Dreaming about my next squirrel gun. What do you like?

[wtfooptimax200]

I will most likely be chastised for saying this, but here goes...get a 10/22. If I recall from your posts, you like to tinker with guns, so even though it will probably not shoot as well as the marlin out of the box, they can be made to shoot. In addition to a squirrel slaying machine, it is a great platform for 22 cal falling plates, plinking, etc. Plus, it's a 10/22, so they is plethora of aftermarket parts, and who doesn't like tricking out there guns?

Just my 0.02, take it or leave it.

Branden

[greywolf444]

The marlin 60 is a good choice. Shoot a brick of something cheap thru it and its broken in and ready for a lifetime of squirrel hunting. Every farmboy has had at least one of these. A true classic that still works.

I have several cz 452's that are very accurate. A 22 lr for out to 50 yds and a 17 hmr for beyond. Stunningly precise tools with 4-16x scopes. See squirrel-touch trigger-pick up squirrel-repeat until bored. They are almost too good for the job. And no fun while they're doing it.
For fun squirrel hunting-
I prefer the Henry levers in 22 lr and especially in 22 mag. Perfect squirrel getters. Light , trim , accurate, well balanced. Not as accurate as a CZ. Still good enough it make headshots. Fast second shot if you really need it.

I never found the speed of the second shot to be all that important. If you blew the first shot you better settle down and take your time on the second. Even a bolt gun is fast enough. trying to spray enough lead to hit one running up a tree is a low percentage shot at best. Thick vegitation is no reason to not make a skilled shot the first time. You can either see the animal clearly and can make a good shot or its not clear and you should use you hunting skills to position yourself for a shot opportunity.

[MBTcustom]

trying to spray enough lead to hit one running up a tree is a low percentage shot at best.

Im not saying I spray lead all over the woods and hope something furry lands with a thud someweres out there.
But let me put it to you this way, say you watch a squirrel work his way into your shooting lane. You take a bead on his head and squeeze off the shot, confident that he will shortly come tumbling out of the tree, but instead you see a branch move between you and him. You now realize that there was a stick about 1/8" in diameter that you could not make out in the swampy shadows. The squirrel freezes in place for that one split second, and then zips behind a limb and hides there and you dont get a second shot because the next time you catch sight of him, he is 10 yards further away, and leaving the scene. Now, when I find myself in that position, I realize that I lost that split second that he hesitated while I was working the bolt of my rifle.
Now, some of you seem to be saying that you reflect on the awesomeness of being in the woods with your $500 slow cocking .22, the peacefulness of the day, and any other thing that is pleasant and groovy, and never think to yourself about how nice it would have been to cap that sucker with a second, well placed shot, and not go home empty handed.
Personally, I enjoy the surroundings as much as the next guy, but I'm there to get some groceries.
(I wrote in this way to be funny, not to make anybody mad, so please take it in the spirit it was written)

[montana_charlie]

Personally, I enjoy the surroundings as much as the next guy, but I'm there to get some groceries.

Then, what you need is a 20 gauge shopping cart. If all you can see is his head, you won't get any pellets in the meat.

CM

[ron2009]

savage 67 they are good old semiauto's they are tube mags you can mount a scope on them and i got one last year at a gun show for 25 bucks i see them go from 50 to 120 they handle nice check out the older guns they are alot better than most of the newer ones

[waksupi]

Tim, I don't know why you don't just stick with a single shot. Some lying SOB told me he saw you miss one time. I punched him in the eye, and just whupped the living bejeezus out of him, for telling such lies!

[corvette8n]

I have a heavy bbl Savage Mark II in .17hm2, all I can say is WOW, I don't think I will ever go back to a .22 for Squirrels.

[MBTcustom]

I went hunting with a buddy who had a heavy barrel Marlin .17 MkII. He could shoot dimes at 100 yards all day long with that rascal, but he got awful tired of carrying it all day long. I want to stay light weight. I wouldn't mind having a .17 but they dont know how to make them with a sporter contour barrel! Never mind the fact that to the little bitty 17, a sporter contour is a bull barrel. If the venerable 17s go away, its because they were marketed like a fad cartridge. They have a practical application, I just wish they designed the guns with that in mind.

[Longwood]

I went hunting with a buddy who had a heavy barrel Marlin .17 MkII. He could shoot dimes at 100 yards all day long with that rascal, but he got awful tired of carrying it all day long. I want to stay light weight. I wouldn't mind having a .17 but they dont know how to make them with a sporter contour barrel! Never mind the fact that to the little bitty 17, a sporter contour is a bull barrel. If the venerable 17s go away, its because they were marketed like a fad cartridge. They have a practical application, I just wish they designed the guns with that in mind.

Chuck it up and flute it.

Have you seen the little Crickett hunter pistols with a long fluted barrel. Not a double tapper, but soo nice.
I wonder how hard and expensive it would be to get a permit to make one with a 60 Marlin action and a spiral fluted barrel?
I saw a Crickett in a store about a year ago that was chambered for the 17.
It had a grey laminated stock and came with no sights, ready for a scope.
I need one like I need a 45-70 and sure wish I had not passed it up.
Oh well,,, that gives me a reason to keep going back into the store that only has what I already have.
One bad thing about getting old,,,, not as fun to go look now. I bought the Savage 17 with the thumb-hole stock that day, so I did OK.

http://www.crickett.com/crickett_hun...glu67ibgv03nh0

[MBTcustom]

The cricket is what I hunt with now. Great little gun and its everything I ever wanted out of a .22, but the trigger is atrocious, the sights are horrible in low light, and I lost a squirrel due to a stick that I could not see and no follow up shot. (I hang my head in shame.)
I am going to install a red-dot reflex sight on it, and that should help with the low light thing, but I guess I just got used to using the semi-auto as a crutch when I was a kid. Its just what I was used to.

[montana_charlie]

Actually, I really have nothing to add as far as the 'search' is concerned. But, while looking for information on a Thompson Center .22, I ran across a video that I thought might appeal to olafhardt.

I gotta tell you when someone starts talking about killing squirrels at 60 yards,red flags go up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2Vc8EbgSS0
New gun, fresh out of the box ... center hit on a squirrel-sized camera at 75 yards.

Does that help you with those red flags, Bud?

CM

[bruce drake]

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/Vie...Item=289083922

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/Vie...Item=289562115

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/Vie...Item=289666490

enjoy your choices.

[MBTcustom]

I take it you dig the Stevens 987? Never owned a Stevens rifle before. What kind of groups are we talkin about here?

[Longwood]

Build one,,,, I know you can.
I kinda like this one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWJw_...eature=related

[olafhardt]

Sorry, Charley, you aren`t going to carry that table and rest through any of the woods arround here. The red flags wave.

[MBTcustom]

Build one,,,, I know you can.
I kinda like this one.

Not only can I, I have! Heck its just a duded up 10-22. That platform is heavy, and inherently inaccurate and expensive. It can be made accurate, but I never have seen an accurate one that wasn't very heavy. The design of the gun is so bulky that if you use one of the aluminum or carbon over-molded super-light barrels, then it becomes a real nightmare to control your shots because the whole platform is an unnatural feeling block of hardware. Don't get me wrong, I have killed many many squirrels with a 10-22 but after shooting some of the guns that were designed to be a little more streamlined (ie, finished being modified at the factory) I found that shooting off-hand requires something a little more natural than Rugers "baseball bat with a barrel. " I don't know quite how to describe it. some guns just come to the shoulder and point like a shotgun and others, you put 'em on your shoulder, find the sights, and line them up with what you intend to shoot. kind of like a 2X4 with a trigger. The 10-22 feels like the latter example to me, even though it is a great gun, no matter how many bells and whistles I plugged onto it. I enjoyed doing it though and I may buy another 10-22 someday and build it up again, but you need to have some pretty big money to do that, and right now all of my extra coin is being sucked up by the business, so I need something inexpensive.

[bruce drake]

Stevens rifles are good quality rifles that can be depended upon to deliver the goods without breaking a wallet. Same relative design as the Marlin 60 you are looking for (tube-fed, solid receiver, semi-automatic, a hardwood stock with a rifle length barrel that you can mount a scope easily).

Bruce

[Longwood]

It sounds more and more like you want a model 60 Marlin.
You can use it down the road, to build a better rifle than a Ruger when the business is super boring and making you rich.
Maybe use the Marlin barrel but make it look fancy with a shroud of some sort.

[montana_charlie]

Sorry, Charley, you aren`t going to carry that table and rest through any of the woods arround here. The red flags wave.

Now I see what your problem is ...

[gwpercle]

I didn't think Browning made these anymore....but the Cabel's Father's Day sale ad shows one right on the front cover. The John Browning designed SA22.
Nice walnut and blued steel, slim ,trim and goodlooking as ever. It loads thru the side of the stock and is bottom ejecting.. good for us who shoot left sided.
A good friend had one in the 80's and would let me use it on squirrel hunting trips.
John Browning designs are classic and this little semi-auto 22 is in my humble opinion one of the best. Back in the late 80's a group of us bought one with upgraded walnut for our boss at that time it cost $450.00. The one in cabela ad has standard walnut and selling for$599.99. That is not a bad price and it comes with a carry case. Also what I like is it breaks down for easy carrying in the case.
If I had an extra $600 .... wait Father's Day is coming up...If I leave enough hints around just maybe...

I know what you mean about the shouldering like a 2x4 and I think it's the the handling qualities of this gun that makes it so sweet, it comes to the cheek and right on target almost like magic. I have a Ruger 10-22 also and it don't handle like the browning . Of course I got it because it was all I could afford at the time and it's still shooting after 20 years.

gary