Hollow points for Hunting ? Waddcutters for hunting ?

[jrhunter]

What are benefits of hunting with hollow points ( we'll narrow it down to .22 caliber air rifles that produce 17-21 ft.lbs rifles ) ? I know you get the increase in diameter, but they need a high velocity to expand and some ( like the CPHP ) don't expand at all ! So I want to ask, does anyone use hollow points for taking game ( to be more specific birds and rabbits/squirrels ) ? What are some good hollow points to try out ? I know of the CPHP and the Crow Mags ( by the way ow good are the Crow Mags ? ), and I've only shot the CPHP through my gun and they did poor. I know accuracy varies gun to gun but what is a generally good hollow point accuracy and hunting wise ? Does anyone use heavy waddcutters for close range bird hunting or squirrel hunting ? I would like to use them at close range for use when I don't want the pellet to go out of the target.

[Motorhead]

Used Wad cutters for birds & small critters inside 30 yards for many years !!
Always referred too the WC's as Flying Frying Pans ..... SMACK !!!

[wahoowad]

I feel I get more smack! at short ranges when I shoot rats with .22 wadcutters. That said, they still go to that great big grain silo in heaven moments after having their head perforated with a roundnose pellet.

[Airgun.Sniper]

  I havent use wadcutters for hunting squirrels nor rabbits...loses energy to fast...I do use then for birds...HP's Ive used crosman and they tend not to open up...there made out of antimony...so they dont have a tendency to open up...at my velocities...Wadcutters group nicely in my gun and I like the,

[longislandhunter]

Like the others I've use wadcutters for pest birds in close and they work well.  I've never been fond of hollow points for squirrels, although I have no doubt they'd work well on rabbits since it really doesn't take much to take a rabbit with a good shot.  Those CPHP's you mentioned are one of my favorite hunting pellets in both .177 and .22 cal    I don't even consider them a "hollow point" since, like you said, they don't really expand, I just consider them a hard hitting domed pellet. 

Jeff

[Habanero69er]

H&N Baracuda Hunter Extremes! Good flight characteristics, accurate out to 50-60yds, descent weight, & good expansion. If you're shooting at close range with a 17-21FPE rifle, then there's always that chance of a through & through shot.

[Nomadic Pirate]

The CPHP are only Hollowpoints in name, in reality they are Domes.

The H&N Hollowpoints are in reality real, real good Wadcutters, they fly well out of many of my guns.

The H&N Baracuda Hollowpoing is an excepional True Hollowpoint fly much, much better than the Crow Magnum and expands better too, I have an old thread with good pictures if you can find it, those pellets where very accurate out of several different guns.

the Predators get good reviews but I never tryed it.

The Skencos are getting good reviews too, I used to love the old 26gr they used to make, but they don't make them anylonger.

yes the Wadcutters and true Hollowpoints are definatly a valuable option for bodyshots even in the 20 FPE range

[Rico14]

i don't know if the Predators are classified as hollow points, but if your gun shoots them accurately, they are the best pellet to use for hunting. Great expansion and almost no critter runs away when hit with a Pred

[Loki_762]

+1 on the Predators and Baracuda Hollowpoints.  Both hit hard, both expand well, and both are pretty accurate.  Only downside is that they are more expensive than the wadcutters, especially the Predators.  But if your sole intent is to deliver a kill shot on a squirrel or bird, both of these get the job done very, very well, and are worth every cent.
Chris

[ogre8472]

I was doing some of my own testing a few weeks ago seeing just how much they deform from low and mid powered air guns. I did notice that the Crosman ammo is a much harder lead then most other makes. Having said that they did surprisingly well in the expansion.

And of coarse I can't find the pic of the pellets I tested. 

[stathisk]

i usually use h&n barracuda match cause am hunting from 50 to 100 yards but i used wadcuters on sparrows at 20 yards and it absolutely destroys them its like they explode you could see feathers everywhere 

[Bicycleman]

Sean, with the .22 caliber Crosman Premier Hollow Points, my Discovery is super accurate.  Taking squirrels with head shots, I don't think it makes much difference if there is expansion or not.  Dead is dead.

[Tater]

I use Daisy hollow points on HOSPS and chippers, but only because they are the most accurate in my gun.
It's only a 1377 so I doubt they expand at all.

[Bullit]

I don't know about wadcutters for hunting, as I haven't tried it.
I do know the Beeman Crow Magnums expand well.  The range of  good accuracy for my rifle, is limited to the 25-30yd region.  Much softer than CPHPs.   Those are more of a dome with a dimple in them.

[chancers]

26 grain Predator Polymag and 25 caliber MRod  - deadly deadly combination against fox nutters.   FPE around 42.  The polymags just smack down those nutters.  Nutters barely run if hit with chest shot.  I've seen nutters run a little bit after being hit with the 25 caliber JSB Kings.

The Kings generally pass right on through nutters.  The polymags expand and lodge in the superficial soft tissues (opposite side of entrance wound).