19 replies to this topic

[gibbygoo]

I asked varminair the same question in a PM, but thought I would ask here also.Which caliber is best for mainly hunting California ground squirrels? I thought I was set on .22, but would the .177 be better since it is faster?I will be getting a Beeman R9.<edit> I ordered an R9 in .20! Yay! Can't wait. I bought a Beeman RS2 combo today to tide me over. It seems ok. I went to shoot it today, but it was raining and cold. I shot a few times and it was fairly accurate out the box. Just have to keep from reading about PCP guns for a while. They look like fun, but what an investment. I have too many powder burners to shoot.<edit#2> The R9 .20 was on back order. I canceled and ordered a Benjamin Discovery in .22. This is the rifle I was wanting all along. I just thought it would be better to not deal with the air issue. So, that didn't take long to jump to a PCP. Haha.

[ShooterJohn]

I don't think so for the fact it doesn't have the knock down power of the .22 cal. Depending on the gun they fly plenty fast and in some of my guns like Cliff's we shoot right on through with the .22's.

[Fjold]

Depends on the range and what type of shooting your doing.I typically set up a shooting bench and shoot squirrels from 50 yards up to 500 yards away so I will use everything from a 22 rimfire to my 6.5x284

[ShooterJohn]

Frank we're talking airguns here. I'll take a 500 yard airgun if you can find me one.

[CoyoteHuntress]

I saw a ad on the hunting channel the other day for a GAMO that was labeled as an Adult Precision Rifle... I have no clue what the model was but it showed them shooting a freaking pig!, coyotes, and squirrels and such with it.. and yes they all fell over right there.. Anyone know anything on this one? I know my description is vague.. I seriously need to pay attention to the commercials I guess LOL... But after seeing that pig drop like that I am real curious about it now.. Problem is I havent seen that cmmercial again since.. about figures LOL I culd almost swear it was the .22 but not for sure.. Is that beeman quiet or does it make that pffteek sound?

[gibbygoo]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_gunMy guess is they were using big bore PCP guns. I just googled up a .50 cal air rifle...http://www.airgunsbb...r-dragon-50.htm

[Fjold]

Lewis and Clark had at least one 54 caliber airgun on their expedition to the northwest.

[Fjold]

Frank we're talking airguns here. I'll take a 500 yard airgun if you can find me one.

Darn the "view new posts" button. I never look to see what forum the posts are under.

[crazyhorse]

Re pellets for ground squirrels...in my factory stock 850 CO2 .177's I use Crosman Premeir Lights 7.9 gr out to 30 yards max...(It shoots around 760 FPS)For longer ranges, 40-60 yards...I use my tuned 850 .177 with either JSB Exact Dome 8.4 gr or JSB Exact 10.2 gr if wind is gusting..(It shoots 810-820 FPS)..As an example...shooting at a muzzle velocity of 810 FPS using JSB 10.2 Domes, gives you 15 FT/LBS energy at muzzle...down range,say at 50 yards...that results in an impact energy of 9 FT/LBS on your target(squirrel) Plenty to kill it with head or shoulder shot...So think in terms of impact energy for a given pellet/range...thats what is important for taking small game with a pellet gun...http://www.airgunexp...c/calc_fpes.cfm?Just an observation on GAMO...they hype their rifles...using very light (4 or 5 gr pellets to claim "high velocties") and one claim re reducing noise by 50% can be disputed....."Decibels" are logarithmic" , so by claiming they reduced noise by 50% +-,that results in a 3 decibel reduction...!!! I have not seen any noise level data in their ad's using a decibel dosimeter...none...just a microphone near the muzzle on the Whisper...so much for BS...

[acousticmood]

If your looking at the R-9 - you might also want to check out the .20 calibre. You can legally take turkeys in CA with it.

[mackeralboy]

I saw a ad on the hunting channel the other day for a GAMO that was labeled as an Adult Precision Rifle... I have no clue what the model was but it showed them shooting a freaking pig!, coyotes, and squirrels and such with it.. and yes they all fell over right there.. Anyone know anything on this one? I know my description is vague.. I seriously need to pay attention to the commercials I guess LOL... But after seeing that pig drop like that I am real curious about it now.. Problem is I havent seen that cmmercial again since.. about figures LOL I culd almost swear it was the .22 but not for sure.. Is that beeman quiet or does it make that pffteek sound?

CH,I know the video your talking about. The gun he was using is a Gamo 1250 in .177 and the pig was claimed to be 100lbs. Acording to various forums out there it was a staged head shot. The video is a bit controversal and I have to agree in that I think it is irresponsible to hunt pig with anything less than a .223 . The last thing that I want to do is wound an animal and the last thing I want is a wounded PO'd Pig.Mc

[CoyoteHuntress]

Well I personally wouldnt even use a 223 against a big one, but I just couldnt see how that air rifle could kill a dang pig.. and the coyote just crumbled too.. IM wonder how many people will buy that as a pig rifle??? Scarey thought. My luck it would just make the pig mad and it would chew me up LOL I saw pics of that R9 and that is one nice looking rifle....

[philsmalley]

I asked varminair the same question in a PM, but thought I would ask here also.Which caliber is best for mainly hunting California ground squirrels? I thought I was set on .22, but would the .177 be better since it is faster?I will be getting a Beeman R9.

I'd like to go back to the original post. I done it to myself again. I've done enough research to get myself totally confused. Some sources indicate that .22 cal is needed due to better impact than .177, others indicate that .177 cal provides better range and trajectory with superior penetration. I will be varmint hunting in New Hampshire, mostly chipmunks, crows, and grey squirrels. I thought I understood the adage ".177 for feather, .22 for fur" but now am not sure. I haven't hunted in some years, and then it was typically with a high-powered center fire rifle; shot placement probably won't be precise at least initially. I guess this decision gets to be a matter of personal choice, but I could use some expert advice.

[donkey12]

I saw a ad on the hunting channel the other day for a GAMO that was labeled as an Adult Precision Rifle... I have no clue what the model was but it showed them shooting a freaking pig!, coyotes, and squirrels and such with it.. and yes they all fell over right there.. Anyone know anything on this one? I know my description is vague.. I seriously need to pay attention to the commercials I guess LOL... But after seeing that pig drop like that I am real curious about it now.. Problem is I havent seen that cmmercial again since.. about figures LOL I culd almost swear it was the .22 but not for sure.. Is that beeman quiet or does it make that pffteek sound?

I saw that also.It was a gamo hunter extreme.Those would have to been head shots.

[gibbygoo]

I edited my OP. I ordered a .20 R9.

[ShooterJohn]

You'll like the .20cal. It has the best of both worlds in that it's trajectory is like the .177. It has good speed and hit hard. Let us see it when you get it.

[Hot Brass]

Speed and accuracy is the key. my .177 (925fps), .20 (765 fps), .22 (780 fps, and 925 fps) or ,25, it does not matter. A haed shot gs is dead, is dead. I have had gs run off from .177, .20, and .22. A head shot leaves them laying where they were shot. Get the gun that you like, that has speed and accuracy.

[jawbreaker]

.308 has great knockdown power, at longer ranges too!!

[A17Shooter]

:DBack to the airguns. Accuracy is probably #1, though the necessary characteristics come as a package and are determined by what critter you are hunting and how far away you wanna smack it. Velocity is necessary as the muzzle velocity determines how much energy the pellets carries, how much hold over you must use and how much wind drift will affect your shot.Pellet weight is important in the determination of Ballistic Coefficient which affects terminal energy, trajectory and wind drift. Since most of the pellets share a common dome shape, weight is the most important variable, among the dome shaped pellets, affecting BC. For example, an Air Arms 410ERB in .177 caliber has a muzzle velocity of 998 fps using a 9.1 gr JSB Exact and a MV of 988 fps when using a 10.2 gr JSB Exact Heavy. Pretty much what you'd expect, the heavier pellet is launched at a slower velocity. At 50 yds the JSB Exact has a velocity of 698 fps and the Exact Heavy's velocity is 732 fps. Why does the heavier pellet overtake the lighter one? The BC of the heavier pellet is .023 while the lighter JSB Exact is .019. That is, the heavier pellet looses less velocity to air resistance than the lighter one. You can read the tests conducted by Straight Shooters for many different rifles and pellet combinations at StraightShooters.com. Following the 'Our Take' links will bring you to tables that have velocities for gun/pellet combinations and BC numbers for pellets. On the Airgun Expo site there are many ballistic calculator programs that may help you use the info from Straight Shooter's tests to determine what range to sight-in your gun and how to use your scope for extended ranges.It may also help you decide which air gun to buy. I did use some comparisons involving suitable pellets, muzzle velocity, BC, terminal velocity at extended ranges and such to decide rifle to buy. Oh, and price was also a factor. Putting all this info together and punching it into the Chairgun2 ballistic program and another program shows that with a 75 yd zero and, holding the fifth mil dot makes a 150 yd squirrel shot quite possible. The 28 gr Eun Jin Dome should reach that range with 634 fps and 24 ft-lbs energy. Course it takes over half a second for the pellet to get there. Arm chair squirreling makes those long shots easy, in theory.

[crazyhorse]

My longest shot on a squirrel to date was 70 yards using a tuned Umarex 850 Magnum .177 (810 FPS) shooting JSB 8.4 gr...energy at impact (calculated) was just at 6 FT/LBS..3 Mil Dot holdover....I won't be attempting any more shots beyond that range on game with this rifle...(25 yard zero,btw)Used fence post (circled in red)...bracing rifle for shot...no wind...Have yet to get opportunity to get a 70 + yard shot with My Disco .22 (905 FPS)...only 56 yards so far on squirrels using JSB 14.3 gr...energy at impact about 18 FT/LBS.......and that was shooting into a head wind.... it is capable of 100 yards....but effective range will probably be closer to 80 yards.....Definately,a Mil Dot scope is needed for shots out beyond 60 yards..have a CenterPoint 4x16x40 AO Mil Dot on the Discovery and a Bug Buster 6x32AO mil dot on the Umarex 850..Longest shot with my Beeman R9 .22 cal springer was 45 yards on a cottontail...740 FPS...JSB 14.3 gr...have not tried this rifle on squirrels beyond 30 yards yet...need more practice with it...Biggest factor is wind at long ranges...