.177 BHE on Squirrels

[jason miller]

Just thought I’d throw this out there in case anyone might find it interesting/useful...

I managed to bag 4 squirrels the other day with the .177 Barracuda Hunter Extreme pellets. They’re listed at 9.57 grains, and I chronographed them the same afternoon as the harvests at ~920 FPS from a Remington Tyrant gas-springer, and ~900 FPS from a Diana Stormrider. Both rifles took two squirrels each, from ranges of ~15 yards to ~35 yards. All chest/neck shots. The three closer shots resulted in a dead squirrel within seconds. The furthest shot resulted in a squirrel that crawled a few yards and couldn’t continue. I’m sure it was on its way out anyway, but I walked up to it and gave it a follow-up to speed things along. I couldn’t find an exit wound on any of the squirrels(a small red and 3 medium grays). One of the grays that was shot with the Stormrider at the closest distance had the pellet up against the hide near the back of its rib cage after a frontal chest shot. I cut the pellet out, and it looks like it’s never even been fired apart from tissue inside the hollow point. I can’t argue with the fairly quick dispatches, but I was a little surprised at what appeared to be zero expansion/deformation on a shot that should have been ~800 FPS and ~13.6 FPE at impact.

Again, just putting this out there in case anyone finds it interesting and/or helpful. As a newer member, trying to contribute what I can.

[dk1677]

Nice shooting Jason! They do very well in my Disco

[ranchibi]

Jason, great shooting on those 4! H&N makes a harder pellet recipe than say JSB and if the pellet doesn’t hit a large bone (shoulder or femur) it usually will not deform much. Even JSB don’t deform too much on smaller critters. Awesome shooting though!

[A.K.A. Tommy Boy]

Very good shooting Jason.


Best Wishes - Tom