What's your caliber of choice for varmints?

I was given a retired ,championship winning 38 Super ,comped,red dot sighted race gun built buy Guncraft. I wasn't using it,I gave it to my brother.
He started shooting it in a fun/competitive group. They gave him a bit of ribbing over his 40 + year old dinosaur gun...but Mr Guncraft Ben built a nice handgun. Accurate and reliable.
We came across a Caspian Double stack frame,another brother volunteered a comped 38 Super Slide/Barrel/comp... I put t together and Andy's Custom Guns in Denver fine tuned it to run like a sewing machine.The slide was set up for a Bomar,so now it wears a Burris Mini-Red Dot on a Bomar base.

A high speed video cam was used to refine the spring,load,and recoil impulse vs the comp.

The 10 to 12 lb recoil spring is very gentle to the gun. Its getting 1450 fps with 124 gr Montana Golds.

Before the lecture,that 1970's Guncrafter 1911 was owned and used by a pro shooter,till the game went double stack.It has a very high round count,and its slick,tight,and accurate .Its been shooting those loads since it was built. Key is how the comp works,and the recoil spring rate.
If you loads need a 24 lb spring,your 1911 will live fast and die young.

But if it runs happy with a 12 lb spring,it will run a long time.

The 1911 race guns are high dollar. I can scrounge and build,myself.

But for the price of a new Glock,(about $600) you can get a S+W M+P C.O.R.E. done by the S+W Custom Shop. The slide is milled for a low-mount mini red dot. Apex parts will get you a pretty nice trigger.

It will be a 9mm,but that will work. Cheaper shooting than 38 Super.
 
Damn. Genetic resistance to Magnumitis has crossed from big game to varmints.
Now even squirrels and spiders are immune to .22 LR.

What can we do to combat this phenomena of natural armor being evolved by mammalian game species...?
Click to expand...

I once did a magazine dump of .22 lr on a vicious looking camel cricket and old springheel jack survived the entire fusilade. .22lr is obviously not good enough for foot long armored crickets that infest the outbuildings and homes of my place of dwelling. So the next time I promised my wife that I would annihilate one of those cursed, fang bearing venom dripping monsters from the wood pile I used .38 special shot loads on it and there was nothing but legs and glop left.

I believe that this conclusively proves after the most rigorous of testing that bugs can't be killed with a .22lr and that nothing smaller than a .357 bore centerfire should be used when stalking the things that your wife fears the most.

YMMV.

Of course, I heard of Bella Cooper who killed a HUGE grizzly with a .22 long. It's quite obvious that while you can't kill a big bug with a .22lr, you can destroy a prehistoric fur bearing carnivore with a single shot .22 long just as sure as a sugar cube in a cup of hot coffee.

I've decided that keeping in line with the current environment of human thought processes that this needs to be my motto from now on.

"if bella can do it with a pop gun, that's good enough for me."


I understand that the wooly mammoth was driven nearly to extinction by the cro magnon with nothing but big rocks and sticks. Peter Capstick was a slacker.
 
Last edited:
Id limited to a Handgun, my choice would be a S&W Model 15, six inch barrel, loaxded wirth 148 grain HBWC ammo.

This combo has been chewing the "X" ring out of 50 slow fire yard targets for over a century.
 
My problem is I read Moderator Aguila Blanca's post #7,or I might recommend picking up a Contender in any number of calibers.
A Contender is not a semi-auto.

AMT made a 30 Carbine and a 22 Magnum semi auto. They are long out of production and I don't think they worked out well.

I don't know of varmint suitable 25 ACPs,32ACPs,or 380's.. I have not read anything good about that what? 30 round HiPoint 22 mag.. I guess there is some 5.7 I've never messed with.


So,aside from the folks who think their own "comedy" is funny,doesn't it seem that the centerfire semi auto pistols suitable for 50 yd shooting at small targets starts with 9mm?


Tell me what else is available to consider.
 
Last edited:
Apologies, you are correct.

Handgun: With a 22lr I've body shot groundhogs, very unimpressive.

I used to carry a 6" security six with 110 grain sierra hollow points loaded full speed when I was out with a rifle. Close in shots with a rifle is cheating. They make a bit of a mess. They are also not too great on your ears.


I never used a semi auto. Somehow semi auto pistols and hunting really doesn't fit for me.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top