Well I just recently got a Ruger mark 3 for target shooting & carry while exploring in the woods for snakes and such. Man it shoots so true and its just ideal. It got me thinking about 22 caliber pistols for general woodsman survival for varmints . Ive looked at a S&W model 650 and think ill add that to my collection for backpacking because the Mark 3 is a little heaver than I really want to carry but its still fun. I think 22 cal is a little under rated as a survival pistol.

What are some of your thoughts/choices of 22 cal trail pistols.

[edit on 3-12-2007 by Digital_Reality]

Sweet piece, .22 pistols can be very accurate. But a pistol is a close range weapon, and as such stalking, woodmanship, and shooting skills need to be highly tuned, and one shot will not kill quickly unless to head, long blood trailing and wounded animals are more common with a .22, although those "Stingers" brand of ammo leaves an impressive hole... After Deer season it is Coyote hunting time here in NY, and I used to use an old Remington pump .22, the 1906, 06 and 62a models better known as " Carnival Guns " Ya know the ones that were used in the old time shooting gallery's??... No more, I use my .30-'06 deer rifle or a sweet shooting .257 Roberts Winchester Mod70 featherweight, more one shot kills and if a bad hit the critter isnt going very far.

I like the idea of a .22LR pistol as a survival tool, but maybe as a secondary? A rifle in a "decent" calibre for the medium/large game and the pistol for targets of opportunity?

I personally don't like the idea of wasting ammo on a squirrel in a survival situation, preferring other forms of hunting for this (traps, deadfalls etc). However if such a target happened to be close and on offer, the little pistol could come in handy. With decent ammo a .22 pistol could take hare-sized game at 50m with practice.

I think Smith & Wesson makes a few 22's they call "Kit" guns just for packing while hiking or just general purposes. Its just so convenient at $8 for 500 rounds. Plus no recoil and less noise. Squirrel and rabbit are easer to catch and clean in survival situations. Ideal if its just you surviving on the move. Also good to not have to waste half a deer because you have to keep going and just cant carry it. I can shoot a good 150-200 yards with the mark 3 easy. Thats far enough to catch any varmint.

I have the same pistol in the target model, sweet. In the woods I like the Marlin papoose take down in stainless and a North American Arms 22 5 shot derringer.
The rifle for small game up to chucks, and the pistol just for piece of mind.


respectfully

reluctantpawn

I have an old 22lr revolver with the long barrel. Certainly accurate enough to hunt rabbit with, using the high velocity loads. And works alongside the 22lr rifle.

Depending on where I am hiking I usually carry my BondArms Snake Slayer. I live in Central Florida and do most of my hiking and camping here and the .410 shot shell is very nice for killing snakes. Though I have only had to do it once. It also would be great for self defense if you run across one of those 210lb "upright" snakes that seem to be raising the crime rates in our national and state parks and wilderness areas. I used to carry a Strohm .22 short revolver. Problem with that is you could not hit the broadside of a barn if you were standing inside the barn with the door shut!

For a survival pistol I would take a .22 LR long barrel revolver any day.
Learned to shoot on a Ruger .22 LR single action with a 6.5 inch barrel. Killed Ground hogs with a head shots at around 50 yards or so. Quiet if you need to be and little or no recoil. Shot placement is crucial with that small of a calibre but being able to stuff 1000rds in your pack and barely notice is surely a huge advantage.

I own a Savage 64F with a synthetic stock. The stock is hollow and I replaced the Phillips head screws with common screws and stash some ammo and other survival gear in their. My pistol is Ruger 22/45. I've taped a little point of aim chart for Velocitor ammo to the stock as well as my other favorite, Aguila SE. The Velocitor ammo is about as hot an ammo as you can buy and will cleanly take jackrabbits(hares) at well past 100 yards. It will safely dispatch much larger game at under 50 yards with head shots only maybe a heart shot at under 25 yards from the rifle. We were tinkering around with our rimfire pistols after an air rifle field-target match last month. We were able to hit a regulation 300m man silhouette at 100 yards with my 22/45(10/10 times), Browning Buckmark and a S&W target pistol using a spotter. Most shots fell in the torso are but we still had a few head shots. We've no trouble bouncing soda pop cans at 50- 60 yards with them. A good rimfire bolt action .22 RF rifle equipped with scope should be able to keep 5 shots within a 4 inch circle at 200 yards no problem if the shooter knows what he's doing.