Best Squirrel Gun

[CAfrica]

Thanks Don,  yes I have one of the Rossi copy's of the model 62 SA and it really is a nice little piece.  My father in law had the original Winchester 62A, unfortunately it went to some-one else in the family, someone who doesn't shoot or hunt or anything but want to keep it for sentimental purposes.
 
That's the way the cookie crumbles.
 
C

[shotgun joe]

i like the 12 gauge for hunting squirrels
with shot you can almost be shure you got it
but its less of a challenge:confused:

[USA]

I use a bolt or semi-auto .22 with open sights.
I shoot Remington bulk ammo.

[Willywonka]

I started out my hunting career shooting squirrels with a 22 Lr

[firstshot]

I started out hunting squirrels with a 410, then for most of my life I've hunted with a scoped 22LR. My current squirrel gun is a Marlin 1897 Century Limited (basically a 39A) with a Burris 4-12x32 Compact w/AO.
 
Here's a pic before I put the scope on it. (Need to take some new pics)

 
It's not as accurate as the Anschutz I used to have, but it can shoot 3/4" groups at 25Yds all day long and has a lot more class. It's an absolute pleasure to shoot and hunt with.
 
firstshot
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Make your first shot count!

[ghostrider_tx]

Howdy Everyone
 
My squirrel guns consist of a Ruger 77/22 with a 4x Weaver. I'm going to try my Ruger Mark II Target .22 with 2X Leupold this fall. It should be quite a challenge. Also, lots of fun
 
The pics are not very good,but for now they will have to do.
 
 
 
 
 
Also the Mark II will have a Stainless scope as soon as I can afford

[buckshot roberts]

the winchester model 94-410,ga,2 1/2, I've have used it the last two years,love this shotgun

[firebird]

Squirrels can make for an interesting quarry. Anything bigger than a pellet gun will bring down tree squirrels with head shots and I did quite a bit of squirrel hunting with a .22  cal pellet gun in my younger teens. I also owned a savage .22 over 20 GA. and it is hard to beat as squirrel gun for tree sqiurrels. I have only tried two ,410 shotguns and after some extensive pattern testing with various loads and some squirrel and bunny hunting I had to agree with one gun writer that .410 is a skilled shooters gun and not for beginners. It's tiny shot charge and resulting small pattern  requires far better shot placemnt than even the lightest low recoil loads  in a 12 or 20 GA. The .410 may offer a light easy handling gun  but so do many single shot 12 and 20 Ga. guns. Going to smaller shot to increase pattern density offten means losing penetration and wounded critters. #6 shot is the min for penetration on even squirrels past 20 yds. I found some #6's failed to penetrated the muscle of some squirrels and rabbits even at 20 YDS. #5's offer less pellets but break through branches and leaves much better and penetrate through to the vitals every time. At the  close ranges of tree squirrels and bunnie hunting the .410 will bring down game quite well out to 25 YDS with skilled shot placement.  The tiny shot pattern leaves little room for error.  Past the 25YRD mark every pattern test I did showed a pattern capable of wounding more often than killing. The .410 is a great little gun for close range hunting of squirrels and cottontails and small upland birds in the hands of a skilled hunter. In the hands of a beginner it's tiny sparse patterns make it a great wounder. It only takes a few min with some cardboard and a 12 or 20 GA for comparison to do a pattern test to show why the .410 is not for begginners but for skilled shooters. At 30YRDS a jackrabbit can run through a .410 pattern unscathed. Ammo for the 12GA is also the most common and bargain sales are common but you will selldom see bargains for .410 ammo.
 An important factor for young shooters on limited budgets.
 I have to agree that chasing a squirrel around a tree for 20 min trying to get a shot can make for  an entertaining afternoon no matter what you are shooting.
 Just my opinion. I am sure some will disagree.
 Firebird.

[buckshot roberts]

:) Yep, shooting past 25 yd's, with my winchester model  94-410 ,2 1/2 , cyl bore , Will just wound game, And I don't like to do that, To any game, That is why I like to get in as close as I can before they see me, That is part of squirrel hunting, That will make you a very good hunter for other game, That's my opinion, I went out this morn and got 4 squirrels, I just sat over from a beech tree they were cut'n, And took the shots I new I could make.

[gitano]

.410 is a skilled shooters gun and not for beginners.
 
The .410 is a great little gun for close range hunting of squirrels and cottontails and small upland birds in the hands of a skilled hunter. In the hands of a beginner it's tiny sparse patterns make it a great wounder.

Firebird's comments regarding .410s are noteworthy, and at some level I agree with them. However, I also - as he predicted - disagree with them. All he wrote reads very well, and I appreciate his personal experience with patterning and hunting. But... I learned to hunt using a .410 on doves, squirrels and rabbits, and know, also from personal experience, that it is not a "bad" choice for a beginning gun. My reasons are not based in "I did it that way so it must be good".
 
First, Firebird (and others), state that "The .410 should be restricted to short ranges." No disagreement on that point from me. However, why is that a "bad" thing for a youngster to learn? Getting closer to game in order to increase the likelyhood of a clean kill is a great thing to instill in a young hunter. It teaches, by self-motivation, better stalking skills. It teaches that the discipline required to make clean kills is not so "hard" as some would have you believe. Many "older" shooters could use a healthy dose of that lesson.
 
Next comes "In the hands of a beginner it's tiny sparse patterns make it a great wounder." Again, by their own statements, not at close range, but more importantly... says who? Apparently all those "old and more experienced" shooters that have used .410s have experienced "wounded" animals. Why is it "better" for them to wound animals than it is for a youngster to wound them? OR, why is it worse for a youngster to wound animals than it is for an "old, experienced" hunter to? The point is, if you hunt, sooner or later you are going to wound an animal. The lessons learned from that experience are "golden nuggets". Young hunters should not be, cannot be, isolated from those experiences. Pain experienced from such events mould a hunter, and do it in a way no verbal lesson can.

I submit that a .410 is a "good" choice for a beginner, because for it to be a useful tool, discipline and skill are required if the 'student' is to become a hunter instead of a shooter. THAT responsibility lies with their mentor, not their tool. I am grateful each time I 'lock on' to a game animal for the training I received as a "young hunter" - both from my Dad and uncles, but also from the .410.

Paul

[buckshot roberts]

Hey, well spoken from you both, As I'm technologically impaired on this thing, I use two fingers, I do like to squirrel hunt, not only because I like to eat them, But it dose get me back on my stalking skill's for deer season, I live in a national forest, and each year I see deer that were wounded, by hunters and never found,  Doe's that were shot because they were mistaken for buck's, ( In my zone you can't  take doe's), (and I don't take kindly to poqchers), The 410 is a good shotgun for beginers,  I got nephew one of the rossi's 410 with the 22 bbl,  for his birthday this past june, He got to taste his first squirrel last year, And In a few years I have a winchester model 59 12ga, that will be his, Just as it was handed down to me, along with some other hunting things.