carry more power at distance plus you can’t kill them dead enough when they are eating your house up. With .25 less than perfect shots will still humanely take them out. But there is added cost and problems with PCP guns. 

agreed^^^

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There's a fellow on youtube called "IdahoRon". He is very effective on squirrels with his .22 caliber TX200 from 20-40 yards, maybe further. His videos are what finally tipped the scales for me when I was comparing HW97K and LGU. I went with smooth, powerful, and accurate ...out of the box.

I haven't tried mine on squirrels yet, but I'm very pleased with the other two parameters. I am alarmed though everytime I pick this TX up. It is a heavy rifle. I reckon that's the price for underlever and power?

It's already been covered. But, I will go ahead and throw another nickel in the jar. A quality spring rifle is absolutely capable of very good accuracy out to 40 yards. With more than enough FPE at that range to cleanly kill a squirrel. I have a PCP and am always impressed with it's ease of accuracy. But, I also have more than one high end springer that I am often even more impressed with. Both have their ups and downs. A PCP will give you easy accuracy without much effort on your part at the ranges you are talking about. The downside to a PCP is that it is quite expensive when you take in consideration the rifle and then an air source which you will have to have. A springer, even a high end one, will ultimately cost you less, and needs nothing but for you to feed it pellets in order to go shoot. The downside of springers, can be that to achieve great accuracy at range, it will require some work and practice on your part. Sometimes even tweaking or tuning it to achieve more consistent accuracy. 

There is no magic answer. Just advice and opinion to help guide you in your decision making. Good luck......

TR

The main benefits of a PCP for this sort of hunting is the ease with which a second shot may be delivered on target if required with a magazine fed gun vs a spring gun that needs to be brought off target cocked a pellet fed on then brought back on target.

The main benefits of a PCP for this sort of hunting is the ease with which a second shot may be delivered on target if required with a magazine fed gun vs a spring gun that needs to be brought off target cocked a pellet fed on then brought back on target.

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Agreed there, no doubt. 

I haven't had follow up shots. Either stopped dead, or quickly out of sight. But, I'm still new to this hobby, plenty of time to have that opprtunity where I'll wish I could blast off a rapid follow up shot.

The main benefits of a PCP for this sort of hunting is the ease with which a second shot may be delivered on target if required with a magazine fed gun vs a spring gun that needs to be brought off target cocked a pellet fed on then brought back on target.

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Agreed there, no doubt. 

I haven't had follow up shots. Either stopped dead, or quickly out of sight. But, I'm still new to this hobby, plenty of time to have that opprtunity where I'll wish I could blast off a rapid follow up shot.

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Most often I get squirrels that get knocked down and flop about a bit and stop but are still breathing. I'm sure they are fatally wounded and would quickly expire but I prefer a second headshot to shut them down fully asap. 

There is no real need for a PCP and everything you need pump etc. I shoot and hunt with break barrel. Take medium and small animals with one. I would consider getting a 125 or 135 in .25. They are both powerful and accurate at 40 yards. Or the 130QE