OK, so I bought one of these Chiappa "L'il Badgers"...

OK, I will give another update, in case anyone is interested.

I was convinced that the ultra-light trigger was so light as to amount to a dangerous defect. But I don't think so now. I shot it again yesterday, and never had anything remotely resembling an ND. It takes a deliberate pull, though so very little. Really, it'd be "just right" if on a competition gun. So if buying one of these, I would *check* the trigger when before buying, to see what it's like, and then only you can decide what is too light or not for your needs. Hopefully mine is an anomaly, and most are in the 2 lb range instead of the 1 and 1/3rd range like this one. It does of course contribute to accuracy though - easy to pull between heartbeats.

At 50 yards, I was getting sub-2.5 MOA (sub 1.25") with some CCW hollow points, which is a bit better than the 4 MOA at 100 I got last time. Not too shabby for a cheap rifle. But of course 2.5 MOA at 50 can open up to more than that at 100 due to wind, etc. The wind was almost calm yesterday. Nearly perfect conditions. Other ammo was terrible like last time (over 6 MOA). Sadly, I don't know *which* CCI was shooting well in it since I found it in a plastic bag in the ammo can at the house.

OK, if you want more updates, PM me - I think this thread is /done, since no one has replied in a long while.
 
Feel free to keep updating. I have the 22 mag model and love it, but agree with all your points. I would like to see where this goes in the long run.
 
Oh. God, it's like a DPM, or something with that handle :D. It is still very impressively light weight, considering all the additions (I'm sure the scope is the vast majority of it, so whatever), and is for sure capable of more than when it was naked.

I've been considering one of these myself, since they're so darn cheap and rimfire needs to be made to last at the range, anymore. I want to go the opposite direction, though, and strip it down even less than Chiappa did;

Replace the stock with a bent aluminum tube version with a cleaning kit in the butt, and a pistol grip formed into the stock profile that is offset to the side by 1/2" or so, then remove the trigger guard and modify the trigger/latch lever to a folding design that is nearly flush. At that point, the breech could be opened and the barrel folded completely against the receiver, and the muzzle could be locked into & protected by the bottom edge of the buttplate :cool:.

Chiappa-little-badger-design.jpg

Y U NO FOLD ALL WAY?!

I also want a Micro Badger single shot pistol :p

TCB
 
I have been curious about the Badger for awhile. The rational part of me knows that my 10-22 Takedown is 100 times more practical, and that I should be looking at much more sophisticated rifles in much larger calibers. However, I have trouble resisting the lure of "fun" gun that is cheap to own and shoot. I figure that a fun rifle that I put 500 rounds a year through is worth more than a trophy case queen that only comes out during rare hunting getaways. The Badger is bound to be one of my next impulse buys.
 
Feel free to keep updating
Click to expand...

OK, in that case...

I changed the heavier scope and steel rings out for a Weaver Classic K 4x28mm and aluminum rings. Now it's exactly 4 lbs, 5.0 oz (4.3 lbs) scoped, unloaded, but with my zippered-pouch-buttstock thing on it, steel thread protector, magpul AFG, and the wood handle I fashioned and attached. Although this is only slightly less than the 4 lbs, 8 oz like it was before, it *feels* lighter - it has the feel of a really lightweight rig now - not as top heavy either.

joshobrien77 (and others), I'm very curious to know what your trigger pull weight is - can you measure it? Because I don't know if my ultra-light / borderline-defective trigger is an anomaly or not. I hope it is an anomaly. Anything under 1.75 to 2.0 lbs is definitely way too light for this type of rifle (for any non-benchrest rig). As I said, this one is around 1 and 1/3rd to 1.5 lbs. Ridiculous. This is the only real barrier to this rifle being a thumbs-up as a usable field rifle. Ideally it would be in the 5 to 6 lb range, or at most (at least?), 3-4 lb range.

With this improvement, and a grip such as I made, this rifle would also be interesting if made in a .38 special chambering.

As far as folding completely over in half, or nearly so...yeah, that'd be a positive, but there are two literal barriers to this - in addition to the trigger guard (the trigger guard doesn't preventing it *mostly* from folding but it does prevent it from completely folding in half, as barnbwt's picture shows) - that's the grip I put on the and Magpul AFG - both of these are highly desirable in my view and thus the folding thing is a lost cause for me.

Years ago, I removed the "winter trigger guard" from a CZ / Springfield M6 Scout, and then it did indeed completely fold. However, if I need a true takedown (short overall length) for a small pack or case, for some reason (don't know why I would, but....), I have the Marlin 39 TDS and the Taurus / Rossi 62 carbine.

This Chiappa could still go into a backpack though, and if the buttstock is placed on the bottom, to the side of a large backpack, the muzzle could just be placed to jut out the "side of the top" of the flap, if that makes sense, and still have the top flap closed up, on most backpacks.... or of course, lashed to the outside of the pack.

I also want a Micro Badger single shot pistol
Click to expand...

Neither I nor the internet has ever heard of that one:

https://www.google.com/webhp?source...=2&ie=UTF-8#q=micro badger single shot pistol

This pic shows the extent to which this one will fold - not very much - 120 out of 180 degrees?

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OK, I'm going to sell this at a loss - if you want it, PM me. I really don't like the "match rifle" trigger on this type of rifle is the bottom line (only reason for selling).

I'm keeping the zippered pouch buttstock doohickey though. I can sell it with or without the Weaver Classic K 4x28mm on there now - your choice.

I will create a for-sale ad in the classifieds, then come back here and link this post to that new thread. Thanks.
 
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