Just dialed in a new rig for squirrel season, which begins September 15th in Michigan. It’s a TC Contender pistol with a 10-inch bull barrel topped with a Hawke 3×9 power .22 rifle scope with parallax adjustment.
TC Contender with Hawke Scope
I’ve found that rifle scopes work best for the Contender .22 long rifle because I always had trouble getting behind those long-eye relief (LER) scooes in hunting situtaitons. I could shoot the LER scopes just fine off the bench but in the woods it was always difficult to get in the proper shooting position. Solution: Rifle scope. The Hawke had all the features I was looking for including the quick-focus ocular lens and adjustable objective lens. The first thing I found out was that the AO yardage settings on the objective lens were off by quite a bit. Once I adjusted the AO to about half way between the 25 and 50-yard settings, parallax disappeared at exactly 50 yards, which is where my targets were set. The power ring operated smoothly with moderate effort. The turret adjustments are made without tools. All in all, seems like a good match for the pistol.
I like the subsonice Center X target ammo by Lapua for two reasons: It’s quiet and it shoots better than run-of-the-mill ammo. It costs about $12 for a box of 50 rounds, though. I stay away from hollow points, because of overkill and meat damage. I shoot at the front 1/3 of the squirrel and sometimes that means a hole through the shoulders. That’s where hollow points are too much. If all I get is a head shot, I’ll certainly take it, too.
The 3-shot group measured about 1/2 inch.
1/2″ Group at 50 Yards
Still have a few squirrel rifles to sight in but this is a good start.
