Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Canada What small fry cartridges do you shoot?

Wow, that's a handsome gun, Pappy! Truly elegant!

Steve,

The small fry cartridges are fun.

Besides the big small fry cartridges .222 and up.

I shoot Hornets in several rifles - Anschutz- Kimbers , couple No -Name bolt guns, etc- and pistols ....... Exemplar -Contender.

.218 Bee in Winchester 43's ( much over-rated rifle) and a 65 lever.

.221 Fireball original rem, and more.

All a lot of fun.. For many many years I bought all the amoo I could find in said cals. often in small shops and hardware stores, lotsa brass for reloading.

They sure are! There are lots of great things about small cartridges. I think the biggest reasons are they're cheap to feed and can be used year round. A pound of powder can be stretched a long way.

That was smart to buy up ammunition. Back when most hardware stores and rural stores sold ammunition, you could come across some real gems. There was a small place just outside of Orillia that used to carry ammunition. The young guy who ran the place said his grandfather hunted, so they carried loaded ammunition. Some of it was no good to me, but I should have bought it up when I could. I think they carried 218 Bee ammunition. 45 or 46 grain loads? At the time I thought, well, I have a Hornet. No need for a Bee!

saddlegun;
Good morning to you sir, I hope the day's a wee bit more sunny for you folks than it is here - but then if you need the rain like we do... anyways I hope all is well as can be in your world.

It's cool to read your experience with the Miroku - the ones I've looked at were truly wonderfully built in every way I thought.

When I was a kid, my buddy's Dad had a worn '92 - the ones with that ugly gumwood that didn't stain up at all - in .44-40 that I fell in love with.

It's funny that I lusted after several originals and then a Miroku or two for most of my life before finally picking up a Chiappa clone in .357 a few years ago. This Chiappa seems very nicely made and functions fine so far - but to be honest I just plink with it.

For sure though I've picked up a couple screaming deals over the years because they were handloading proposals only. Our youngest daughter's hunting rifle was a 722 action with an RKS stainless match barrel in .250AI that buddy couldn't sell. If it'd been a .243 or even a .250 he said he'd have had lots of buyers, but nobody wanted to fool with an Ackley Improved.

Since there was already a .22-250AI in the safe, it turned out I was pretty fluent in AI speak, bought it for a very reasonable price and she used it for years.

The same goes for a pair of .308 Norma's in the safe. The last time I saw factory ammo for one and looked at the price I needed to go to the car for more heart meds! I can't imagine what they'd ask for a box now.

All that to say that for sure I get where you're coming from with keeping the old and odd rounds percolating.

All the best and thanks for the pleasant exchange sir.

Dwayne

Hello BC30cal

The Miroku 1873 that I own surpasses all of my Marlins in fit and finish. And I do very much like my Marlin lever guns.

The only other lever gun that I own that compares is my Japanese-made Browning BL-22 Grade 2, which has receiver engraving and beautiful figured wood with a glossy finish.
It's one of my bucket list guns. Both guns have a silky smooth metal finish, as smooth as polished glass.

Loading cartridges through the port in the 1873 is a slick as grease.
Functioning is flawless.
Accuracy is surprisingly good.
The only fault is that the rear sight sits too high because the front sight is too high.
Miroku appears to have used a replacement stepped sight elevator to compensate, which lifts the rear sight a bit higher.
The wood is plain and fairly unimpressive, but high quality walnut.

Anyone contemplating buying one however, should be aware that the drop in the stock is completely authentic, and is too low to achieve a modern comfortable cheek weld.

Contemplating this, the stock configuration appears very much like the old Hawken and J. Henry Plains rifles that preceeded the 1860 Henry and 1866 and 1873 Winchesters, which must have been the same.

I hope that, having grown up within sight of the church towers of Brockville, Ontario, and having married a beautiful girl whose grandparents all came from Canada, I can join this thread. My .222 doesn't see much use now, neither does my .220 Swift, although I'm currently playing with it. The smallest rifle I generally play with is a Marlin 94 in .25-20 WCF. For some reason I've been intrigued by that cartridge since I was a kid. My son has the rifle currently and is as fascinated by the cartridge as I am. He's been forming .25-20 brass from .32-20's, which case is kept somewhat more alive by the cowboy shooters. The earlier poster on this thread talking about .218 Bee availability can do the same thing. One of my someday projects is to rebarrel one of the Ruger 77/357's to .25-20...why be practical? I guess we could, in the context of this thread, mention the .30 Carbine, another of my pet "little cartridges."

Those have been on my maybe list for a while. Now, of course, they’re pretty scarce. An alternative would be the lovely M53, which would require acquiring all the loading goodies too.

Last year, I picked up a 92 Centennial .44, but accuracy was disappointing with loads that shoot very well in my LW, so down the road it went. The twist in the 92s is only 1-38, but that should’ve been fine with the bullets I tried. Can’t win ‘em all.

I found a Handi 44 Magnum cheap. I am not sure what loads to try. Probably start with the ones I use in my Model 92.

I know the Handis are good guns, but they kinda leave me cold. I like the Henrys much better. If I was going to scope one, that's what I’d get now. The Low Wall is pretty dang accurate with its tang sight. My eyes struggle, but I can still do okay in decent light. It’s Hell for pretty!

I know what you mean about the Handis. Tbey can be made better by replacing the stock though.

Ihad bad luck with a few of them. The only Handi I regretted selling was a 308 Survivor. It shot well and no issues.

The worst was a 30-30. The rifle was poorly assembled.

I have a few small caliber centre fires but the one I most enjoy shooting is one of the granddaddy’s of the small calibers, the 22 Savage Hi Power in a takedown Savage 1899 model H. It’s a challenge to keep these old guns fed as most bullet companies have discontinued their .228 caliber bullets. I am told 70 grain Sisks and Speer bullets were the cat’s meow for these guns but alas they were both discontinued long before I acquired my 22 HP.

I use an RCBS 60 grain mould designed for the 22 HP to cast and size the bullets at .228. Powered by a light charge of Red Dot they are accurate and inexpensive. For small game the same cast bullet with a charge of Trail Boss can approximate 22LR hi velocity ammunition. The cases are reformed from 30-30 cases. First neck to 25 caliber, then to a 25-35 full length resizing die then finish on the 22 HP FL sizing die. Some cases are lost in the process but 30-30 cases are abundant. Once reformed they last a long time with mild charges and cast bullets.

It requires some work but it’s well worth the effort to keep these guns shooting. The European 5.6x52R is close the 22 HP and will chamber and fire but I have never tried any. Some say the 1 in 14 twist of the Savage barrels is too slow to stabilize them.

Nick

It's worth the effort. At the end of the day, you're happy and what you create is useful.

I shoot a bunch of small stuff. .22 Win mag, .22 Hornet ( Both Anschutz) three .222's ( Anschutz, Sako, CZ ZKK) and a couple pistol cartridge carbines in .357, ( Win M92 and Ruger 77/357)
Fun, useful, and cheap to shoot.

I enjoy shooting a .32-20 Remington rolling block, made in the 1880s. It won't reach out like the 20th century cartridges, but it's fun to fool with.

You should post pictures if you can. I like single shots. Rolling blocks are sweet rifles. Not too many years ago, you could buy a lot of them here in Canada. Many were rebarreled and are still used today.

My two favorites are a 20 Vartarg and 20 Tactical, both in Copper Model 21's

My pipsqueaks:

1. German kiplauf 5.6x35R (.22WCF essentially)
2. Winchester M54 .22 K-Hornet (converted by Lysle Kilbourn himself)
3. Krag single shot, .22 Maximum Lovell (built by Hervey Lovell)
4. 1903 Springfield single shot, R2 Lovell (also built by Hervey Lovell)
5. Winchester High Wall R2 Lovell (unknown builder)
6. Winchester Low Wall .25-20 Single Shot (not .25-20WCF)
7. Martini Cadet, .310 Cadet
8. Savage 1899 takedowns .22 High Power, two with three barrels
9. Browning/Miroku Low Wall .223
10. A couple more Martini Cadets and BSA Model 12 patiently waiting their turn on the chopping block for conversions

.222Rem is my all time favorite, but I also shoot the .223 and 6mmBR if that is considered small.
I would've to get another KHornet some day .
Cat

i keep a 22 Hornet loaded in the garage year around to get rid of unwanted critters. i also have a few more 22 Hornet rifles, K-Hornet rifles ,17 Remington rifles , 204 Ruger rifles

The 222 is my favourite. I have three. One rifle, a 788, was an anniversary present from my wife. I've burned many pounds of 4198 with them.