Will a well-placed 500 fps .177 pellet........
- Thread starter Iloverevolvers
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Calling in a pro would cost at least $100, IMHO. Is an airgun pistol that shoots greater than 500fps going to require an RPAL? I have an RPAL, but I do not want the hassle of a restricted "firearm" and, therefore, I will not buy one if it is restricted. I don't want another long gun, so that's out, too.
Yesterday I did some penetration tests with the Crossman. In short, no pellet comes out the muzzle on one pump or two pumps only. Three pumps pushes out a pellet that is captured in the center of three "facial tissues" crumpled into a ball. Even my wife says that that is not going to penetrate into a squirrel ......... probably just scare the hell out of it and maybe give it a bruise. I haven't gone beyond three pumps and won't unless the pest returns. Can't get more selective than that.
The slingshot below arrives today.
https://www.amazon.ca/GSERA-Catapult-Slingshot-Hunting-Exercise/dp/B08DTMRS7Q
I've saved several empty cans to do some target practice. Should be interesting. I won't use it until I'm confident of shot placement. Hopefully it won't be necessary.
I dont believe your Crosman classic pump pistol will be close to 500fps but if it gets over 400 at that range a head shot will do the job. I used to use my Webley Hurricaine which I had chronied at 435fps to dispatch squirrels, chipmunks and other creatures who were invading and damaging my property.
I dont believe your Crosman classic pump pistol will be close to 500fps but if it gets over 400 at that range a head shot will do the job. I used to use my Webley Hurricaine .177 which I had chronied at 435fps to dispatch squirrels, chipmunks and other creatures who were invading and damaging my property.
Yesterday I belatedly tested the result of 20 pumps on a typical, traditional-sized Campbell soup can filled with water. In short, from about 15 feet the pellet penetrated the front of the can with a clean hole, traveled through the water and put a good dent in the back of the can. The pellet was captured in the can. Additionaly, a pellet passed through both the front and back of an empty can. Therefore, I am now near certain that a well-placed pellet from our Crossman will kill the pest quickly.
(BTW, I've been practicing with the new slingshot. Results? Let me put it this way, it's a lot easier to aim and accurately hit something with the Crossman! I believe my problem is almost entirely with how I grip and release my balls (heh). AFAICT from some preliminary study of slingshot-shooting, people work on their ball-holding and releasing technique, posture, aiming, etc. etc. for literally years. This is a serious hobby for a lot of people. In short, At this point there is no way I'd try to kill anything using a slingshot. Here is an aid that I'm going to explore that instantly removes the whole ball-holding/releasing and finger-numbing issue -- an archery bow "release" combined with some modified ball-pouches. If it makes things easier, I might very well become a slingshot enthusiast ............ and the ammo is a helluva lot less expensive than that for a firearm.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiU7gTRozrE
and you can practice while watching TV:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ru8IdzsgNY )
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"Humanely" is the magic word. Could you mortally wound it and find it the next day 30 feet away dead? Easily. Could you reliably kill it instantly, cleanly and humanely?...While technically possible, it would be a 1/500 shot...unless you can reliably hit a pencil eraser (eye/brain/heart shot) freehand from 20 feet? In which case, you need to get your ass to the olympics because there's a gold medal with your name on it.
A few posts down from my first, I mention that the distance is more like ten feet. I should mention that I will have the side of a doorway to brace on and that I've very recently had cataract surgery and now have much better than 20/20 in both eyes without glasses. It's going to be an easy head shot.
Great to know. Thanks!
If you don't hit it in the vitals, it will run off and die a slow death. I have shot them with a .22 long rifle, and I recovered the bullet still inside of them!!. The best squirrel stopper is a 17hmr or shotgun. You have to hit their head with the hmr or there's not much left.They are unbelievably tough for a little critter! I have killed many groundhogs with my Diana 34 in .177 with one headshot but only 1 squirrel without a second shot.
Seems you're doing something wrong. From what you've written here I can't guess what. I've dropped a squirrel in 1 shot, dead right there, with a single round of CCI Quiet going about 700fps. But I've also 270 other grey squirrels using anything from .177" wadcutters at 485fps through .22" JSB Heavy 18gr at 785fps. It has been rare for a squirrel to travel more than flopping to the ground and doing the brain-dead dance for a few seconds. I have made some bad shots which necessitated a follow-up shot, but less than 5% of the overall, and most of those within my first 2 years of taking squirrels. Head shots neatly placed from the side do the trick at lower power. The higher power .22" air rifle does the job just as nicely from front or back, where the bone is tougher. No running 30 feet and dying much later. Haven't seen that once in the past 3 years. I suspect if you're having trouble dropping grey squirrels, you're not hitting the brain.
What I mean is if you dont hit them in head or heart lungs they can fall 70 feet ,hit the ground hard, then run away. The squirrels around here dont let you get close enough to kill them with a under 500 fps pellet gun. Too many hawks and other rapters. It would take years to get over 200 squaks! I watch vids of guys hunting down south, their squirrels are not too bright ,They see the hunters and run to another tree and stop. The ones here see you and dont stop running from tree to tree. If you try to follow them you alert any others around. The best way i found is to hide and wait for one, so you arent seen.
My average muzzle-to-squirrel distance when I pull the trigger is 7 yards. As close as 2, from the kitchen porch. As far as 35, but that was only once. So yes, different thing. I wouldn't call our grey squirrels dim, but they are very confident and persistent, especially in the butternut tree.
A gray squirrel more aggressive than red squirrels?! You sure they aren't chipmunks lol? I've seen red squirrels drag full grown doves out of trees and into the brush. Grays will certainly enter uninvited but I wouldn't deem the even as aggressive as a red squirrel
Squirrels often move their head at just the right moment to cause a miss, if you have a particular one you want gone....put out peanut butter on a piece of cardboard. It will keep nice and still while eating. Easy to make a headshot on a stationary target. Clean up is easy as well.
This works. Haven't baited them myself as there has been no need - we have plenty of butternuts most years (not more than a few dozen this year though, darn it - seems the tree is taking a rest) so I just wait for a squirrel to stop hiding them after three or four then settle down to nibbling one on a branch. That makes a clean head shot easy. Another good setup is to wait for them to take a nap along a branch on a warm afternoon. Between 2 and 4 they're very likely to close their eyes for an hour or so. Some of them just don't wake up, as they are very still while asleep.
pete dobinson
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Courtenay BC.
I wouldn't hesitate to shoot a squirrel with my TX200 .177 rated at 950fps. It's very accurate and penetrates 3/8" plywood at 30 yds. I wouldn't shoot a squirrel with a 500 fps air rifle, imo it's not enough.
As has been said many times over the years use enough gun . I still have my Fathers Slavia pellet rifle . I couldn't tell you all the stuff that had succumbed to the rifle when I was young and wild . but one time I shot a squirrel and it didn't die . I won't say how I finished it off but it wasn't cool . never shot a squirrel with that 177 caliber pellet rifle again . if your neighbors aren't close buy some CB caps and Clip the little offending item with a 22 . just remember they are a 22 . don't miss . now you do as you please. or borrow a live trap and you figure it out after.
My situation has prompted me to do a bit of research on quiet 22 ammo and, as a result, here's the ammo I'd use IF, IF, IF I had even a single shot, bolt or break action .22 (but I don't and I'm not buying one for the sole purpose of dealing with one squirrel!): Aguila Colibri .22
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I32RStVuFm0
I think that my Crossman pistol with 20 pumps makes more noise than that Aquila exiting a long barrel. (Maybe owners and users of both could confirm or deny that.) The distance that that guy is shooting in his garage is probably longer than the "shot" would be from inside our house (through an only partially opened door) to the squirrel in our back yard. I have absolutely no doubt that the "report" would not be heard by anyone, even from a neighbor in their yard adjacent to ours. My only worry would be making sure that there is a good back-stop beyond the critter, which is actully the same concern I'd have with the Crossman, albeit less so.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I32RStVuFm0
I think that my Crossman pistol with 20 pumps makes more noise than that Aquila exiting a long barrel. (Maybe owners and users of both could confirm or deny that.) The distance that that guy is shooting in his garage is probably longer than the "shot" would be from inside our house (through an only partially opened door) to the squirrel in our back yard. I have absolutely no doubt that the "report" would not be heard by anyone, even from a neighbor in their yard adjacent to ours. My only worry would be making sure that there is a good back-stop beyond the critter, which is actully the same concern I'd have with the Crossman, albeit less so.
