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Squirrel hunting guns

Ryanp1212

Ryanp1212

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 22, 2018
Messages
310
Location
Illinois
I’ve always wanted a lever action local shop had a Henry frontier 22 so I bought it. Anyone have any experience with one how accurate do they shoot. Can’t decide if I want to scope it or not. I’d guess 50yards would be a long shot for squirrels in the woods I hunt.
 
Congrats on the new rifle! I have no experience with Henry’s so I’m not sure if this would work but I have a big bore rifle setup for dangerous game with Warne quick attach rings that are pretty slick so I can run the irons or scope, best of both worlds! The bases are low profile so I can see the sights good still.
 
I have a Henry 22 magnum and absolutely love this gun. Open sights and have no problem shooting squirrels up to 100 yards. Just make sure to shoot different brands of shells and find out which one shoots the best. Congratulations on your new Henry.


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We use to have a great squirrel hunting place over the years my cousin and I took a lot of squirrels from. We never had a scoped rifle just an old single shot open sight 22 . So unless you have vision problems I would have to say, no scope on the Henry and you will not have a problem hitting anything within reasonable distance. It’s a great shooter
 
i have a henry 45 and LOVE it... though id have to say its just a fun gun for me.... i refuse to put anything other than an iron sight on it and since it drops about 7 inches in 100 yards , i really dont find it to be an ethical hunting firearm
 
Congratulations! I've never owned a Henry but love their looks. I have a Ruger 77-22 bolt action and a 96-22 lever both with Leupold scopes. 3X9 on the bolt action and 4X28 on the lever gun. I almost always take the lever gun squirrel hunting just because I like the feel of it. I shot iron sights until my 60's and still can but trifocals make the scope so much better for me. I like squirrel hunting as much as bow hunting and fried squirrel with milk gravy, mashed taters, asparagus, and tomato is as good as it gets.
 
My experience with .22s is that the ammo is more important than the rifle at 50-100 yards. Tough to find ammo right now, but as @Mallard8629 said, try as many kinds as you can. Good luck, and happy hunting!
 
I currently hunt with a savage Vb heavy barrel and I can’t think of any squirrels I’ve shot past 50.. I’ve got a decent amount of ammo in the safe luckily. Gun just fit me really well and I’m looking to up the fun factor a bit. For anyone that has a lever action how accurate are they are they ammo picky like my bolt gun I’m sure it won’t be as accurate as that but I’m hoping to get a ragged hole at 25 yards with it
 
^^^ I have to start out saying that there are different strokes for different folks.
My background comes from quite a few years of 'bench rest competition'. Soo... ragged holes at 100 yards with a .22 is commonplace..

The biggest factor in rim fire accuracy is the ammunition. Then it's the shooter, then it boils down to the rifle itself...
Some of the Match ammo i shot was close to $30 for a box of 50. That was back when plinking ammo was $30 for 500.
A couple of the .22 rifles I put together i had close to 2 grand in them (counting optics) and they were 'clunkers' compared to some of the guys' guns that I was shooting against...
With my 'pre-letter' Winchester Model 52 I could shoot 1 random round in a blank paper and put 4 more pretty much through that same hole consistently - at 100 yards!
 
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I grew up head-shooting them with my Ruger 10/22 ( a gun which has probably killed more squirrels than any other ever made). But, I think in my old age (late 20's hahah) I have grown to prefer a light, cheap little bolt action with a good scope and rings. I find I am more reserved with my ammo when I know there isn't an immediate follow-up shot on hand. If I get to pick, I will take a beat up old wood stock on that gun as well thank you very much.
 
Ammo makes all the difference!!! I picked up a savage fvsr. Got the scope sighted. 10 rounds under a quarter at 25 yards. Went to buy some more rounds and "ELEY target" was sitting there. Gave them a try, holy crap!!!!! 10 rounds under a dime with room to spare, legit ragged hole. I then started playing. One mag of cheap, one mag of Eley target. Same results every time, except more "flyers" with the cheap. Gave the neighbor my cheap stuff. All I shoot now is ELEY. Target or hollow points don't matter on a head shot.
 
Mallard8629 said:
I have a Henry 22 magnum and absolutely love this gun. Open sights and have no problem shooting squirrels up to 100 yards. Just make sure to shoot different brands of shells and find out which one shoots the best. Congratulations on your new Henry.


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No problem hitting squirt sized targets from the bench I’ll buy but 100 yard one shot one kills regularly using iron sights and field shooting positions? Y’all must raise some Boone and Crockett squirrel. :)
 
EricS said:
No problem hitting squirt sized targets from the bench I’ll buy but 100 yard one shot one kills regularly using iron sights and field shooting positions? Y’all must raise some Boone and Crockett squirrel. :)
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Or you have telescopic vision. I have 20/10 vision and squirrels get a bit blurry through open sights at that range
 
I used to hunt squirrels with a 22 but had a few crawl into holes to die. With the 17HM2 that never happens. Any body hit seems instantly fatal. As ranges are increased even seeing the head clearly become hard for me.
 
bj139 said:
I used to hunt squirrels with a 22 but had a few crawl into holes to die. With the 17HM2 that never happens. Any body hit seems instantly fatal. As ranges are increased even seeing the head clearly become hard for me.
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Were I come from a gut shot squirrel makes you sit at the ladies table. Not that I haven't done it, but there is no photographic evidence of it anywhere.:laughing:
 
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Headshots only with the 22 marlin magnum. It make skinning much easier. You don’t want a body shot.


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