Weapons of choice?

[Howard E]

For snuffing varmints in traps....captured animals at nearly point blank range......what are the weapons of choice?

At the farm, then and now.......we always use a .22, single shot, bolt action Rifle and .22 shorts. Remington 510 targetmaster if it matters. You could even shoot CB caps with it. Here I use a Ruger pistola.....22 LR.

If a person were shopping today for such a weapon, the two modern era options that come to mind are the Cricket (pink stock for the ladies) and Savage Rascal. Goal is a bare bones single shot .22 bolt action....one capable of handling .22 shorts. Any others I'm not aware of?

Or perhaps a .22 air rifle? I've got a .177 that will put a pellet through a 3/4" pine board and it only runs 875 fps.

 

[ShannonR]

10/.22 here... I use the LR rounds

 

[Folly's place]

We use an older .22 rifle, single shot.
No real gun should be PINK!!!
Mary

 

[NatJ]

No real gun should be PINK!!!

I know at least one lady that bought a set of pink-handled tools specifically so her husband would quit borrowing them--he always forgot to put them back. I would hope that people would always put a gun away safely, but the idea that a guy wouldn't borrow it because it's pink might still apply.

 

[ShannonR]

I suppose it's worth mentioning that if you have a bear (or mountain lion, or wild boar!!) problem, you might want to use something a little bigger. Just saying. Especially for boars.

 

[BarredRockMom]

.22 shorts sound like crushing a soda can, which can be extremely useful in a more urban setting. They'll do the job.

 

[Folly's place]

A few years ago I was horrified to see that toy guns are made to look very real, and weapons are made to look like toys. No wonder cops can't tell if the 'gun' is real or not!
It's just stupid, IMO.
Rant over.
Mary

 

[Al Capon]

At the farm, then and now.......we always use a .22, single shot, bolt action Rifle and .22 shorts. Remington 510 targetmaster if it matters.

The last couple coyotes I had to dispatch in traps were done with a Rem. 510 and CCI-HP .22 shorts from about 15 feet. If you can hit the brainpan proper, that high velocity .22 short hits like Thor's hammer. The eyes bulge and the lights go out in Mr. Coyote the millisecond the trigger breaks, one of the most humane methods I've seen. They're friggin deadly, IF you put them where they're supposed to go.

Or perhaps a .22 air rifle? I've got a .177 that will put a pellet through a 3/4" pine board and it only runs 875 fps.

In case you haven't seen these, for smaller stuff, skunks and racoon sized critters, I've used the CCI Quiet Segmented rounds. They're designed to segment and break into 3 pieces at modest velocities. Factory MV is 710 fps, on par with some .22 cal air rifles. They're substantially quieter than Shorts, more along the lines of CB caps.

 

[Folly's place]

I've only had to shoot smaller critters, raccoon sized or smaller.
Mary

 

[sealer39]

Haven’t thought to use my daughter’s Rascal with shorts.
For close work (killing raccoons caught in a Dukes DP trap) I’m currently using .22 or 9mm rat shot. I like the 9mm rat shot because I’m usually shooting them before sun rise and I have a tac light and red dot on my carbine. I also like rat shot because it is less dangerous than a .22 LR and there is very little, if any, blood loss when using it.