WHY AIRGUNS FOR LONG RANGE?: One of the reasons I love shooting cast bullets, especially in the mid-bore range of calibers, is that they carry their performance downrange much more efficiently than a Diablo Pellet does and they are superbly accurate at long distances. My TD257 acts much like a 22 lr shooting High Velocity rounds but with a bigger/heavier projectile. The retained energies are astounding considering these guns are AIR powered and not powder. Case in point is that my TD257 using Lyman 257420 cast slugs at 70.5 gr in HP configuration makes 168-170 FPE/1010 FPS at the muzzle and at 200 yards, the bullet is still traveling over 810 fps and has a retained FPE rating of 108 FPE. At 200 yards, the projectile still makes more FPE than the hottest FACTORY .303 cal Diablo Pellet Air Gun does at the muzzle. The other reason is that the cast projectiles due to there nose shapes (fp/hp) cause massive shock and destruction as you will note in the below posted video. One last reason but not the least reason is the all out challenge. If i wanted easy, I would simply shoot the 17 hmr exclusively and only take shots at 50 yards MAX....lol! ON TARGET PERFORMANCE: As discussed above, cast bullets in short are the cross between a jacket bullet and a pellet in my opinion. Not exactly a 50/50 split due to them being closer in performance to jacketed bullets but i think you get my point. Since shooting cast bullets at longer ranges for a couple years now, I have grown to know and understand and TRUST ballistics programs and my eyes/brain and what they tell me about a rounds downrange performance/exterior ballistics. And those programs tell me that a slug from a lowly airgun can kill way out there and have very little trouble getting there in a timely fashion to deliver the awesome power and accuracy it carries. For this shoot, I chose to use the trusted LYMAN 257420 bullet that has been HP'd by Eric Ohlen at WWW.HOLLOWPOINTMOLD.COM. And if you follow my Youtube Channel, you can see just how these little HP bullets perform in initial testing with water jugs. 1 year ago, I shot my 1st long range ground squirrel at 126 yards with the TD257 using the Lyman HP bullets and I was in awe at the devastation. I included that video clip into this video.
THE HUNT: Heading out to one of my local spots that I haven't been too in a long time due to too many adolescents last time out, I was very happy to see all the activity of the now mature ground squirrels. The winds were to be roughly 8+ mph during the hours I was there. To me, this is just about perfect and is easier to predict wind drift. As I knew the hunt would be short due to a later family engagement, I want to take no more than about 3-5 squirrels. My goal though, was to take a squirrel at 200 yards. I told myself, whenever I get the 200 yard squirrel (if I do), my day would be over. Just as I predicted, my day went according to the plan. None of this would have been possible without my trusty long range equipment. My TD257, my Bushnell Perma-focus Binoculars, my Leupold rangefinder and Strelok ballistics program.
As I approached my "spot", the goal was to park at the fence and take shots across the open field because this provided the best view and the longest ranges. Admittedly though, after my 2nd 172 yard GS while at the fence, it was just too hot to sit there any longer. At one point, my all black TD257 seemed to have just a little valve lock due to the direct and hot sun so I knew later on, I would have to move into the tree lines and spot/shoot from there. The 1st squirrel was foraging and as I eased into position, another GS spotted me and started his alarm bark. This alerted the unknowing target squirrel and he stood very erect to see what all the hoopla was about. I stayed very still and took my time taking the shot. BAM, GS #1 was down! 110 yards is a very easy shot with the TD257 especially since its sighted in at 100 yards. As you will see in the video, the only flinching was of the tail of squirrel as impact from the 70.5 gr HP proved utterly devastating. The shot looked to be a neck/spine shot.
My 2nd attempt was at a GS at 172yards and it was getting pretty hot sitting there in the direct sunlight. Upon the 1st shot at this squirrel, the shot fell very short and I could tell there was either mild valve lock or the guns moving parts were really hot and were restricted in their movement. I then rechecked STRELOK to make sure I was holding correctly for the shot and then got prepared for shot 2. The winds at this time had picked up just a little and I overcompensated for the shot left to right by just a hair and did not compensate enough for the drop. At the shot, the squirrel jumped very high and sped off down his hole. I could tell the bullet went just below him and scared the BEJESUS out of him. He for sure will live to become my target for the next outing. It was a clean miss.
My 3rd squirrel in the video actually came from a shot I took exactly 1 year ago at 126 yards. On this squirrel, winds were into the high teens and would not die down. Due to this, I chose to give the GS a left to right cross-hair lead by 1/4 mil-dot and a 1st lower mildot hold over to compensate for the range. At the shot, the impact was more deafening than the muzzle blast as you will observe during the video. The shot connected perfectly in the GS left shoulder and exited the right shoulder destroying the upper chest cavity and all its contents (heart/lung). The impact looked as though he was hit was a 100 mph baseball pitch. The GS did the death flop acrossed the huge boulder and fell down into the rock cluster. Another one down but still not at my goal of 200 yards........
My 4th GS would prove to be the most challenging not because of the range but because of the uneven ground between he and I. At certain points, I could clearly spot him sitting atop a grounded tree branch then grazing down into the grass surrounding the branch. He was for sure a busy body. My 1st shot at him came once he again stopped atop the grounded tree branch. It was a really CLOSE shot and I figured he would for sure stay down his hole. I was mad for missing because he was exactly 202 yard away and this was the shot I wanted. After staying put and not giving up, 2 ground squirrels reappear in the area. 1 came from its hole to the left of this squirrel and the one I shot at came back out of his hole. Except this time, he came out of his hole and then came sat in a hole to the right of the tree he was grazing around. But he wasn't dumb, he only stuck his head and shoulder up and ate on something nearest his hole. He had no idea where I was and what the heck that was that blew dirt on him so violently....lol! As I readjusted and started the camera rolling, I gave myself a quick pep talk and I referenced my Strelok program. I then deeply thought about where on the mil-dots the last shot hit and I decided to give it just a tad more elevation. At the shot, this proved to be the winning ticket. I could clearly hear the smack but at this time, I was still unsure as the GS was already in his hole. So my thought was, if I even hit him, he will be lost down his hole. I then pack up my gear and decide to go down and look for any signs. What kept sticking in my head was the THWACK! I know that sound. I couldn't clearly SEE an impact and I could AUDIBLY hear one. So I assumed he was at least TOUCHED by the 108 FPE bullet. Upon arrival to the double tree where he foraged, I did not immediately see him. Well, when I looked into the correct hole.........WATCH THE VIDEO TO SEE THE RESULTS..................!
