what exactly is a camp gun?

I

idek

New member
I often see people write about using .22 handguns as camp or hiking guns. What is a "camp gun" used for?
 
Same use as a "kit gun". It is usually a 22. It has only been in the last 10-years or so that most people are the least bit concerned about any wild animal in the US except the Grizzly (in which case, the 22 is a little small).

What's a camp knife? A knife you use when you camp....
 
To me, it's an un-allocated rifle that stays in camp. It is usually a 22 or a handgun caliber but I have seen some women insist on a rifle big enough to kill big game in case one wanders through camp during the day while the men are out hunting.

If the camp is not a hunting camp then just think battle rifle.
 
My idea of a "camp gun" would be my 4506 with some +p ammo in it.....;) BTW, I hate camping, unless it has central air and cable TV.....:p
 
I go camping a few times a year and there is never a camp gun, there are camp guns. A .38 snub in my pocket when I sleep, and a .22 rifle and pistol for shooting during the day. I don't hunt anything with the .22's its usually just for fun but if I ever get lost in the woods they sure will come in handy.
 
Back in the old days when I was hunting for ivory a camp rifle was a small bore used for keeping the hunting party in meat. No need using the 375 H&H for a measly impala. ;)
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It is just a small caliber rifle or pistol used around camp for fun and food.
 
I like to know, how do you get to shoot guns at "camp" I remember camps being packed with other people around, and only using shotgun/rifles away from people in the target ranges. If there was a crawler someone would bag it. :confused:
 
many of us do not camp at "campgrounds"...

My intention when camping is not to be surrounded by other people, but to get away from other people. Granted, owning property or having friends who do, makes this a little easier, but there are quite a few public access areas throughout the U.S. that are quite secluded yet accessible for camping, hiking, and even hunting.

A camp gun means different things to different people, depending on the circumstances. For me, it is typically a .22LR revolver. Also commonly referred to as a "kit gun", as others have mentioned. Uses range from general plinking and enjoyment to putting rabbits and squirrels into the stew pot, and in some cases for defense against predators, both two legged and four.

Maybe I "rough it" a bit more than others, but when I and my hunting buddies are out in the field, we travel pretty light. We take along a few niceties, but for the most part, if there is meat in the stew, it is fresh game, often taken with a kit gun. Because I hunt primarily with a handgun, a .22 rifle is often in my gear, as well as a .22 revolver. The idea of a "kit" or "camp" gun, in my opinion, is to be lightweight, and easily portable.

JW
 
+1.....

On the right definition being a small-caliber pistol or rifle used to collect small game or dispatch a rodent, snake, etc. Mine is a Ruger Standard.

J
 
My brother-in-law used to have a cabin in his deer lease. In addition to the .270 for deer, he carried a 44 mag in case one if the many wild pigs they had there got too close. He said he also had a 9mm semi for personal defense at the campsite. I asked him what he thought the 9mm would do that the 44mag wouldn't. :)
 
My idea of a camp gun is any handgun capable of stopping both two or four legged threats. When not in the woods my only consideration is two legged threats. In my neck of the woods it's pretty much the same calibers. Not many big scary critters in New England. The black bear around here are timid. Not like those found out west.
 
Funny, I wouldn't think of a .22 LR as a camp gun up in Idaho. A camp gun to me is something handy at your side at all times that could take down any and all of the critters that might consider you lunch for that day. My choice, a .44 magnum with Buffalo Bore 305 gr bullets. It will do equally well against the little varmints as well as the bit ones.
 
It is usually just what I have while hunting.
However, one time, I had a .22 Single Six in my belt when two......uh....ner'do'wells...........tried to mug me to steal a deer I had hanging. I showed the gun in my waist band and they scattered like the vermin they were.
Strangely, since it was a muzzle loading season only, I was in violation of the law by having the .22 with me. Oh, well.
 
Alaska444 said
" Funny, I wouldn't think of a .22 LR as a camp gun up in Idaho. A camp gun to me is something handy at your side at all times that could take down any and all of the critters that might consider you lunch for that day. My choice, a .44 magnum with Buffalo Bore 305 gr bullets. It will do equally well against the little varmints as well as the bit ones."

++1 I've never thought of a .22 as a "camp gun," certainly not in Arizona or most places "out west." As Alaska suggests, handy--typically means of relatively short barrel, whether rifle ('carbine') or handgun--and of a caliber/cartridge capable of stopping/thwarting any two, four and/or no legged threat fireside or in the middle of the night...that might be expected in your area. In Arizona that might mean .357 "south" of 4000-5000 feet, .44 Mag or warm Special or .45 Colt north of "just because," if one already has such a firearm. If not, the .357 continues to suffice without concern. North of the 40th/42nd or so parallel (different states), I'd be thinking definitely of a revolver starting with .4-. Accompanying lever gun in same as above or .30-30 if the situation otherwise warrants (for instance, could double as a "brush" hunting rifle by day).

If a handgun, it may-or may not-also accompany you on the trail in daytime--as the situation warrants. Also sometimes suggests, in addition to other criteria, a gun that's already got some cosmetic wear on it and thus not overly concerned with its not "having" to be coddled in/around camp, not that you would a trail gun either but you get the idea. I see a .22 as a fun daytime plinker, day hiking or backpacking gun/BUG, not as *the* "camp" gun. As suggested about a bunch of other people congregated around you, not talking Camp Tonawanka or Gitchagoomee here either :) but camp associated with more isolated/rugged/wilderness/hunting or fishing setting....for the sake of this conversation anyway.
 
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camp gun/"kit" gun

The "kit gun" was a term/name applied to a S&W revolver in cal. .22 lr, I cannot for the life of me remember the model now, but it was common reference back in the day.

Combat Magnum, Highway Patrolman, Chief's Special, Kit Gun....etc
 
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