squib load

[white eagle]

I have a lite load for my 222 rem
that is a cast 60 gr boolit behind 6.5 gr red dot
I plan on using it for a trap line dispatch round
Do you all think this would be good or should I just use my 22 rimfire? [smilie=s:

[reloader28]

I'd go with it if it shoots good.
I can load 243 with 100gr RCBS boolit cheaper than I can shoot 22

[white eagle]

it only has to shoot 10 yds tops

[Goofy]

60 grain bullets might over penetrate. They will work better if the powder is behind the bullet.


My last name is Senseofhumour.

[quilbilly]

I have used that load with a 53 gr boolit and the boolits aren't quite stable at 35 yards. The MV is about 1150 if memory serves. I recently bumped the load to 7.2 gr. I use these loads in my T/C Contender 10" barrel and they are extremely pleasant to shoot instead of regular loads with magnificent muzzle blast and ball of fire going down range.

[white eagle]

mine would be used in a Zastava bolt action with a 21" barrel
I have not even shot them yet and quite frankly forgot I even made them

[Mike H]

mine would be used in a Zastava bolt action with a 21" barrel
I have not even shot them yet and quite frankly forgot I even made them

You are going to find this will be a strong load compared to a 22 rimfire,I would try a few first before going on the trap line,possibly 4.5 grains would be plenty for 10 yards.

[gpidaho]

White Eagle; I think 6.5gr of Red Dot would be plenty for the use you describe. I'm a TiteGroup fan for light loads. With the Noe RN 60gr. bullet I've used as little as 2.8gr.of TG in 223 cases. My favorite is 7 to 8gr. TG. I'm just guessing but your load sounds about 22 mag to me. Gp

[cwtebay]

Not saying that your plan isn't without merit , but I have trapped a lot of critters in my life, an old trapper told me never to use anything other than 22 Long for trapped kills. You take the bullet along a rough file (back side of a hoof file specifically) before use to half the length creating a protruding wad cutter of sorts. Even those will make 2 holes! I now prefer hollow point 22 shorts and shoot for the eye - directing towards the neck. I never wanted to carry more than a pistol with all of my gear packed either on my back or horseback so that's all I had. That man left me his trapping pistol when he passed, gotta say it's among my most treasured sidearms.

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[P Flados]

Quickload says a 60 gr cast on top of 6.5 gr Red Dot and a 0.260 seating depth will get just over 1950 fps. That is a whole lot more than a 22 LR and sounds like more than you really need.

With 10 yards max range, you may want to consider going sub sonic.

Quickload says it should only take around 2 gr. I would start around 3 or 4 (I would rather avoid any risk of a stuck bullet - they are a pain) and work my way down until the crack goes away.

I did the sub sonic thing with Red Dot and a light bullet 30 Herrett load I was using for standing target practice with my Contender. It was very accurate at 10 yards and pleasant to shoot.

The reduction in noise can be worth the effort. With your long barrel, the sound level of a light Red Dot charge may be quite low.
And given you are talking short range with a heavy (compared to rimfire) bullet, you should get ample penetration.

[GhostHawk]

I'm with MikeH, I'd go with 3-4.5 of Red Dot.

Chances are someplace in that range your going to find consistancy and decent accuracy at least to 25 yards.

[Tripplebeards]

mine would be used in a Zastava bolt action with a 21" barrel
I have not even shot them yet and quite frankly forgot I even made them

A buddy of mine has semi auto but it’s missing a magazine

[bosterr]

Since you will be shooting towards the ground, do you need to think about the powder charge sitting away from the primer?

[ChristopherO]

I think your 22LR is a better option for this task.

[white eagle]

new to trapping and dispatching catch
I just thought the 22 rf was a little on the
small side however after reading all the
replies and seeing other people saying
what to use I think the 22 rf is the way to proceed

[Goofy]

You could do worse. Been killing hogs for many moons with .22 CB Shorts.

[missionary5155]

22 rimfire put down some huge farm hogs in SW Michigan in the late 50s and early 60's where I grew up. Grampa Fike's would use 22 longs in a battered old 22 rifle. Stick the barrel into the ear of a cribbed hog and down went the hog.
I bet a .224 -226 Round Ball fired at 700 fps would be all you would need for a trapped critter

[ChristopherO]

There's a documentary on once of the streaming services called Trapper Jake. That man was 95 years old and still trapping coyotes on Wyoming regularly, using a steal rod to dispatch his catches. Man, that dude's determination to live puts me all to shame. Good show if you can find it.
A 22LR straight in the forehead does the trick, but from experience, not in the heart lung area very quickly. Once I wanted to save the skull so decided to hit the heart on a snared coyote. Last time for that with a 22LR for that. I, too, have killed many hogs with the lowly 22LR. One behind the ear turns them into gymnast right quick.

[cwtebay]

I have a lite load for my 222 rem
that is a cast 60 gr boolit behind 6.5 gr red dot
I plan on using it for a trap line dispatch round
Do you all think this would be good or should I just use my 22 rimfire? [smilie=s:What are you trapping? I apologise for not asking that earlier!

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[beshears]

CCI 22 short hollow point. My brother uses it for 5-600 racoons a year.

[white eagle]

Trapping coyotes

[cwtebay]

Trapping coyotesActually coyotes are not generally shot in a trap at all. Typically standing on their chest behind the shoulder is how they're dispatched.

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[white eagle]

Well I am not going to do that
call me a chicken but being the coyote
is going to be in a bad mood I won't get anywhere near those teeth
but if you want to show me how I will watch you

[cwtebay]

Well I am not going to do that
call me a chicken but being the coyote
is going to be in a bad mood I won't get anywhere near those teeth
but if you want to show me how I will watch youAnytime!

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[white eagle]

more like a bs artist

[reloader28]

Actually coyotes are not generally shot in a trap at all. Typically standing on their chest behind the shoulder is how they're dispatched.

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I have not seen or heard of that at all.

I do know that a straight WW boolit HP 243 1/16 x 3/8"deep has MAJOR explosive power with very little penetration at 1700.
People on this site want to get by cheap and more self sufficiently, on they're own, as me.

I would gladly take a load/boolit combo I made compared to ANY store bought thing.

[GhostHawk]

Considering the cost of .22lr nowadays there are several options for both pistol and rifle that you could load cheaper assuming you had the components and were willing to spend them.


As to your load, I have not played with .222. However I have had very good luck with 3 grains of Red Dot in a .223 Rem under a 55 gr bullet. I suspect your load would work fine. You could probably go anywhere between 3 and 6 grains and get suitable performance.

[John Van Gelder]

I have had good results loading the 225462 bullet, over 4.5 gr. of Red Dot in my 222, it works well on ground squirrels and is accurate out to 50 yards. I also have some small game squib loads for the 9mm, a 95 gr. bullet over 2 gr. of 700X, the cases stay in the gun and that load works well on small game.

[versa-06]

I also trap the yotes. I have seen some paws slip out with a last minute lunge of fear. Also had some lunge toward me. I don't care to see both happening at the same time. I would use a little stoutness & distance when dispatching ( I'm chicken & older). I usually use Lee 30 cal soup can at about 1100 fps. & a little distance.

[trapper9260]

I trap coyotes , beaver , red fox and coon and otter, mink and rats and possum and skunk . The only ones I do not shoot with a 22lr is mink and rats I dispatch a different way , the rest is shot I did see a video of what is stated to stand on the chest of the coyote. But the ones done it with a red fox. Like stated for how a coyote is . I take no chance with try to stand on them. I shoot them in the head ,beside the fur buy allow 2 to 3 holes of 22 cal holes in the pelt , If I need more 22lr and going to be short on them, I would use my 327 mag with 32 S&W . if need to . Since I reload for that already . Also cast.

[white eagle]

I shot this load the other day
while pleasant to shoot it was a bit loud
and I think it may be a bit more power than
needed for the task,downloading even more ,
like some of you suggested may be the ticket

[Alferd Packer]

I shoot cast bullets 55 and 60 grains all the time with a .223 single shot using 2.7 grains of Red dot or Bullseye.
No gas check needed.
They are quiet and the lead bullets expand on everything shot with them.

[Outpost75]

You guys are all over-thinking this. About 3.5 grains of ANY fast-burning pistol or shotgun powder you can sweep up off the floor, with any 45-55 grain bullet, either cast or jacketed, in any .223/5.56 barrel of any twist from 7 inches to 14 inches, will exit the barrel and kill small game or trapped animals at 50 feet to 25 yards. This is not rocket science.

[Cary Gunn]

Hey Trapper9260,

You sound like a trapper of very wide experience, and I'm wondering if you can shed any light on how to shoot a trapped skunk and prevent the release of his joyful essence in his death throes?

Personally, I want nothing to do with a self-fouled skunk, and I've never shot one that didn't spray as he croaked. To me, it's a wasted pelt.

My granddad solved the problem to his satisfaction with a little chloroform or either applied to a wad of cotton wrapped about a short stick which was then wedged into the bottom of a tin can.

Gramps was a man of somewhat stouter stuff than his grandson, and the proof of that was how he would gently, and oh-so-carefully, tug on the trap chain until the skunk's nose became visible in the den-hole.

He'd then -- again very slowly and carefully -- slip the can over the critter's nose so that it had no choice but to breath the death vapors. When things went well, he would within a few minutes pull a limp, dead and unfouled animal from its' hole. Of course this method only worked when a skunk was trapped at the entrance to it's den, and only if the leg-hold trap was attached to a front foot.

When a skunk was caught by a hind foot, Gramps would ask for volunteers but seldom found any. As a last resort, such animals were mercifully shot, and the stinky traps were left with the skunks to be gingerly retrieved the next spring.

I was also acquainted with a city cop, another trapper, who arrived for roll-call one day with a bulbous white bandage covering his nose. His tale of woe involved a big buck mink, still alive in a leg-hold trap set too far from water to simply drown the old boy.

Wanting to maintain absolutely perfect pelts to present to the fur-buyer, he said he never shot such valuable animals. I instead he'd don a trapper's gauntlet to provide at least some minimal protection to his digits, then grab the mink across its' back at the ribcage, and squeeze. In snake-constrictor fashion, the animal was dead in a few minutes, and the pelt undamaged.

At least, he said, that's the way it usually worked.

This time, he apparently let the animal get too close to his torso, and the ferocious "weasel" latched its claws onto his jacket front and used the leverage to leap upward toward his face. The little drama ended when the mink -- still attached to and gnawing at cop-trapper's nose -- eventually succumbed to the death squeeze on its' ribs.

To this day, I look upon the incident as testimony to the sheer guts and determination of both man and prey.

So, my advice, is to use your "gallery loads" on everything that can't be drowned -- except skunks. Unless you have a better idea.

Happy trails,

-- Cary Gunn --