Besides 22LR what caliber do you hunt small game with?

[Kruger]

With 22s being as scarce as they are what caliber do you hunt with?

[hoose35]

I use a Marlin .17 hmr, works great for me

[limon32]

.223 loaded down to moderate velocity worked great on a hare last year, .410 shotgun has been my go to gun for a few years now. Not cheap but always easy to find.

I suspect some .22 hornet guys will chime in, seems like a great option too.


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[Kruger]

If you can get head shots the 17HMR is hard to beat but body shots are ugly. The 17HMR is kind just special in the since that it is extremely accurate regardless whether it is be shot out of a cheap rifle or an expensive rifle.

[Brian M]

I've always carried a .410 more often than a .22. Sometimes the 20 gauge gets the nod.

[outdoor1]

The 17 hmr vert accurate but you must take the right shots.

[4merguide]

The 17 hmr vert accurate but you must take the right shots.

.....you mean like when the wind isn't blowing.........lol

[.338WM]

.22 Hornet

[BTK]

.17 HM2 is super fun and accurate. It goes where I point it, no excuses.

[BrownBear]

Ah man, better to ask what calibers I DON"T hunt snowshoes with.

I used reduced vel cast bullet loads in all my centerfire calibers, rifle and handgun. Top to bottom in rifles, those include 50-140 Win, 458 Win, 44 Kodiak, 375 H&H, 358 Win, 35 Rem, 30-40 Krag, 7mm RemMag, 284, 7x57, 257 Robts, 250 Savage, 6mm Rem, 243, 22-250, 223 and 222. There's more, but that's what I can think of at the moment. In handguns it's 44 Mag, 44 Spec, 357 mag, 38 Sec.

Dedicated small game guns? Pride and joy is tied between 25-20 and 25-35.

Then we get into the muzzleloaders, with reduced loads in 75, 72, 62, 58, 54, and 50 cal. Dedicated small game muzzleloaders are in 36, 32, and 30 calibers.

Air rifles and air pistols are all in 17 caliber, and they've all taken snowshoe hares, too.

Just can't beat reduced loads in bigger calibers for field practice. Snowshoe hares is all about head shooting, so the size of the hole doesn't matter. Extra days in the field with your bigger calibers mean a heck of a lot, though.

Basically, the heck with rimfire and the hoarders. So far this year, I fired zackly 10 rounds of 22 rimfire to sight in a rifle for a hunt, then I ended up taking a muzzleloader instead. At this rate, a brick of 22's is going to last 50 years.

[Kruger]

I have loaded a lot of 25-20s but have never used them on small game. I bet it does very little damage to the meat. I really like that little round. I am looking at building a 17 Fireball.

[rbuck351]

25/20 tops the list but 45acp and 38spl if I'm using a handgun all of which I can shoot as cheap as the elusive 22lr.

[FL2AK-Old Town]

Funny, I was just having this discussion with a guy on the local ham radio repeater.

One thing I've been considering is super low power 38 spcl hand loads. I have a Rossi 92 38/357, and I used to load something like a single digit amount (8 gr maybe?) of ...I don't recall...unique perhaps, on some lead projectiiles that I got free from some guy at the range. The recoil wouldn't even budge the rifle on the rest. Real accurate.

Then, of course, there's my 32-20. (Speaking of which...I need to meet up with SOMEBODY in this thread to load some more of these...you know who you are lol) But I came buy a sizeable stash of 22 brick for sale in Florida last year, so I'm not "hurting" on rimfire-just wish I had a better rifle to shoot it in.

[limon32]

Funny, I was just having this discussion with a guy on the local ham radio repeater.

One thing I've been considering is super low power 38 spcl hand loads. I have a Rossi 92 38/357, and I used to load something like a single digit amount (8 gr maybe?) of ...I don't recall...unique perhaps, on some lead projectiiles that I got free from some guy at the range. The recoil wouldn't even budge the rifle on the rest. Real accurate.

Then, of course, there's my 32-20. (Speaking of which...I need to meet up with SOMEBODY in this thread to load some more of these...you know who you are lol) But I came buy a sizeable stash of 22 brick for sale in Florida last year, so I'm not "hurting" on rimfire-just wish I had a better rifle to shoot it in.

A single shot .357/.38 is a great idea! I've got the pistol powder already and lead cast is back in stock pretty much everywhere.


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[ak_cowboy]

12ga #7.5 shot