Bullet choice for... Squirrels.

[pharmfisher]

All of this debate about which caliber/bullet for deer sized game and bigger has got me thinking about my bullet choice for pest control. I use a .22 around the house for squirrels and raccoons and what not. Obviously enough power there, but im wondering if bullet selection would make a difference in how fast the animal dies. Right now I'm shooting match ammo, round nose because they are incredibly accurate. But I notice the bullet zips right through the animal and sometimes it's almost like they weren't even hit for a few seconds. I'm wondering if a segmented hollow point would kill faster? I know bullet design really matters for center-fire and bigger game, but do you think the same is true on a smaller scale?

 

[grfox92]

All of this debate about which caliber/bullet for deer sized game and bigger has got me thinking about my bullet choice for pest control. I use a .22 around the house for squirrels and raccoons and what not. Obviously enough power there, but im wondering if bullet selection would make a difference in how fast the animal dies. Right now I'm shooting match ammo, round nose because they are incredibly accurate. But I notice the bullet zips right through the animal and sometimes it's almost like they weren't even hit for a few seconds. I'm wondering if a segmented hollow point would kill faster? I know bullet design really matters for center-fire and bigger game, but do you think the same is true on a smaller scale?

I shoot all small game except birds with a .410. A couple dozen tiny bullets does the trick every time, and they are hard cast, not even match BBs.

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[digger]

Hollow points or vmax type tipped bullets for squirrels that you don’t intend to eat

 

[Tobe_B]

Do prairie dogs count for this discussion? Or are we talking just about squirrels. I typically shoot prairie dogs with my 75gr hpbt 5.56 rounds, or my 108 eldms in 6mm ARC.

The squirrels that keep getting in my truck engine bay are getting targeted with 12 gauge turkey shot. But that’s a whole different vendetta.

I’ve also recently discovered the joys of the rodent buster. But that’s not really a caliber.


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[pharmfisher]

I guess the goal of my post was to discuss .22 ammo specifically (sorry I know I wasn't clear). I'm just wondering if I can get faster kills with a different bullet choice.

 

[ztc92]

Do prairie dogs count for this discussion? Or are we talking just about squirrels. I typically shoot prairie dogs with my 75gr hpbt 5.56 rounds, or my 108 eldms in 6mm ARC.

The squirrels that keep getting in my truck engine bay are getting targeted with 12 gauge turkey shot. But that’s a whole different vendetta.

I’ve also recently discovered the joys of the rodent buster. But that’s not really a caliber.


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Assuming you are referencing the rodent blaster, I just googled this and watched a few videos, looks like a lot of fun!

 

[jimh406]

If we are talking tree squirrels like grey or fox, I preferred CCI Stingers or similar hyper velocity rounds. Behind that are the cheaper 36 grain hollow points.

However, find what shoots well in your .22. If it's a bit worse, but hyper velocity, you can expect better results. Solids seem to be the worst.

I grew up hunting squirrels back East, but I'm assuming the performance of the rounds is similar a few decades later.

 

[BLJ]

I had the same results with round nose ammo. Switching to hollow points took care of the problem.
I’m not sure what your rifle will prefer, but I’ve had great luck with accuracy and terminal performance with the American Eagle 38 grain hollow point.
I haven’t tested accuracy at any significant distance but it does very well at 25 yards in both a Ruger 77/22 and CZ 457.

 

[wesfromky]

I shoot squirrels with 38gr subsonic hollow points out of my tikka t1x and DA Mask. Seems to work well.

 

[justinspicher]

Hollow points are what I’ve always used, otherwise I don’t get the desired result.

 

[5MilesBack]

Around the house for low noise all I use are CCI CB Shorts with round nose lead. They work well, they never make it very far, and sometimes drop in their tracks. But I would prefer hollow points.

 

[KHNC]

I like to use my .17 for squirrels. It is more expensive than a .22 , but i love to shoot crows with it too.

 

[Maverick1]

Subsonic suppressed .22.

 

[manitou1]

If you plan to eat them, hollow points are "no bueno". Been there, done that. Gets messy.

 

[Tod osier]

All of this debate about which caliber/bullet for deer sized game and bigger has got me thinking about my bullet choice for pest control. I use a .22 around the house for squirrels and raccoons and what not. Obviously enough power there, but im wondering if bullet selection would make a difference in how fast the animal dies. Right now I'm shooting match ammo, round nose because they are incredibly accurate. But I notice the bullet zips right through the animal and sometimes it's almost like they weren't even hit for a few seconds. I'm wondering if a segmented hollow point would kill faster? I know bullet design really matters for center-fire and bigger game, but do you think the same is true on a smaller scale?

For pest control the CCI segmented rounds work very well. They have "Segmented Quiet", which are really slow, but they are quiet and hit hard. They also have "Segmented Subsonic", which are very accurate in my tikka. They do a lot of damage and kill quickly. For pest control these would be my choice. Quiet without a suppressor and subsonic with a suppressor if you care about disturbing the peace.

 

[Curhunter]

For you guys using hollow points, are you actually seeing that they open up?
I've always used what ever shot best. It seemed like it didn't matter if they were hollow points. The velocity is low enough and the hollow point small enough that I never noticed much difference.

Honestly tho after a few thousand small game animals I never paid a lot of attention. At the time dead was dead.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

Cci segmented quiet rounds out of my t1x/silencer.

 

[jimh406]

For you guys using hollow points, are you actually seeing that they open up?

It's small hole through a head vs small hole and large exit, so yes, they did open up.

 

[Nutkin13]

CCI Subsonic 40 grain small game hollow points are what I like best. Faster than the "Quiets" but still subsonic out of a 20" barrel. I've killed most of the small game and furbearers out there with them from squirrels to coyotes, 5 yards to 180 yards.

If you're looking for maximum range/flattest shooting it'll be hard to beat a Stinger

 

[cowboy300]

Growing up I was paid to shoot pests/birds out of orchards. I averaged around 1500 birds a summer. I shot most with 22 shorts but I did like to experiment. By far the most devastating were CCI Stingers and Remington Yellowjackets. For bigger stuff like racoons CCI Velocitor and Winchester PowerPoints seemed to hit the hardest. I shoot stuff around the house now with the subsonic segmented hp and they are OK and work but not very impressive.