Back to The Land .22s

[CharlesHarris]

Be advised that this article is written from the viewpoint of living in a rural community in the USA. I hope that it has value for those living elsewhere.

---------------------------------------------------------------
If you live far enough out in the country that the sheriff's respondse is longer than a few minutes, having a firearm readily available makes sense for home security, hunting and pest control. We are fortunate in the US that in most of the country, the right to self defense against violent criminal actors is respected, as long as you follow the same rules of engagement and use of force continuum required of the police.

For a NON-HOBBY shooter who intends to own only one firearm, a good choice is a bolt-action, repeating 22 rifle.

The simple bolt-action .22 rifle with open sights is ignored by shooting hobbyists, but it is inexpensive and works fine in the farm, foraging, "wild" backpacking and camp utility role.

A bolt action is most simple for a novice to use, because its chamber is exposed and easily accessible when the action is opened. It is obvious when the chamber is empty and everyone see that the gun is safe. A bolt action repeater may be single-loaded and fired one round at a time and remains functional if you loose its box magazine or if a tubular magazine becomes damaged. Single-loading a pump, lever or autoloader is not as easy.

Hobby shooters in the US prefer semi-automatics because they are fun to shoot. They hold more rounds and shoot faster. While increased firepower could be useful in a self-defense role, it is extremely wasteful of ammunition, which is much more expensive today and will become scarce when times get really tough.

Telescopic sights help people with poor or declining eyesight, but they make the rifle much less handy. Inexpensive Chinese scopes sold in discount stores are often of poor optical quality, not well sealed against moisture, are less rugged and may fail to hold zero. A QUALITY scope and mount may exceed the cost of your plain utility rifle. But if you REALLY need a scope because you cannot see iron sights well enough to shoot the varmint, grit your teeth and buy the best which you can afford.

Receiver or "peep" sights are the best compromise for the cost-conscious. Anyone who has served in the military since WWII is familiar with the peep sight, which is simple and rugged. A simple .22 bolt action with a bright metal front bead that you can see and a peep sight with large hunting aperture is very useful in dim woods and hard to beat.

A skilled, experienced shooter can kill small game with a .22 handgun, where legal, as it is in most of the rural USA. But, unless you are willing to practice frequently to acquire and maintain skill, a rifle is MUCH better. An adult of average skill, after basic training and practice can readily hit a target the size of a SPAM, tuna or soup can at 50 metres using an iron-sighted .22 rifle. This is adequate for most field shooting. Most people learning to shoot a .22 pistol or revolver handgun after basic instruction can do so reliably at 10 to 15 metres. A pistol shooter of moderate skill can do so two-handed 25 metres. Only an expert pistol shot can take small game as well with a .22 handgun realistic at field ranges as a novice rifle shooter can at 50 metres. This is simple reality.

Handguns do have the distinct advantage of small size, reduced weight, and bulk for portability. For this reason people who live and work outdoors in rural areas of the US often carry a .22 handgun. A handgun doesn't get in the way when you have other work to do, but is a comfort when alone, especially in border infiltration areas frequented by Mexican drug cartels and illegal aliens sneaking into the country.

In new .22 handguns the best sellers in America are the Ruger Mk.III and Browning Buckmark. Out of the box, hand-held from sandbags, they will average 5cm ten-shot groups at 25 metres with ammo of average quality. Standard velocity or match ammo runs shaves 1 cm off of that, and is quieter, but costs more.

Bolt action .22s are usually more accurate than semi-autos, pumps or levers. The best buy in a new bolt-action .22 is one of the Marlins. A .22 bolt rifle with simple iron sights should readily shoot groups under 5 cm at 50 metres, if you use "good ammo" of the major brands, not discounted bulk-box stuff from Walmart.

In handguns any good .22 autoloader with a barrel longer than 10 cm inches in which you can still see rifling should shoot 5 cm groups at 25 metres off sandbags, again, assuming "good ammo."

The best buy in a new .22 revolver is the Ruger Single-Six. This is a "cowboy style" single-action with which everyone is familiar. The Single Six, in my experience, is just as accurate the Ruger Mk.III auto pistol, but not all .22 revolvers are created equal. For trapping and most outdoor use 10cm groups at 25 metres are good enough because woods ranges are short, so typical shots are more like 10 to 15 metres and 25 metres is really a long shot for taking edible small game with a handgun.

If you get “lucky,” an inexpensive, used .22 revolver may shoot as well as a more expensive one. Good values in the US are the 8- or 9-shot double-action revolvers often found in pawn shops in good shape for under $200, as long as they time and index correctly. The Iver-Johnson Sealed 8, H&R Sportsman, High Standard Double-Nine or Sentinel are typical examples.

If possible, test fire any used .22 revolver before you buy it. Cut the corner out of a Kraft paper grocery bag, poke the muzzle out and fire a cylinder load through it double-action. Inspect the bag to see if any lead fragments cut holes when exiting the sides of the bag. If only smoky with no holes, it's a keeper! Clean it well, and shoot GREASED or WAXED, UNPLATED ammo in it. Avoid plated, dry-lubed bullets in revolvers, because they lead the forcing cone and cylinder, destroying accuracy.

Fixed sights are best for the field or “survival” gun. You may need to drift the rear sight for windage or carefully file the front or rear sights to get a clear sight picture and to adjust point of impact. This requires spending range time to see which ammo is both reliable and accurate, setting up the gun for that ammo and buying a good supply to last a long time. Al case of 5000 rounds, will last the casual shooter for many years. Good quality .22 ammo doesn't go "bad" if stored properly.

Irons sights for a farm utility .22 rifle or handgun should be zeroed to strike to point of aim at 25 metres. If your gun has adjustable sights, once you get a perfect zero, flood the screws with LocTite so that the sights will stay put.

Some hobby shooters put scopes or red-dot sights on their long barreled target .22 handguns. By the time you put reliable optics on a basic Ruger pistol you increase your total "system cost" to over $600US! Your resulting "full race dragon" pistol tips the scales at about nearly 1.5kg! A heavy barrel, "full race gun" is bulky and less handy for field use than the "Target and Trapper" model pistols of the 1930s and 40s, such as the Colt5 Woodsman, which were designed for the bushcraft, backpack survival situations we plan for and talk about around the camp fire.

The .22 pistol I actually carry in my survival ruck is a High Standard Model B which was made in 1942 with a 6-3/4" barrel. It was bequeathed to me from a old Alaska bush pilot who flew covert missions in Vietnam for Air America and until he retired, carried it in the survival seat pack of his DeHavilland Beaver float plane. The High Standard Model B of the WW2 era uses the same magazines as pre-war Colt Woodsmans and is similarly trim, light and accurate.

High Standards in very good to excellent condition can be readily found online in the US to have shipped to your local licensed FFL dealer for legal transfer. A “shooter grade” Colt Woodsman, Huntsman or Challenger in the US will cost $700-$800. A High Standard Model A, B, GB, D, H-B, or H-D in similar VG to Exc. condition will sell for about $100 less than a Colt in similar condition. Classic trapper's .22 autos are handy in the ruck and worth EVERY penny!

As for ammo, the CCI High Velocity Small Game Bullet (SGB) and CCI Subsonic Hollow-Point are the best of US hunting ammo, depending upon whether you want maximum power and penetration, or if you want low noise from your rifle for garden pest control without disturbing the neighbors. CCI Blazer is the best buy for low cost, high volume practice ammo. The CCI Subsonic HP is the only low noise (in a rifle), standard velocity round I have found which also expands reliably from a 6" or longer semi-auto pistol. Eley Subsonic does as well but is expensive and hard to find. While I prefer the SGC for groundhogs, raccoon and larger varmints, subsonic hollow-points are great for stuff like squirrels and rabbits.

Getting any bullet expansion from .22 revolvers is problematic. This is because the cylinder gap reduces velocity. Also, any cylinder misalignment causes asymmetrical scrubbing of the bullet which accentuates its initial yaw as it leaves the muzzle. In water-jug tests I have found that the same bullets which expand well from my 4-1/2" barrel Woodsman and 6-3/4” High Standard do not from 6” revolvers. In revolvers you are ALWAYS better off with solids. High velocity is best if you can find a batch of unplated stuff, such as CCI Blazer, that is accurate.

Practice with your .22 frequently from field positions. With handguns use a lanyard of parachute cord to steady it. Practice until you can hit a bottle cap every time at 10 metres., then increase the distance to 15 metres, When that becomes easy, go to 25 metres and shoot bottle caps from a steady sitting position or using an improved rest. Once you start trying to break clay birds on a dirt bank at 50 metres you have become a hobby shooter and are just showing off!