solid vs HP?

[Mr. 16 gauge]

I'm just curious.....
I've always bought HP ammo for small game hunting (rabbit/squirrel), and lately....with the price of rimfire ammo soaring!.....if HPs are really 'necessary' for the likes of squirrel and rabbit. Seems to me that there isn't enough 'stuff' on a critter that size to effectively cause the HP to expand, and that solids might be just as effective in these situations. I can see where an HP might be a better option for coon, fox, coyote, ect, but I'm talking rabbit/squirrel here. Seems to me shooting rabbits with a .22 is somewhat akin to shooting deer with a 20mm cannon (when comparing projectile to animal size).
Any thoughts?

[GoodOlBoy]

Yep. decent hps around here are $15 per 550. Decent solids around here are $7.57 per 50, which is around $83.27 per 550. Kinda like shorts are rinning around $3 per 50. Thats $33 per 550. Don't make much sense thataway but thats how it is. My thought is if it ain't broke don't fix it. Also the reason for the hollowpoint in a 22 (at least in my opinion) is less about stopping power and more about keeping the overtravel to a minimum. lotta cows where we are and a solid 22 that passed through a cat squirrel on a limb can go a few miles.

As for tearin up the meat, there ain't much meat in the head anyway. Plus I have seen a poorly center massed rabbit run for a LONG time before he dropped (dogs finally got him about the time my grandfather got through spankin my cousin for shootin a rabbit anyplace beside the head)

But remember there are HPs and then there are HPs. A federal 550 box of hps does good on anything up to coon size, but are a bit weak for anything bigger. A stinger, velocitor, or yellowjacket does pretty fair on bigger critters but you pay a bit more for em too.

my 2 cents.

GoodOlBoy

[Swift]

I only use solids, both for hunting and target shooting.

Head shots are my preference.

[Gil Martin]

I am paying a lot less for Federal and Winchester .22 ammo at Wal-Mart. I get Federal 550 round semi-hollow point bulk packs for $13.47. The Winchester 330 round packs are less than $10.00. All the best...
Gil

[GoodOlBoy]

Dang Gil I wonder why our wally world is $2 a box higher than yours on them. . . .

GoodOlBoy

[buckhunter]

I use HP(Win Power Points) for hunting and solids for target and plinking. No too worried about the cost. Have a thousand or so in the ammo bin.

[dovehunter]

I have been using only solid point .22 LRs for years now on squirrels and can count on the fingers of one hand (with fingers to spare) the number of squirrels I have lost. I used to use hollow points but, unless you could always shoot them in the head, which I couldn't, I found they would tear up more meat than the solids. I too prefer head shots but you can't always get them.

When stepping up to the .22 WMR, at least to me, it's a no-brainer. If you use hollow points you will get pureed squirrel. However, when using solid points, I have not found the magnum to be any more destructive of meat than .22 long rifles.

[Rapier]

For many years I used HPs in the 22LR for all of my shooting, then started shooting small bore silhouette, rifle and handgun. I noticed I was loosing rams, so I started testing. What I found was that the HP ammo has just slightly higher velocity but gives up 10% of the bullet weight for the hollow point, 36 VS 40 grains. The energy loss at 50-100 yards simply can not be made up. So, now I use solids for every application.
Best,
Ed