Weapons of choice?

[Apis mellifera]

My favorite firearm for varmints is a 6" .22 Heritage revolver I picked up for $99. For that price I can drop it in the mud, rinse it off with a hose and not care. It has an easy to use safety and will fire mags, shorts, longs, shots, or anything. Inexpensive leather holsters are popular for them. Its surprisingly accurate and is a fun plinker.

 

[schmedlap]

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.

Heritage Arms .22 LR revolver. Use Federal .22 LR Bird Shot (aka rat shot) Works good on snakes too

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]

Heritage Arms .22 LR revolver. Use Federal .22 LR Bird Shot (aka rat shot) Works good on snakes too

I never understood the use of shot in a .22. It may have it's place, but it tends to jam my Ruger 10/.22 and have heard the shot tends to jam other .22s as well. Just not what I want to deal with. Would much rather take the extra second or three to make sure the sights are aligned right on target before pulling he trigger, than risk not making a clean kill with the first pull of the trigger.

 

[123RedBeard]

In a REVOLVER ... not much chance of a jam ...

Also the rat shot is less likely to ricochet ... off the inside of a live trap, or damage the trap ...

For trapped critters, I usually use a 1000 fps (advertised -chronographed at 890 fps with pellets I use) .177 pellet rifle ...

 

[Howard E]

My experience with "rat shot" goes back about 50 years. The lead doing the damage being a small amount of #12 shot.....and as I understand it.....original purpose was to enable a farmer or other the ability to shoot rats inside a barn or other building without fear of damage to the interior of the building. Essentially turning a rifle or other into a short range shotgun, just as deer slugs can turn a shotgun into a short range rifle.

My only use of rat shot was to join my cousin in shooting carpenter bees with it.....generally at a distance of 3 feet or less.....great fun watching them explode. Did that a couple times until my dad found out about it......he feared the shot would damage the rifling in the barrel of the old .22 and told me never again.

As for shooting varmints with it at a distance of 6" to 12", it might work....can't say, have never tried it.....and me personally, never would. I'd prefer what I know works and that is a .22 short. For the inexperienced person, I would always suggest a single shot .22 rifle.....capable of firing shorts. Aside from the very good summary of the rules of safety to follow, single shot rifle offers an additional degree of safety.....due to it's long sight plane and the fact that it can only fire once.

Another benefit of these low powered .22 projectiles......is the noise factor. If you are in an urban or semi-urban environment, and want to pop a varmint and do so without attracting notice, you want quiet. So .22 shorts or .22 caps......or even air rifles, which are powered by compressed air. The higher end ones in .177 or better still...in .22.....are more than lethal enough to get the job done quietly and effectively. They are also long guns and for the most part, single shot weapons.

 

[Howard E]

On the "high end" air rifles, by that I mean high velocity. They are not Ralphie's Red Ryder bb gun. They are serious weapons. But there is "high end" and then there is "higher end". The ones most folks are familiar with are the entry level junk from China.......the stuff you find at Walmart or Bass Pro. Names like Gamo, Ruger (in name only), perhaps Crosman, etc. They might even come with a scope. Powerful springers for the most part. Not all that accurate, but at 12", they don't need to be.

Then there are the serious "high end" air rifles, with names like Beeman, Air Arms, Air Force, etc. Same velocity, way more accuracy. Some of these can easily top out over $1,000 for gun alone, before you add the scope and accessories. Stuff that at 10 meters you can put 10 shots through the same hole on a paper target. Or you can easily plink bottle caps with at 50 yards. You probably don't need one of those.

 

[cmom]

I have a Rugar 10/22, an old Savage .22 rifles and a 410 shotgun. For the Rugar I have a scope and a peep site.

 

[ShannonR]

I have a Rugar 10/22, an old Savage .22 rifles and a 410 shotgun. For the Rugar I have a scope and a peep site.
View attachment 1995621View attachment 1995622

Used to have one of those old Savage tube-feed rifles. Could fire shorts through that, loved the slightly higher capacity of that rifle. Barrel was longer than the Ruger and it was dead accurate. Quiet and reliable, great gun!

 

[schmedlap]

the .22 shot shells with the crimped end have a case a bit longer than a .22 LR cartridge. the shot shells with the plastic tips and the crimped ones both don't have enough "power" (not sure that's the right word) to cycle the action in a semi-automatic weapon.
both work fine in a revolver. along with shooting bees (carpenter bees) they are great for snakes

 

[WGHowell]

I use what ever is necessary to take care of the problem . A .22 with rat shot or .410 with bird shot maybe all it takes ,but I have had to go for the big guns a time or 2. Small weapons don't always do the trick or whatever maybe necessary to protect the home front.