First squirrel hunt of 2020

[CWME]

NOE's WFN out of my .221 fireball with some trailboss is my favorite squirrel load. Quiet and anchors them on the spot. If I have to be super quiet I use the CB rounds out of my Savage 22. I take a fine file and wipe the nose of the bullet to create a flat spot. The flat point reduced the number of squirrels running off with not immediately lethal holes in them.
The Paco tool has been on my list for a long time. Curious if that would help the CB rounds shoot better for me.

[Alferd Packer]

As a kid, my Dad showed me how to put a flat spot on the 40 grain solid nose bullets .22 rimfire usually cheapest priced.
He had a block of hardwood with a small hole in it, cut exactly long enough for less than an eighth inch of the lead bullet to stick out. I didn't know it was called a meplat then.
You just stuck in the .22 round and held it in with a finger and rubbed the bullet nose sticking out on a flat mill file or a piece of sandpaper till it had a flat spot on the bullet nose. Depending on the length of the piece of wood, you could even make a wadcutter out of the round.
He said it lost velocity if you made it too flat because it needed the weight of the bullet to make the powder load burn better.
Anyway, it beat trying to chomp off the end with a pair of wire cutters or a knife.
I have one made of steel now and it works no better than the wooden jig, but it kills better for me than a hollow point for hunting meat like squirrel and rabbit.
Took raccoons, badgers and porkypine, but always let possum go.
A badger is hard to stop even with hollow points, but the flat meplat with a small dimple added to the center does a better job of it.
It's best to make the jig to hold the bullet as it's easy to dislodge the lead bullet or make it loose in the shell by rubbing it on a file or sandpaper. A loose bullet or one that's crooked in the shell is not as accurate.
That can also be checked with a home made run out jig to turn the cartridge in while watching the end of the bullet to see if it shows a tiny wobble.
You only need a small short vee cut to hold the .22 case while you turn the cartridge with a piece of string and some patience.
These meplated cartridges are to be single loaded, not for feeding from a magazine.
The meplat will cause a failure to feed and probably knock the bullet crooked in the case.
These are squirrel hunter secrets from country boys my Dad served with in WW2.
He told me many of them didn't make it back, but they used to talk about hunting back home.
He said they used .22 shorts with a flat spot filed on them cause they were quieter and were much cheaper than the long .22s.

[Alferd Packer]

A lot of cops in the know made a jig like this to put a quick meplat on those old round nose .38 bullets called the widow maker.
They put the meplat on the bullets carried in their revolvers because the bullets carried in their belts had to pass inspection which meant no hollowpoints or wadcutters.
You could fail to get a promotion if failing an inspection.
Things were a lot different in the old days. Standards were different. I like to shoot .32 revolvers and round nose bullets are easy to add on a meplat.
Of course reloads can be semiwadcutters, but this thread is about hunting with .22s etc.
I think a meplat is more efficient than a hollowpoint and penetrates better while opening a good wound channel and shocking power.
Hollowpoints can be devastating, but are not reliable and consistent like a meplat is.