The .30-30 can do about as well with cast as it can with jacketed and is ridiculously easy to load down for small game. The same could be said for the .32 Special (I like this round in an old Marlin I have), but bullet mold selections is less than the .30-30. The .35 Remington is awesome and any .38 special revolver bullet works for plinking loads, but brass seems to have gotten harder to get the past few years.
Yeah I would think anything over 35 caliber for squirrel and rabbits would be too large.
45/70 for squirrel? That'd be no good...
How is a 35 Remington microgroove with cast boolits?
Not looking for a shotgun. I already have a 410, 20, and 12. I do not like hunting for small game with them (buckshot and small children do not mix) and I couldn't being myself to hunt large game with them either.
Usually I hunt small game with my 22 hornet or 22lr. Large game this past year was the 223 and 30/06. The 30/06 is too heavy and too powerful and the 223 is successful, but not confidence inspiring.
Last edited by davidheart; 02-28-2019 at 12:14 AM.
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. -Psalm 91:1
You may laugh but, I'd pick a .45-70. A myriad of top end choices and on the bottom end, a round ball with 9 grains of Unique takes the small game chores. Various collar button loads are also available. As a matter of fact, the Army used to issue a small game bullet mold for such a purpose when the .45-70 was king.
Seriously? I'd be curious to see what that looked like.
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. -Psalm 91:1
Not sure about your love/hate for black guns but nowadays, an AR15 lower can be so versatile it'll accept multitude of uppers in standard cals & 'cats...from .22 to .50, you may hate most but will surely love some....277WLV, 300BLK, 6.5G, 458S, 450B...
I have a couple AR's that I built. They won't cycle low velocity loads and the chuck brass into Oblivion. I love their accuracy but "hate" those two things.Originally Posted by Sig556r
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. -Psalm 91:1
It takes a bit of knowledge to cycle low velocity in AR15. Not impossible though. Low mass buffer (easily done your self with plastic spacers and replace the steel weights), low mass bolt, and increase gas port diameter.
I had to pull a steel weight and step my gas port diamter up to the next size. Cycles beautiful and brass drops a foot from in a nice pile.
Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
"Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far."
~Theodore Roosevelt~
A house is not a home without a 45-70.
Hopefully one of our more learned members can provide information on the Army issued ammo dedicated to feeding the troops by using the .45-70.
I've heard of "foraging" rounds for the 45-70. Shot in a wooden capsule type thing. I've not seen one in person, though.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk
My great-grandfather's muzzle loading Plain's rifle (J. Henry & Son) he bought in about 1867 was a 42 caliber. And it was the all round game getter for the homestead, and only rifle he had; used it from squirrel to deer.
Most people just will not believe it, but a cast 405 gr in a 45/70 in an accurate mouse fart load is an absolute hoot to shoot tree rats in the head. Not a lot of damage at all. But till you try it you will never know. A bunch of powders available to try. Just need deciplined loading habits.
And a whole lotta lead!!!
My .32 muzzleloader (.310 ball) takes 45 grains vs your 405 grains!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Depending what you want to spend on the project the .358 Winchester (one of my personal favorites) would fit the bill perfectly. It is easy to form brass from readily available .308 brass, can use a wide variety of jacketed pistol and rifle bullets from 110 grains to 250 grains, and a wide range of pistol and rifle cast boolits in the same weight ranges all of which can be loaded up or down to suit the intended job for that particular day. You can load "Mouse Fart" loads with jacketed or cast pistol bullets for small game, target shooting and plinking, or mid-range to full house loads with heavier jacketed or cast boolits for hunting larger game. With the proper bullet for the job the .358 Winchester is capable of hunting any game in North America. It can be easily built on any standard short bolt action which in the end yields a fairly light weight rifle. In my case I used one of my favorites, the Remington 600 short action and I had the original 20" .308 barrel re-bored and re-chambered into .358 Winchester and then glass bedded it into a Boyds laminated pepper grey thumbhole stock and added a Leupold scope. It is one of my very favorite rifles!
I may have passed my "Best Before" date, but I haven't reached my "Expiry" date!
Nice!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I'll vote 30-30 I guess. It's the only one I have two of......
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk
.358 Winchester....if you can find a Ruger Frontier with the 16.5" barrel so much the better. Ruger also made blue and stainless MKIIs with 22" barrels but easy enough to cut down.... If you want to build one it is easy enough. Start with your favorite short-action bolt gun and add a nice #2 or #3 contour barrel of the length desired...drop into stock of choice. I have a friend who built or bought probably eight custom .358s plus several Rugers and a Browning Micro and they all shot great.
As to cast bullets in the .358...just a great shooter. This is my Frontier in a standard Ruger composite stock....
50 yard groups...
I can't find the pics of the 100 yard groups but they were only a little larger than the ones at 100 yards.
200 yards...
And besides "J" rifle bullets one can also shoot all the pistol bullets, J or cast, one can find....
Bob
You might think its overkill but a .45-70 would work well for what you want to do. If you know how to load your own a .45-70 can be loaded with a 180gr collar button bullet for bunnies up to a 535gr postell for buffalo and with a cast 330gr hp put an eastern whitetail down quicker than Thor's hammer. There are so many bullet molds and loads to choose from you could experiment for years.
Win 348 in the Win Mod 71, of course. It will kill anything, the carbine is quick, and it's sexy as hell.... I think it will kill a squirrel or a rabbit... I've shot at some but never found them... 6.5 mauser or 30/40 will do too. 30/40 in a model 95 gets some high sexy points as well ... You can def load 30s or quarter bores down for lighter game, or up for most everything else... if you can't find a model 71, that is...
348 and 45/70 (pic borrowed from the internet...)
Last edited by tucumcari_kid; 03-02-2019 at 02:42 AM.
-Mike
The other question is: How far do you want to be from the bear when you shoot it? 357, 45, 41(?), 44, 38-40 would all do you the trick, plus, even though it's is against the rules, you can pack a pistol in the same caliber.... so just one bullet, but many guns and many purposes..... 348 Winchester might give you a little more breathing room...
-Mike
Posting Permissions
| BP | Bronze Point | IMR | Improved Military Rifle | PTD | Pointed |
| BR | Bench Rest | M | Magnum | RN | Round Nose |
| BT | Boat Tail | PL | Power-Lokt | SP | Soft Point |
| C | Compressed Charge | PR | Primer | SPCL | Soft Point "Core-Lokt" |
| HP | Hollow Point | PSPCL | Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" | C.O.L. | Cartridge Overall Length |
| PSP | Pointed Soft Point | Spz | Spitzer Point | SBT | Spitzer Boat Tail |
| LRN | Lead Round Nose | LWC | Lead Wad Cutter | LSWC | Lead Semi Wad Cutter |
| GC | Gas Check |
Reply With Quote
