R1+.177Crow Mags=dead tree weasel

[Jaymo]

I got my morning coffee today and looked out the kitchen window to see a BT heading my way. I grabbed the Daisy .22SG, loaded/pumped it and no sooner than I opened the window, said tree rat kicked in the afterburner. So I fired off the pellet at my regular target popcorn can.
Then I tore down my Fast Deer for a tune. First thing I did was smooth up the rough trigger. No sooner than I did that, my wife tells me there's another BT in the yard. I grabbed the R1 and loaded a Crow Mag, followed her through my yard with the scope and waited for a clear shot. She finally stopped for a couple of seconds on top of my gate. I squeezed the Rekord and Ms nutter dropped, hung upside down on the gate for a second, then fell to the ground with only a couple of tail twitches.
No pics, unfortunately, as I had to get to her and dress her before my wife's cat got to her. The cat cleans up the gut pile for me. What a good pet.
The pellet entered the left jaw, below the eye and stopped in the right elbow, taking out carotid/jugular/trachea on it's way. I carefully removed and cleaned the pellet so I could measure it for amount of expansion afterwards. I dressed the squirrel before it even got cold. And put it in the freezer with 2 others to be made into Brunswick Stew.
The .177 Crow Mag expanded to .244" diameter. Not bad at all. This was a 20 yd shot from a bone-stock R1 that's developed a pretty bad case of twang.

I love my hard hitting .22 springers but this R1 .177 is the hand of death on these nutters. I just can't believe that my Gamo 4x32 Varmint Hunter scope combo hasn't shaken to pieces yet, and still holds zero.

[shadow]

Great shot on the nutter Jeremy, it's always a plus when your working on your babies and a harvest show's up for dinner.:) Ed

[only1harry]

Good shooting Jeremy!  That's the best time to get a critter, when working on or cleaning your guns!  It's very rewarding.  I would have liked to see your R1 but there 's always next time :)

Sounds like the R1 may need a good metal guide & top hat to eliminate the twang, & torqueing, and/or a nice Maccari spring with some of his  heavy tar :)

[Jaymo]

I was actually going to tear it down and tune it today. Sure am glad I didn't. I can't decide whether to get a McCari full power tune kit, or just get one of his full power springs and make my own guide and top hat. Much cheaper to do the latter, but takes a lot longer than just throwing in parts. Guess I'll buy the spring and just reguide it myself.
I need to pull my TF99 back apart and measure the spring so I can find out which McCari spring is the closest fit. I see he has some 37 and 39 coil springs now. One of the 39 coil springs (the three nine, iirc) is about 14-14.5" long, unset.

I'm just surprised that the El Cheapo Gamo scope wasn't off by a country mile. I rested my off hand on the windowsill and rested the forend on my off hand.  That stinkin' R1 never ceases to amaze me with it's ability to whack 'em and stack 'em.
The fact that I only paid $100.00 for it doesn't hurt, either.

[Jaymo]

Kinda funny that I bought my .22 springers because I wanted something deadlier on tree weasels than my .177 R1, and yet, my R1 is still my go-to gun for BTs because it's just so accurate and deadly. Let's hope the wife doesn't find out. At least I can justify them for coon and possum hunting.

[tjk]

I had a pellet from yesturdays hunt that I couldn't even recognize. Not sure if it was a cro' or a CPHP,....but it looked pretty ugly!!!! I know it must have hit some bone in there somewhere. May have been the nutter that caught one in the shoulder. Shattered the whole thing and stopped just under the skin on the other side. I'm thinking it was a CPHP from the woods hunt. Never pay much attention to the pellets when dressing them out, but this one was "Baaaad"!! tjk

[gamo2hammerli]

Good hunting story and shooting.  Hope you cooked that gut-pile before you gave it to you wife`s cat!!!!!

[Jaymo]

No, the cat eats it all before I can even get it out good. It's an outdoor cat. Doesn't poop in the house. Plus the cat kills and eats chipmunks on a regular basis.

I shot one yesterday with the 1377 and a Crosman Destroyer pellet. Not bad but not terribly impressed. Some expansion, less than a Crow Mag due to harder alloy and lower velocity. Main gripe is the damaged skirts and loose fit.
Shot one today with the 1377 and a Daisy wadcutter. Both went in the back of the head with the nutter facing away from me. Crosman went through the skull and ended up in the jaw.
Daisy turned around in the rat and ended up in the chest cavity. Strange.

[Jaymo]

Shot at 2 today. Hit one and missed the other. The one I hit got it in the right side of the head and the pellet lodged in the left side of the head(jaw area) just under the skin, beneath the eye.
Also shot with .177 Crow Mag. I think I need a better scope than the Gamo 4x32. I'd like a 6X or a 3-9 and leave it on 6X. Awww, heck, I just remembered that Ihave 2 Leapers 3-9X50 R/G IR mil dot scopes. One for the R1 and one for the B40(maybe, I thought about putting one on my sporterized Swedish Mauser).
The B40 currently wears a 2-7X32 Tech Force scope.