Which rifle for farm yards? 44, 357 or 22WMR?

With respect to the OP's question. A 77/22 in .22WMR and a 12 gauge Benelli both hang by my back door. Which one gets picked up depends on what needs attention.

Boattale said:

With respect to the OP's question. A 77/22 in .22WMR and a 12 gauge Benelli both hang by my back door. Which one gets picked up depends on what needs attention.

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A 77/22 in 22WMR is one of my favorite walkaround rifles.

Here's my 452 Lux in 22 WMR, my favorite long gun.

PO2Hammer said:

Here's my 452 Lux in 22 WMR, my favorite long gun.
View attachment 932456

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That is a very handsome rifle!

Here's my favorite rifle. My favorite long gun is... hell I can't decide whether it's this one or the Wiingmaster.

I picked up a .22Magnum pistol , and a Henry also in .22 Mag . If im just putzing around i can carry the revolver in a holster and hardly know its there, and if I spot a varmint I can grab the rifle .

trekker73 said:

Fellas for in and around yard buildings including large barns , with maximum range about 60 yards I am looking at some options regards handling incursions by pests, predators, and other malcontents. Smallest game maybe on occasional feral cat, largest feral dogs, possibly zombies( I dont like to post about shooting the living but you get the picture) . Trying to keep loads reduced to preserve hearing when in roofed areas. I wont be using supressors for the record.

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Given that scenario, I'm in the shotgun or .22rimfire camp. A 20 gauge or .410 gauge pump or double (for quick repeated shots), or a break-open single shot shotgun or bolt action .22 will work. Some thing quick to point, with repeat shot capability is best.

I keep an old Savage .410 break-open gun at my garage door, with a bag of #4 shot shells. I prefer not to start shooting in the barn if I find an unwanted critter, so I flush them first and shoot as soon as we're clear of the building. The shotgun allows for a quick, un-aimed shot. If you don't kill it with the first one, it usually slows them enough for a followup shot. #4 is big enough for extending the range more than 20-25 yards. If I see something around the barn in a position for a planned shot, I'll grab my .22 semiauto. I have to watch my background where I'm at, so any misses don't make it to the neighbors' property, so I either have to make a planned shot where I move to a position, or use something with limited range.

How about a .22 Hornet?
That'd be a great 60 yard rifle with a touch more ooph than a .22 magnum but less than a .222rem or a .223rem.

If you look around you could find a old Savage 340 bolt action in .22 Hornet. ($400-$500)

I have a H&R SB-1 in that cal.
Fine little singleshot.($300)

CZ makes a nice .22 Hornet but they come at a high price.
Same as the Ruger 77- Hornet

I have a cousin that has a really remington model 25 pump in .25-20 Winchester. ($1k -$2k)
The .25-20 and the .32-20 wincheaters were great farm yard rifle calibers.
The .218 Bee is another but good luck finding a rifle less that $1100.

Marlin model 62 levermatic in .256 Winchester or .30 carbine. ($600-$800)

Or you could go with a 9mm carbine.
Hi-Point makes a 10 shot decent shooter (also available in .40s&w, and .45acp) i have a 995 that will gobble any type 9mm, lead rm, trunucated cone hollowpoint, fmj. ($400 range)
Chiappa makes a 9mm cal M-1 carbine clone that uses beretta m-9 magazines but not sure on reliability. ($600 range)
And Ruger makes a PC-9 carbine has a pretty good reputation for accuracy and reliability ($600 range)

And the .22 TCM the 9mm necked down to .22, the boltaction rifle for that is in the mid $600 range.

Rex in OTZ said:

How about a .22 Hornet?

If you look around you could find a old Savage 340 bolt action in .22 Hornet.

I have a H&R SB-1 in that cal.
Fine little singleshot.

I have a cousin that has a remington pump in .25-20 Winchester.

Marlin model 62 levermatic in .256 Winchester or .30 carbine.

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My grandfather's favorite gun for around the farm was a 340 in 22 K-Hornet. He almost exclusively used a 45 gr cast bullet over, IIRC, Unique for ~2000 fps, which basically made that a reloadable 22 WMR. He used that rifle for hunting everything from squirrels and rabbits up to deer and even used it to slaughter a few cattle that I know of.

Then again as for trying to hit a fox or coon as its dodgeing round the corner of a barn or pen, a 2-3 shot .410 bolt action shotgun will do great.($100-$200)

Good choice for caliber
Did you choose a repeater like a lever action or bolt action or a singleshot?

I have a pyrodex loading using a wad, filler and .457" roundball (45/70).
Out of my 12.5 lb rolling block.

trekker73 said:

22 hornet would not be a bad idea, used as a reloadable 22WMR. Well I ended up going for 357 loaded down with hollowpoints meant for 38 special velocities. 110 grain xtp and the speer 135gn GDHP short barrel bullet which apparently expands all the way down to 875fps. Will do some load and chrony testing when I have the gun. Probably look at a faster subsonic load with the speer and a just into supersonic load with the 110 and see what shoots the best.

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That Speer 135 is overrated slightly, does not expand as much as expected, check out Matt's bullets for the .38 soft hp (think 148). Another member put me into them and they're worth every penny!

trekker73 said:

Rossi 1892 lever action. I looked at the Ruger 77/357 as well but Ruger forums have a few threads about their temperamental accuracy. I figured if I'm not getting bolt action accuracy for those dollars, might as well use a lever action.

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Standard grade rugers are reliable and built well but non-target models have Ho Hum accuracy and usually a chassis to build on to make it as accurate as a Savage out of the box.

The lever action 357 is versatile. You can shoot light load 38 up to full house 357. You can kill squirrel to large deer. 38 out of a long barrel is quiet. And 38 is cheap and one of the only calibers left during panic buying. Not to mention the fact that 38/357 is a great caliber to reload.