Guns n Stuff

[chickortreat]

That's definitely a different ball game altogether. As a compromise, have you ever tried a red-dot scope? Their very low power lends well to the type shooting you mentioned. I can even use one with both eyes open. Their low magnification is basically the same as open-sight shooting, except you don't have to focus on rear sight, front sight and target. Just put the dot on the target and pull the trigger.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

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I haven't read all posts because this thread has become long but Woodmort gets the point. I especially agree about the price of ammo. Those without a lot of shooting experience may require lots of practice and some types of ammo can make practicing prohibitively expensive. That's the beauty of the .22.

 

[Talihofarms]

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Again OP wasn't hunting either wolves or coyotes she was just defending her chickens from them. In NYS it is illegal to hunt deer with any kind of rimfire but perfectly legal to use on for coyote hunting.
BTW, How many bears have you shot with a .12 gauge?

I can say in the last 28 years we have shot and killed at least 2-3 per year at our resorts.
We have a hunting and fishing resort in Canada, As well as an Alaskan interest.
Where we fly guest into remote areas. For both hunting and fishing.
I have shot nuisence bears with a 12 ga with Buck and slugs.
I use a .35 rem Marlin when I have to fly in to dispatch a bear. I can say I have shot at least 15 bears with nothing but a 12 ga..
All our camps are equiped with the 12 ga. when a bear is in camp.
I may add that the prefered weapon for all.. Bears, ... Black, Brown, Polar is hands down the 12 ga with slugs.
Feel free to call the folks in the Ministry (Canada) ,DNR (Alaska,Montana, Wy,ID,) and they will be able to give you a detailed explination why they prefer the 12 ga.

If you would like more info feel free to PM me.


Hope this answers your question.

 

[Davaroo]

Well there is a lot to recommend a 12 ga. slug when it comes to dispatching a varmint or nuisance animal. They don't have a lot of range - which is good in congested areas. However, they kick like a mule if you're not used to them and they take some practice to get the trajectory down when the range does extend.
But inside 100 yards, there aren't very many critters that can withstand a 12 ga. slug.

You mentioned the .35 Rem in a Marlin lever gun - that is another favorite of mine!

 

[Davaroo]

For all of you that advocate the .22 RF for varmint, there is a tool that might appeal to you. It is made by a guy named Paco Kelly and it is nothing more than an old fashioned swaging/reforming tool. These were not uncommon back in the old days when most cartridges had heel-based bullets.
Essentially they swage (squeeze form) the bullet to a consistent diameter; their original intent was to generate more consistent accuracy from budget factory ammo.

BUT Paco's tool also modifies the tip of the bullet. You can get anything from a mild wadcutter shape to a full blown NastiNose hollow point from them. Its safe to say they give more "thump," to what is essentially a fairly anemic round to start with.
They especially shine when it comes to the cheaper, lower velocity ammo.

One of the reasons we love the .22 is for it's low price; "buck a box" standard and high velocity stuff is available almost everywhere, even today in gun-a-phobe America. There are four general velocity ranges for .22 LR ammo

Subsonic velocity - below 1,080 ft/s
Standard velocity - slightly supersonic muzzle velocity, around 1,125 ft/s1
High Velocity - 1,200 ft/s to 1,300 ft/s
Hyper Velocity - 1,400 ft/s to 1,800 ft/s
Normally the hypers use lighter bullets as a method to achieve their high velocities

The down side is that the cheaper ammo is usually loaded with round nose bullets, or ineffective hollow points, neither of which do all that much at the terminal point.
They also are not made to be match grade accurate.

But Paco's tool changes all that; by reforming the size to a consistent measure, you get better shot-to-shot accuracy.
Then, by reshaping the nose (the ogive) to a blunt and/or open profile, they give a terminal effect out of proportion to their velocity. So you get better accuracy and terminal performance.

I like to use the tool on subsonic and standard velocity .22's, in particular. But, you can use it on any of them and when used on the hyper velocity fodder, well... they become something much 'meaner'. I wouldn't consider shooting a coyote with anything else. Well... I wouldn't consider it with these either, but it's a start.

The tools aren't cheap, I think I paid $35 for mine some years ago. But they are simple, well made and will last a life time. You can learn about them here:

http://www.gunblast.com/Paco2.htm

 

[Ivywoods]

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I'm with you on this one. I have, well, let's see.... let's just say I have a "number" of firearms. I've had one with shoot through mounts. I thought I'd like to try it. I ended up taking it off. For me, it just didn't fit. Aquiring that moving target is something that with practice comes automatic, and if you are moving to different positions then it's just not the right fit. I didn't like it at all. If the gun doesn't "come up"right for me, then I never feel like I can shoot accurately very quickly.
I grew up shooting a lever action. I loved it, and still do. However, ALL of the deer rifles I use (when I'm not bow hunting) are bolt actions. I generally don't take pot shots at running deer (yeah, we shoot long distances here in Kansas) but I have done it some, depending on the circumstances. I shot two running bucks one time with my 6mm remington 700 BDL. Two shots into each one, with the scope. At the time I didn't even realize I could operate a bolt action that fast. I knew I could my old lever guns, but I learned to like my bolt actions just as much.

That armadillo hunting sounds like fun. I don't know of any around here, though.

Ever gone prairie doggin? That gives you an opportunity to do a lot of shooting and some of it at fairly small targets at long ranges. Better take more than one gun along. They do get warm.

 

[millebantam]

I love a Red Dot. I have one on my 20ga for bird hunting. Once you get used to using it, you can become an incredible wingshot. Honestly, I've never used one on any of my deer rifles/shotguns. I've gotten so used to using a shoot through setup that I never considered it. Much like you said about scope shooting becoming instinctive, I can make the decision to use either the iron sights or scope automatically, depending on the situation.

As a side note, you can probably tell that I'm a proponent of using iron sights. I've hunted with quite a few friends that are great scope shooters but can't hit anything with the iron sights. JMO, but you can pretty much teach a chimpanzee to be a decent shot with a scope. I hold "old school", iron sight shooters in much higher regard than I do a proficient scope shooter. I wouldn't let my 15 year old son even practice with a scope until he proved to me that he was proficient shooting with iron sights.

Military personell are issued weapons with iron sights because the bulk of their use is close range, moving targets, in low light levels. Sound like defending a chicken predator attack? LOL! Besides, if you even slightly bump your scope against something, you no longer have a gun, you have a club.

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[Bear Foot Farm]

I hold "old school", iron sight shooters in much higher regard than I do a proficient scope shooter. I wouldn't let my 15 year old son even practice with a scope until he proved to me that he was proficient shooting with iron sights

You'll change your mind when you get a little older and can't SEE iron sights any more​

 

[Ivywoods]

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You'll change your mind when you get a little older and can't SEE iron sights any more

I agree with that! I always shot open sights. It wasn't until I started needing bifocals that I started using a scope. I still use open sights with my predators at close range. It's hard to see the sights at night anyway.

 

[woodmort]

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You'll change your mind when you get a little older and can't SEE iron sights any more

Yup, especially with trifocals. I finally gave up on the peepsight on my Mossberg 142-A this year and added a scope. I found I was guessing where the shot would go--not a real good idea. As a teenager I could drive nail with that gun at 100 yds using the peepsight--now I have trouble seeing nails at 100 feet.