I have had this elk gun since I was a about 8 years old. I killed many an animal back in the day, up to and including a very large Bull. Was at least a 25 yard shot and the squirrel only stopped for a moment, no doubt a testament to my skill with my Bull squirrel bugle. But enough of the nostalgia!! Back then I bought my .22 cal pellets in a metal container of about 250. High quality with a nice oily smell and feel.
But now I am looking to take bigger game with it. I realize that I must limit myself to shots under 200 yards and that shot placement is critical........but what about bullets?
In order to increase my penetration out to distance, I had hoped that a perhaps a bb placed in the hollow of my pellet would help, realizing that I would be sacrificing some speed. Any suggestion would be appreciated.

Please don't suggest that I "upgrade" my arsenal to a bigger gun. My best friend shoots a Red Ryder lever action and the recoil is not for me!!!

Don't know of a better load for that gun than what you have. If you do move up to a bigger gun, I would advise that it not be a 270. Many on here will tell you that you are an idiot and don't know anything about hunting. Good luck with that gun in case you run into a BIG BIG BIG bull squirrel. I had the daisey and I found that with proper fit and not shooting it off the bench to much and also sitting up straighter, that the recoil could be acceptable.

LOL, your right about them their bull squirrels. They are very tough to bring down. You had better watch out, they have very sharp teeth and could naw your toe off if wounded! My suggestion is to get a modified crossman 760, hook it up to a NASA approved air compressure with say about 600,000 PSI or more. Then stand back and watch the gun blow up. Man oh man you should see the barrel velocity, I tell it was flying very fast as it flow over my house. I was kind of disapointed in the stock velociy. It was in too many pieces to have enough weight to travlel much distance. The BC on the stock pieces is low, very low almost in the negativies. But wow does it blow a huge hole in the ground. It tell ya if any squirrel is 25 yards away, it will kill them dead for sure. There will be no need to bring in a backhoe to dig up the ground to track and claim your trophy squirrel. Good luck expert squirrel killer.

When you git tired of that heavy recoil, I've a .177 that I don't have anybody to leave it to. I'd sell it for the right amount of money. It's a pre-'47. [8D]