Handguns for Small Game!

[Hanshi]

We've done deer so let's get on to little critters; I'll go first. 1. S&W .22LR M17. 2. S&W .38 spl M14. 3. BlackHawk .45 Colt. 4. MKI .22LR Bull Barrel. 5. Colt Combat Commander .45. 6. S&W 1955 .45 acp. 7. H.S. "Victor" .22LR. 8. S&W M15 .38 spl. 9. S&W M18 .22LR. 10. Colt .22 LR Woodsman Sport. 11. Colt Diamondback .38 spl. 12. S&W M28 .357..
There have been many others such as several S&W M17s, Ruger Single Sixes, .357 BHs and more. Sadly I foolishly let the Single Sixes and other S&W M17s get away from me. I mourn them. There was also a .44 c&b 1858 New Army. They've taken everything from squirrels, rabbits/rats to coons and feral dogs.

 

[mark1945]

Heres my favorite 22 that I have Ruger MK III Hunter.

 

[Hanshi]

Great set-up, Mark. Me? I just mostly used whatever gun was in my holster at the time - reason for so many. I had my favorites, of course, one of which was an S&W M48 .22 WMRF. Sadly, I let it get away from me.

 

[Fyrstyk]

In my home state, we can only hunt small game with nothing larger than a .22 rimfire. That being said, I have used a Ruger Mark !, a S&W Model 18, a S&W Model 34, and of course a T/C Contender. I switched to hunting with a handgun when I realized how easy it was getting squirrels with a scoped rifle so I moved on to handguns to improve my stalking skills and to add more spice to the hunt. It has been very satisfying. Now I have moved on again, and do most of my squirrel and rabbit hunting with a Kevin Blivens .32 caliber flint lock. Talk about a kick.

 

[mark1945]

Hanshi ,I wish I had some of my old Handguns back I had a Ruger convertable 22/22mag bought it new for 59.99 but it and some of my other guns were stollen from my mothers house while I was in Viet Nam . Only thing the SOB didnt get was my Stevens model 15 I got for my 5th birthday it was at my sisters house. one of my other favorites is my Colt Peacemaker 22 mag.

 

[Hanshi]

I've let so many "treasures" get away from me that I don't think about them too much or else I'll get depressed. Not sure of the legality back in my native Georgia, but I really liked the .38 spl and .45 Colt for squirrels. Sure, the .22s got major workouts but it was just fun to use a variety of guns/calibers. All did a wonderful job of dropping them without significant damage. One squirrel coming down a tree trunk paused long enough for me to aim for the head and fire a 148 grain HBWC. I fired and nothing happened, the critter didn't move a muscle. It was a fairly long shot so I figured I'd missed and stalked closer for another shot. As I brought the S&W M14 up to aim again the squirrel dropped limply to the forest floor. When retrieved and examined closely the squirrel had a barely noticeable entry "slit" in one side of its head and a similar one where the bullet exited. I've had this happen on other occasions with one being hit with a .562" prb. Small game, squirrels especially, can have tough hide and not enough mass to offer much resistance to a slower moving bullet. My .45 Colt holster revolver gets 1060 fps with a 265 grain swc. One bushytail on the side of a tree trunk took a hit with that load back to front on the spine just a couple of inches behind the shoulders. He never moved so I just sat and waited. Sure enough, about 30 seconds later it dropped to the ground. Only "damage" was a caliber size hole straight through and out the underside.

 

[Marty1]

We've done deer so let's get on to little critters; I'll go first. 1. S&W .22LR M17. 2. S&W .38 spl M14. 3. BlackHawk .45 Colt. 4. MKI .22LR Bull Barrel. 5. Colt Combat Commander .45. 6. S&W 1955 .45 acp. 7. H.S. "Victor" .22LR. 8. S&W M15 .38 spl. 9. S&W M18 .22LR. 10. Colt .22 LR Woodsman Sport. 11. Colt Diamondback .38 spl. 12. S&W M28 .357..
There have been many others such as several S&W M17s, Ruger Single Sixes, .357 BHs and more. Sadly I foolishly let the Single Sixes and other S&W M17s get away from me. I mourn them. There was also a .44 c&b 1858 New Army. They've taken everything from squirrels, rabbits/rats to coons and feral dogs.

My RUGER MARK I is my goto for squirrel and rabbit.

 

[Hanshi]

Except for changing grips on some of them all the ones I use are absolutely stock. Now, there IS one glaring exception and that is the Colt Combat commander .45 acp. That fine pistol has a trigger job, "King-Tappan sights", beaver-tail grip safety, extended slide release and thumb safety and beveled magazine well. I sent it to King's Gun Works back in the 1970s; they've worked on several I own/owned. No accuracy job on this particular CC but the Gov. model .38 sup and the 1911 Gov. model do have ss Barsto barrels. The CC shoots dang fine with 200 grain lead swc loads.