Best .22 for woods/hiking

I have a heratige, I bought one with the fiberoptic sights (approx 200 otd w/ammo). Its pretty darn accurate at 25 yards to. havent done much past shooting beer cans with it though. The Ruger Single Six is a beautiful gun though, worth the price if you are shopping for looks.

The Ruger Single Six is a beautiful gun though, worth the price if you are shopping for looks.

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They perform well beyond their looks! Most likely the most durable & shootable .22 around period! Get one in stainless and it would be mighty hard to find a better woods & trail gun for use in outdoor weather.

I have an old H&R similar to the ones above, and a couple of Ruger pistols. I have a holster for one of the Ruger pistols. I have never actually carried any of them. They all have long barrels, and the Rugers have slabside bull barrels. They're great for match and target shooting.

I have a couple of Ruger single actions, though neither are rimfires, and they're great guns. I don't much care for ejecting tiny .22LR brass from a single action, but otherwise, the Single Six and Bearcat are wonderful things.

But... if I had to pick the .22 I'd most want to carry with me on the trail, it would be none of the above.

It would be a 3" S&W 317.



http://www.smith-wesson.com/webapp/...selected=over&isFirearm=Y&parent_category_rn=

The thing weighs less than a 637, comes with adjustable fiber sights, fits well in my hand (just like a Model 60), and comes in 8- or 10-round versions -- far easier to load and unload than a single action, but with no little oily .22 magazines to fiddle with in the dirt. I'd choose the 10-round version. It's compact, extremely light and easy to carry, but fun to use for plinking, too. I don't think there's another gun quite like that.

It's not cheap. I don't own one, for that reason, and that reason alone. But if I REALLY wanted a gun for that specific purpose, I'd consider selling something else, saving some cash, and buying one.

Ruger MK II is the best IMO. Bought my last one for 250 NIB.

I would go with the Buckmark or Ruger Mark III if you adhere to your budget. If it were me, I'd go with either the Model 63 or 317 Smiths even though they exceed your budget. They should last you for a lifetime and you have a high quality 22 revolver.

The other one that I really like for this purpose is the 4" Colt Diamondback. Pricey these days, but it's my favorite.

Have a Ruger Single Six and a Taurus 96. Like both, Ruger is higher, and have never had any problems with the Taurus. Taurus is DA And Single is SA.

I've carried a 22/45 and put a bazzillion rounds though it (atleast 10,000). Hard to beat. I paid $140 for mine used 10 or 12 years ago.

My favorite is a single-six ss convertable. Paid $400 used with nice rosewood grips, custom leather, a trigger job, and adj. sights. Wouldn't part with it for 4 or 5 times that much.....never shot it with the .22mag cyl., but it's had a few thousand rounds through the .22lr.

These two models are addictive. I now own several of both.

T2E

I wish I could hunt with the Colt but PA does not allow Semi's for hunting.

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I feel your pain Brian. I have a Ruger Mark II that went through Clark Custom that will shoot better that I can but like you, I can't hunt with it either. (I bought it used)

jfrey said:

If the single-six is a little high, which it is, my second choice would definately be the Buck Mark. A friend has a rough rider and honestly, I'm not that impressed. It goes"BANG" when you pull the trigger, but the pot metal frame just doesn't excite me. My BM shoots great and I'll stick with it.

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As the proud owner of a Heritage Rough Rider, I always find it amusing when people make fun of the alloy frame. What do you all think Buckmarks and Ruger MK III's frames are made out of? Panzer Steel?

Anyways... I'd take a Ruger Single Six (that IS steel) over my Heritage any day... but my Heritage has been a CHAMP. Thousands of rounds, no failures of any kind, startling accuracy and a freakishly nice trigger for $120 (try budsgunshop.com). The low price makes it an even better woods gun, because if its lost or damaged, I won't lost so much sleep over it. I still will be sad because I LOVE it... and I have nicer guns.

My biggest complaint is that .22s aren't really the Single Action caliber... if you're plowing through a box of 500 22s, the Single Actions can be slow to load. Obviously this is a problem with the Single Six as well.

What do you all think Buckmarks and Ruger MK III's frames are made out of? Panzer Steel?

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My Ruger is stainless steel, except for the grips, which are some sort of wood laminate. Not sure what you think it's made of.

Touche' ArmedBear, Touche'....

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I like a nice S&W Model 63-4 as a woods carry gun. Weighs 30 oz. and shoots very well.
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Or a S&W Model 34. Great gun, very versatile,

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Please let him know where to send his $300.00 .....................LOL

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Well, he should save his money until he has enough to get the best.



The old Model 43 Airweight was good, too......if you don't mind alloy.

I can't stand those multi-colored plastic sights on the newer .22 J frames of recent days.

S&w 17

Something in a classic S&W perhaps?

Higene

For me, a Ruger SSS

I carry a Buckmark 5.5" slabside as a hiking/backpacking pistol.

I had a custom leather holster with flap & extra mag case made just for this purpose.

No problems with ruggedness or reliability, and accuracy is dependent on ammo I use.

I have not cleaned it in 10 years beyond a boresnake and hosing with brake cleaner.

i have to agree with it all. ive shot a few thousand thru a buckmark camper ss
LOVED IT. chap and good ammo just a couple of ftfs. i also like the beretta neos. it is a slick gun.
had a single six was a great gun, accurate but hate the single action when shooting a bunch.
spent a few hundred rds thru a heritage, and was impressed.
but my opinion for a camping gun, light, somewhat accurate, quick to fire at bgs or cayotes, is a phoenix arms hp 22. it holds 10 in the mag, never fails to feed costs 125 new, lifetime warranty, has 3 safety's so great for hiking, and is surprisingly small, accurate, and reliable. just what i want in a camp gun.
plus you can keep one in the pipe safely in case something sneaks up on you and you need a quick shot.
soggysod

I would get a Ruger single six or a ruger semi

I vote for the Ruger Single-Six in Stainless and convertible 22lr/22mag! Shop around for a used one, or save a little longer. I like to carry mine loaded with 22mag in the woods.

Everyone is different...

All the weapons mentioned are fine. They all do their jobs. It comes down to what you like personally.

I have a S&W 22A which I love to shoot. I've read where so many people dislike them but mine shoots great, I have no problems with FTF or FTE and I like the way it looks and feels. You can take it apart and put it together in minutes without any tools. It's just a simple weapon that works for me.

I also have a Ruger MarkIII Target Bull Barrel. I like the looks of it a little more than the Smith but hate the trigger. I'm planning on replacing the sear and trigger parts with the VQ kit sometime. The Ruger isn't as hard to tear down and reassemble as you may have heard. If you've never done it before, just follow the directions and you'll be ok. After you figure it out and look at how it's designed, it's really simple. I haven't had any problems with feeding or ejecting with it either. I usually shoot bulk ammo in all of our .22s, although the Fed automatch seems to work the best in terms of accuracy vs cost.

I'm now looking at a Buckmark. I like the looks of them and both of my teenage sons love to shoot so it's cheaper with the .22s.

My 13 year old saved for almost a year for his Ruger Mark III Standard and he loves it. My other son is now saving for the Single Six.

You really just need to find what gun you like as far as feel and looks and then get one. They all are fine weapons IMO.

Good Luck

Get a Ruger Mk. III (or Mk. II if you can find a good used one). They're built like a rock and will fire just about any crap ammo without a hiccup. Yes, field stripping the first few times can be challenging till you get the hang of it but as someone pointed out they don't need cleaning often.

I bought a conversion kit for my Sig P226 and for my M4, and now both of them shoot .22LR. You can order conversion kits for a variety of firearms at http://www.22lrconversions.com/

CMMG makes very nice AR conversion kits.
The Sig kit I bought is a Sig factory kit.

If you want a very accurate .22LR pistol that would be great for hiking, you can buy a Thompson Center pistol frame and put a 15" .22LR barrel on it. The frame will cost you under $400, and the .22LR barrel is under $300. Once you have the pistol frame, you can buy additional barrels, stocks, etc to make as many firearms of different calibers as you want without having to do additional background checks - because only the frame requires any paperwork. You can check them out here:
http://www.eabco.com/encore4.html

I've got one of the first Heritage revolvers made back in the early '90s and it still goes bang every time and just as accurate as the Single Six I sold. Not sure how many rounds has gone through it since I bought it used, but this family has used the heck out of it and it always goes to the range every week.
Last I heard Heritage was number one in hangun sales in '07. Locally I can get the 22lr only version for $130 which is probably why the sell so well. X

I have both a Ruger MKII and a Buckmark. They run on almost anything but both choke up on Winchester Xpert 22 hollowpoints. They're not real roundnosed and get hung up on the feedramp on both guns.

ArmedBear said:

22/45 is a good gun.

Single Six can easily be found used for under 300 bucks. And I'd want a used gun, because it will get some finish wear anyway. Might as well not pay for a new finish that won't stay that way for long.

But what do you want it for? What will you shoot with it?

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I would get a Ruger Single Six. I own one and it is the best gun I own. I shoot it the most it is very accurate. Ammo .22 shorts, .22 long. .22 long rifle, . 22wmag. It gos bang every time doesn't jam. Yes it is slow to reload but I like to take time and make every shot count. You get an auto you have a tendency to spray. I watched my friends try to clear ftf because with autos your gun may not like the ammo you feed it.

Lately, once again, I'm getting the hots for an NAA mini master. I went lookin' yesterday, but didn't find one locally. I can probably order it cheaper, though, through a friend with a FFL. I'm wanting the .22mag/LR model with adjustable sights and I'll put a holster grip on it. I can clip it to the top of my T shirt when I'm wade fishing to keep it out of the water. That'll be way neat. It'll mostly be my outdoor gun when I don't wanna take my Rossi 511 and the magnum would be an almost effective self defense gun if needed. Beats the hell out of the .38 stuck in my dry box in the kayak, anyway.

Yeah, this is sort of a specialized application for a .22 revolver, wade fishing gun, but it's really just an excuse. I've wanted one of these little toots for a while now. LOL I have a .22 NAA with 1 5/8" barrel and it's been one of my most useful guns over the years just because I always have it when I need it. I've shot rats, rabbits, snakes, a nutria, possums, with it over the years because I didn't wanna use a 9mm and my back up is the NAA. It's so small and light, it always goes with me. My limits with it is about 15-20 yards on a rabbit sized animal, though. The 4" barrel and real sights on the mini master should be quite useful and double my effective range I'm hoping, while still being quite compact and carryable.