Your favorite .22 Handgun to carry in the field all day?

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Macchina

Macchina

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What .22 (revolver or auto) do you like carrying all day while walking in the woods? Hiking, hunting, fishing, or just walking...

I carry my very heavy Ruger Mark-III target in a leather Hunter holster. Carrying this gun confirms that I will be able to carry a .44 Magnum shall I want to at any point. This gun is very accurate (thanks in part to its weight) however I'm looking at getting something lighter. I have my eye on the Ruger 22/44 Lite or SR22. What do you carry?
 
I carry a S&W Model 63. It is small and compact, very accurate and suffices for any need I may have for a hand gun for in the field.
 
Of those I own, it would be my Phoenix HP-22A, believe it or not. Good profile for packing, remarkably accurate and reliable, and something I wouldn't get worked up over a little dirt, crud, or water getting on it.

Now, my Heritage Rough Rider revolver fits all that, too, but I'd only enjoy carrying it if I could do so openly.
 
5.5" Ruger MKII Target. However, I don't consider it heavy. I don't even consider my 10" MKII's to be heavy.
 
Either my Ruger MK II 5.5 inch bull barrel Target Model, or my Ruger MK II era 22/45 4 inch bull barrel Target Model. The 22/45 is a lighter, but I don't mind the full size MK II either. Both are great field guns.
 
My SR22 gets the nod, as it is so light, and very reliable.
However, I picked up a Beretta 71 last year. It is also super reliable, plus it has a six inch barrel while remaining compact.
 
Browning Buckmark Plus if hiking. If specifically hunting, a Ruger SP101 since PA doesn't allow hunting with a semi-auto. The SP101 is growing on me to the extent that it might displace the Buckmark except at the range.
 
Beretta Bobcat. Small reliable noisey, which can be a good thing and accurate enough.

Hey Med that Phoenix is a hoot isn't it? Gotta use good ammo though. Enough safeties to keep you busy when you shoot it for the first time.
 
I have two I like, one being a stainless Rossi M511 kit gun. It's exceedingly accurate, squirrel hunting accurate, but heavier than my Ruger SR22, which ain't that shabby in the accuracy department. The SR22 is pocketable when I'm fishing, too. It's only 17 ounces, all day comfy and 2" 25 yards accurate.

I have a Phoenix Arms HP22 I used to pocket for fishing trips and such, killed snakes and such with it. The SR22 replaced it, no break downs with the Ruger, just runs and runs, no stinkin' pot metal. I've had the Ruger a couple of years to 20 for the HP22 and already I have more rounds through the Ruger with NO headaches. Now, the HP22 is pretty much a paper weight.

BUT, if I'm actually hunting small game, either my Contender 10" match barrel with 2x optic or my Ruger Mk 2 with 2x optic.
 
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My all-time favorite .22 to carry all day in the field would have to be my Beretta Model 70S. Extremely reliable, amazingly accurate with most .22 ammo, and with its hard chrome plating, perfectly suited to spend lots of time in the great outdoors.
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Here's my always gun....

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I've killed a lot of vermin with this little gun by virtue of the fact that it was the only appropriate gun on me at the time. If i'm headed out to the woods to bum around and don't want a long gun on me, I will grab the SR22 or the Rossi. But, often, I encounter a raiding possum or something when I only have the NAA on me. Now, if YOU can't shoot it, hey, that's YOUR flaw, not mine. :D My Black Widow, by virtue of its longer sight radius and REAL Novak sights can put 5 rounds off the bench into 3.5" at 25 yards, this standard 1 5/8" model is about half that accurate, but out to 45 feet or so, I've taken rabbits and vermin with it.

Just this fall I was in my box blind with my .308 deer hunting and along comes this swamp rabbit down the sendero and stops about 35 feet in front of me. I drew the gun out of my weak side pocket where it resides, took careful aim using the window of the blind as a rest, and POW...rabbit stew. :D

This little revolver is NOT my choice for and outdoor .22, let me qualify that, but I always have it on me unless I have to pass through a metal detector (twice in my life). It rides back up to my strong side pocket gun normally and is a third gun if I belt carry. If you don't think this thing can hit anything past handshake range, is a "screw it in his ear" gun, trust me, with practice, you can kill game and vermin at ranges you now discount as myth.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=CkDljrTfmFc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=2KpbLmTm2Mc
 
Smith & Wesson 422 Target model is my favorite in the walking the woods, never know when the urge to plink, or when some small game might present itself.
 
I bought a Stoeger Arms Luger in .22LR. right after I got to my first duty station. Everyone said I was nuts as it was just a .22LR. & not a 9mm or a .38SPL.! They said it didn't have enough power to stop a burglar ect.! 2 weeks after I got married I used it to stop a couple of idiots trying to break into my car. The Luger did just fine! You should have seen their faces when they found out I was a USAF SECURITY POLICE OFF.! Now after all these years it still does it's job. My PPK/S in .22LR. is very accurate & reliable and slides into a pocket just fine! Those are my favorites, I have others but these two are what I carry & shoot the most!
 
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