Wednesday, December 04, 2002

Well, I did NOT go out with the Seneca but took my S&W M422 6" instead. I intended to do some "field testing" of the Winchester Dynapoint .22 LR which had been altered with the Hanned Line .22 LR SGB tool to have the SGB type point. The SGB point is on the left of the picture.

FWIW, the Dynapoint has no hollow point at all, maybe a "dimple" on the points of some bullets. These do NOT expand when fired from the pistol. However, they are pretty accurate in my pistols and so a good candidate for alteration with my SGB tool.

I was able to collect a squirrel using the SGB ammo and my S&W M422.

I've been itching to go squirrel hunting all season. I like trying to put the sneak on these attentive little rodents. However, I don't kill more than a meal (for myself, my wife will NOT partake) at a time to ensure that there are plenty for other hunts. So, today I got bundled up (it is a cold 28 degrees F here and that is cold for here, last year it was 71 degrees F) and drove out to my Mom's place to both visit and see if I could find a squirrel or 2 out and about. Easing down into the woodlot, I came to a favorite mature white oak which had dropped a lot of acorns. Squirrels can often be seen in the vicinity of this old tree even though it sits on the property line and they have heavily logged that side of the fence. Since I have permission to hunt it is no problem to sit at the base of the tree and scan 360 degrees. Hundreds of migrating robins were feeding in the woods all around me. After about 5 minutes I saw movement about 45 yards away at the base of one of the few trees left in the adjoining lot.

I crawled to the far side of my white oak and stood up. I slowly moved around the far side of the tree and across the opening, stopping whenever the fox squirrel showed her head. Soon I was within 25 yards but there was quite a bit of slash between us. I removed my right hand glove with my left hand and used my left hand and right glove to mask my movement as I drew my pistol and flicked off the safety. She sat back up and I could clearly see her shoulder. since this is the approximate range at which I zeroed my pistol, I held on her shoulder as I squeezed off the shot. Instantly all the robins were quiet and there was no sound of thrashing and no sight of the squirrel climbing the nearest tree. I knew I had a good hit and moved directly to where she had been. There she lay, dead. She had simply fallen over backwards off the fallen limb on which she'd been crouched and died.

The bullet entered just behind her right shoulder and exited (the exit wound is just as hard to see as the entry wound) just behind her left shoulder. Everything in between was instantly rendered non-functional. This is a vast improvement over the performance of the unaltered Dynapoints which in the past have taken as many as 7 shots to finally anchor squirrels of similar body size on which they were used.

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