Not the first gun I would take, but I am very confident with my HW30 and wadcutters out t maybe 25y. But once it’s that far, the 7.33 domes rule.Just poking holes. They have to be in the right spot.
I do think wadcutters are better for hunting than domes at short distances. However if I'm not sure if my shots will exceed 20-25 yards I'll be loaded with the most accurate domes for that particular rifle. As distance increases so does my margin of error so I need the most accurate combination as to not accentuate that error.
Quote from: Bayman on January 08, 2023, 09:55:05 AMI do think wadcutters are better for hunting than domes at short distances. However if I'm not sure if my shots will exceed 20-25 yards I'll be loaded with the most accurate domes for that particular rifle. As distance increases so does my margin of error so I need the most accurate combination as to not accentuate that error.^ Sage advice.Wadcutters are devastating if the distance permits using them. For suburban pest control out to 30 yards, I love the 9.3gr RWS Supermags. They have shown to be accurate from many different barrels, and in some cases at absurd (for a wadcutter) muzzle velocities up to 900fps. When the distances start getting beyond 35-40 yards, I go with a proven accurate domed pellet. Past 50 yards, very rarely does any other head profile give me sufficient small game / small pest accuracy...speaking mainly of gray squirrels and chipmunks for where I live.
Is this helpful?
I killed many of rabbit and squirrel when I was a kid with both a powerline 880 and a pumpmaster.
I think at the end of the day it's not a matter of can it be done but, can it be done humanely and safely?
Thanks Eddie for posting that link. I thought the "aim for the horizontal distance" was good with my PCPs and I have been doing that but I was a bit surprised at where I hit on a couple squirrels at 45 and 50 degree upward angles. The horizontal distances were both under 20 yards. I did not "aim low" as it recommended for extreme upwards angles nor did I hold high as I would with my bullpups for under 20 yards. I just aimed where I wanted to hit the squirrel and it worked out great but the shots were at least a quarter inch low. So just now I ran chairgun for the distances and angles and angles and it predicts the impact would be 1/4 to 1/2 inch low. Useful to know. Impacting where I did was actually if anything better at the steep upward angle, the shots still came out on the top of the squirrels head. I also looked at fpe at impact thinking maybe the chart was not as bad as I previously said if you read it to mean impact energy. But that did not allow me to agree with it. I am impacting squirrels with well over 10 fpe for my smallest guns - twice the charts 5 fpe. I remain firmly convinced that while it can work out, it also may not. At least for the lesser experienced of us, I think more fpe is more appropriate. Like two to three times as much.
Quote from: JimD on January 11, 2023, 11:14:49 AMThanks Eddie for posting that link. I thought the "aim for the horizontal distance" was good with my PCPs and I have been doing that but I was a bit surprised at where I hit on a couple squirrels at 45 and 50 degree upward angles. The horizontal distances were both under 20 yards. I did not "aim low" as it recommended for extreme upwards angles nor did I hold high as I would with my bullpups for under 20 yards. I just aimed where I wanted to hit the squirrel and it worked out great but the shots were at least a quarter inch low. So just now I ran chairgun for the distances and angles and angles and it predicts the impact would be 1/4 to 1/2 inch low. Useful to know. Impacting where I did was actually if anything better at the steep upward angle, the shots still came out on the top of the squirrels head. I also looked at fpe at impact thinking maybe the chart was not as bad as I previously said if you read it to mean impact energy. But that did not allow me to agree with it. I am impacting squirrels with well over 10 fpe for my smallest guns - twice the charts 5 fpe. I remain firmly convinced that while it can work out, it also may not. At least for the lesser experienced of us, I think more fpe is more appropriate. Like two to three times as much.I spend a lot of time plinking sweetgum balls out of the trees on my property and extreme angles definitely make a difference on small targets. If I'm shooting a lower powered gun I can usually see the misses against the sky and correct for it. It's great training for squirrel hunting.I completely agree with you about fpe. I always opt for more if I can.
Quote from: EdinGa on January 11, 2023, 05:22:15 PMQuote from: JimD on January 11, 2023, 11:14:49 AMThanks Eddie for posting that link. I thought the "aim for the horizontal distance" was good with my PCPs and I have been doing that but I was a bit surprised at where I hit on a couple squirrels at 45 and 50 degree upward angles. The horizontal distances were both under 20 yards. I did not "aim low" as it recommended for extreme upwards angles nor did I hold high as I would with my bullpups for under 20 yards. I just aimed where I wanted to hit the squirrel and it worked out great but the shots were at least a quarter inch low. So just now I ran chairgun for the distances and angles and angles and it predicts the impact would be 1/4 to 1/2 inch low. Useful to know. Impacting where I did was actually if anything better at the steep upward angle, the shots still came out on the top of the squirrels head. I also looked at fpe at impact thinking maybe the chart was not as bad as I previously said if you read it to mean impact energy. But that did not allow me to agree with it. I am impacting squirrels with well over 10 fpe for my smallest guns - twice the charts 5 fpe. I remain firmly convinced that while it can work out, it also may not. At least for the lesser experienced of us, I think more fpe is more appropriate. Like two to three times as much.I spend a lot of time plinking sweetgum balls out of the trees on my property and extreme angles definitely make a difference on small targets. If I'm shooting a lower powered gun I can usually see the misses against the sky and correct for it. It's great training for squirrel hunting.I completely agree with you about fpe. I always opt for more if I can.I want to set up a trap at 25-ish feet in the air to simulate hunting squirrels. I find that I miss some because I'm not sure if I should aim higher or lower when aiming at a fairly severe angle.