Squirrel death by BL-22

[CJS-6.5]

I don't know what it is but my Browning BL-22 is death in the woods for squirrels. All I did was paint the front dot white. Open sights. I have hit thrown beer bottles fairly consistently so all I can figure is that target acquisition is key...on the other hand I cant hit myself with my 10-22. Personal preference is big when it comes to performance.

 

[Tucker301]

Shoot what works.
My dad had a Nylon 66 that I used for squirrels and groundhogs when I was a kid.

On my first squirrel hunt with it I was clipping squirrels with head shots as they scurried across the limbs. My uncle looked at me kind of funny and said, "We usually wait for them to stop".
Groundhogs out to 200 were mine for the taking. Open sights.
I never really shot the rifle on paper until years later. That's when I discovered that it wouldn't group worth a damn.

 

[Moose]

I had a nylon 66 when i was a kid and loved it.Wish i still had it.

 

[steve123]

Something to think about...

There is a lot of advantage with irons for closer distance shooting because the sights are but 3/4" or so above bore which if compared to a scoped rifle adds another 1" or more of scope height above the bore.

Fun example; my Anschutz has a 2.25 scope height above bore and at 10 yards with a 20 degree up angle I'd have to aim 3.2 mils high, enough off to wound or miss a squirrel. With any of my old iron sighted standard 22's there would be no need to aim high at most angles or distances inside of 40Y. In other words there's no thinking about it, aim and shoot with irons.

Another fun one. This gets tricky. Squirrel is 15Y up a tree at 45 degree angle. Now I only need to aim 1.2 mils high with the same Anschutz, distance and angle make a big difference when considering scope height and close in shooting...

Of course you can dial in anticipation of a close shot but using a range finder for squirrels close in kinda gets silly.

Or back up a bit, like 25Y, which takes some angle off and gets your shot only .2 mils off, which is not enough to worry about.

Tree squirrels, 9422 with irons, oh yeah. Anny is staying home.

 

[Tucker301]

Excellent points. My neighbor was over at my place this morning. He had his Savage 17 with an ATN sitting about 2 inches high. He was telling me how he had zeroed it at 25 yards but was missing coyotes at 100 by several inches high. I explained to him how the plane of the optic and the plane of the bore were intersecting at 25, but headed in opposite directions from that point forward.

 

[steve123]

Yep, it's interesting and a subject most hunters don't understand. I used to have a 10Y cold bore shot at our local 22 tactical match. The results were hilarious.

 

[CJS-6.5]

Would this be made worse in a scoped pistol scenario?

 

[Tucker301]

Would this be made worse in a scoped pistol scenario?

It's strictly a matter of how far above the line of the bore the line of the sight is. The father apart they are, the more exaggerated the angle of intersection will be.

 

[JG26_Irish]

Just another reason to sit back at 100y and zap em from way out there. Fewer issues with bore/optic alignment and more fun and challenging. But, I will say that I have an old Mod 41 Remington single shot that was a family heirloom. It is deadly on squirrel and is strictly iron sights only. A long bbl with equally long sight radius and with sights regulated for 50-100y makes it a deadly, light weight combo for squackers. I rarely hunt with it but it is a very functional little rifle. Good out to about 50y.

Irish

 

[WickedDaddy]

My brother has a BL-22 that is his first rifle my Dad bought him when he was 13. That was 40 years ago. It is one of the most beautiful rifles I have seen, with high gloss wood and bluing that looks like glass. He still takes rabbits with it at 100 yards and it still looks brand new.