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NavyVet1959 wrote:If you reload, a .30-06 can easily be used for squirrels. Lee has a .311" round ball mold that drops at around 45.16 grains. Load it on top of 2 or 3 grains of a fast shotgun powder (Red Dot, etc) and you are ready to go. If you want a bit more weight, there's also some 113 grain .309" bullets and you could use some of the .32 S&W Long and such that could work in a .308 bore with resizing. I probably wouldn't bother resizing the .311" round ball since it's going to resize on its own as it is being seated or shot. If you have a chrono, just try to keep the velocity subsonic for the round balls.

A whole bunch of years ago I tried to work up a load for Woodchuck in my .30-06 using single 0 buckshot (not legal to possess in NY State at the time) with very mixed results. The soft lead made a mess of my bore and I kind of gave up and went back to underloaded jacketed bullets.

jimlongley wrote:A whole bunch of years ago I tried to work up a load for Woodchuck in my .30-06 using single 0 buckshot (not legal to possess in NY State at the time) with very mixed results. The soft lead made a mess of my bore and I kind of gave up and went back to underloaded jacketed bullets.

Did you try it with a harder alloy like wheelweights?

NavyVet1959 wrote:

jimlongley wrote:A whole bunch of years ago I tried to work up a load for Woodchuck in my .30-06 using single 0 buckshot (not legal to possess in NY State at the time) with very mixed results. The soft lead made a mess of my bore and I kind of gave up and went back to underloaded jacketed bullets.

Did you try it with a harder alloy like wheelweights?

No, I wasn't casting, just trying something out. Later I tried paper patching for soft lead projectiles, ZigZag papers were pretty good, but in the 70s buying them did draw a raised eyebrow or two. Kind of fun to fire a shot and have confetti blowing around just past the muzzle.

I did work up a load, once, that used some the projectiles out of some .30-40 ammo I "inherited." The ammo was green with age, so I gently pulled the projectiles and loaded them in my .30-06. I estimated them at around 110 grains and dissected one to see why such a large bullet weighed so little. Almost a third of the copper jacket was virtually empty, with a little hole, almost the size of a .22LR hollow point, out at the tip. I was told, back in the 60s by some "old timers" that these were "mushroom tip" ammo that was intended for use on thin skinned, smaller, varmints. I shot a Woodchuck with one of these loads and there was pretty much nothing left except skin and legs.

Years ago I met an old man in the Big Thicket.

He didnt use a gun for squirrels but rather "uglied" them to death. He would sit under a tree and when a limb rat showed, he would jump up and make the most hideous and ugly face possible. I was amazed as he got several within a few minutes without a sound other than the agonizing chittering of the dying rodents.

He told me his family had passed this technique down from father to son for generations. I then asked if he had taught his son and he replied he didnt have a son, but rather a daughter. He said though he had taught her, he wouldnt let her use it. I asked him why and he said, "cuz she tears em up too bad!"

Jim Beaux wrote:Years ago I met an old man in the Big Thicket.

He didnt use a gun for squirrels but rather "uglied" them to death. He would sit under a tree and when a limb rat showed, he would jump up and make the most hideous and ugly face possible. I was amazed as he got several within a few minutes without a sound other than the agonizing chittering of the dying rodents.

He told me his family had passed this technique down from father to son for generations. I then asked if he had taught his son and he replied he didnt have a son, but rather a daughter. He said though he had taught her, he wouldnt let her use it. I asked him why and he said, "cuz she tears em up too bad!"

Is this a true story?

Jim Beaux wrote:Years ago I met an old man in the Big Thicket.

So where's the smilie/emoticon with one leg longer than the other?

WildBill wrote:

Jim Beaux wrote:Years ago I met an old man in the Big Thicket.

He didnt use a gun for squirrels but rather "uglied" them to death. He would sit under a tree and when a limb rat showed, he would jump up and make the most hideous and ugly face possible. I was amazed as he got several within a few minutes without a sound other than the agonizing chittering of the dying rodents.

He told me his family had passed this technique down from father to son for generations. I then asked if he had taught his son and he replied he didnt have a son, but rather a daughter. He said though he had taught her, he wouldnt let her use it. I asked him why and he said, "cuz she tears em up too bad!"

Is this a true story?

Well Bill, Im really hurt that you doubt my word considering you havent caught me in a lie in the last 5 or 10 minutes.....

Pawpaw wrote:[ Image ]

I don't know if this would kill them or turn them into a pillar of salt.

Pawpaw, that was exactly what I thought of when I read the story!


btw, I just tried that in my backyard. I guess I just couldn't make my face ugly enough.

BLG wrote:I guess I just couldn't make my face ugly enough.

And I have to live with it every day.

410 with birdshot?

I shot a squirrel with a .30-06 once at the end of an unsuccessful deer hunt. I was on the way back to the cabin and this squirrel started chattering at me as if he was mocking me. Pretty much vaporized the squirrel.

Does Remington still make it's "Accelerator" line of ammo? 22 cal 55gn in plastic sabot. If memory serves, they made 30-06, 308 and 30-30.

BLG wrote:Pawpaw, that was exactly what I thought of when I read the story!


btw, I just tried that in my backyard. I guess I just couldn't make my face ugly enough.

If you cant make an adequate ugly face use a picture of Nancy Pelosi .....