.22 Rimfire Squirrel Rifles

Air inflation for skinning?
That's different.

I'm 6'1" and a healthy 200 lbs, no problem using the rip from the middle of the back technique.
Those skins come off quite easily.

No way am I attempting 100 yard head shots, offhand, at any small game.
Prone off a bipod, center of critter and open field varminting, yeah I'll take the shot.
It'll be a predictable trajectory...but offhand, it ain't happening.
But then again, the palmetto and pines around here don't allow much of an opportunity beyond 20 yards.
Nobody is attempting 100 yard shots due to the underbrush.
 
Air rifles are not uniformly good killers and lack range. With target ammo I get headshot kills to 125 yards.

I got a squirrel with a Beeman R9 from 95 yards away. I will admit that it took me about 5-6 shots from the bench.

The little bugger was playing around on the target frame and was taunting me.
 
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What cans do yall run ?
Silencerco Switchback 22. With CCI Sub hunting 40 grain it is almost dead silent.
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Yall are Stealth Assassins!
Shooting a suppressed .22 is the most fun you can have with your clothes on! Taking squirrels in said manner is even moreso! :LOL: And @Rimdenter... If and when the hog hunt goes down I'm bringing this!
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Kind of a poors rig but ought to git ‘er done! 🤣
 
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Shooting a suppressed .22 is the most fun you can have with your clothes on! Taking squirrels in said manner is even moreso! :LOL: And @Rimdenter... If and when the hog hunt goes down I'm bringing this!
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Kind of a poors rig but ought to git ‘er done! 🤣
You better have a bigger clip they travel in herds , some mornins it looks like cattle in the field! Least the neighbors won't get woke up !
 
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@justin amateur,

Did I miss something? I did not see anyone talking about offhand headshots at 100 yards. Might have missed it.

My summer hunt farms are grazed by cattle or horses and very open under canopy. Allows for longer shots. Most of my shots are taken sitting with back against a tree. With the heavy barreled rifle I do take headshots offhand to 60 or so yards with high success. I try to rest against a tree if possible.

Dead calm this evening. I fired two shots sitting with back rest at 75y to check POI. I am satisfied with the result.
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Ya' didn't miss it RT.
I forgot the rest of the world doesn't have the same type of woodlands I deal with.
A touch of the egocentric viewpoint, eh? ;)
I think hunting and I think offhand or braced on a tree or fence post.
Not my most stable method of shooting. :(
 
50 yards is a long shot in my neck of the woods. The foliage is thick and the little buggers are moving fast! Offhand and snap shooting are the norm. Occasionally I can brace off a tree.
 
If I were shooting moving squirrels I would shoot a different rifle. Lighter, low power scope, semi auto. I would also use HV HP ammo.
I have a Tac-Sol takedown on order (it's a year out) but I'll continue to run a can and Subsonic stuff. The RWS flavor will tear a squirrel up!
 
It's not squirrel season in my state. So we have to content ourselves with paper punching or other targets.

I downloaded and assemble these squirrel targets rather hastily. So if you print all of the targets at once be advised that the paper sizes are different. So you will want to select the "fit" option so the individual targets will fit on the same paper size.

If you are going to print a favorite target, then look at the preview to see if it fits on the page if you select the "actual size" option. If it doesn't fit on the paper in your machine, then select the "fit" option.

I hope all of that made sense. Have fun.
 

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It's not squirrel season in my state. So we have to content ourselves with paper punching or other targets.

I downloaded and assemble these squirrel targets rather hastily. So if you print all of the targets at once be advised that the paper sizes are different. So you will want to select the "fit" option so the individual targets will fit on the same paper size.

If you are going to print a favorite target, then look at the preview to see if it fits on the page if you select the "actual size" option. If it doesn't fit on the paper in your machine, then select the "fit" option.

I hope all of that made sense. Have fun.
Thank you, sir! Those are awesome. The Arkansas squirrel season is long as in May 15th to Feb 28th but when I want range time those targets will help me focus!
 
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Thank you, sir! Those are awesome. The Arkansas squirrel season is long as in May 15th to Feb 28th but when I want range time those targets will help me focus!

You are very welcome. If you ever run into these critters in the woods, don't shoot them with your 22 LR. That will only make them mad.

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I’ve attempted squirrel hunting in Minnesota 2-3 times, and didn’t see even ONE. I may have heard one chattering, but maybe not. Each time the woods were dead silent. I am a squirrel noob. A squirrelly noob? 🐿

Meanwhile, back at my house in town, I see what seems like hundreds of the buggers.

I was reading up on the squirrel hunting subject, and a number of articles said we northerners were so lucky because no one hunts squirrels up here. I was so ready for carnage!

After striking out, my theory is that the authors didn’t realize our significant Hmong population decimates the squirrels…I’ve been told the Hmong are the hillbillies of Asia, and I mean this as a compliment. Walk into a sporting goods store in Minneapolis and there’s a whole bunch of Hmong. Dudes know how to hunt and fish, that’s for sure.

Anyway, I use a CZ 455 Ultra Lux with a 28”+ barrel. As @rth1800 says, with a barrel that long the shot is pellet-gun loud (with no suppressor cleaning!). Added a Bscar trigger (Bix n’ Andy grade).

Guess what? That gun was suggested to me by a Hmong fellow. Genius!
 
I slipped out and did a kil scouting yesterday! 🙄 I aquired a new weapon for nothing ,but removal of gray rats ! It would be a great SIN! to use it on Fox's proably have to junk it. Soon as it gets here I'll do a 6x5 and post some pics. @nikonNUT yur gonna like it !
 
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I slipped out and did a kil scouting yesterday! 🙄 I aquired a new weapon for nothing ,but removal of gray rats ! It would be a great SIN! to use it on Fox's proably have to junk it. Soon as it gets here I'll do a 6x5 and post some pics. @nikonNUT yur gonna like it !
I am intrigued!!!
P.S. Need something cool to look at to cheer me up. The CZ took a HARD fall last night and landed on the windage turret. Headed to the range this evening to check zero and run a tracking test to see if I mangled the scope. I did get these before the stupiding occurred :LOL:
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Yeah.. That last one? No so good but dead is dead and he's in the freezer chilling with his friends! ;)
 
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I am intrigued!!!
P.S. Need something cool to look at to cheer me up. The CZ took a HARD fall last night and landed on the windage turret. Headed to the range this evening to check zero and run a tracking test to see if I mangled the scope. I did get these before the stupiding occurred :LOL:
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Yeah.. That last one? No so good but dead is dead and he's in the freezer chilling with his friends! ;)
Your a shameless KILLER ! and they'd kick you outta squirrel camp for tear'in up those lil back straps!
 
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Thanks, I am hoping to get out this year and try them. I bought 3 or 4 bricks of them for a great price years ago and just found them again in the safe. I started searching the internet and there is a little info out there on them but they don't seem to have caught on.

I recall them being quite the hot topic in hunting circles they they just disappeared. I don't think it was a product issue or a popularity issue. The company just moved away from them for no apparent reason. "Went a different direction" sort of thing it appeared.

After that guys used to chase around looking for them.

If you want more let me know, I suppose I have moved more toward accuracy than terminal preformance. I suspect I have ten or 15 boxes.
 
Thanks, I am hoping to get out this year and try them. I bought 3 or 4 bricks of them for a great price years ago and just found them again in the safe. I started searching the internet and there is a little info out there on them but they don't seem to have caught on.
They are on the CCI website (OOS BTW). For the price at $10.99/box I would pony up for SK Flatnose Target or the match version for a few dollars more.. They hit hard and are stupid accurate! The CCIs are faster at 1235FPS versus the SK at 1106 but with a fluff rat or a bunny I don't think it matters. I laid out a big coon with SK Standard+.
 
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What 22 Magnum ammo are you using?
I changed optics last year and had to dial her in again , a had a brick of nickle plated brass Armscor 40 g with me . It shot very very good , I flinched on a couple out of the final ten shot group because the damn flies were biting me ! Lol but all ten were in a one inch dot at 100 and 7/10 were 1/2" . My t bolt does not like 30 g hp , 50 g stuff so I'll stick with the Armscor , jeez I wish I'd a bought a ton of that Ammo , I got it for 64$ a brick , plain brass case was 57$ a brick
 
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They are on the CCI website (OOS BTW). For the price at $10.99/box I would pony up for SK Flatnose Target or the match version for a few dollars more.. They hit hard and are stupid accurate! The CCIs are faster at 1235FPS versus the SK at 1106 but with a fluff rat or a bunny I don't think it matters. I laid out a big coon with SK Standard+.
Check out Plinksters video on the new Federal Punch 22 Ammo . It's flat nose , I had no idea the damage path a flat nose makes vs a round nose . SK makes a flat nose .
 
I bought a nice little Remington 581 late last year. Everything appears fine, EXCEPT the trigger is frozen. I recall Remington packed these triggers with lithium grease. I'm thinking after 40 years it's set up. Hopefully a nice long soak in acetone will remove it. Anyway, it's my 'Summer Project'.

I think it's the same trigger they had in the 591/592 as well. I got all chummed up to buy a 591 when I read about centerfire conversions and brass available many years ago. Picked one up for under 200 and never got to the conversion. When Aguila started making 5mm again I bought some and discovered the trigger didn't even move. That grease had aged to white glue.

Took it apart, cleaned it, and tinkered with it but I could never get it under about a 5 lb. pull. That Aguila was close to 20 bucks a box about 13 - 14 years ago and not very accurate. I doubled my money when I sold it as I figured I may as well just buy .22 Eley and it works.
 
Brass in process upper rt. Are ready to load. 2nd pic shows case comparison cut aways with special facing and rebating insert it maintains exact parallel FACES and a rim thickness of .043 all day long. 3rd pic shows brass drawn in 1st draw collar.
 

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This project would have never transpired had I not been denied new reloadable rimfire brass , it's sad but I'll never need to by any LR after this. The time in tooling design for case capacity to get it to mimic Lr veloicties was grueling. I wanted minimal horizontal powder column, this is alot of the problem in rimfire cartridges. Fast bolt cycling forces the bulk of powder to come to rest forward of the primer this effects your ES.