posted on Feb, 18 2011 @ 09:11 PM
Since we seem to spend a lot of time discussing the ideal firearm for survival/shtf situations, I thought I'd throw this out there.
We seem to be stuck with either carrying a larger,more powerful rifle that is good for larger game and self defense or a small,light gun(.22 usually)
that is ideal for small game but less so for the others. Well, there may be a solution for you!
A couple years ago at the local gun show I picked up two neat little devices called Hammonds Game Getter. It is basically an adaptor that allows you
to turn your large centrefire rifle into a quiet yet capable small game rifle. It consists of a standard nickel plated cartridge in your caliber of
choice(I have one in .444 Marlin and one in .270 Winchester) that has has the cartridge head replaced with a machined steel piece. In this piece is
bored a .22 cal hole, off centre enough to let your firing pin hit it on the rim.
To use it, you load a .22 powershot round, the kind used for power hammer's. These can be bought in different power levels at about any hardware
store. Then, you push a proper size lead ball or pellet into the neck of the cartridge. Load it as you normally would and let fly! It's about as loud
as a .22, depending on which power level you choose, and is surprisingly accurate. It includes a swaging die with which you can make the proper size
lead slugs. You can use a buckshot that is clsoe in size and use a punch to drive it through the die, resulting in a proper sized slug. I use #4
buckshot for the .270 and just buy regular .44cal roundball for the .444. The roundball is easier to use for sure,although the .270 with it's little
pellet works good too.
The power is quite surprising, as I was able to drive a .44 roundball almost through a pressure treated 2x6 at 30 yards. My buddy got one in 45-70
and we punched through 2x4 at close range. It is accurate enough to shoot gophers at 40 yards and more, although it may shoot to a different POI than
you regular rounds,so check it out first.
All in all, it's a pretty useful little tool,and you can also use it to finish a big game animal that's wounded instead of hitting it with another
regular round. It's also great to carry while big game hunting. If you spot a groue,rabbit,pheasent etc,just slip it into the chamber and you can pop
it without destroying it.
There a fair bit of info online,and I think you can order them online as well. Check it out if it sounds interesting to you, I can attest to it's
usefullnes.