.22LR Richardson Ground Squirrel Ammo

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DaveMachine

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Seeing as people are already shooting gophers around my neck of the woods, what would be a good ammunition for use on gophers?

I was thinking of Stingers but I've heard that they don't shoot accurately out of some guns. I've also heard the Velocitors will shoot accurately but I have no experience with them but given their speed, seem like they would be really effective on gophers. These Quik-Shok fragmenting rounds sound entertaining as well but are quite pricey*.

*yes, it's cheap still but why spend the money if it's not worth it.

I've used CCI Mini-mags with my CZ452 and for the most part they seem accurate. Should I just stick with them?
 
Any hollow point ammo will work great on gophers... CCI Mini-Mags will be fine. Still... my favourite ammo for the little buggers is Stingers.
 
I have not had a great deal of luck with Quick shot in any of my 22's although Velocitors seemed to work fine but they are expensive. I would go with any bulk .22 lr HP that your gun likes. I have had good luck with Federal American Eagle 38 grn HP.

sluice
 
If your shooting a bolt or lever, the cheapest .22 HP you can find. Your going to shoot so much of it, gophers aren't worth the cost of stingers. My "Premium" stuff is Remingtons Cyclone. I also like Winchesters Dynapoint and Xpert. They get alot of bad press, but I have no problems with any of them. I was buying Walmarts Federal bulk stuff, but it looks like their not selling it anymore. They've been stocking Winchester ammo only. Oh yeah, i'll be heading out Sunday with my junk ammo. I'll post pics when I get back. :D
 
With good shot placement the 36grain federal bulk pack stuff works great. If your gun does like that winchester expert junk it also works(but its realy low velocity).

If you haven't tryed winchester power points buy a few boxes(from wholesale sports) and do that, they should shoot realy well, and its a 40grain hollow point(a real hollow point), so its quite effective.

Forget the cci stingers, get some remintion yellow jackets! They might not shoot the best, but I have found them to explode gophers better than the stingers.
 
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I'd choose a HP bullet first for it's accuracy. Any hollow point is going to be effective on a gopher, although some more than others. Pretty much any hp will do a much better job than a solid. But you've got to hit them first.
 
Stingers are fine for me. not the MOST accurate, but how accurate do you need, anyway? They're easily sub-2" at 100 yards, so that's more than sufficient for greasing the little squeaks. Past 100 I'll grab a CF.
 
got to test out a lot of .22 ammo on gophers a few yearsa ago. cci mini mag HP and velocitors came out on top. stingers were nice inside 75yrds, but seemed to really lack punch out far.
 
best ammo ???

I've always had good luck with Remington "yellowjackets " there 33 grain hollow point bullet is moving at about 1500f.p.s. which i think is 100 f.p.s. slower than Stingers , however i've heard of people having trouble with the CCI's in their firearms . The yellowjackets have alwalys grouped well in my .22's , as a rule of thumb , if your rifle's are sighted in 2 inches high at 25 yards that about zero's them at 100 yards , which is about the maxium range for the .22 long rifle round .the Winchester "wildcats" say their high velocity but they come out at roughly 1200 f.p.s. , there 40 grain solid bullets, down range i think the hollow point adds a little punch. hope this helps , good shooting Joe
 
Whatever's cheapest, you'll need lots. really it depends on what rifle I'm using. My real accurate 22s get tested and I use whatever ammo gives me the best groups (within reason). For my kids and thier Nylon 77s, the key question is "how cheap can i get it if I buy 500,000 at a time". - dan
 
My favorites are mini mags and yellow jackets depending on which gun is in use.

I found the federal bulk is fine for plinking but it is not a good killer, my gun never shot most rem stuff or winchester stuff that well, so I never used them though a buddy had used gameloads and cyclones with reasonable success.

Watch you price per round lots of the cheap ammo is cheap because it is for 400 rounds not 500.
 
I have always had good luck killing with the federal bulk pack stuff. I awlays shoot for the neck... if im overshooting the range, it goes high into the head, and the other way into the chest.
 
Winchester Power Points have the biggest and most effective hollowpoint, in my opinion.

Dynapoints and most bulk 'HP's' have more like a dimple, not a true hollow point. Terminal ballistics are not as pleasing when it goes right through without expanding!
 
I've never had a dynapoint go straight through without leaving a trail of guts with it. But i agree, those powerpoints are a blast. Even at a hundred yards, you know you've connected. That "POP" is as wonderful a sound as any.
 
I'm with canucklehead. Winchester Power Points (X22LRPP) have phenomenal accuracy for non-match ammo, they are a full 40 grains, huge cavity and very impressive velocity. I have bench tested tons of ammo and the rifles I used it is the most accurate ammo olin makes, including their target ammo.
IMO there is no more accurate hunting ammo sold today, with the possible exception of specialty rounds from Lapua and Eley, and those rounds do not have the velocity or the huge gaping hollowpoint
The one exception is the CCI SGB, or small game bullet. This is a flat nosed HV bullet that smacks down little critters. The lot I had was more accurate than the Power Points. Unfortunately CCI no longer makes SGB. If you see some at a gun show, buy it.
 
accuracy

The best hunting ammo is whatever your gun shoots the best, if you can't hit the target, it matters not how good the hollow point is. IMO the best ammo for the money is American Eagle HP, accurate and cheap, good to 100 yds, and virtually no FTFs. Minimags work well for gophers too, but are usually almost twice as much money as the AE22's. Experts work well too, but are very finicky in the majority of 22's. Out of a dozen different rifles, I have one that shoots Experts very well, the rest spray it like shot. Yellow jackets work very well too, but again most rifles don't like them. If you practice alot like I do, shot placement does more for kill ratio than anything else, IMO. I am further north than you southern types, and hearing about gophers being out already, makes my trigger finger itchy. Can't wait for the season. Later.
 
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