Nice thread. As a kid, my first real hunting experience was that of Eastern Woods squirrel hunting with my Dad and Grandpa. Soon, I was allowed to hunt on my own. After college, I lost interest due to a variety of various work and family distractions. About three years ago, I was undergoing a career change and prior to starting the new gig, had more time on my hands to hunt. By chance, I acquired a Savage B-mag in 17WSM and topped it with a 6-24x scope. Using that as a start, I began squirrel hunting again after a long hiatus. First day out I bagged five including a long shot on one that would have been tough with a 22. As I recall, it was about 80y. I was hooked. The 17WSM while a flat shooter and good for the long shots, was tough on the squirrels. A head shot usually left you with a headless squirrel, lol. And a body shot was just a bad idea. Therefore, I purchased a Savage 93R in 17hmr. This was nearly perfect. Using the heavier bullets to slow them down, I could limit out quickly if there were squirrels in the area. Once over in WV, I walked out and saw 8 squirrels, fired on six and bagged five in less than one hour. It was great.
This led me to acquire an old beat up, Winchester mod 52 which had a modern scope mount on it. That thing was the first truly accurate 22lr, I have ever owned and it was a revelation. That 80+ yr old rifle would consistently group five shots into a cluster that measured about 3/10ths inch center to center with nearly any ammo at 50y. That made sniping squackers at 30-50y a pretty easy task. One day, my son and I were scouting for deer season and I hand spotted a big male grey barking at us. My son could not see it, so I went prone and fired a Lapua Center-X right into his mouth.
The Winchester was great but it was heavy and old and I really wanted something a little lighter to pack around. After some shopping, I found an old Anschutz model 1451 and added a 4-16x scope, a sling and adjusted trigger to make it a tad lighter and to take out some of the creep. This little piece is nearly perfect. Shoots about the same as the Winchester but is a good three pounds lighter. I have enjoyed using it in the woods for the last two years along with a couple of others. One of my friends has the Rem 541S and that is another tack-driver little 22 and is perfect for squirrels. He is deadly with his.
Irish
B-mag 17WSM in original form
Mod 52 in later form with vintage BALVAR scope
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Sav 93R in 17hmr with 3-12x scope
B-mag in later form with Forrest Green Boyds stock