Ground squirrel hunting, in my corner of the world, kicks off in about five weeks. This year, I'm going to campaign several different rifles, including my FX Whisper. I haven't shot this rifle in about three years.
I've owned her for about five or six years, and she was one of the main players in the production of my DVD, "Airgun Hunting the California Ground Squirrel." The way I have her currently set, she generates about 24 fpe, shooting the DYNAMIC PCP-2 tin pellets, and the accuracy is excellent.
If you happen to have a copy of my DVD, the last half of the video was shot using this rifle and the PCP-2 pellets. There are kills out to just under 100 yards using that pellet. She drives the PCP-2's at an average of 871 fps.
The FX Whisper is a fairly light weight rifle. I wanted to add some weight, so I mounted a Simmons 6.5-20x50mm scope on her. With the camera mounted, she tips the scale at just under 8.5 pounds. Light enough to carry all day, yet heavy enough to hold steady in my Stoney Point bipod, when taking a shot.
I'm also going to try the H&N Baracuda Green tin pellets in her, and see how they perform. The DYNAMIC tin pellets have become very scarce, so it would be nice to have a readily available alternative.
The next thing that I need to do, is clean the barrel, and get her sighted in. I'm also going to set up the chronograph, and see what she is doing, velocity wise, with the Baracuda Green pellets. The DYNAMIC PCP-2's are 14.5 grains, and the Baracudas are 12.6 grains, so I'm thinking the velocity will probably be over 900 fps with the Baracudas.
I get 36 shots on a 2900 psi fill. That's three mags, and that is typically more than enough for a two or three hour hunt.
I'm also going to campaign with my AA 410 CRBSL .22 carbine, and my Marauder .22 cal rifle this year. This should spread the load a bit, and make for some very fun squirrel hunting. I can hardly wait to get started. H-minus five weeks and counting.
As in the past, I'll be posting the hunting stories, with embedded videos, here on the blog.
More to come in February.
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