Best small cartridge for a handgun/rifle combo

[JONWILL]

I often carry a Marlin levergun and Ruger SA revolver in 38/357 when in the woods. It's a good carry combination IMO.

If you are looking for very light a .22 Magnum us a good choice.

IMHO. The 38/357 is perfect. You can load shotshells, target 38's all the way to full power 357's. Good for most small game.

 

[ThomasT]

I'm a real fan of the 22mag round. I need to pick up a Henry lever action 22mag rifle to go with my ruger single six's.

I just remembered I have TWO 22 mag rifles already. Both Marlins, a 783 and an 883. Both bolt action tube fed rifles. But I still want a 22 mag lever gun. I guess when you can't remember what guns you own you own too many. My wife thinks I do anyway.

 

[kemikos]

I can't for a moment suggest that it is really "the best" combination, but I was always drawn to the 30 Carbine as a rifle and as a cartridge for the Ruger Blackhawk chambered in it.

I've always wanted this combo:



Not that I'd win any practicality contests, but both are a hell of a lot of fun to shoot...

 

[kBob]

AAARRGGHHHGGG!

More "rim-fire shortage" tales. I guess it was a shortage for folks that either shoot several hundred rounds a week (Really?) or folks that never bothered to have anything in storage. Clues......the ammo has been cheap and compact since it was first made. 6000, yes, six thousand rounds of .22LR in old style 500 round bricks and individual 50 round boxes will fit in a large GI ammo can 5.56 came in. That's 50 rounds (an old box) a week for over two years per can. The bottom shelf od the book case in my gun closet holds five such cans with some room left over......over ten years worth of .22 ammo at 50 rounds per week.

I am guessing you guys don't do storage food or have a means of providing your family water either.

Meanwhile the OP has gone and bought the .357 argument......which if you want to reload and be flexible makes perfect sense to me.

You can go from wad cutter pistol loads with teenie amounts of Bullseye that barely push the bullet from a two inch revolvers for low noise and indoor shooting (be sure the place is well ventilated) to screaming 158 to 180 grain loads in a rifle that will take a deer at 100 yards or less just fine.

Hey no one mentioned a Ruger Hawkeye and a Marlin Levermatic in .256! Not sure why anyone would but just had to for giggles.

I realize that the 9x19mm semi auto carbines are likely cheaper to make, but I have to wonder if something like the old Spanish Destroyer in 9x19mm and other semi auto calibers and taking common pistol magazines might sell, especially in areas that dislike semi autos.

I would not mind having one of the old Bingham-Squires .32 Auto faux AR15s from the 1970's to go with my P32. I do not have the numbers handy but shooting .32ACP from a Savage .308 bolt gun with a chamber adapter produced higher muzzle velocities than pistols. I wondered at the time if the barrel was so long that the bullet had actually slowed down from its top velocity as there was little muzzle flash and noise seemed reduced though by no meant quiet. Having the rifle would also give me an excuse to have more than a box or two of .32ACP around at a time......and I do have an empty ammo can or two....

Been fun.

-kBob

 

[ThomasT]

KBob you make good points about having a stash of 22 ammo. I have somewhere around 30,000 rounds on hand. After 2008 when .22 ammo started to come back again I started buying a box or two everytime I went to WM or for 22 mag ammo when Sportsmans Guide had a sale I bought some. One day I decided to see how much 22 ammo I had. Well I had 30,000 22s and over 5,000 22 mag rounds on hand. I have only bought a few boxes of 22s since then. Mainly the CCI 22 Quiet ammo. I like to have rounds with a lower sound level just in case.

I mentioned one of my combo guns was a 9mm. I have 3 9mm pistols and a Marlin Camp Carbine in 9mm. The camp carbine has a new Blackjack buffer and three spring weights. I have the original 11 pound spring, a 17 pound spring and 21 pound spring. With the heaviest spring I can shoot 124gr lead bullets at less than 900fps and they are about as quiet as CB 22s. And the heavy spring turns the gun into a straight pull bolt since they will not cycle the action.

I have wanted a Destroyer Carbine ever since I read an article on them in Shotgun News years ago.

One thing I have never understood is why no one ever made a bolt action rifle in the 30 Carbine round? Or even a Handi-Rifle in 30 Carbine. As popular and desirable is the little semi auto is you would have thought that someone would have made other guns to use that round especially when there was a glut of surplus ammo. And if it could be made to take the 30 carbine mags that would be that much better.

 

[chicharrones]

I would not mind having one of the old Bingham-Squires .32 Auto faux AR15s from the 1970's to go with my P32. I do not have the numbers handy but shooting .32ACP from a Savage .308 bolt gun with a chamber adapter produced higher muzzle velocities than pistols. I wondered at the time if the barrel was so long that the bullet had actually slowed down from its top velocity as there was little muzzle flash and noise seemed reduced though by no meant quiet. Having the rifle would also give me an excuse to have more than a box or two of .32ACP around at a time......and I do have an empty ammo can or two....

Been fun.

-kBob

Some numbers here. http://ballisticsbytheinch.com/32auto.html
http://ballisticsbytheinch.com/32auto.html
I have a stainless chamber adapter from MC Ace for shooting .32 ACP in a .308 rifle. It's fun low recoil shooting, but I've never tested it across a chronometer.

 

[jdh]

Yeah, like neigh on impossible!
What do you mean by "small game" - edible or varmints? I ask because a .22 Hornet, unless you load it down, is going to make a heck of a mess out of edible "small game" such as rabbits, squirrels and grouse - unless you can always shoot them in their heads. On the other hand, using various .357s and .44s, I've snipped the heads off more blue and ruffed grouse than I can remember. It legal here during the season, and there's no finer meal than blue grouse fried on a Coleman stove in a deer/elk hunting camp tent.
But if the "small game" you're talking about is only varmints, why do you care about how large of a "bullet" you're using?
Never-the-less, I repeat - you're not going to find a .22 Hornet revolver - which by the way, would be LOUDER than you can believe.

You were saying?
http://www.taurususa.com/product-details.cfm?id=86&category=Revolver

No longer in production but can be found.

 

[.308 Norma]

You were saying?
http://www.taurususa.com/product-details.cfm?id=86&category=Revolver

No longer in production but can be found.

Yeppers, I forgot about those Taurus Raging Hornets.

 

[Vince Cyr]

My old man just started down the 22 TCM rabbit-hole. I think it might be a viable option for those in the 22 Hornet camp, as it is pretty close ballisticly. 1911s are a pretty bombproof design, and a bolt-action that shares mags is a good idea. I think if there is a push for reloading tools and data(my dad just looked this morning, and all he found was a few custom dies from $80-120) it could become popular. Down loaded, with the right bullets, it could be used for small game, and with another bullet, and loaded as hot as the platform can handle,(though it wouldn't be my first choice) it could theoretically be used for smaller deer.

 

[FL-NC]

Forget about reloadable. Get a Savage 22 magnum and a Ruger single six with LR and magnum cylinders. The only downside to the 22 magnum rifle is that if you want to eat the squirrels, you will need to hit them in the head. Easy to do with a Savage though. Also enough power to kill larger animals fairly easy in a pinch, with proper shot placement.

 

[Vince Cyr]

... The only downside to the 22 magnum rifle is that if you want to eat the squirrels, you will need to hit them in the head.

This can't be said enough. I have used a 22mag and even with a good headshot, you stand to lose the front wheels if you don't pick your bullets carefully. The 40 gn TMJ rounds work best, in my experience, but even they can be a bit destructive.

 

[JTHunter]

Stationary Smell - it looks like you made a good choice.
As others have stated, combos are good. To wit, I have:
Marlin bolt-action .22LR and a Ruger 10-22;
Ruger Single Six with .22LR & .22 Mag cylinders;
another Marlin bolt-action but in .22 Mag;
Keltec PMR-30 in .22 Mag (and I'm thinking about getting the CMR-30 carbine);
Ruger GP-100 in .357 Mag;
and finally, a Marlin 1894 levergun (Armored farmer take note!) in .38 Special/.357 Magnum.

And I reload for the .357 too.

 

[JTHunter]

Absolutely!

The 32-20 is hands down my favorite cartridge. I use it for a variety of things including shooting in Cowboy Action Matches to dispatching skunks and other pests on the ranch.

It is a bottleneck cartridge but I don't find it any harder to reload the straight wall cases. Just takes a extra moment when resizing it to avoid dinging the case mouth. The bottleneck makes it a most excellent reliable feeding rifle round.

However the bad news is trying to guns chambered in it. My long gun is a Cimarron 1873 carbine which is what gets used here on the ranch.

My only 32-20 handgun is a EMF Single Action revolver. It is not a easy revolver to pack as it has a 7 1/2" barrel. One of the guns at the top of my list is a Colt Police Positive or S&W with a 4" barrel as it would make a great combination.

One of the guns I inherited is a S&W in .32-20, except mine has a 6" barrel. While I have shot it a little and still have unshot ammo, when I found out its condition and value, it became a "safe queen".