22 Long Rifle - Hollow Points or Soft Points for Hunting?

[pagris]

Hello Members:  I am curious to find out what type of bullet you use for small game hunting (squirrels, rabbits, crows, etc.)with your 22 Long Rifle.  Hollow points or Round nose soft points and why?  Thanks in advance.

[Rimfirekid1022]

winchester super-x 37 grain HP is what i use for my small game huntin. but remember hunting is all about shot placement if you wanted to hunt with 40 grain roundnose ammo you should be fine if you put the bullet where it needs to go. you do your part and any bullet will do the rest.
joseph

[Graybeard]

Personally I restrict the use of LR solids to paper or metal targets that need to be knocked over. If I want to kill something I use the LR HPs.

[Lawdog]

Hello Members:  I am curious to find out what type of bullet you use for small game hunting (squirrels, rabbits, crows, etc.)with your 22 Long Rifle.  Hollow points or Round nose soft points and why?  Thanks in advance.

I use CCI Stringers for all my hunting/pest control shooting.  I have had too many tree squirrels crawl into a hole in a tree after being hit through the body with a .22 lr. soft point.  The very best part about Stingers is they are about the most accurate game round in all my .22 rifles/handguns.  Lawdog
 

[Doc T]

I prefer HPs but I use Remington Sub-Sonics most of the time, that is in the rifles that shoot well with them.  You might try the CCI SGBs (Small Game Bullet).  It is a solid but with a flat nose.  It is like hitting them with a semi-wadcutter bullet used in handguns.

[popplecop]

I use CCI's Small Game Bullet (SGB) for squirrels and rabbits in my rifles.  I've had great success with this round and it is very accurate.

[BillP]

Like GB, I generally use only HPs on animals.  The one exception I make is that for squirrels and other things I intend to eat, I use CCI's SGB.  They do a better job than solids and don't bust up the animal.  Perhaps more importantly, they are quite accurate in both of my hunting guns.

[moontroll]

Hey lawdog what kind of guns you have that shoot stingers,none I ever had would,anything special about them.

[Savage .250]

Hello Members:  I am curious to find out what type of bullet you use for small game hunting (squirrels, rabbits, crows, etc.)with your 22 Long Rifle.  Hollow points or Round nose soft points and why?  Thanks in advance.

 As they all are easy to kill targets of interest although the squirrel some time makes me wonder, i`d go with the "round nose soft point". IMO
 
  " The best part of the hunt is not the harvest but in the experience."

[Lawdog]

Hey lawdog what kind of guns you have that shoot stingers,none I ever had would,anything special about them.

Five Ruger 10/22's and one 77/22.  All have 22" Green Mountain barrels on them.  Savage M24 .22/.410.  Handguns are Ruger Mark II, Ruger Single-Six Convertible.  S&W K22.  I also use Stingers in both of my Weatherby XXII's(one clip the other tubular magazines) as they get the best accuracy using them as the actions never fail to cycle like sometimes happens with light target loads but I don’t do to much hunting g with these Weatherby's anymore.  Not at what they are valued at now.  Lawdog
 

[Bugflipper]

I use a little tool to enlarge the hp, commercially they sell as a paco kelly tool I think. All it amounts to is putting the bullet into a die that will keep the bullet from expanding and enlarging the hp with a nail. You would not believe the sound the bullet makes when it strikes it's target. If you've ever shot an archery target with a fast bow, that's the sound it makes when you hit a soft target with these enlarged hp. Generall I always use sub sonic rounds.

[Paul Mohr]

If my gun likes them I prefer the winchester hollow points as well. I use them for everything, hunting or target. I will go with whatever is most accurate out a particular rifle pretty much. From what I can see there is not a huge difference in performance between hollow points and solids on most game with a standard long rifle shell.

However I did try some of the velociters and was pretty impressed. Looked like they might do a fair amount of damage to a small critter though. I don't even own a .22 currently. I traded three guns to get my slug gun and two were my .22's. I have a 17HMR though.

Paul

[armory414]

I use the Federal HP's that come in bulk from Wally World.  They're fine for squirrel if you get a head shot, but a chest shot will ruin a lot of meat.  For groundhog I prefer soft nose for better penetration.

[ABaker]

CCI MINIMAG HP. Good Feral Cat load. Aim for the lungs, works every time. Usually passes all the way thru. Only thing better is a .410 Shotgun, but you have to be closer for that.

[ChiefAutoParts]

Hello Members:  I am curious to find out what type of bullet you use for small game hunting (squirrels, rabbits, crows, etc.)with your 22 Long Rifle.  Hollow points or Round nose soft points and why?  Thanks in advance.

Stingers  seem to work the very best for me.  Range of target, shot placement and overall size of the varmint are also important, but Stingers are effective and acurate.

[TNrifleman]

I use a bolt action .22 rimfire rifle for hunting gray squirrels. My rifle is a Kimber Hunter model. It shoots Wolf Match Target ammunition extremely well. This ammo is standard velocity lead roung nose and it kills squirrels cleanly with good shot placement. It doesn't do excessive damage. That is important to me because I love to eat squirrels as much as I love to hunt them. I've never felt that high velocity hollow points are necessary for this type of hunting. If I hunted larger small game with a .22, I'd use different ammo.

[swiftman]

Squirrels don't take much to kill them Some of the guys I know use remington  solid subsonics on them. Can clean the hole tree of squirrels just start at the botttom and work your way up.  The rifle shot is quiet enough that you can hear the bullet hit the squirrel with a good whop.
 as far as any thing bigger use high speed hollow points of what ever manufacter that shoots the best in you gun. because its as much as where you hit than what you hit them with. Now coon is another one that is a tuff customer if you want to drop one of these is his tracks or out of a tree you either hit him the brain or spine or he is going to  take some time to die.

[Qaz]

I use Winchester Power Points for the big stuff like ground hogs and PMC moderators for rabbits and smaller. I have recently tried the CCI "Velocitors" and was impressed with the way they shot, but will not make up my mind until they drop a ground hog.

[22shooter]

I use Winchester Power Point .22 lr ammo. It has a huge hollow point and is very deadly.  The price is right.  About $19.00 per brick.  They were developed in Australia to be used on large hares.  They are also very accurate in my JW-15, Marlin 25N and CZ 452.  Give them a try, you will like them.