Pest destruction vs .22 cal pellet type

Big Bad

Big Bad

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I've been called upon to bring a rifle out to get rid of a group of problem squirrels that have developed the habit of chewing out the window screens on a country living lady's front porch in order to get inside. I have a pretty good .22 air rifle, velocity around 850 fps, that will do the job but I'm wondering what type of pellet is best. I have cans of high quality pellets in both 'field' and 'target' format, meaning pointed or flat nosed, and I'm wondering which would be best for a quick putdown. I suppose the 'field' designation might be considered the obvious choice, but the flat nosed target ones seem a lot more likely to deliver maximum impact as well as to stay in the body rather than penetrate it. Maybe experienced air rifle hunters can advise me? I mean, don't get me wrong I put in what have to be hundreds of air rifle hours in my youth, but there were no pellet choices then.
 
Flat head pellets are good for maybe 25yds max. Then domes for the rest but really you just need the most accurate and consistant that you feel confident with. That comes from testing and practice, expansion and penetration dont come into play on squirrels but shot placement does.
Pointed pellets do go through things easier thats for sure but my experience is with .22 going 600fps or less and using domes mostly. The only pointed pellets that Ive found to be decent were RWS Super Points.
 
Shoot the ones that are the most accurate and do head shots if you are able to.
 
The best way to consistent clean kills is determining YOUR maximum accurate range and limit the shooting to within that distance. With a .22 cal pellet at 850 you will penetrate the body almost always, bullet placement is the critical point.
So shoot the pellet that is best for your rifle.
 
The range will be next to nothing. The SQs are so tame and arrogant that to get rid of the offenders will be a matter of sitting in a lawn chair and shooting over a distance of about 30 feet. The lady says her son was shooting at them with his old Daisy and hitting them but the BBs had no lasting effect, either in killing them or in keeping them away. I mean to kill as many as necessary to educate the rest. Actually, I'll have to range my scope way in to get close up accuracy; I knew that buying a rifle with no iron sights was a bad idea.
 
KDX said:
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That was quite interesting. However nothing about the effectiveness of pellet shape so I'll go with the fact that in bulk (neither can listing the pellet weights) the pointy 'field' ones are noticeably greater in weight and sight in with those, take it from there.


KDX said:
Maybe you need to add another one to your collection that has iron sights.
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Watching the guy in the video casually hauling out those exotic airgun models to illustrate his points shows that sort of thing could become a very expensive pursuit if allowed to run uncontrolled....
 
I can do pretty good with the iron sights, and almost all my shots are within ten yards, most of them within five yards. I use flat tipped pellets in a regular spring gun, and head shots get the job done.
 
Big Bad said:
That was quite interesting. However nothing about the effectiveness of pellet shape so I'll go with the fact that in bulk (neither can listing the pellet weights) the pointy 'field' ones are noticeably greater in weight and sight in with those, take it from there.
Watching the guy in the video casually hauling out those exotic airgun models to illustrate his points shows that sort of thing could become a very expensive pursuit if allowed to run uncontrolled....
Click to expand...

You can't take it with you, so you might as well enjoy it now.
 
Turned up a web page that gives best shooting advice for .177 pellets, I assume the info applies to .22 as well. One top suggestion is for Crosman "hollow points" as shown, and the hollow point thing probably addresses my issue most effectively I actually have some cans of those but was I guess too fixated on the premium ones I bought only a short while ago. But on the other hand they also recommend the pointed design.

https://www.gungearlab.com/best-177-pellets/

The lady with the problem has asked me to hold off while she researches the issue of when baby squirrels are all out of the nest, apparently they have several generations in one summer, so I'm on standby and still looking for first hand advice or info....
 
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She wants you to kill the squirrels but is concerned about the babies starving if mom and pop get offed?
 
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Don't use the pointed pellets. They are the worst. I shot a pigeon in the head with pointed pellets with a sub 500fps pellet gun and the pellet went straight through its head and lived. Had to shoot it 4 or 5 times. Felt bad that I could not kill it quick.

these are the pointed ones I am talking about. Round head hollow points and flat head work way better

https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/crosman-177-calibre-pointed-pellets-500-ct-0750090p.html
 
Yes, cause often the tree rats have their nest in the attic of the house or the walls... knock off the adult squirrels and the young die and rot in the nest! The smell reeks and lasts longtime aswell as attract flys etc.
Thats why you never use poison on the bastards.. they die in their rat nest

Soon as they are out of the nest... let em eat lead

Dome or flats ! Ive had too many run with pointed pellets and then you gotta chase em ...fuuuuuuuu


KDX said:
She wants you to kill the squirrels but is concerned about the babies starving if mom and pop get offed?
Click to expand...
 
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