# Downsized ammo?



## StretchandEat (Nov 11, 2015)

Does anyone here downsize their ammo size for squirrel due to leaves on the trees..If so,what size?


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## RUBEN_CO (Sep 1, 2013)

What do you mean, to avoid hitting the leaves?


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## StretchandEat (Nov 11, 2015)

Leaves.. twigs.. and limbs.. in the line of site.. larger diameter ammo increases the chance of hitting a limb or leaf in.between you and your target thus deflecting it


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## Imperial (Feb 9, 2011)

bigger ammo has a better chance of just going through the leaves whereas a smaller sized ammo will be deflected off trajectory by a small margin or more. dont overthink it.


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## StretchandEat (Nov 11, 2015)

But can't you use smaller diameter ammo with larger mass.. say switching from steel to lead?


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## Viper010 (Apr 21, 2012)

If you're shooting into trees, using lead in stead of steel would be smart anyway, regardless of size. Steel balls can ricochet off a tree trunk at alarming speed, close to the speed it hit the tree with, even. Lead deforms, using up a substantial amount of energy in the process. Thus, it will not come bouncing back at you with dangerous speed.

I've read here on the forum a number of times, that half inch steel and 3/8 lead weigh about the same. So at home you can practise with the steel ammo which you can recycle indefinitely from the catch box, and use the slightly smaller lead to prevent ricochets while hunting. And still get almost identical flight trajectory between the two.


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## StretchandEat (Nov 11, 2015)

Thanks for the info


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## RUBEN_CO (Sep 1, 2013)

the difference would be marginal ( in how much you hit stuff with smaller ammo). Youd be better off just finding a better line of sight, which in my experience isnt usually that difficult to find. Just circle the target.


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## Chuck Daehler (Mar 17, 2015)

Lead doesn't ricochet as much as steel because lead is soft and therefore smashes a bit on impact, absorbing some of the energy, whereas steel doesn't distort at all hitting tree stuff and pings right off of anything. I would use lead, Fred...and obviously try to have a clear shot before you release. 3/8" or 9,5mm is fine, maybe 10mm for a little more momentum yet a little slower (speed of ammo vs impact energy thing). A small projectile going fast is the same impact energy as a larger projectile going slower...you have to use the physics formula and a chrony to figure out where is the sweet spot for delivering energy to the target with a given draw length and band type/dimension etc..


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