VarmintAir's Airgun Hunting Blog

Comparing The .22 cal AA 510 and AA 410 Carbines - Shot Strings - Shooting The 18 Grain JSB Exact Jumbo Heavy's

This photo shows the AA 410 Carbine at the top, and AA 510 Carbine at the bottom.

So that there is no confusion, let me mention that I have swapped the stocks between the two rifles, and that's why the AA 410 is wearing the AA 510 ambidextrous stock.

I prefer the thumbhole design for hunting, and rather than have a thumbhole stock on both rifles, I just swap the one back and forth between guns.

A few things differentiate the AA 510 carbine from the AA 410 carbine. The most noticable is the longer air tube on the AA 510.  It holds 242cc of air, compared to the 180cc that the AA 410 carbine air tube holds.

Also, the power control knob on the AA 510 operates just the opposite of the AA 410. Turning the knob to the right on the AA 410 increases power.  Doing the same on the AA 510 decreases power.

There are also a few cosmetic machine cuts on the receiver of the AA 510 that are not on the AA 410 receiver.  Functionally, the side lever actions on the two guns operate exactly the same, and they share the same magazine design.

I consider both of these rifles to be nice compact hunters.  I use them mainly for tree squirrel (limit 5) and cottontail rabbit (limit 10) hunting. For those applications, shot count isn't really an issue because both guns get 20 or more useable shots on a fill. 

But, since a lot of folks live and die by shot count numbers, I thought I would go ahead and show a string from both rifles, when shooting the 18.1 grain JSB Exact Jumbo Heavy pellets.  Both rifles are exceptionally accurate when shooting this particular pellet.

AA 410 CRBSL .22, shot string with 18.1 grain JSB, 3000 psi fill, power adj. at Hi.

1 - 837      11 - 874

2 - 844     12 - 871

3 - 851      13 - 870

4 - 844     14 - 867      

5 - 848     15 - 864

6 - 854      16 - 860

7 - 862      17 - 851

8 - 860     18 - 846 

9 - 871      19 - 845 

10- 868    20 - 840

Avg - 856 fps

Hi - 874 fps

Lo - 837 fps

ES - 37 fps

Fpe - 29

AA 510 CRBSL .22, shot string with 18.1 grain JSB, 3000 psi fill, Power adj. at Hi.

1 - 863     11 - 893     21 - 870

2 - 867     12 - 892    22 - 867

3 - 865     13 - 891    23 - 865

4 - 867     14 - 893    24 - 863

5 - 872     15 - 887    25 - 860

6 - 880    16 - 890

7 - 883     17 - 885

8 - 888    18 - 885

9 - 892     19 - 880

10- 890    20- 877 

Avg - 878 fps

Hi - 893 fps

Lo - 860 fps

ES - 33 fps

Fpe - 31

The AA 510 carbine is generating two more fpe at the muzzle than the AA 410 carbine is, but that isn't even noticeable in the field while hunting.  The additional 62cc of air, that the AA 510 carbine holds, manifests itself as five more shots than the AA 410 carbine gets.  So that gives me 20 shots with the AA 410 carbine, or 25 with the AA 510 carbine.  Either way, more than enough shots for the way I typically use these guns.  

Again, I don't get overly anxious about shot counts on my PCP's.  They all hold more than enough air for what I am doing with them 99% of the time.

My AA 510 carbine runs about 6 ounces heavier than my AA 410 carbine. The additional weight is toward the muzzle, and I like that.  All in all, they are both very nice guns, and you can't go wrong with either one.

 

 

 

AA 410CRBSL - .22 cal Carbine - Power Turned Down To 20 FPE - Shooting The Baracuda Green - 12.6 Grain Tin Pellets Over The Chrongraph

The first thing that I had to do, was to remove the barreled action from the stock, so that I could access the set screw that locks the power control knob down.  That's an easy task, because the barreled action is held into the stock with one allen head screw, located just ahead of the trigger guard.

Allen screw loosened, to allow the barreled action to be removed from stock.

With the stock removed, I was able to access the setscrew that is located directly below the power control knob.  I had the power control set to maximum, and had it locked down so that I wouldn't accidentally move it while hunting.  To turn the power down, I had to loosen the setscrew so the power knob would again turn freely.

Location of setscrew, with allen wrench inserted.

Once I had the setscrew loosened, I put the gun back into the stock, and got ready to do some chrony testing of the Baracuda Green, 12.6 grain tin pellets.

As a starting point, I set the power control to the half way point.  I aired the gun up to 3000 psi, loaded a mag with ten Baracuda Greens, and started to shoot.

When hunting in an area where I must use non-lead pellets, I shoot the DYNAMIC PCP-2, 14.5 grain tin pellets in this gun.  They give me 20 good shots, with an ES of 29 fps at 27 fpe, before I need to refill with air. Turning the power down, looking for about 20 fpe, I expected to pick up a few more shots, but as we'll see, when also switching to a lighter weight pellet, at the same time the power is turned down, doesn't necessarily mean an increase in shot count. 

What actually happened, when shooting the lighter weight Baracuda Green pellets is, I was barely able to keep the original 20 shots with an ES of 31 fps.  By the time I got to 25 shots, which was my original goal, the ES was 75 fps.  Even though the power was turned down, shot count didn't improve with the lighter pellet, and ES had more than doubled by shot 25.    

I have seen this phenomenon before, when testing light weight lead pellets in a gun, compared to it's performance when shooting heavier pellets.  A heavier pellet seems to cause the gun to be more efficient in the use of air.  I think it probably has something to do with a higher back pressure on the valve when heavier pellets are used.

Next, I again aired the gun up to 3000 psi, and switched to the heavier DYNAMIC PCP-2, tin pellets.  I left the power adjuster at the previous half point setting, and started to chrony the DYNAMIC PCP-2 tin pellets.

Now this was more like what I was looking for.  The 25 shot string started at 777 fps, peaked at 791 fps, and ended at 762 fps.  The ES is 29 fps, and the fpe is 19.7 at the muzzle.  

I wanted to try the BARACUDA GREEN tin pellets, as a possible alternative to the hard to get DYNAMIC PCP-2's, and they could certainly still be used, but seem to be a bit light in this gun.  

I wonder if a regulated gun would maybe overcome this problem of inefficient use of air?  I don't have a regulated gun, so until I get one at some point, this question will remain unanswered.

I still have about 10,000 PCP-2's left, and will continue to use them in the AA 410 carbine.  I tried the Baracuda Green pellets in my FX Whisper, with similar results. I'll get that information posted at a later date.

I could certainly use the Baracudas in my AA 410 carbine, but would obviously need to refill more often, and that wasn't my goal.  But, if at some point they are the only choice in a quality non-lead pellet, I'll certainly do whatever I need to, to keep on hunting in a lead free area.

I've again locked the power control down, except this time it's at the mid setting on the power scale.  We are now ready to get after some California Ground Squirrels here in about four or five weeks. 

 

 

 

AA 410CRBSL - .22 cal Carbine - Going To Turn The Power Down To 20 FPE - To Use With The Baracuda Green - 12.6 Grain Tin Pellets

Man, the past few months have just been crazy busy, and because of that, there hasn't been much time for airguns, or the blog.  It's looking like January is going to be more of the same, so I thought I would take a little bit of the down time available between Christmas and New Years, to adjust my AA 410CRBSL carbine down to about 20 fpe at the muzzle.

I plan to hunt it with the relatively new, H&N 12.6 grain, Baracuda non-lead tin, .22 cal pellets on California ground squirrels next year.

For all practical purposes, I'm out of serious hunting with springers, and have made the complete switch to PCP's.  Just a better tool for what I do.  

Last spring and summer, I hunted exclusively with my new Benjamin Marauder PCP pistol/carbine.  The gun, shooting 12.8 grain, DYNAMIC Sn-2 tin pellets, generates 13 fpe at the muzzle.  That was essentially the same power as my R9, or HW97 .20 cals, and doing it in a PCP repeater carbine, that is recoilless, accurate, quiet, and weighs 4+ pounds less than either of those guns.  I was loving it.

I was hunting very steep terrain, at elevations that at times were close to 6,000 feet, and humping a heavy rifle around in those conditions gets old real fast.  The Marauder pistol/carbine was awesome to hunt with in those areas.

There were some situations however, where the terrain was to steep and rugged, to allow me to get close enough to take some nice shots on squirrels in the 70/75 yard range.  With my P-Rod doing 13 fpe, my self imposed range limit, is just a little over 60 yards.  So I had to pass on those 70/75 yard shots, but it got me to thinking about a carbine doing about 20 fpe, that would reach out there, in that inaccessible terrain, and roll those furballs with ease.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I already owned the solution. My AA 410CRBSL .22 cal carbine, turned down to 20 fpe, would be just about ideal.  It currently does 27 fpe for 20 shots, with the 14.5 grain  DYNAMIC PCP-2 tin pellets, so using the power adjuster to cut it back to 20 fpe, shooting the 12.6 grain Baracuda Green pellets was a no brainer.

So why not just shoot it as is?  Well, because I don't need 27 fpe at the muzzle to cleanly kill ground squirrels at 75 yards, and dropping it back to 20 fpe will increase the shot count by some number, as yet not known.

Also, in my experience, most light pellets do not do real well accuracy wise when driven ultra fast.

I also want to test the H&N non-lead offering, just in case the DYNAMICS become unobtainium in the future.

Using one of the online calculators, I determined that I need an average muzzle velocity of 845 fps, to produce 20 fpe at the muzzle, with the 12.6 grain pellet.

According to my past notes, this rifle is launching the 14.5 grain DYNAMIC PCP-2 tin pellets at an average of 911 fps, for an average of 27 fpe at the muzzle.  That's with the power control set wide open.  At that setting, I'm sure it will be launching the 12.6 grain Baracudas at close to 1000 fps, or maybe a bit more.  I don't need that kind of velocity, and that's one of the reasons why I'll be adjusting the power down to give me about 20 fpe at the muzzle.

I'll get the chronograph set up here soon, and report back with my findings.  It will be interesting to see what happens to the shot count, when the power is dropped from 27 fpe, to 20 fpe.  Probably nothing major, but I should pick up a few more shots.

More to come.

 

 

AA 410CRBSL - A Real Quick Look - At the H&N Baracuda Green - Non-Lead Pellets - and Sighting-In - With the Beeman Kodiak - 21 Grain Lead Pellets

Time constraints have required, that I change my original plans, about an in depth test of the Baracuda Green non-lead pellets until Spring.  I won't need them until then anyway, so the test will have to wait.

I did shoot one 25 yard group with them, while sighting in my AA 410 CRBSL carbine, with 21 grain Kodiak lead pellets.

I got my wind flags set up, and since I had a fresh, newly cleaned barrel, I decided to shoot five of the Baracuda Green, 12.6 grain pellets, and see what they would do at 25 yards.  This rifle shoots the 14.5 grain DYNAMIC tin pellets at an average of 911 fps, so I'm guessing that these 12.6 grain Baracuda's are probably close to, or maybe a bit over 1000 fps.

In my experience, light pellets don't generally do real well when driven overly fast, so my expectations weren't very high, but I had them with me, and a clean barrel, so thought what the heck, I'll put five down range and see what I get.  I was actually surprised by the result.

Shooting stand and wind flag set up.  Shooting off of bags front and rear.

The first shot out of the clean barrel, on the target below, is the one at 6 o'clock. Shots two, three, and four, followed each other, pretty much through the same hole, and shot five was just slightly low right at 4 0clock.   The orange dot measures 3/4ths of an inch.  I'm sure these are doing around 1000 fps. My plan is to start slowing them down using the power adjuster on the rifle, and try and see if there is maybe a sweet spot where they group exceptionally well.  As in, through the same hole at 25 yards.

I would like to see if the AA 410 would shoot like that at around 20 fpe muzzle energy. This would make for a great light weight ground squirrel gun, and at 20 fpe, would be plenty of power to kill them out to 70+ yards or so.  The clean barrel flyer, kind of screwed up the group, but the other four tell me they want to shoot.  For sure, I'll be spending more time testing these H&N lead free pellets.

Five 12.6 grain Baracuda Green tin pellets shot at 25 yards.

Next, I put the target out at 40 yards, and sighted in the AA 410CRBSL with the 21 grain Beeman Kodiak lead pellets.  The shot at 12 o'clock, was the first out of the barrel after shooting the tin.  The next four clustered nice and tight just below it.  The orange dot measures 3/16ths of an inch in diameter.

I'll see that first shot flyer quite often, when switching from tin to lead, or back, when I don't clean the barrel in between.  Actually, I'll sometimes see the same thing, where the first shot or two are out of the rest of the group, even when switching between brands of lead pellets.

Sighting in with 21 grain lead, Beeman Kodiak pellets.

Next, holding at 6 o'clock on the eye, I fired a couple of shots at the head of a Prairie Chuck target. After that I decided that the gun was sighted in, and ready to hunt.  The eye measures 5/16ths of an inch in diameter.  

I spent a couple of hours putting the sneak on the resident tree squirrels. I saw three, but never got a shot at any of them, but still, it was great being out in the forest with an airgun, doing what I love to do. 

 

 

Prepping For 2011 Tree Squirrel Season

Tree squirrel season opens here at the the end of the month, so I want to be sure that I'm ready for the opener.  This will be my fifth season of hunting these big Abert's Tree Squirrels that inhabit the Ponderosa Pine forests here in Northern Arizona.

As you would expect, the terrain varies quite a bit within the forest area. There are places that are relatively flat, with meadows, or parks as they are called around here, interspersed throughout the area.  I like to hunt the edges of the parks, on back a couple of hundred yards into the forest.

Sometimes I'll come across a game trail, and then I'll hunt along, and to the sides of that for a couple of hours.  One of the other things that adds a lot of fun to the hunts, is the fact that there are a couple of types of ground squirrels, and a chipmunk that also inhabit these forests, and it's fun to hunt them at the same time I'm after the Abert's Tree Squirrels. 

There are also areas that are fairly steep, and thickly populated with Gambel's Oaks, as well as the Ponderosa Pines.  I find that both the steep, or flat areas can produce squirrels, but I prefer different guns for the two different types of terrain.

In the Areas where the terrain is steep, and the fact that the shots there are rarely over 40/50 yards, I want a fairly light, fast handling gun along on those hunts. In those areas that I hunt, that are more open and flat, I prefer a gun that has a bit more weight, with plenty of power to take these big squirrels out to 70/80 yards.

My choices this year, are going to be my .22 cal, AA 410 CRBSL carbine, for the light gun, and my .22 cal Benjamin Marauder, for the longer range hunts.  Both guns are superbly accurate, and I've used both to take Abert's squirrels with in the past.

In the Marauder, I'll be shooting the Beeman Kodiak 21 grain Pellets, and in the AA 410 CRBSL, I'll be shooting the 16 grain JSB Exact Jumbo's.

Both guns have 5-15x40mm Bushnell Legends, with mildot reticles, mounted on them. I run the scopes at 8x for all of my hunting.   

Since I last shot them, I've done some scope and mount swapping on both guns, so I need to shoot them on paper, and make sure they are properly sighted in for the task at hand.  I've gone from high mounts, to mediums on both guns, and prefer how the scopes come to my eye with the mediums.

With the CRBSL Carbine, I'll zero her at 40 yards, and with the Marauder, I'll zero her at 60 yards.  Then shoot my over and unders with each gun.  Note those on a card that I tape to the stock of each rifle, and I'll be ready for opening day.

The plan is to get both guns out into the forest next week, get the sight-in work taken care of, and just for the heck of it, since I just cleaned the barrels on both guns, try some of the H&N, Baracuda Green, non-lead pellets in them, and see how they shoot.

As usual, I've put camera mounts on both guns, with the idea of video taping some of the hunting action in real time.

Should be a lot of fun. 

Large male Abert's tree squirrel, taken with .22 Marauder a couple of years ago.

 

My Air Arms Trifecta - AA 410 ERBSL Rifle - AA 410 CRBSL Carbine - AA 510 TC Rifle

Normally, "trifecta" is a betting term, usually used in greyhound and horse racing, meaning that you picked the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners in a race, and they finished in the exact order in which you picked them.  In this case, I'm using the term to mean three absolutely first rate PCP air rifles.

The trifecta left to right ... AA 410 ERBSL .22 rifle ... AA 410 CRBSL .22 carbine ... and the AA 510 TC .22 ... twin air cylinder rifle.

Part one of the "trifecta"... My AA 410 ERBSL .22 rifle.

I purchased my AA 410 ERBSL rifle several years ago, right after the folks at Air Arms in England first introduced their new side lever action PCP's. Since I primarily hunt, and the distances to the hunted critters can sometimes get out there a ways, in very windy conditions, and I want the added energy and larger caliber wound channel carried downrange, I chose one in .22 cal.  The rifle originally came to me with the sporter stock on it.  I later acquired an AA 410 CRBSL carbine, with a thumbhole stock on it, and I now just swap the thumbhole stock between guns, as the mood strikes.

At the time I acquired the AA 410 ERBSL rifle, I was still working on my DVD, "Airgun Hunting the California Ground Squirrel", and was shooting the DYNAMIC PCP-2 tin alloy pellets out of her.  The performance with the tin pellets in this rifle is excellent, and she accounted for a lot of ground squirrels.

Shooting the tin pellets, she would typically give me 30 shots at 950 fps avg., for 29 fpe at the muzzle.  That is more than enough power to take ground squirrels out to 100+ yards.

It is most definitely a full sized adult PCP air rifle.  With the 30mm tube, MTC Viper 4-16x50mm scope, that I have mounted on her, she weighs right at 9.5 pounds.  I like a heavy rifle for some of my hunting situations, but not all.  The search for a lighter rig for tree squirrel hunting, led to my acquiring the second gun in my Air Arms "trifecta". The AA 410 CRBSL carbine version of the AA 410 series of rifles.

A group of ground squirrels taken with my AA 410 ERBSL .22, shooting PCP-2 tin pellets.

Part two of the "trifecta"... My AA 410 CRBSL .22 carbine.

When we moved to Northern Arizona, the challenge of hunting tree squirrels suddenly opened up for me.  The Ponderosa Pine forests, that cover the high mountains here in Northern Arizona, are inhabited by the Abert's Tassel Eared tree squirrels.  

These guys are large, well dispersed, and very challenging to hunt.  I knew I would be hunting them at elevations from about 7000 feet, to around 9000 feet.  Humping a heavy rifle, that I prefer for hunting prairie dogs on the relatively flat, windy, and lower elevation terrain that they are found in, at higher elevations for tree squirrels, isn't my idea of a fun hunt.

I really liked my AA 410 rifle, so I started thinking about the carbine version.  It wasn't long before I had an opportunity to pick up a used, but in like new condition, AA 410 CRBSL carbine, with thumbhole stock.  I really like thumbhole stocks for hunting with, so this was a real bonus.

After doing some pellet testing, I settled on the 15.9/16 grain JSB Jumbo pellet for use in this rifle.  The accuracy with the JSB's is superb, and the muzzle energy is 27 fpe, for 20 shots.  With the Bushnell Legend 5-15x40mm scope I mounted on her, the carbine comes in right at 7.5 pounds.  Two pounds less than my AA 410 rifle.  When hunting in the thin air found at higher elevations, carrying two pounds less, is huge.

This rig has become one of my favorite tree squirrel rifles.  I used her to hunt prairie dogs with only one time.  I had some success, but it was very challenging staying on target.  It's nice to carry a light rifle in a prairie dog town, but realistically, it's not the best choice.  It's always windy in the dog towns, and a light rifle makes it more difficult to hold on small targets in the wind.  You need some weight in the rifle, to give some ballast, and help with holding on target in those constantly blowing conditions.

The AA 410 CRBSL carbine has turned out to be just about perfect for the use I bought her for, and I'm glad I picked it up when I had the chance.

Abert's Tree Squirrels taken with my AA 410CRBSL carbine, shooting 15.9/16 grain JSB pellets.

Part three of the "trifecta"... My new AA 510 TC .22 rifle.

When I first saw the picture of this rifle, when it was introduced at this years SHOT Show, I thought, "hmm, not really too sure about this one." Then I started to hear a bit more about it, and it soon started to grow on me.  I decided, what the heck, let's add one to the airsenal.

Initial impressions have been very favorable.  Because of the high fire danger in the National Forest around me, it's closed to any and all shooting, so I haven't had a chance to shoot her on paper at 50 yards yet. At 20 yards indoors, she's stacking 18 grain JSB's one on top of the other.  I expect she'll be a shooter, out of doors, at longer ranges as well.

The way I have her adjusted at the moment, I'll run six mags, (60 shots) through her on a hunt.  She's launching the 18 grain JSB's at an average of 856 fps, for 29.4 fpe at the muzzle.  More than enough power to take prairie dogs out to 100 yards.

Air Arms makes some nice rifles, and I'm happy to have these three in my collection.

In summary, my AA 410 CRBSL .22 carbine gives me 20 shots at 27 fpe, my AA 410ERBSL .22 rifle gives me 30 shots at 29/30 fpe, and my AA 510 TC .22 rifle gives me 60 shots at a little over 29 fpe.  

No field experience with the AA 510 TC yet, but that will change here in a couple of weeks, when I get her out for a three day prairie dog hunt.

All in all, I'm very pleased with my "trifecta" of Air Arms PCP's.  The side lever actions are very smooth, the accuracy is top notch, and they are a ton of fun to own and shoot.

The other side.

AA 410CRBSL TH Walnut - 20 Shot String - With .22 Cal - 16 Grain JSB Jumbo's

I get a lot of questions about power and shot string info on my guns, so I thought I would continue posting that information from my various rifles here in the blog.  I usually respond with the info in an e-mail, but I think putting the info here makes more sense.  That way I can just refer folks to the appropriate blog entry.  This time I'll cover my .22 cal, AA 410CRBSL carbine.  When I have a chance, I'll follow this with the data from my AA 410ERBSL rifle.  

The CRBSL is one of my favorite tree squirrel rifles.  It is very accurate with the 16 grain JSB's,  it's light enough to carry all day, and the shot count of 20 is more than ample for tree squirrel hunting.  Especially considering the daily limit is five.  

It's been awhile since I've run her over the chronograph, so I ran a couple of strings to see how she's doing.  Here's how a typical 20 shot string looks.

AA 410CRBSL 20 shot string with 16 grain JSB Jumbo's, 2900 psi fill.

1 - 865     10 - 889     19 - 868

2 - 867     11 - 893     20 - 865

3 - 875     12 - 889

4 - 871     13 - 888

5 - 881     14 - 885

6 - 885     15 - 882

7 - 886     16 - 877

8 - 890     17 - 872

9 - 894     18 - 868

AVG - 879

ES - 29

FPE - 27

The sequential shot to shot consistency is very good.  It's one of the reasons that this gun is so accurate.  Below is the target from when I originally sighted her in.  I wasn't shooting over my wind flags, so I know she can do even better.  

                                      

To get her sighted in, I set up my portable shooting stand and put a "prairie chuck" target out at 25 yards. It was a bit breezy but not too bad. The first 5 shots are on the black dot at 3 o'clock. I was shooting the 14.3 grain JSB Express pellets. I made a small scope adjustment and fired five more on the black dot on the left at 9 o'clock. Next I moved the target frame out to 50 yards and fired 10 shots on the head. Not bad, but I felt it could be better, so I switched to the 16 grain JSB Exact Jumbos and fired 10 shots on the center bull. Now we're talking. I made another small scope adjustment and fired 5 more shots on the bull at 12 o'clock. Next I moved the target frame back into 25 yards and fired 5 more at the bottom bull. This gun really likes the 16 grain JSB's.

The picture below, shows three Abert's tree squirrels taken with the AA 410CRBSL shooting the 16 grain JSB Jumbo's.

I also used it one time, to hunt prairie dogs with.  It's really a bit light for that application.  The ever present wind in the dog towns, makes it very difficult to hold a light gun on target.  I've switched to my heavier, and much more powerful, .25 caliber Marauder for serious prairie dog hunting.

Airgun Hunting Video - AA 410CRBSL Carbine - Earning Her Keep

I spent the day yesterday, out at the cattle ranch, hunting prairie dogs with my .22 caliber, AA 410CRBSL Carbine. The power is adjustable, but for what I do, I have her locked wide open. She is shooting the 15.9 grain JSB Exact's at an average of 877 fps, for 20 shots, with an extreme spread of 29 fps.  The accuracy with this pellet is excellent.

This little rifle isn't my first choice in a prairie dog gun, but I wanted to see what I could do with it in a dog town.  The attraction is, it's light and easy to carry all day.  The fact that it's light, is also one of the things that makes it less attractive as a prairie dog rifle.  It just doesn't set on the bipod as steady as a full sized rifle.  Especially if the wind is blowing, which it almost always is in a prairie dog town

I got lucky yesterday to have the wind be pretty calm in the morning, but as usual, it did pick up quite a bit in the afternoon, and made it harder to hold steady for a given shot.  A heavier rifle helps to dampen out some of the winds effect.  The challenge is to have a rifle that is heavy enough to help with holding steady, but not so heavy that it wears you out just carrying it around. For prairie dog hunting I like a gun, with scope, that goes in the nine to ten pound range.  When I'm shooting video, the camera adds about a pound to the overall package of scope and gun.

My hunting style on these guys is to spot and stalk.  I've discovered that you cannot head directly towards them.  If you do, it gets them even more hinky than they already are, and they will disappear down their holes for an extended period of time. 

What I find that works really well, is to take a zig zag path toward them. Head off at an oblique angle in their general direction, for say 10/15 yards, and then make an oblique turn in the opposite direction, cutting across the line that ultimately leads to the prairie dog.  Slowly do this back and forth, until you have closed to the range you want to take the shot from. Since you do not appear to be heading directly at them, a goodly number will hang around sneaking a peek, to see what you are up to.  Most of the time though, inside of 60 or so yards, you can only expect to get a head shot. It's not perfect, but I find it works more often than not.

I did alright with the carbine, but I won't be hunting this rifle in the dog towns again.  I wanted to try it once to see what the limitations might be.  Once the wind picked up, it became much more difficult to hold the crosshairs steady.  I definitely prefer a heavier rifle shooting the JSB Exact Jumbo Heavy 18.1 grain pellets. 

Here are a few video clips from the hunt showing the .22 caliber, AA 410CRBSL earning her keep.

The video may take 10/15 seconds to load.

 

    

Airgun Hunting - Hunting the Abert's Tree Squirrel With the - AA 410CRBSL Carbine

Thursday was the perfect Fall day here in the mountains of Northern Arizona. One of those days that makes a person want to get out in the forest and do a some tree squirrel hunting. The temperature was going to be in the high fifties. A perfect day for slipping through the woods and putting the sneak on the wily Abert's tree squirrels.

I decided to hunt an area, that I had scouted about a month before the season opened.  At that time, I saw a lot of squirrel sign in the area. I like to get into the woods, and do a quick check of stump tops. These guys love to sit on the top of an old stump and field strip pine cones to get to the seeds. If you find sign like this, you've got squirrels in the area.

My gun of choice for the day would be my AA 410CRBSL Carbine in .22. She shoots the 15.9 grain JSB's extremely well, and generates an average 27 fp of muzzle energy for 20 shots. I love the light weight and nice balance of this rifle. She's a real pleasure to carry for four or five hours through the woods.

In addition to hunting the Abert's tree squirrels, I would also be hunting the Cliff's chipmunks, and the Golden Mantle ground squirrels that inhabit the same territory.

I geared up and headed out into the forest. About a hundred yards in, I spotted what looked like it might be a ground squirrel head sneaking a peek at me over the back side of an old stump. I put the binoculars on it, and sure enough, one each Golden Mantle ground squirrel grabbing a curious look.

I shot a quick range and it came back at 46 yards. I'm sighted in for fifty yards on the button, so I held just a bit low and launched a pellet that impacted on the squirrels head, knocking it off of the back of the stump.

I did a quick look around, and sitting straight up on the end of an old log off to the right, was a Cliff's chipmunk. I shot a quick range to it, and it came back at 43 yards. I was shooting from my Stoney Point bipod, so I just swung a little to the right, lined up the shot, held a little low, and launched another JSB that went a small fraction of an inch over the munks head. 

I quickly flipped the side lever on the CRB, and holding a bit lower, sent another pellet down range that knocked the chipper cleanly off of the end of the log.

I could tell this was going to be a good day. Nice cool temp, no wind, and the critters were out and about.

I gathered up the first two vermin of the day, for the requisite photo op, and continued on my way. 

I had been hunting for about an hour or so when I saw a flash of white on the side of a large Ponderosa Pine. When I put my binos on the spot, it was obvious that an Abert's squirrel was clinging to the side of the tree flicking its tail. It was around behind the tree just far enough that I couldn't get a clean shot. I started to maneuver to get a better shot, but each time I moved so did the squirrel. I finally decided to just set up and wait to see what it would do.

I shot a range to the tree and got 51 yards. Perfect. After a few minutes, he appears on the ground coming out from behind the tree he was on. He takes a couple hops and stops to pick up a pine cone from the forest floor. I dropped the crosshairs on a spot on the side of his head and lightly touched the trigger. The pellet struck home, and we had our first Abert's squirrel of the day in the bag. Four more to go for a limit.

Over the next couple of hours hunting, I got two more Abert's, and several more chipmunks. I decided to make a looping turn and hunt back to my rig for some lunch.

I was maybe 200/250 yards from my vehicle, when I spotted an Abert's squirrel sitting on a stump taking a pine cone apart. My range finder said 63 yards. I let a little daylight show between the horizontal crosshair and the top of the squirrel's head and touched one off. There was an immediate, THWAACK, and he rolled over and dropped off of the stump, dead right there.

I was thrilled, four in the bag, and only one more for a limit.

I grabbed some food and drink, and headed back out for the afternoon hunt. I didn't bother to add air to the CRB, I wasn't close to using the the original 20 shots. I had four tree squirrels in the bag, and had dropped a half dozen chipmunks and ground squirrels.

Over the next couple of hours I saw two more Abert's, but both were hell bent on getting into the tops of these big pines, and once there they are masters at disappearing. I didn't get number five, but it was still a great day afield with the AA 410CRBSL, and a great way to spend a Fall day in the woods.

Tuning Up For Tree Squirrel Season - Scouting and Shooting At Random Targets Of Opportunity With My AA 410CRBSL

Yesterday, I got out and scouted some new territory for tree squirrel hunting. One of the things I like to do while scouting, is to take along an air rifle I plan to hunt with, and just shoot targets of opportunity. Sort of a tune up for the squirrel hunts to come.

There is a big difference between hunting prairie dogs and tree squirrels. Prairie dogs, my main pursuit here lately,  are  shot over fairly flat ground. Tree squirrels present shots that can be uphill, down hill, straight ahead, or at really steep angles up in the pine trees.

As a tune up, I'll scout an area, and at the same time shoot at pine cones on the ground, in the trees, small rocks, and dirt clods about the size of squirrel heads, etc. I'll shoot at stuff from about 30 yards out to 60 or so, paying particular attention to the hold under and overs. 
Chipmunks, and Golden Mantle Ground Squirrels also inhabit these same forest areas. They are classified as vermin, with no limit or season. Hunting them while scouting, is also good practice for the coming tree squirrel season.

So yesterday, while I'm out scouting around, I spot an old downed log, that has little pieces of broken off branches sticking out about 5 or 6 inches from the side of the tree. They're about the same size as a tree squirrel sitting on its haunches. I decided to pick one and see if I can start at the tip, and shoot pieces off of it until it is about flush with the trunk. Shooting at the tip is good practice for making head shots.
It's at exactly 50 yards. I'm sighted in dead on at that distance. As usual, I'm shooting off of my Stoney Point bipod, so I go to work on this thing. There is a slight wind shifting from left to right and back. I'm holding off a bit in either direction, depending on what the wind is doing during that particular shot.
Chunks and bits and pieces are flying left and right. I shoot one mag out of my AA 410CRBSL at it, but there are still a few jagged pieces left, so I slide in another mag and go back to work. I'm shooting 15.9 JSB Exact Jumbo's.

I'm happily knocking pieces off of this thing, enjoying the accuracy of the rifle, when to my amazement, out of nowhere, a chipmunk appears on the log, six inches to the left of the little nub of a branch I've been disassembling. I figure what the heck, you can't look a gift chipmunk in the nose, or what ever that saying is, so I put the crosshairs right between it's front legs and launched a pellet. I never knew chipmunks could fly, let alone fly backwards, but that guy launched like an RPG.

I saw a good amount of tree squirrel sign in the area, and several more chipmunks, but never got another shot. They have got to be the most nervous, flitty, gitty critters on the planet. I'm sure they're told at a young age, "don't ever stop moving, something will git ya". That guy yesterday, proved that advice to be very true.