Effectiveness at 1200 fps

[olafhardt]

For years I have hunted squirrels on a research basis and because I love squirrel meat. I was a decent shot with a 22 and a trained and experienced research engineer. When I had them I used only CCI Mini Mag hollow points. I was amazed at the wound channels these bullets left. I would occasionally use something else. I began to notice that solid round nosed lead bullets left very similar wound channels. One day I dropped a fox squirrel dead from the top of a tall tree. The Federal lead solid bullet hit right behind the diaphram and ranged upward to exit the lower throat without touching a bone. There was only a very small exit hole. However, all of the soft tissues from the entrance to exit were pulverized. The actual physical permanent wound volume was tremendous compared to the size of the probably unexpended bullet. Now I have read of other cases where bullets at around 1200 fps were very effective wether they expanded or not. I am wondering if 1200fps might not be a good goal for handloaders. This might require out-of-the-ordinary bullet weights. What do you think?

[shoot-n-lead]

Round nose bullets work fine on squirrels...not so well on larger game. On larger game, they don't penetrate straight...easily deflected inside the body...meaning, you may have made a good shot on vitals of a deer and the bullet can be deflected and miss the majority of the vital area...at least, that has been my experience.

[NavyVet1959]

I suspect this will be effective...

http://images.spambob.net/navy-vet-1959/lee-tl410-210-swc-resized-10mm-loaded-320w.jpg

[JeffinNZ]

I wonder if a rifle with a using .22RF Shorts would be the perfect squirrel rifle? Would need a Short chamber for best accuracy.

[WRideout]

I keep a box of .22 RF shorts around just for that purpose. They are absolutely deadly on squirrels. In PA where I live, you can't use centerfire for small game.
Wayne

[Lloyd Smale]

I use sub sonic 22s for squirrels and rabbits or anything I'm going to shoot with a 22 and eat.

[Mk42gunner]

I wonder if a rifle with a using .22RF Shorts would be the perfect squirrel rifle? Would need a Short chamber for best accuracy.

There is considerable merit in that idea Jeff.

Thirty to forty years ago I really liked using CCI's .22 Short HVHP on squirrels and other game that is suitable for a .22. I never had a pure .22 Short rifle, but they worked fine in the run of the mill rifles that were marked for 22 Short, Long, or Long Rifle. Probably would have been more accurate with the shorts 1 in 20 twist, but they did okay in the guns I used them in.

The only bullet I ever recovered from a squirrel was a lengthwise shot at about forty yards, the picture perfect mushroomed bullet fell out when I skinned the rear leg.

Those rounds were also my buddy's and my second choice for hunting raccoons. The bullet would stay in the skull leaving only one hole in the hide.

Unfortunately I haven't been able to find any for several years.

Robert

[Mitch]

for many years I hunted with cci mini mags or something close. finaly saw the light and got something a bit slower in the 1070 fps range.the cci SV is one of my ammo of choice.the Sv shoot much better in most rifles easy to get 1 nin of squirl and kills just as dead when you can make better shots.

[Blackwater]

Let me add my vote for .22 Shorts on squirrels. Long ago, I read someone who said that Shorts kill squirrels better than LR's. I laughed at that. Why, anyone could SEE that the LR was bigger, and therefore HAD to be more powerful and thus, more effective, didn't it? Well, a year or two later, I couldn't find any LR's for a squirrel hunt that weekend, and I HAD to settle for some shorts, because they were all they had in stock. I pooched out my lips at not being able to get what I thought I wanted, but did I ever more get a lesson the next day! Every squirrel I shot just folded up and fell out dead, like a well hit dove on a dove field! I remembered the article, and tried them several times subsequently to prove to myself that the Shorts were such great killers. The results were very consistent. I still have no explanation. Just the results of observation. The analysis part is still on-going, and I don't have a real clue yet. Some have commented that the shorter bullet may be tumbling, but I could find no evidence of that. So .... I just relate it here without explanation.

And if you like to shoot frogs for their legs, Short HP's are the absolute best ammo you can use on them! They seem to anchor them where hit, providing of course for a good, well placed shot. LRHP's and particularly the hyper-vel HP's seem to make their nerves fire off and they often jump into the water, where they may be lost if you can't find them with a landing net. But the Short HP's, well placed, result in their just collapsing where they sit.

The world is full of mysteries. This is one I have never figured out. Anybody got any ideas on it?

As to the 1200 fps. thing, it's just above the speed of sound, fast enough to smush out (technical term) the nose on soft alloy bullets, or open up HP's well, and close enough to speed of sound so that crossing back through it, and all the dynamic forces that come into play going transsonic, are apparently minimized. In BPCR and .22 LR shooting, it's been observed that at long range, bullets that start out at or only a little over the speed of sound tend to be more accurate and stable in flight over very long ranges. The reason attributed to it is the transsonic forces that have been termed "ballistic menopause," and tend to de-stabilize the bullet briefly but significantly.

We forget that what stabilizes bullets is RPM's, and as we drive the bullet faster, its RPM's go up even when driven from the same rifle barrel with the exact same twist. So RPM's may be playing a part in it, too. The faster a bullet spins, the more some tiny flaw can and will likely affect its course through the air.

One other thing I've noticed, is the little flat pointing "Accu-Rizr" tools originally put out by Paco Kelley that hold the bullets tightly while you file a flat on the nose, really seem to make the ammo MORE accurate, and significantly more deadly on game. The flat point of course, creates more shock on contact, just like slapping the water with the flat of your hand stings more while a karate chop just slices through the water much more easily. Does the slightly shortened length help stabilize the bullet better in flight? I dunno. This is above my pay grade.

All I know is there's some awfully puzzling things going on with ballistics and wound dynamics! We keep searching for the "perfect bullet," and keep trying stuff to enhance the wound effects. Why it works the way it does is a very complex question, encompassing not only ballistics, but physiology and all sorts of medical fields. I still think the old Thompson-LaGarde experiments done many years ago now are the best experiments in wound ballistics and dynamics that have ever been done, and the most useful, generally. But in any complex and many faceted question, there's always those pesky "exceptions" that kind'a stand out like a sore thumb. Sure keeps a fella's gray matter churning!

[ole_270]

Considering the relative size of the 22 softnose solid to a squirrel, if it's not enough what would a guy have to use on an elk?
LR solid is all I ever used on squirrel, the HPs were considered too destructive by my elders. Head shots only!

[JoeH]

When my dad was introducing me to squirrel hunting back about 1952, he preferred .22 shorts. He claimed a long rifle would go right through a squirrel and leave it dead but still lying flat on the tree limb, where as the short would knock it off the limb. His rule for all game was "if you can't hit it in the head, don't shoot it with a .22". Every time I have violated that rule I have regretted it. :lol: