Which pellets best for gun's sake and on-game performance?

[Patriot_1776]

I know this may have been clarified before, but I wanted to know about what weight pellets I should stick around for my RWS 350.  I just recently ordered some RWS Domed pellets which run about 8.3 gr.  Is that too light for my gun, or are there any heavier magnum pellets out there to consider?  BTW, what pellet design is the best for squirrel shooting?  I am not worried about the accuracy for the time being.  But I do want to pack as serious a punch as I can to kill fast on a head shot or occasional body shot.  I worry about the hollowpoint designs though.  I don't want shallow penetration due to high velocities.  As an update, so far accuracy-wise I printed two 3-shot groups.  One at 75 ft, came to 6/16", and one at 100 ft, which was 1 3/4".  Both were in a half-value wind at approx. 5-8 mph.  And the pellets used were Copperhead pointed pellets, which run about 8gr.  In my opinion, I find them to be slightly on the light side.  Is my suspicion correct?  Patriot

[Dand]

Did you check out the Straight Shooter's review of the RWS 350?  What pellets did they find to work well.  
Check out the thread I have going in this forum on pellets and game - Lawdog suggests wad cutters for birds - don't know about furred game.  Just a wild guess on my part but I'd bet your gun would do better with 9-11 grain pellets.  That gun is one of the hottest springers and I would think it could handle even the heaviest pellets pretty well.  You might want to try the Crossman Premier Heavies - I think they are about 10gr and might hold their velocity at longer ranges better than light pellets.

When I had an old Chinese airgun .177 1 750-830 fps, I took out several red squirrels with wad cutter pellets - usually at 15 to 30 feet. They died quicker than any I ever shot with .22 long rifle solids - but they WERE close.

[Lawdog]

Go to http://home.hiwaay.net/~ispellan/PelletTest02.html and check out the test that was run by Ian Pellant on "Terminal Ballistics" of different pellets.

The old rule of thumb is the more powerful the air rifle, the heavier the pellets should be.  The RWS 350 in .177 is one of the fastest springer rifles in that caliber.  My son in-law has one in .22 caliber and it really shakes when firing light weight pellets through it.  True you are going to loose some fps. using heavier pellets but the good point is you will gain in penetration.  For hunting purposes I prefer hollow point pellets and in my more powerful rifles I use Beeman Crow Magnum pellets, no matter what the caliber.  Expansion wise they will almost double in size on critters as small as squirrels.  Since changing over to them we have lost lots less game than before.  Lawdog
 

[doc_kreipke]

Am using a Winchester 1K vs. squirrels at around 10 yds.

Last year, I was using gold-colored Beeman Silver Bear-like pellets that I got from Wal Mart. The vast majority of the targets would scamper away after being shot, admittedly, some with rather strange gaits, but most did get out of sight. Occasionally, I'd later discover a deceased one elsewhere in the wooded part of my yard.

Well, this year, after heeding sage advise from this forum, I got some of Beeman's Crow Magnums. Most of the squirrels no longer make it out of my vision. Half of 'em drop on the spot, and the rest scurry up a tree for about 20 feet before they realize that they're actually dead and then behave appropriately.  Quick, humane kills with even chest hits.

I don't think shallow penetration is a problem, as I've obtained in-one-side-out-the-other chest shots on juvenile bushytail bandits. If you look at the web site mentioned above by Lawdog, you'll see that with high-power airguns, and the 350M certainly qualifies, the Crow Magnums fragment up into an expanding component and a deeper-penetrating solid component.

So, I'd have to second Lawdog's ovation for these pellets. However, if you're good enough to routinely hit the little buggers in the head, with a 350M, it might not matter which pellet you use.