.22 rifle suggestion (squirrel control)

[hatidua]

Greetings CO-AR braintrust,

I've been out of the gun buying world for a while and have a question for those of you familiar with what's currently available:

My mom and her husband have a squirrel problem (ground squirrels, Central California) in such that the squirrels are digging under trees to eat roots which causes the trees to die from lack of water - water goes down hole, bypassing the roots. I have seen this in CA decades before the drought so while they do have a water shortage, that's not the problem this post is hoping to address.

They have tried various traps, poison, and other methods suggested by the local farm supply and at about 25-30 yards out, a .22 is the remaining and potentially best option. So, what's going to be the cheapest adequate rifle for this task in terms of what's available now (not some discontinued model from yesteryear)? In light of advancing years, they are going to need to put a cheap scope on it to be effective. These people have zero experience with firearms of any kind but I don't think learning to hit something at 25 yards with a .22 rifle is rocket science.

Any suggestions would be appreciated

[Irving]

I believe whatever the current model of Savage .22 rifle available (Mark II?) would be acceptable. No accu-trigger or other fancies required for this task. Also, at only 25 yards, they could likely use the CCI Quiet rounds and it would be suppressor quiet.

[buffalobo]

Savage model 64 with 22 shorts.

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[Great-Kazoo]

Where in Central CA. ? Our kid's in that area, she'd be happy to travel, within reason.

[def90]

Air rifle maybe? Might be easier for your parents to use as well as easier to get with Cali's gun laws..

[kwando]

http://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog/m...71899/redirect

With a .22 can

[Zach O]

I'd also lean twords an air rifle.

[Great-Kazoo]

http://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog/m...71899/redirect

With a .22 can

No threaded bbl & detachable magazine

I'd also lean twords an air rifle.

Discharging an air rifle is the same as firearm, there's a 10 day wait for firearms. The bb gun or air rifle would probably be a better option as "ammo" for it's more available and cheaper then 22.

[hatidua]

The air rifle idea was my original thought but I'm unsure how much punch they have out at 25-30 yards away. When i was a kid (a long while ago), we'd shoot those ground squirrels with fairly potent stuff and they are durable little critters. My favorite was a .30-06 "Accelerator" (.223 sabot) but that's a whole different kind of squirrel misting...

One that came to mind was the Chiappa "little badger". As far as I can tell from my research on Calguns, threaded muzzles are OK in CA on rifles (but are no-go on pistols). I've shot one of the Chiappa's once and it seemed like it may fit the bill.

Bear in mind: once the last squirrel is dispatched, the rifle will never be fired again, so there's a limit to how uppity this needs to be.

[ben4372]

If you get a larger caliber pellet gun it drops squirrels quick. Someone had a Sheridan .20 cal multi-pump and it is so much better than a .177 that I'm thinking about a .22 cal pellet gun. I would say a single stroke break open would be perfect. Though they are a bit loud. I think they make a Benjimin multi pump in .22. Pyramid Air guns seems to have a good selection and lots of guides and articles.