I am speaking in general here, and about me, not about a specific person or Mike. I think it depends on the success one has had with .22's and .25's. If some squirrels took a long time to expire, or required a 2nd shot after being hit with those calibers I can see some people wanting to upgrade to a .30, and I know a couple that did. I just never had the need for a big bore, and I 've always had high-powered .22 & .25 PCP's. I personally have had 100% success with hundreds of squirrels in 2 decades using .22 and .25, same as medium-sized critters like raccoon/possum/groundhog and fox. I used to hunt squirrels with my Diana 350 and 48 in .22 cal (both 20+ FPE guns), and they were always DRT or fell out of the tree dead before they hit the ground, even with vitals shots. Same with my PCP's. Sometimes the Polymag .25 pellet would remove 1/4 or 1/3rd of their head with 60+ FPE muzzle energy (Condor). 22 /.25 pellets are like a "bolder" to a squirrel too so it's still very humane taking squirrels with 22/25 cal. I am sure it's a lot of fun shooting the .30, but I personally prefer to get a more flat trajectory with fast moving .22 and .25 so I don't have to guess the hold over/under much. And I also prefer to conduct "covert" Ops in my backyard, ie: the more QUIET the better for me I don't like advertising to the neighborhood what I am doing. Sometimes the THUD or CRACK you get of splitting a skull is louder than the muzzle report and can alert a nosy neighbor. If you just want something to inflict a lot of damage to a squirrel or enjoy a louder thud/thump on impact, then a .30 is for you.
I've got a .30 cal that I bought for pigs and predators 6 years ago. So far it's only shot paper.
I've only taken a couple of squirrels with my 30's. It is very effective!!! I have gained a lot of respect for my lower powered gen1 25 cal marauder. Shooting the hades pellets around 710-715 fps just drops them like a sack of potatoes. It's the energy dump that makes it so interesting.
There’s something special about the big “thump” made by a JSB .30 on a ground squirrels head. There’s nothing like throwing boulders at game:)
...I am sure it's a lot of fun shooting the .30, but I personally prefer to get a more flat trajectory with fast moving .22 and .25 so I don't have to guess the hold over/under much....
There’s something special about the big “thump” made by a JSB .30 on a ground squirrels head. When you hear the sound you know you didn’t miss. The .30Has a bit of an arc so I keep shots close but close shots are my favorite anyway. You want humane ? .30 for sure. It’s expensive to plink with but that’s what a .177 or .22 can be used for because it’s 500 a tin vs 150. I enjoy my .25, .22, .20 and .177s but there’s nothing like throwing boulders at game:)
The 18.2gr Crow Magnums are amazing on game. They work really well with body/vitals shots on squirrels. It drops them and they never move.I have used them for squirrels in my Diana 350 and Condor .22. I have only recovered 2, both from the Condor, and they had slightly better expansion than the 16gr Polymag. IIRC the Polymag expanded to 0.30" and Crow Magnum 0.31" at 1,000-1,030fps for both (at lower power to keep them subsonic) so around 40-42fpe. 26gr Polymag (.25) expanded to 0.35" at 1,050fps using a Condor .25. The only thing with the .22 Crow Magnum pellets is that the groups opened up for me past 25 yards so I restricted its use to 20-25yds for a little while, and then switched to the 21gr Kodiak/Baracuda that shot tighter groups out to 50 yards, no matter the velocity. Historically the Crow Magnums are used for "close range" (<25 yards), or by most people. If you do most of your pesting within 20 or 25 yards you should find accuracy very acceptable. Beyond that very few people have reported decent groups with them, but it all depends what size groups are acceptable to you. It varies with people. For me it's 1/3" of an inch for hunting/pesting, or all the pellets in a 3 or 5-shot group touching. I need high precision because 99% of the shots I make are head shots. When it comes to crows and Starlings I will settle for 1/2" groups at 35 yards, but for head shots on fur I limit myself to the distance the gun can achieve 1 ragged hole or no worse than 0.33" which is usually around 25 yards for half my guns or more, and 30 or 35 yards for others (like Condors and Mrod .25).
Shots like this have convinced me that I really have no need for more than 22 cal for small game, the cast slugs that I shoot from my AEA Challenger are flat out devastating on small game.If it was legal to hunt deer here I'd use my 30 cal but it needs to be 35 cal or larger here in Michigan.