Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Best Trail Carry 22 lr Pistol Ever Made

No, its not.
I have pulled a few tails to stretch am out so Dad could give them a slap with the billet.
A few have fight in them and you have a bit of trouble.
The .22lr with a head shot will not put the stop on a big raccoon or a bobcat as quickly as the Fmj .22 Magnum.
When I have a hold on the tail I want things to calm down quickly.
Your experience may be different but we have a lot of critters out here and lots of opportunity to test the theory.

We killed wolves and otters with 22lr in traps. Of course a wolf ain't no coon.

I have never seen a Wolfe in a snare but I have seen a very few coyotes. Most critters sit still as you approach. Sometimes nash their teeth or snap their jaws and growl low.
When the few who dont give you trouble the fmj .22 magnum does the job a bit better.

I don't know what a trail gun is.

But I wouldn't walk most trails with a 22LR.




Travis

I see you're from Texas.



Travis

and good at 'pulling tails'......

Not a Native Texan so not a natural story teller.
All I'm saying is in my experience the .22 magnum penetrates better and puts the stop on adult critters quicker than the .22lr. The long rifle in the high speed hollow point or the solid round nose is a poor stopper when used on critters in motion or agitated.

Same here

I don't dought your experience with the 22 Mag over the 22 LR in the 3 inch barrel, but I'm betting your results had more to do with the FMJ bullet than it being the 22 Magnum over the standard 22 LR in your particular handgun.

which ain't much....

Years back, I chrono'd some 40gr .22 mag and some Stingers through a 5 1/2" Single Six. Velocity was about the same, as were the holes punched through a bar of laundry soap (poor man's ballistic gelatin). Only criiter I ever popped with the mag was a barn pigeon, not much of a test. The mag, in a handgun, pretty much duplicates a LR from a rifle, which ain't too bad.

I am not saying that others shouldn't use the .22 Magnum....just that it's not my choice. The .22LR "kills" quite well on trapped animals.

The .22 Magnum MAY (sometimes) produce a quicker reaction....but who really cares. The animal is IN A TRAP and not going anywhere. For the lesser cost and noise of the .22LR, I can wait 30 seconds longer. The .22LR will "kill" even animals as large as a 300 pound hog in a trap.....it just takes a little longer You always have the option of shooting again if you aren't patient....after all....the animal is IN A TRAP and not going to leave anytime soon.

For larger animals (hogs) that are NOT immobilized in a trap or snare, the .22LR is VERY marginal and in my experience the .22 Magnum isn't much better. To gain any realistic advantage on these animals I find I need at least something like the .32-20 or .38 SPL.....and if I "know" larger game will be my target I am even happier with a .45 Colt.

Me either, but it's due to the two legged animals around here, not the four. The WMA I hunt is right next to a rustic residential area that harbors some pretty rough characters. I'm told the cops never venture up there without backup.

as does the 22 short........

all the blast and 'penetration' of the mag just is fluff. Unless you want to impress the kid pulling the tail......

or 'even as large as' a 1200 lb steer in a corral.....

[img]http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c124/huntsman22/th_MVI_3285_zpsc676d365.mp4[/img]

For trapped coons I've been using HV 22short HPs the last few years and much prefer them over LRs... a good portion of the time there's no pass through, not as much blood to wash, and a much reduced hematoma. They do a fine job on fox and b'cats too as they are more delicate than coons.
For yotes and otters I prefer HV LR solids.
I did use my HMR on one coon just because... he was asleep when I got to him and I could angle it from the back of his head out through his mouth... several skull fragments that I had to peel off before I could flesh and stretch.

One of the most 'skeered' I've ever been was when an otter pulled out of the trap just as we were getting to him. Forty pounds of pissed off weasel coming at you is a scary thing.

The 22lr is certainly the round of choice for the hogs caught in traps and I have never heard of any unpleasantness using it.
Since this thread is about .22 lr trailguns ans\d the Rugers have a well deserved following here is a picture of our oldest one. Dad bought this Ruger Standard Auto at H. Cooks in Albuquerque in January 1966. At $37.00 plus tax it was not cheap but not out of reach for a working man. This one has ridden a few iles in a Hunter holster and fired a few bricks of .22’s.

William,

I still don't know what a trail gun is, but I think you might have just won.

Cool Ruger.



Travis

Well, its not a sporting event LOL. Dad had quite a few 22 handguns but he always came back to this one. He finally had to buy another magazine and the pin attached to the takedown lever. He got his moneys worth.