Airgun pellet performance

Many folks have written about how certain airgun pellets perform under certain condition.  Some writings are opinion, while some are based on testing.  These articles can be very useful, but may not provide an airgun hunter with the data he/she is looking for.  Hunters want to know how a certain pellet performs on live game under hunting conditions.  Hopefully, we can remedy that, just a little.

I had the opportunity to kill three grey squirrels in one outing during the hunting season.  I documented the shots and recovered the pellets to assess their performance.

I used a Ruger Airhawk air rifle in .177 caliber.  It's a spring-powered rifle made in China with surprising quality and performance.  I shot Crosman Destroyer EX pellets; these pellets have a hollow point shape with a pointed spire in the center of the hollow cavity.  The pellet showed adequate accuracy when I tested it on paper at 20 and 30 yards.  When I did my job, groups could be covered by a nickel at 30 yards, the longest distance I intended to shoot.

The first two squirrels were shot at 20 yards.  Both were hit in the chest and dropped where they stood.  Neither pellet exited the animals, which means the pellets performed exactly as they should.

The third squirrel was taken at 30 yards while the squirrel was standing on its hind legs.  The pellet struck the spine and, again, remained inside the animal.

I recovered the pellets while cleaning the squirrels and found the pellets performed very well.  While the pellets did not show any real expansion, they did flatten nicely, totally extending their energy within the animals. That caused the squirrels to drop in their tracks and prevented the pellets from causing any havoc downrange.  Take a look -

Each recovered pellet is shown next to an unfired pellet for comparison.  I found this combination of Ruger Airhawk rifle and Crosman Destroyer EX pellets to be an excellent combination on squirrels.  I look forward to more testing, preferably on rabbits next time...