View Full Version : Favorite small game/squirrel&rabbit gun??
Ok everyone, what is your personal favorite small game getting gun? My current ruger 10/22 is a trigger worked, with a leupold mk4 4.5-14 lr/t and larue spr 1.5 mount. Knocks em dead at 75+. My up close are a few pistols. Ruger mkiii hunter, buckmark, and mkii with a NIKON scope 1-7. The mk iii lite was sold...couldn't handle that light of a gun. What does everyone else use?
posted using Outdoor Hub Campfire (http://www.outdoorhub.com/mobile/)
WISH:
Marlin 39 no scope
HAVE:
tricked-out 10/22
bullbarrel Ruger Mark I
Good choice good choice!
posted using Outdoor Hub Campfire (http://www.outdoorhub.com/mobile/)
Ruger 10/22 receiver, Volquartsen bolt and CF barrel chambered in .17HM2, trigger reworked by me, all sitting in a Hogue nylon stock.
It really is the best small game rifle I have ever owned.
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b175/pb9x19/1017VQhbt.jpg
The 17hm2 is a round I have thought quite a bit about. Love the rifle! Was curious as to the damage they do to small game though...I like that the .22 lr really keeps damage to a minimum. Quite the nice setup though what magnification Do you run?
Savage 93r17fv.
Damage is pretty massive for a rimfire, but if I want to eat it I just shoot them in the head.
posted from my stupid smart phone, please excuse any spelling mistakes.
countrygun
12-25-2012, 15:31
An Early 1900's Savage "NRA Match" rifle. someone took the irons off of it and mounted and old single post scope, damaging the collectors value, but the scope and mount are antiques in their own right. I only use "standard" velocity ammo. The first time I fired it, there was a one hole group at 25 yds. just above the POA without any adjustment. It's a 50 yd zero. never messed with it a bit.
http://i648.photobucket.com/albums/uu208/countrygun/IM002779.jpg
The 17hm2 is a round I have thought quite a bit about. Love the rifle! Was curious as to the damage they do to small game though...I like that the .22 lr really keeps damage to a minimum. Quite the nice setup though what magnification Do you run?
The little Mach 2 round isn't as explosive as the bigger HMR, but does do a bit more damage than the .22LR.
It has a much flatter trajectory though so head shots at longer ranges are easier.
I run a 3x-9x on this rifle.
An Early 1900's Savage "NRA Match" rifle. someone took the irons off of it and mounted and old single post scope, damaging the collectors value, but the scope and mount are antiques in their own right. I only use "standard" velocity ammo. The first time I fired it, there was a one hole group at 25 yds. just above the POA without any adjustment. It's a 50 yd zero. never messed with it a bit.
http://i648.photobucket.com/albums/uu208/countrygun/IM002779.jpg
That's a really nice gun. I love how this has a whole length stock. Would feel real bad luggin that into the woods and getting a nice big ding while tracking. Still a one shot group with slight over shot is always nice. Man savage made em purrdyy back in the day.
posted using Outdoor Hub Campfire (http://www.outdoorhub.com/mobile/)
The little Mach 2 round isn't as explosive as the bigger HMR, but does do a bit more damage than the .22LR.
It has a much flatter trajectory though so head shots at longer ranges are easier.
I run a 3x-9x on this rifle.
See this is the info I wish I had when starting hunting. Great thread! My 22 lr for some reason has stuck. Had a 17hmr and couldn't get over the dollar cost! :eek::eek::eek:
posted using Outdoor Hub Campfire (http://www.outdoorhub.com/mobile/)
Razorback01
12-25-2012, 21:35
I've hunted w/ a Savage 22mag for 20 years and its still my favorite. Personal best is a head shot on a fox squirrel at 120 yards (laser rangefinder verified).
CZ 452 22lr scout. Small kids 22. It is more accurate out of the box than the 11/22 and easy to carry.
https://czusamedia.s3.amazonaws.com/cache/5d/e6/5de67034060b023dfda5c3640371f09d.png
http://www.cz-usa.com/products/view/cz-452-scout/
CajunBass
12-26-2012, 05:03
For squirrels, which is about all I hunt at all these days, this Ruger 77/22 made in 1984, the first year of production. The scope is a Simmons 2x7 from the same time period. AFAIK it is stock out of the box other than the scope and a sling. This is to me, what a rifle should look like.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b292/CajunBass/100_0028.jpg
I haven't hunted rabbits or quail (more likely doves these days) in years. Back when I did it was with a single-shot, Ithaca M-66 in 20 ga. Today, this Mossberg 500 in 20 would work just fine.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b292/CajunBass/101_0001.jpg
It would do the job on squirrels too, but it's to much noise.
+1 for the m77/22 that gun is so accurate! I have looked every where for one, real nice guns. However never had any luck with shotguns and rabbits.
SPIN2010
12-26-2012, 08:55
Sheridan pellet gun ... just cleaned out my friends attic (squirrels) this past week (five so far). :supergrin:
cowboywannabe
12-26-2012, 09:01
marlin model 60 w/3x9 scope and a westernfield poly choke bolt action 20ga.
Isn't 20 gauge a bit much for squirrel?
Right now its my High Standard Double-Nine, shooting Super Colibri's - deadly out my back window at 30 ft.
Nailed one yesterday, but had to drag him out from under my shed this a.m. The ones that live awhile, all head under there.
^
+1 on super coilbri 20 grainers. My ruger 22/45 loves em!
posted using Outdoor Hub Campfire (http://www.outdoorhub.com/mobile/)
Faulkner
12-26-2012, 18:00
I bought this Browning BL-22 in 1979 with money I'd earned mowing yards and there is no telling how many hundreds of squirrels & rabbits I've taken with it. Later I added a 4X Bushnell scope and it's my favorite .22LR tack driver.
http://pic50.picturetrail.com/VOL488/1124764/5865076/174973619.jpg
I bought this cheap West German made SAA clone in .22LR not too long after I bought the BL-22. It was my only hunting sidearm for 15 years or so and I've taken a number of game critters and varmits with it. I've shot it so much that most of the finish around the grip frame is gone but it still shoots straight.
http://pic50.picturetrail.com/VOL488/1124764/2120947/396203787.jpg
TexasVine
12-26-2012, 20:17
CZ 17HMR
http://i359.photobucket.com/albums/oo36/Klozures/DSC_0123.jpg
Isn't 20 gauge a bit much for squirrel?
Not at all. Just use some 7 1/2 or 8 shot and hold a lil in front of their head.
My go to gun is my benelli legacy 28 or my browning citoria in 28. For a rifle it's usually my tricked out 10-22
This is closest I have gotten to a shotty, using the 410 magnum shells and 00 buck I can take squirrel out to 15 or 20 feet. Works good but I havnt ever used anything smaller as far as pellet sizes go. I'll keep the 20 gauge in mind next time I go, may prove to be a lot of fun! Thanks for the tip!
CajunBass
12-27-2012, 05:21
No need to use buckshot for squirrels, even with a 410. All I've used was birdshot. Usually No. 6, but over the years I've taken more and more to No. 5 when I do use a shotgun.
Smaller shot will work, but the bigger ones let you reach WAY up in our tall oak and hickory trees. A full choke is best people tell me, but I've always used a modified with no problem.
The gague really doesn't matter. Most people I knew used 12's because that's what they had. I did for years, but I just like a 20 these days. Plenty of people use a 410 with the same sized shot, 5 or 6's.
A shotgun is the go to for rabbits. At least when running them with beagles. Not only is your target moving, you usually have more than one hunter, so a shotgun with No 6 shot is a lot safer.
When I was younger most people "pot hunted." When you went hunting it was to get something for the pot. Whatever showed up was fair game. Rabbit, squirrel, even the occasional quail, although I didn't know but one "sport" who hunted quail. He had a couple of good bird dogs. I haven't seen a covy of quail in years. Anyway, the ideal gun, and I used to have one, was a Savage 24, with a 22 rifle barrel, over a 20 gague shotgun barrel. You were ready for anything, even deer with buckshot or slugs. I saw one at the LGS yesterday for $500.00....:wow:
Some FINE looking rifles here.
I don't have pics, but I do have a 77/22, a CZ in 17HMR, a 10/22 in Liberty config, and a Kimber Model 82. Any of those might see a squirrel/rabbit at any time (although rabbits here in Florida are practically useless for a stew pot.)
On wish list is a Browning BL22. I keep seeing them at gun shows, and every time I do the price is higher. I really need to just pull the trigger (so to speak) the next time I see a nice one.
Wow...and I thought my .22 obsession was massive. You have some nice stuff! Maybe I need to rethink shooting with rifles...not a ton of people using hand guns
posted using Outdoor Hub Campfire (http://www.outdoorhub.com/mobile/)
CigarandScotch
12-27-2012, 13:49
CZ 513 Basic with a 2-9X Nikon ProStaff scope (my son's originally, but I shoot it the most). Or my Ruger Mark III with a Millett SP1 red dot scope. Depends on where I am, and what the distance will be. I use CCI Stingers in the rifle, and MiniMags in the pistol.
My favorite squirrel gun is a Browning Varminter with a Burris 1.5-4 extended eye relief pistol scope. This thing is a tack driver head shot guaranteed (if I do my part) out to 50 yards. If I feel like going old school open sight, I take the Browning BL-22.
vBulletin® v3.8.7, Copyright ©2000-2013, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.