Replacement for 22 squirrel rifle?

[DonMountain]

Since 22 long rifle ammo is no longer available in the United States, what substitutions would be reasonable? Because of good weather this year we have a bumper crop of Pecans on our trees. And the squirrels are going mad trying to get all of them. I went to the store to buy some 22 long rifle ammo for my old Winchester squirrel rifle, only to discover that they apparently don't make it anymore since nobody carries it anymore. The smallest rifles I have molds for are the 6.5 Swedish Mauser followed by the 7mm Mauser. Is it possible to get them to shoot effectively down in the 22 long rifle equivalent velocities accurately and consistently? My 6.5mm mold is a Lyman 266469 AV, 140 grain Round Nose Gas Check boolit and the 7mm Mauser is a Lyman 287405 AV, 150 grain Round Nose Gas Check. I do have an AR in 223 but I never bought a boolit mold for that. Its my long range coyote rifle and a retired shooter gave me a box of about 30 pounds of hollow point match bullets for that. So I have never thought about lead boolit shooting in that one.

[roverboy]

Yeah, .22 lr is been hard to find for a while now. If you can find it, it'll be expensive most of the time. I don't see why loading down one of your rifles that you mentioned wouldn't work. Give it a try and let us know how it works.

[aspangler]

An air rifle will take care of your problem for now. 22 ammo is not unavailable, just scarce. That is due to the hoarders and the resellers. I bought one 1000 round box of Winchester M-22 last week at Walmart. The manufacturing date was just one month old so it is still being made. Hope you find some.

[starmac]

LOL Everyone has shotgun ammo, and they are very effective on squirrels.

[Wolfer]

I haven't played a lot with this kind of load but my 8mm Mauser works really good with the lee boolit without the gas check and about 5 or 6 grs of clays. I suspect the old 10 grs of unique behind an unchecked or checked boolit would surprise you with its accuracy.
I do know that fast powders and no fillers are the way to go here.

I've loaded my 8mm down to 2 gr of clays without sticking a boolit and you could hear the firing pin fall over the muzzle blast. The boolit hitting the target was the loudest thing about it.

I shoot a lot of 2400 and it's too slow for this application. Unique is about as slow as I would look at.
Woody

[725]

Shotgun, air rifle, or down loaded .223 w/ cast boolits.

[starnbar]

Since 22 got scarce I just brought the air rifle out and it dispatches squirrels and opossums just as good out to 150 ft and its a lot cheaper.

[colt1960]

An air rifle is your best option. pellets are easy to come buy and cheap compaired to reloading anything else. I killed over 40 squirrels a few years back out of my walnut tree in my back yard.

[**oneshot**]

Loaded down hornet or 223.

[runfiverun]

a 22 pellet and a primer would do nicely in that ar...
but downloading any of the above to about 1,000 fps would do the trick easily.

[Larry Gibson]

Don

Do you have a .30 or .31 cal CF rifle?

Larry Gibson

[Baron von Trollwhack]

I suspect that a 25-20 or a cast boolit 77/22hornet with a mild primer, soft cast boolit snugly seated, and light charge of fast powder would make a great little squirrel rifle. Tree squirrels are commomly shot at 25-35 yards. My Marlin 25 cast bullet varmint rifle is great on squirrels with good shot placement, and of course has somewhat of a longer range with full power loads.

BvT

[joesig]

From Hodgdon's website:

Cartridge: 223 Remington

Bullet Weight (Gr.)
55 GR. HDY FMJ

Powder
Clays

C.O.L.
2.200"

Grs
3.2

Vel. (ft/s)
1060

[Michael J. Spangler]

uh oh, now i need to load some 223 for squirrel.

[starmac]

Jim has a thread going on, where he is testing some down loaded 223 ammo, complete with targets.

[DonMountain]

Don

Do you have a .30 or .31 cal CF rifle?

Larry Gibson

Yes, several. Swiss, English, French, American, Belgian.

[John Allen]

Don, sign up on the online stores for notify me when the ammo comes available. you should be able to grab a brick or two without too much trouble.

[DonMountain]

From Hodgdon's website:

Cartridge: 223 Remington

Bullet Weight (Gr.)
55 GR. HDY FMJ

Powder
Clays

C.O.L.
2.200"

Grs
3.2

Vel. (ft/s)
1060

What will an AR-15 do with a load like this? Surely it won't cycle the action. But can I hand cycle it for each round without damaging anything? I have a 30 pound box of .224 bullets that's marked: 1390 22-55HPBT that an older friend gave to me several years ago when he quit reloading. And I have a bottle of Clays powder!

[MT Gianni]

Try a 30 cal with a lee rb mold or the lee 113 fp rifle mold. That bullet shoots from 1000 fps to 2400 fps in everything I have tried it in.

[bhn22]

What will an AR-15 do with a load like this? Surely it won't cycle the action. But can I hand cycle it for each round without damaging anything? I have a 30 pound box of .224 bullets that's marked: 1390 22-55HPBT that an older friend gave to me several years ago when he quit reloading. And I have a bottle of Clays powder!

Sounds like you're in business! I'd suggest small pistol primers for this load, they have the same dimensions as small rifle primers so this should be pretty straightforward for you. Let us know how it works out for you!

[runfiverun]

the ar will become a bolt gun, but you're squirrel hunting not prairie dog hunting.

[BruceB]

the ar will become a bolt gun, but you're squirrel hunting not prairie dog hunting.

This is a very telling point.

There are NO tree squirrels in these parts that I know of (maybe because there are no TREES?) but it seems to me that, at "normal" tree-shooting ranges....maybe fifty yards max?.... an accurate M1 Carbine could be pressed into service.

In that case, I would turn a new, longer gas piston, which would BLOCK the gas port when installed, and make the little rifle into another sort of straight-pull bolt action. With a nice cast load of maybe 90-110 grains and 1500 fps, it would be a VERY effective squirrel rifle.... sort of a Super .22WMR. It would also save the brass!

My as-new GI Carbine does an easy 1.5 inches at fifty yards with irons, so a no-drill mount with a scope should allow for squirrels at fifty. Hmmm...we DO have hordes of ground squirrels... maybe, while the .22-250 cools....?

[10x]

It is difficult to imagine that 22 ammo is in short supply in the U.S.A.
The real question is why is it in short supply? There is a demand.

The C.I.L. ammo plant in Canada had the capacity to manufacture almost a million 22 rimfire rounds a day in the 1950s according to the staff that worked there.
I am certain there is industrial capacity in the U.S. to supply the demand for 22 rimfire ammo.

So could someone tell us why there is a shortage of 22 rimfire ammo?

[OnHoPr]

This is all BS even having to consider something else other than the .22 for a squirrel gun because of lack of ammo. Marksmanship will degrade even further in the US without it.

10x: "So could someone tell us why there is a shortage of 22 rimfire ammo?"

Maybe these new style AR's where they can shoot a 1000 rounds in a couple of hours at the range at a milk jug at 25 yards.?????

[SawmillJack]

This is all BS even having to consider something else other than the .22 for a squirrel gun because of lack of ammo. Marksmanship will degrade even further in the US without it.

10x: "So could someone tell us why there is a shortage of 22 rimfire ammo?"

Maybe these new style AR's where they can shoot a 1000 rounds in a couple of hours at the range at a milk jug at 25 yards.?????


I'm probably wrong and may be called a conspiracy nut but, the most popular round in the U.S. is the .22 LR. If you take away the ammo for them you have just made them a nonentity in the gun control argument. In other words you have just disabled more than half of the guns in America. It doesn't make any sense that ammo manufacturers would allow them selves to be complicit in such a plan. However in the past40 years how many times have we seen man made shortages play out to the detriment of the American consumer? Gasoline, oil, coffee, orange juice, and more have claimed shortages and raised prices to more than double overnight. At a time when their customer is already scared of an unfriendly government to have shortage of the best selling ammunition certainly gives them a reason to artificially increase the price before it is brought back. The other ammo of recent shortage is now becoming available at 50% and slightly more increase of price. Maybe .22 isn't back yet because 50% increase isn't enough of a gouge yet. I might be wrong, just saying what it looks like.

[badbob454]

home made shot shells? in any of the above calibers, maybe use gelatin capsules with a wad behind them.. for the shot holders and hand feed them? just a thought

[Sensai]

Just a reminder to be careful if you try downloading rifle rounds with fast powder. It works well, but the chance of a double charge is definitely there. I prefer a powder like Trailboss for this kind of thing because it's almost impossible to double charge a case without spillover. Of course, Trailboss has disappeared in some parts of the country too. My favorite load for your situation is 6 or 7 grains of TB behind the Lee 311-93-1R boolit in a 30-30 case. Down to 4.5 grains has cleared the barrel consistently for me, YMMV.

[biggc1]

Air rifle for the win! They had 22 ammo at Dunhams last week though just keep checking.

[DonMountain]

Air rifle for the win! They had 22 ammo at Dunhams last week though just keep checking.

I don't have an air rifle and my wife has determined that I already have enough guns? That brings up the question. How many guns is enough? So now its a decision between using the downloaded AR-15 rifle or the shotgun, which I also reload for. Of course the downloaded .223 is the cheapest solution for me. So I think I will try that one. I have been so into the boolit thing for the last 20 or 30 years that I had been thinking 6.5x55 Swedish Mauser with a cast lead boolit. But the AR with 55 grain J bullets makes more sense since I have so many of them that I never use except on an occasional coyote.

[10x]

I don't have an air rifle and my wife has determined that I already have enough guns? That brings up the question. How many guns is enough? So now its a decision between using the downloaded AR-15 rifle or the shotgun, which I also reload for. Of course the downloaded .223 is the cheapest solution for me. So I think I will try that one. I have been so into the boolit thing for the last 20 or 30 years that I had been thinking 6.5x55 Swedish Mauser with a cast lead boolit. But the AR with 55 grain J bullets makes more sense since I have so many of them that I never use except on an occasional coyote.

The question really is "how many wives are enough?" Sometimes one is enough, and sometimes one is one too many....

[madsenshooter]

A pocket full of rocks will work. There were a couple boys in the local area whose dad used to send them out so armed. They'd get whipped if they didn't come back with something! One of them grew up to be quite a baseball pitcher.

[biggc1]

The question really is "how many wives are enough?" Sometimes one is enough, and sometimes one is one too many....

Too true!

[44minimum]

What about one of those adapters that allows you to shoot 32 ACP, 7.62x25, 30 carbine or a whole bunch of other pistol calibers in a 30 caliber rifle? You already said that you have a 30 caliber rifle.

[Wolfer]

If you throw 5 or 6 grains of clays in any rifle you deer hunt with and whatever boolit you have handy you may discover you don't need a 22 anymore.
If Larry would come back on he could probably give you better details. I just start at 5 gr and work from there. Woody

[Hamish]

[QUOTE=DonMountain;2435615]I don't have an air rifle and my wife has determined that I already have enough guns? Silly Rabbit, you have them all in one place where she can see them, don't you? :bigsmyl2: That brings up the question. How many guns is enough? (All of them) So now its a decision between using the downloaded AR-15 rifle or the shotgun, which I also reload for. Of course the downloaded .223 is the cheapest solution for me. So I think I will try that one. Good choice, you have a lot of info at your disposal here. I have been so into the boolit thing for the last 20 or 30 years that I had been thinking 6.5x55 Swedish Mauser with a cast lead boolit. No reason that wouldn't work too, how light a boolit can you cast for it? But the AR with 55 grain J bullets makes more sense since I have so many of them that I never use except on an occasional coyote. You really don't want to fool with downloading jacketed, so much easier to stick a bullet in the barrel that way. If you are interested, PM me for some samples to try in your AR.

[Digital Dan]

i don't have an air rifle and my wife has determined that i already have enough guns? That brings up the question. How many guns is enough? So now its a decision between using the downloaded ar-15 rifle or the shotgun, which i also reload for. Of course the downloaded .223 is the cheapest solution for me. So i think i will try that one. I have been so into the boolit thing for the last 20 or 30 years that i had been thinking 6.5x55 swedish mauser with a cast lead boolit. But the ar with 55 grain j bullets makes more sense since i have so many of them that i never use except on an occasional coyote.

do not use jacketed bullets when trying to replicate .22 rf performance in a .223. They will not clear the bore reliably at that velocity range.

[Whiterabbit]

Also trailboss or H4895 will make holes touch in your 7x57 with a good boolit. I like them both, but gave the edge to 4895.

hey! I still have my pic uploaded. This is 50 yards during load development

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=67575&d=1366042300

Good enough for me!

[SeabeeMan]

I'll cast my vote for a decent air rifle. I've actually started adding pellets to my stockpile. Not that I could possibly see them ever getting hard to find, but in a SHTF scenario, a pocketful of pellets can bag a lot of small game...birds included!

[subsonic]

Pick up some round balls for your .30 rifle.

[Digital Dan]

That'll work.

[Thumbcocker]

Size 0 buckshot rolled in mule snot over 3 grns of red dot in a Ruger #3 .30-40 is fine squirrel medicine and will not travel as far as a .22 fired upward. Use unsized brass. Same load in .30-30 would work as well.

[jaysouth]

Here is my .22rf equivalent. It is a topper .30-30 chopped to 16.5 inches. I load Lee 113 gr. as cast tumbled in 45-45-10 with a pinch of bullseye or Clays.


http://i1223.photobucket.com/albums/dd507/jaysouth100/Lil%20Tooter/P2090001_zps91b9d5c9.jpg (http://s1223.photobucket.com/user/jaysouth100/media/Lil%20Tooter/P2090001_zps91b9d5c9.jpg.html)

It is time to start my 11 year old grandson on shooting, safe gun handling and hunting. My Handi in .357 Max with .38 spl loads is going to get him started. I can't afford to get into my stash of rf for this purpose and the bigger gun gives him bragging rights.

[randy_68]

I haven't used a .22 lr in years. I shoot pure lead--air rifle style.
http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h81/randy_68/IMG_20130818_092841_901_zpsd25a38e6.jpg
http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h81/randy_68/IMG_20130922_095850_999_zps3da3ad6b.jpg

[WILCO]

That is due to the hoarders and the resellers.

I'm sick and tired of reading this nonsense. There are not enough "hoarders/resellers" to keep this product off the shelves. It's simply a Supply and demand issue. The .22 Lr is the country's most popular entry level cartridge. There has been a massive uptick in firearms consumers.
Every newbie has to start somewhere, and the .22 rimfire is it.

As for the OP's question, a .410 will keep the marauders at bay.

[starmac]

I have been noticing that lots of todays newbies are starting with ar or ak's bypassing the lowly 22 to start with.

[10x]

I'm sick and tired of reading this nonsense. There are not enough "hoarders/resellers" to keep this product off the shelves. It's simply a Supply and demand issue. The .22 Lr is the country's most popular entry level cartridge. There has been a massive uptick in firearms consumers.
Every newbie has to start somewhere, and the .22 rimfire is it.

As for the OP's question, a .410 will keep the marauders at bay.


How many months have the shelves of retail stores NOT had 22 rimfire on them?
Why is not ammo imported from Europe and Asia?
Eastern Europe has incredibly low employment rates and empty factories with the capacity to manufacture ammo.

THere is .22 rimfire ammo manufactured in Mexico and in South America. Certainly they can step up production and manufacture more for the American market.

Why are the U.S. ammo manufacturers silent on why they can not keep up? Why are their shares not going up due to increased ammo sales from hoarding?
What is the daily production rate of 22 rimfire ammo from Remington, Winchester, Federal and others?
And what distributors is that ammo being shipped to?

[PAPABEAR]

My goal is to use up my lead stash slowly, thus I have been using a a non checked boolit in my 218 bee.....we purchased 22lr in upstate new York 2 weeks ago so it is still around...:smile:

[Jamesconn]

17hmr we have that back in stock.

[Digital Dan]

Just returned from a local gunshow. There was a ton of .22 RF ammo available. Prices were stiff, but it's there to be had.

[starmac]

How many months have the shelves of retail stores NOT had 22 rimfire on them?
Why is not ammo imported from Europe and Asia?
Eastern Europe has incredibly low employment rates and empty factories with the capacity to manufacture ammo.

THere is .22 rimfire ammo manufactured in Mexico and in South America. Certainly they can step up production and manufacture more for the American market.

Why are the U.S. ammo manufacturers silent on why they can not keep up? Why are their shares not going up due to increased ammo sales from hoarding?
What is the daily production rate of 22 rimfire ammo from Remington, Winchester, Federal and others?
And what distributors is that ammo being shipped to?

Ammo manufacturers have not been silent, as I have seen several reports from them. I seem to remember that remington has plans to build another facility. CCI claims to be turning out 4 million rounds a day.
Just last week I happened to be at one lgs when they started putting that weeks shipment on the shelf (tuesdays) and it under normal times have been enough to be on the shelves well over a month. Out of curiosity I went back the next morning and it was gone. This is with a one brick limit, it disappeared in 8 hours or less. I couple of days later I talked to the manager ot the other large lgs here in town, he aslo had gotten a large shipment in on tuesday and likewise it sold out that day.
Ammo manufactures are making it at record numbers, they are shipping it in record numbers, people are buying it in record numbers, because of the uncertainty in what our govt is doing. With our currant administration importing any new ammo might be more hassle than it's worth, and they would probably be out of office before all the red tape was worked through.

[10 ga]

If you are looking for ammo Wiki Ammo and GunBot keep updated list and prices. When it is on the shelf it is cheaper at the big box stores and some lgs but goes away quick. I have started shooting a better grade of ammo like target stuff and it is real nice and accurate.

And for the squirrels I usually shoot my old 20 ga. JC Higgins bolt.

And I love to shoot them over good tree dogs!

10 ga

[crowbuster]

45 cal muzzle loader like the olden days ?

[357maximum]

In the grand ol state of Michigan both centerfire rifles and air rifles are illegal for squirrels....makes about as much sense as making a sub 100 lb "youth hunter' hunt with shotgun slugs in the lower 1/3 of the state, doesn't it?

[JB Weld]

Here in AR, it is nothing larger than 22 caliber rim-fire for rifle squirrel hunting.

[Blammer]

I wouldn't bother down loading either one, just shoot some round nose bullets in them and you'll have squirrel. It will but a neat 7mm hole in them and they'll fall over nicely.

I shot several with my full house deer hunting cast boolits and it just put a neat 30 cal hole in them. They didn't go anywhere and it surprisingly didn't destroy the entire critter.

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g81/blammer8mm/2008%20Deer/DSCN7412.jpg (http://s54.photobucket.com/user/blammer8mm/media/2008%20Deer/DSCN7412.jpg.html)

[Pakprotector]

I have loaded light .30-06 with a 38 special case full of Unique and a 110 gr 30 carbine FMJ bullet. Two LR cases of Red Dot did not light reliably unless I went muzzle up first.

A reliable, 50-70 yard squirrel killing AG is found in the .25 Marauder. GM barrel, and 16-20 shots at 44-45 FPE. I got MOA at 100 yards with mine for an 8-shot magazine full.
cheers,
Douglas

[Baron von Trollwhack]

Perhaps some should think twice about shooting larger calibers with light for caliber cast bullets or deer cast bullets at tree squirrels where the quarry is often not backed up by significant tree substance , hillside, stump, or ground to stop that bullet aimed skyward.

I'm not a nut on this, but it is there for some here without a doubt.

BvT

[Wolfer]

[QUOTE=Baron von Trollwhack;2439919]Perhaps some should think twice about shooting larger calibers with light for caliber cast bullets or deer cast bullets at tree squirrels where the quarry is often not backed up by significant tree substance , hillside, stump, or ground to stop that bullet aimed skyward.

I'm not a nut on this, but it is there for some here without a doubt.

BVT

I have the same problem where I live. Pretty rural but houses every direction within a half mile or so. I use a 22 for the tree rats but I have to catch them on the ground or when the body of the tree is behind them. Same issue when I coyote hunt, or anything else for that matter. I always keep an eye on my backstop.
I've passed on a lot of shots but my theory is if I don't get them today I can hunt them another day. Once dead I can't hunt this critter anymore. Woody

[RoyEllis]

In the grand ol state of Michigan both centerfire rifles and air rifles are illegal for squirrels....makes about as much sense as making a sub 100 lb "youth hunter' hunt with shotgun slugs in the lower 1/3 of the state, doesn't it?

Here in Okla it's pretty liberal "legal means of taking small game - shotgun (conventional or muzzleloading), rifle (conventional or muzzleloading), handgun, archery equipment, legal raptors, hand-propelled missile, air-propelled missile and slingshot."

[NSP64]

Larry turned me onto 6.8 gr 231 powder in .308 win under 200gr plain based cast. I get MOA@ 80yrds 1030 fps. drops like a rock so a missed backstop wouldn't be of much concern.

I drill the flash hole up to .125, lube with speed green, seat to engrave.

[drinks]

I do not recall which vendor it is, but one , I thing it is Midsouth, sometimes has the .22 bator bullet mold ,made for them by Lee, it is a 53gr gc, very adaptable, load up from cb level to .218 velocity.
I have one and it does just fine for cheap .22 shooting, about 6c ,even with the super high prices on primers.
I use it in a Handi .223.
It appears the several states have some restrictions on squirrel shooting, Texas does, too.
As squirrels are game animals, it is unlawful to use an air rifle, though it is lawful to shoot rabbits, hares, coons, possums, even feral pigs with air rifles.
Some times it just gives me a headache thinking about all the weird things poli-tickens can come up with.

[wallenba]

How about an air rifle (pellet rifle). Also, there is a method using primed 223 Remington cases to shoot 25 cal pellets. The neck of the case is dimpled with a punch to prevent the pellet falling inside. Might have to size the pellet?

[Suo Gan]

Wal Mart had 22's this evening...a whole bunch of them. They are coming back.

[kawasakifreak77]

I've dabbled in the reduced rifle arena a few times always thinking .22 might be hard to come by someday...

5-6gr of red dot in your average 30 caliber case ( I've personally worked with 30-30 & 30-06 ) with a normal weight boolit is usually subsonic & quieter than a .22 HV.

I would imagine you could do the same with a 6.5 or 7mm & time to tinker with it.

It'll kill small game dead as can be without blowing it in two. It'll kill bigger critters too with good shot placement & close range.

Or. Have a good wheelgun? I put a few rabbits in my pot around the farm with light 158 round nose loads. I'd practice on golfballs out to 30 or so meters so I knew I could shoot them in the head. Lot easier to pack a K frame Smith than to carry any rifle.

[kawasakifreak77]

Oh. About .22s:

My lgs got 10,000 boxes of that new Gemtech subsonic ammo. It was gone in a few weeks. That's a lot of freakin' .22! At least in my mind.

Dad & I have a camping trip coming up & since my only centerfire rifle is at the smith, I got out my old winchester single shot along with a couple boxes of this Gemtech stuff. I've always preferred target velocity stuff since I shot smallbore in the scouts. Accurate & quiet.

Anything short of 50 meters & it's just one ragged hole. Backing out to 100 my second groups was 1.6". I decided to stop while I was ahead!

My targets were stapled to extra telephone books I had & digging through them I found a bunch of nice looking little mushrooms.

My only complaint is this stuff is DIRTY! I shot about 30 rounds & my bore was filthy. The barrel was spotless before I went shooting. A dab of hoppes & two pulls with a bore snake got every bit of it though.

In the end I think it's the best shooting .22 I've come across. If you can get any, get it.

[WRideout]

My go-to ctg for squirrel for years has been .22 short. It doesn't have the same energy to carry forever, when shooting into the trees. I get very good accuracy, and one-shot kills all the time. When the leaves are still on the trees, I tend to use my venerable Mod 1200 Win 12 ga. .22 short is sometimes available when nothing else is. I found some at Wally World back in the summer.

Wayne

[aspangler]

How many months have the shelves of retail stores NOT had 22 rimfire on them?
Why is not ammo imported from Europe and Asia?
Eastern Europe has incredibly low employment rates and empty factories with the capacity to manufacture ammo.

THere is .22 rimfire ammo manufactured in Mexico and in South America. Certainly they can step up production and manufacture more for the American market.

Why are the U.S. ammo manufacturers silent on why they can not keep up? Why are their shares not going up due to increased ammo sales from hoarding?
What is the daily production rate of 22 rimfire ammo from Remington, Winchester, Federal and others?
And what distributors is that ammo being shipped to?
Ask the Obummer gov.and Pelosi. The ammo is going to Homeland Security to shoot you with. A lot is probably dumped in the ocean to keep it out of OUR hands. JMHO

[EMC45]

I am venturing into loading a 311-252 sized to .309 for my Savage 340 for this very thing. Cheaper than RF now and not as much powder and lead as an oz. and 1/8 of lead for 12ga. Light, quiet and accurate is my goal. I know in GA it is illegal to hunt small game with CF so if this works out it will be recorded and retained for the back burner for the chance I leave and go live in another state.

[Ben]

I have a 84 gr. wad cutter bullet for my Thompson Contender 30/30 pistol, ideal for what you're describing.The Contender has a 10" barrel , 30/30 Win. with a 2 X - 6 X variable scope on it.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/004-60.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/005-51.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/004-65.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/007-45.jpg



http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/002-77.jpg

I have little doubt that something similar could be done with just about ANY , .30 cal. rifle.

[1Shirt]

Nice pics Ben, as usual. As far as 22's go, think if we are willing to wait, they will be back and available. Am not so sure that the hoarders are as much responsible for the shortage as the durn govt. at this point!
1Shirt!

[quilbilly]

My 222 likes the Lee soup can 53 gr boolit with 6.8 gr of Unique and will nicely dispatch anything from large coyotes on down in size and it is cheaper than 22lr at the current market price ($50/500 brick) around here. Same for my 22 Hornet using 2400 powder. Both have an mv of about 1700.

[Lance Boyle]

yep, i was going to say to pick up a box of less expensive game loads for a .410 shotgun.

I always wanted a wingmaster 870 in .410

[Lance Boyle]

Ben,

You ever try those .30-30 wadcutter loads in a marlin lever rifle?

[felix]

If a subsonic (via chrono) boolit is shot, consider any resulting crack sound as the powder gas report behind the boolit. This is important when considering noiseless loads for the backyard. 22 rounds will be dirty when standard speed powder (Herco speed) is used for the subsonics. Upping the speed of the powder for subsonic loads will likely duplicate the required boolit speed giving more powder noise too. Therefore, each lot of store bought ammo must be verified in each gun before silent use. Longer barrels REALLY help in producing clean silent ammo and more so for "faster" powders. The 29 grainers in a 22LR shooting at 720 fps muzzle meet the back yard requirements when using a 22 inch barrel. Noise no more than a pellet gun. So, that speed should be investigated for 30 caliber rounds as well. Lower the boolit weight, the safer the load is. ... felix

[Ben]

Ben,




You ever try those .30-30 wadcutter loads in a marlin lever rifle?


No I haven't .