Yesterday's bunny son shot at 10 yards

He was using Crossman Premier HP 14.3 gr not a lot of expansion on flesh compared to wood.May be better off with flat nosed pellets.Went through front shoulder and exited other side lodging in the elbow another passed through the neck both sides...................

wins over expansion to me .
Your son is using the correct gift in the correct way .
 There is no magic bullet ,only a magician behind the trigger.

are made out of a very hard lead alloy and don't expand much at all. And because of this their skirts are much tougher and don't distort which is why they shoot fast and hit hard. They also have one of the best ballistic coeficient out there close to the Kodiak and JSB Exact (15.9gr).

2 holes are better than one said Tom Gaylord in one of his posts and a couple of other long time respected airgun hunters. The CP is great when shooting bigger small game like 10-20lb racoons and groundhogs in the head. It makes for a great skull penetrator at greater distances (>30yds). I 've taken 3 groudhogs with CP's and went straight through the skull on 2 of them and the base of the skull/spine on another at distances of 22 to 35yds. It's a great all around hunting pellet. It is the only pellet I have that will go through 1" of wood at 10yds and a medium thickness phone book (1.25") at ~15yds! The other 6 pellets I used didn't come close. That is because it maintains its shape a lot more than all the others.

Flat head (wadcutters) pellets are not recommended beyond 20yds. If the CP's are accurate in your 34 and shoot well keep using them.

I like the .177 CP's for shooting grouse as even with body shots[RWS350 Mag now sold] there is so little bloodshot you can eat right up to the bullet hole.I'll try them on gophers this spring and see if they stay put or get down the hole.The CP HP's really flatten out on 1" lumber ,but then again wood is not flesh.I'll be pushing them out of a HW80K .22 and my son's RWS34/.22{now have .22 air rifles]Yes they have a high BC which is why, combined with accuracy and penetration is the reason I chose to try them on game.We're havin fun at any rate.Now he's bugging me to go ice fishing.I swear this kid could catch fish in a desert[H2O optional]............Harold

That was a nice hare you son got btw! and at 10yds. How do you manage to get that close? I guess sometimes the rabbit thinks he 's camouflaged and you 'll walk right by if it stands still. I 've shot cotton-tails at 10yds too when I was a teenager.

As far as gophers, I know they 're smaller than groundhogs (woodchucks), but you should shoot them in the head. If not, most chances are they 'll make it down the hole. I would recommend using a scope with gophers. I 've had a groundhog run (or crowl) down the hole after being shot in the body (gut) with a .22LR rimfire! After he was hit he was barely moving - very slowly. So I walk out to finish him off with a head shot but by the time I walked over I saw him a few inches from the hole. I started running but he was all the way in when I got within 20ft. I also learned a lesson that day. Cut the grass every week, not 2 weeks! The lawn was too high and couldn't see him to take another shot when I got out of the house.

Good for your son!

If the pellet is accurate for the ranges the shooter is shooting, that's what matters lol.

Harv