Joe Williams
Shooter
- Jun 26, 2008
- 10,431
- 38
Squirrel season opens in a month and a half, so it's time to get a couple guns sighted in and practice up some straight bullseye shooting. At least, that was the excuse for today's range trip, not that we really need an excuse to go burn up some .22s 
I shot Sean's 22/45. I've always enjoyed hunting small game with a handgun, haven't done much of it for a while. Think I'll steal Sean's gun a few times this season, unless I somehow obtain my own .22 soon. If I can tighten up the groups a bit, this gun will do just fine. My aging eyes are telling me that a red dot may be needed sooner rather than later. I put 150 rounds through her today, finished sighting her in for the most part, and tried three different kinds of ammo. Federal red box (the most likely hunting load) and CCI Blazer continue to function well, Winchester XPert HV gave up two failures to feed, not a real surprise to me. That ammo isn't particularly smooth feeding in anything, even bolt actions.
Sean will be once again spend the season hunting with either his Mossberg Super Bantam Youth 500 20 guage, or his old Sears Model 1 .22 single shot. That old gun was given to my father by Mom as a wedding present, then became mine, and is now on it's third generation of shooters. He'll be getting a scope this season, too, but for now he's still working with the rudimentary open sights.
Cathy will be be hunting with her Rossi Matched Pair, a single shot gun with interchangeable .22 and 20 guage barrels, as circumstances dictate. The gun was cheap, and continues to be versatile and functional. It's gotten a clobbering over the years, and has hunted in some really crappy conditions and keeps on ticking. The fiber optic sights are highly visible, but adjustment is a PIA. You loosen the appropriate screw, slide the sight in the direction you need, and re-tighten the screw. No precision at all to be had!! A scope would really hinder one of the things Cathy most appreciates about this little gun, namely the ability to be broken down and carried in a very compact package, but a red dot may be just the ticket. We'll see.
Sean's new 22/45 5 1/2" bull barrel target model now has 420 rounds through it, with only the two failures from the Winchester ammo noted previously. Even with bulk ammo it's providing good accuracy. Here are some of the targets I shot with it today, one for each kind of ammo, and one to see if I could hit squirrels. All of today's shooting was done at 20 yards.
Federal Red Box. 3 groups, 10 rounds each. I was fine tuning the sighting, else it would have been tighter.
Winchester HPert HV. Not as accurate as it has been out of some other other guns, and functioning was not as good as I could have hoped.
CCI Blazer. Being a solid nose it's less than ideal for bopping critters, but accuracy and functioning has been good so far.
Sean's Chihuaha target (I claimed the last squirrel target), shot with his Sears Model 1 and CCI Blazer ammo.
Cathy's weirdly mishapen but still dead squirrel, shot with her little Rossi and the Winchester XPert ammo.
My squirrels, shot with the 22/45 and Federal red box. Your guess is as good as mine as to why the standing supported target is better than the sitting supported ones
I shot Sean's 22/45. I've always enjoyed hunting small game with a handgun, haven't done much of it for a while. Think I'll steal Sean's gun a few times this season, unless I somehow obtain my own .22 soon. If I can tighten up the groups a bit, this gun will do just fine. My aging eyes are telling me that a red dot may be needed sooner rather than later. I put 150 rounds through her today, finished sighting her in for the most part, and tried three different kinds of ammo. Federal red box (the most likely hunting load) and CCI Blazer continue to function well, Winchester XPert HV gave up two failures to feed, not a real surprise to me. That ammo isn't particularly smooth feeding in anything, even bolt actions.
Sean will be once again spend the season hunting with either his Mossberg Super Bantam Youth 500 20 guage, or his old Sears Model 1 .22 single shot. That old gun was given to my father by Mom as a wedding present, then became mine, and is now on it's third generation of shooters. He'll be getting a scope this season, too, but for now he's still working with the rudimentary open sights.
Cathy will be be hunting with her Rossi Matched Pair, a single shot gun with interchangeable .22 and 20 guage barrels, as circumstances dictate. The gun was cheap, and continues to be versatile and functional. It's gotten a clobbering over the years, and has hunted in some really crappy conditions and keeps on ticking. The fiber optic sights are highly visible, but adjustment is a PIA. You loosen the appropriate screw, slide the sight in the direction you need, and re-tighten the screw. No precision at all to be had!! A scope would really hinder one of the things Cathy most appreciates about this little gun, namely the ability to be broken down and carried in a very compact package, but a red dot may be just the ticket. We'll see.
Sean's new 22/45 5 1/2" bull barrel target model now has 420 rounds through it, with only the two failures from the Winchester ammo noted previously. Even with bulk ammo it's providing good accuracy. Here are some of the targets I shot with it today, one for each kind of ammo, and one to see if I could hit squirrels. All of today's shooting was done at 20 yards.
Federal Red Box. 3 groups, 10 rounds each. I was fine tuning the sighting, else it would have been tighter.
Winchester HPert HV. Not as accurate as it has been out of some other other guns, and functioning was not as good as I could have hoped.
CCI Blazer. Being a solid nose it's less than ideal for bopping critters, but accuracy and functioning has been good so far.
Sean's Chihuaha target (I claimed the last squirrel target), shot with his Sears Model 1 and CCI Blazer ammo.
Cathy's weirdly mishapen but still dead squirrel, shot with her little Rossi and the Winchester XPert ammo.
My squirrels, shot with the 22/45 and Federal red box. Your guess is as good as mine as to why the standing supported target is better than the sitting supported ones
