Rosco P. Coltrain
Moderator
Anyone know about this shotgun? It's a 22lr smoothbore.
Marlin Garden Gun
- Thread starter Rosco P. Coltrain
- Start date
Bolt action, magazine fed, .22 MAG smoothbore made for shotshells. Looks like the regular marlin bolt gun. For it stated purpose (in the catalog) I can see it if that is what you need. For any thing other than a few shots out of it a year, I can't see it. Not too many makers of .22 MAG shotshells and I can imagine thay are expensive.
I once had a Remington 510X which was a smoothbore made for shooting .22 LR shotshells. Had a bead front sight and shot pretty well for such a small payload of shot but it had a very limited range.
These types of guns are fun but for vey limited purposes.
NJW in AZ
I once had a Remington 510X which was a smoothbore made for shooting .22 LR shotshells. Had a bead front sight and shot pretty well for such a small payload of shot but it had a very limited range.
These types of guns are fun but for vey limited purposes.
NJW in AZ
Mike Baugh
New member
I have an elderly neighbor that uses one to shoot nuisance birds in his garden and he loves it . It will drop a blackbird size critter at 20 yards no problem . The shells are the weak link , I believe CCI is the only maker . Good luck , Mike...
I have a marlin 22 designed to take .22 shotshells. The barrel has no rifling and is stamped on the barrel use .22 shotshells only.
I use the gun to shoot english sparrows in warehouses where they have become pests and can't be driven out by other means. The .22 shotshells contain #12 birdshot and work very well on the sparrows, killing the birds but not damaging the roof and rafters. I have even hit glass windows with the shot and have not borken the glass at about 30 feet. The advantage of the gun is that it is not very loud and can be used indoors with proper safety precautions for pest control.
CCI makes the shotshells, they are more expensive than regular .22 ammo but not prohibitively expensive. The .22 Long Rifle shot shell only guns are still available from distributors.
The gun reviewed in American Rifleman is a .22 magnum version and is more powerful. It probably makes more noise and would most likely be great for nuisance pigeons and starlings.
The great thing about these guns is that I get paid to shoot!
Geoff Ross
I use the gun to shoot english sparrows in warehouses where they have become pests and can't be driven out by other means. The .22 shotshells contain #12 birdshot and work very well on the sparrows, killing the birds but not damaging the roof and rafters. I have even hit glass windows with the shot and have not borken the glass at about 30 feet. The advantage of the gun is that it is not very loud and can be used indoors with proper safety precautions for pest control.
CCI makes the shotshells, they are more expensive than regular .22 ammo but not prohibitively expensive. The .22 Long Rifle shot shell only guns are still available from distributors.
The gun reviewed in American Rifleman is a .22 magnum version and is more powerful. It probably makes more noise and would most likely be great for nuisance pigeons and starlings.
The great thing about these guns is that I get paid to shoot!
Geoff Ross
I have a Marlin 22Mag rifle and I have tried out those CCI 22mag shotshells. (Is that bad for the rifle?) My impression was that this combination is quite pathetic. The only thing I can see it useful for is dealing with small vermin. But I am even skeptical it would be useful for this.
Maybe the mini-shotshells perform better in a smoothbore?
Maybe the mini-shotshells perform better in a smoothbore?
Oleg,
I think you have fallen for a commom misconception that the smaller gauges are "less" than the larger 12 gauge. In fact, the smaller gauges shoot their payload at the same velocities as the larger gauges, they just shoot a smaller payload.
In this case, even the .410 is much more superior than the .22 mag shot shell in both speed and payload.
Don't sell the smaller gauges short, most people do because they have zero experience with them. I both hunt and shoot skeet with the .410 and find that I am not handicapped at all. You just have less shot to do the same job so you have to be extremely percise. After shooting a 1/2 oz. paylod, 1 1/8 oz. paylod of the 12 guage seems excessive.
NJW in AZ
I think you have fallen for a commom misconception that the smaller gauges are "less" than the larger 12 gauge. In fact, the smaller gauges shoot their payload at the same velocities as the larger gauges, they just shoot a smaller payload.
In this case, even the .410 is much more superior than the .22 mag shot shell in both speed and payload.
Don't sell the smaller gauges short, most people do because they have zero experience with them. I both hunt and shoot skeet with the .410 and find that I am not handicapped at all. You just have less shot to do the same job so you have to be extremely percise. After shooting a 1/2 oz. paylod, 1 1/8 oz. paylod of the 12 guage seems excessive.
NJW in AZ
That reminds me of a story/experience...
I went skeet shooting one time last summer with my buddy. We had just started shooting skeet in the spring after we both got 12 gauge semi-autos. That day,we wound up shooting with a group of 3 old farts (I don't mean to offend any of our older TFLrs by this statement, but they did fart a lot!
) Anyway, one gentleman was using a .410 pump. Now I've tried skeet with a pump before, and I could never quite get the rhythm right. This guy with the .410 winds up shooting a perfect round and a not so perfect round (24) in high wind! My friend and I were truely amazed. Surely if this guy can get a perfect round with a puny .410, we should have no problem with our 12 gauge cannons.
We are still trying....
I went skeet shooting one time last summer with my buddy. We had just started shooting skeet in the spring after we both got 12 gauge semi-autos. That day,we wound up shooting with a group of 3 old farts (I don't mean to offend any of our older TFLrs by this statement, but they did fart a lot!
) Anyway, one gentleman was using a .410 pump. Now I've tried skeet with a pump before, and I could never quite get the rhythm right. This guy with the .410 winds up shooting a perfect round and a not so perfect round (24) in high wind! My friend and I were truely amazed. Surely if this guy can get a perfect round with a puny .410, we should have no problem with our 12 gauge cannons.We are still trying....
Mike Baugh
New member
The reason my neighbor switched to the Garden gun from a .410 was the .410 shells were $8 for 25 and the .22 mag shotshells were $4.25 per 20 [he goes through about 1000 shells a year] and the .410 was a lot louder . With developers building closer to his property he was concerned with the extra range and noise of the .410 . Good luck , Mike...
Oleg, the 410 is much too powerful to shoot sparrows indoors. It would shoot holes in the roof! (don't ask!)
The garden gun is perfect for shooting small vermin at close range where noise may be a problem. Also it doesn't require hearing protection like the 410 would, the shotshell is quieter than the regular .22 round. I always wear glasses however. Both the 410 and he 28 ga are loud enough to damage hearing indoors.
NJW is right about the 410 and 28. The velocity of the shot from these small guns is about the same as a 20 or 12 ga. The difference is that the guns launch less shot.
I would love to shoot sparrows with my 28, but the local police would frown on me for doing so.
The .22 shotshell is definitely a close range weapon.
Geoff Ross
The garden gun is perfect for shooting small vermin at close range where noise may be a problem. Also it doesn't require hearing protection like the 410 would, the shotshell is quieter than the regular .22 round. I always wear glasses however. Both the 410 and he 28 ga are loud enough to damage hearing indoors.
NJW is right about the 410 and 28. The velocity of the shot from these small guns is about the same as a 20 or 12 ga. The difference is that the guns launch less shot.
I would love to shoot sparrows with my 28, but the local police would frown on me for doing so.
The .22 shotshell is definitely a close range weapon.
Geoff Ross