If you are looking new my Savage MKII out shoots my Ruger American Rimfire. As far a older rifles don't overlook older pumps. They will give you a quick second shot and will take shorts. I have a Remington 572 that shoots better than I do. I have had several older Mossberg bolt actions over the years (some were store brands, Sears etc) that shot well.
Remember the Law of Probability - The probability of being watched is directly proportional to the stupidity of your act.
There's your squirreel rifle, just load lightish loads and be sure you have a solid backstop behind the squirrel. Seriously, not in the tree top, those .429 slugs can go a long way! Better would be some research on "round ball loads" ,there is an active thread now. A man with one gun....,As I said ,thou, everybody needs a 22!
on 44 overkill
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...uirell-hunting
round balls
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...nyone-try-them
Last edited by rking22; 08-15-2014 at 10:43 PM.
Ruger 10/22,or the Marlin 60 both semi-auto! Start looking for 22 ammo 2 years ago...
You can't buy common sense,and stupidity can't be fixed!
The hard part for a semi auto will be the wanting to use .22 Shorts in it. Not many were designed to use short, long, and long rifle ammo.
I have always preferred the tube magazine bolt actions over the removable box magazine versions, it is hard to loose the magazine when it is firmly attached to the rifle.
When it comes to used .22's and brand preference; Winchester, Remington, Marlin and Mossberg in no particular order. Then Savage and the rest.
Robert
check the pawn shops. Never pay asking price. If they won't come down, walk out the door and check some more pawn shops. The older Remingtons and Winchesters will be worth what you paid for them, or more if you decide to sell them. I always preferred a semi-auto in a .22 for hunting. Rifle or pistol. I used a 550-1 Remington a bunch, years ago. I wouldn't buy a rifle because it will shoot a carton of shorts I happen to have. The shorts will be gone and you will still have the rifle. The older Mossbergs were not a bad rifle. Some of the older .22s don't have the grooved receiver for the tip off scope mount. You probably should check for that feature, in case you want to mount a scope at some time. Bottom line, check several pawn shops to see what is available and see what they are asking. Go back and haggle. They will take less than the tag price. I would think 75.00 would buy you a rifle. Don't wait until the day before the season opens because they have a better chance at selling the gun then, and will be harder to deal with.
The grooved receiver advice is good. I think all .22s made since the early '60s or so have the 3/8" grooves for tip off mounts, makes scope mounting very easy.
Just before all the craziness with .22 ammo started, I bought two nice rifles, one a Marlin 39A and a Winchester 72A. Both are very nice rifles, but neither cost me less than $200. The Marlin was about twice that, but I had wanted a nice one since I was about your age. There are some very good bargains out there, though. Keep looking around and be patient.
If you are handloading, you can get both of them down to level that has less energy than a .22LR.Originally Posted by indianadeerhunter2018
You mention that you already have a Handi rifle in .44. As such, you can send it off to H&R and they will fit it with a new barrel. Going with .223 might be an option since you can load it down to .22 velocity. Going with .357 Maximum would also be an option since you can still use .38 special and .357 magnum in addition to .357 maximum. Shooting round ball in the .38/.357 is an economical use of lead. Shooting it in .223 is also possible. You would need a mold for #4 Buck which would give you 20.4 gr and 0.240" diameter. Even a regular 55g .223 mold is not that bad on use of lead.
According to my reloading notes, 2.0 gr of Alliant Red Dot / Promo gives 1000 fps with a 55gr cast lead bullet for a cost of $1.83 per 50-rounds. The cheapest load that I have listed for .38 was 2.0 gr of Alliant Red Dot / Promo and a 70 gr round ball for $2.04 per 50-rounds.
Check out Armslist for .22 rifles if that ends up being what you truly want.
Last edited by NavyVet1959; 08-16-2014 at 09:59 AM.
1700 rounds in a single shot will last awhile, but in a semi-auto, not so long. Back when .22LR 500-round bricks were going for $7-8, it was not uncommon for me to shoot an entire brick during a day at the range.
Do they still make Handi barrels in .22 LR?
I was meant a .223 barrel for it, but looking on the H&R web page, I see this:
http://www.hr1871.com/Support/accessoryProgram.asp
So, you have to start out with a rimfire frame to add a new rimfire barrel.Rimfire Barrels
Rimfire caliber can be fitted to the SS1 rimfire frames newer than 1987 only. No other frames will accept rimfire calibers due to the location of the firing pin. All barrels are blue finish.
On the other hand, for about $104, you can get a .357 barrel for a SB-1 frame.
I've owned a Ruger 10/22 since the early 70's. I used to go through at least 1 brick every paycheck.
My dad was concerned about me buying an autoloader vs a good bolt. In my opinion it comes down to the user. Do you have the strength of will not to go pop,pop,pop as fast as you can? (in time burning out your barrel, ruining your accuracy)
Or are you mature enough to maintain some control. To only use that quick follow up shot when you need it?
My ruger 10/22 shoots as good or better than it ever did.
It also has the advantage of being the most customizable .22 rifle out there.
There is a whole world of aftermarket parts to explore, keeping your rifle fun for decades to come.
Just my opinion, yours may vary.
Love this thread. Everyone does need a 22, two of them, a bolt action rifle and a pistol. A pox on 22 ammo hoarders. I shot them like bbs when I was a kid. As for 38s and squirrels. If you can't hit a squirrel in the head with a S&W model 10 from a rest (that is braced on the side of a tree for those of you who do not shoot in the woods) you need to practice. Head shots leave meat if they are done with the .44.
The problem is where does one get a 38 rifle anymore. the cow boy shooters have run the price through the roof. Find one or an old win 92 in 32 and then go to the round ball thread. You can shoot squirrels all day long with not much more than a primer.
Now I want to go squirrel hunting with my 50 year old rifle and my 40 wear old ammo.
One other concern. Most modern game wardens have no concept of round ball reloads and squirrel rifles bigger than 22s. They have no sense of humor either. So if you are not in your own very isolated back yard . . .
True ,hard to go wrong with a 1022. I think they(autos) are one of the best hunting rifles due to not having to move to reload. I have "tuned" mine into a super sport type rifle and consider it a single shot with 10 rounds stored onboardNo need to spend a fortune on aftermarket stuff(less you wanna) to make them shoot. Most shoot quite well outa the box, the others can be made to shot with a little work. A nice used 1022 from the time with walnut stocks can be found under 200$, I've done it 3 times in the last several years! Any and all parts are widely available and inexpensive. They are very well documented to work on.
My marlin 795 is scary accurate and can be had new for less than $200.
Here in Pa. its illegal to use for hunting, but if it was legal It would be my first choice for squirrel.
Hit the used gun racks or the auction sites, you will have no trouble finding a cheap, solid bolt-action .22, many of which will chamber short, long, LR. If the bore is good and the action is sound, go for it. I started shooting rim fire in 1974 and have never seen one that was not accurate enough for small game at reasonable distances.
Warning: I know Judo. If you force me to prove it I'll shoot you.
I just picked up a really nice Mossberg model 40B .22 rifle for $200.
It shoots shorts, longs and long rifle and its a tubular feed bolt action and VERY accurate. Using the peep sight and my bad eyes I put 8 rounds you could cover with a dime at 50 yds. Mossberg made several models based on this action, if you can find one buy it ! Mossberg made these rifles from the late 30's to the early 40's
atr
Death to every foe and traitor and hurrah, my boys, for freedom !
My dad has one of the 42b's they were only made for three years and I shot a sub moa group today at 50 yards using short/long rifle mixed. If I can find out where to get mags for a reasonable price(I'm not spending 30+ dollars for one magazine) I'll try an buy it off of him.
I've seen some .38-55s on Armslist lately. Not exactly the ".38" that you were talking about though.
Seriously though... There's not too many choices in .38 special / .357 magnum rifles. Marlin still makes one, but they are well outside of the OP's stated budget. The cheapest solution for him would be to get a smaller caliber barrel for his existing single-shot NEF / H&R rifle. The .44 barrel that he already has would probably need a 0.440" round ball and that is going to weigh about 131.4 gr.
http://www.buckshotmold.com
For squirrels, I would say to go for something a bit smaller in a round ball (RB) and keep the velocity down. Maybe a .223 (.240 RB = 20.1 gr), .308 (.310 RB = 44.2 gr, .320 RB = 47.6 gr, .360 RB = 69.2 gr, or .380 RB = 83 gr). Even from a revolver, a subsonic .38 is pretty quiet -- I would say quieter than a .22LR.
The handi rifle looks like a nice choice. For me squirrel hunting is a one shot, one kill proposition. I personally love my 357/38 Winchester. But I've had it a long time. I've never tried to cycle or fire ball in it. Loading ball in the 357 handi rifle and 357 gas checked BOOLITS. This young man could take everything from chipmunks to whitetail inside 50 yards. Is there a 32 cal handi rifle barrel? That could be a sweet small game rifle.
NavyVet. I've never loaded ball, but I think I'm going to try it in the near future. Years ago I loaded 140 grain light loads for the kids and we ran them through the model 10. Ther certainly we're not any louder than a 22 and there was no noticeable recoil. The kids loved them. We were using 1 1/2 inch PVC pipe stuck in the ground at about 7 yards and the kids were consistently mowing the pipe down. As easy as that load was I can't imagine how sweet an 83 gr round would be.
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