Floating .22s, are any good?

[Joe Demko]

FTR, there is nothing magical or difficult about floating cases. Split the seams open on a padded carry case, replace the foam with closed cell foam, and you have a floating case. It doesn't even have to have started life as a gun case. As long as the gun fits in it, you have a floating gun case.
I think I'd go with something really brightly colored instead of tactical black or commando camo. When you've just suffered a zeppelin crash, or what have you, it being easy to see as it bobs amongst the wreckage trumps it being tacticool.

 

[Pine Cone]

I kayak and own a Marlin SS Papoose, bought in part to take in my kayak. My father has an AR7, made by AR that he bought back in the 1960's. It was taken on pretty much all of the longer sailing trips he ever made, as well as a lot of camping trips. The first AR barrel was warped and he got a better replacement, but the Papoose is a much better shooting gun.

I use dry bags for almost everything that goes in my kayak. A Papoose in its case inside a dry bag will float. If you capsize, anything which is loose in the boat will float away, and if conditions are rough enough to cause you to capsize in the first place, you're not likely to be swimming after a rifle since you need to be holding on to your paddle and your kayak.

If you want to shoot your rifle while on the water and then throw it overboard for the heck of it, get the AR7.

If you want to hit what you are aiming for before you throw the rifle overboard, use a Papoose with a small float attached with a short length of thin rope, or even just use the rope to tether it to the kayak.

That said, a Ruger Single Six revolver, Ruger Mark II or III semi-auto pistol or a S&W 617 revolver would be good choices as well, especially if modified to attach a lanyard to. On the really light a small size I have a great old aluminum-framed High Standard snub-nosed 22 is pretty accurate for a small revolver.

In a pinch, something is better than nothing, so pack along a wrist-rocket slingshot somewhere in your emergency gear. Much more reliable after soaking in a mix of sand and saltwater than any semi-auto...