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It’s a take-down gun that easily breaks apart and stashes in a gear bag. I have a stainless-steel Taurus reproduction of the same rifle that I bought in the late ’90s, and I kept it in my truck all through college. That gun I referenced earlier, that my buddy hunted with on opening weekend, and that his grandfather also hunted with decades and decades ago, was a vintage Model 62 pump. Most of these classic pump-action “gallery guns” are surprisingly good shooters that will last forever, because they were designed to entertain the class of people who enjoy attending traveling carnivals (by God, I love carnivals). Winchester Model 62 The Winchester Model 62. The 10-22 is handy and inexpensive, and if you’re the type to tinker, there’s just nothing better.
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That was good redneck fun, back when ammo was cheap and people weren’t hoarding it. 22 bullets into a muddy creek bank, fast as we could pull the trigger. My hunting buddy in high school carried one, and when we’d finish our limits of a morning, we’d take whatever ammo was left in our pockets and load it into the 30-round “banana mag” he kept in his backpack. But in my experience, even the skinny, factory carbine tubes are plenty accurate enough for squirrel hunting. 22s don’t get much more reliable, and when fitted with a heavy aftermarket barrel, they’re hell-on-wheels-accurate. The most-often customized rimfire in the world definitely makes the list-though it’s a safe bet the plain, wood-stocked factory version bought straight off the gun rack has been carried to the squirrel woods more than anything else. The 880 SQ wasn’t an expensive gun but in its day, if you saw a squirrel hunter toting one, you knew he was serious about his head-shooting. It’s my gun, but with a heavy barrel and recessed crown. But I’ve always wanted the SQ version of the same rifle. I still have it and hunt with it to this day, and it’s still one of the best-shooting. BrowningĪn 880 SS, which was the stainless-steel version of Marlin’s popular magazine-fed bolt-action of the ’90s (replaced today by the XT series), was my go-to squirrel gun for most of my life. Browning SA-22 The Browning SA-22 Grade VI. Still, you’re best to aim for the eyeballs to keep all the quarters intact. I shoot a 20-grain CCI Game Point out of it, which isn’t as explosive as most. When squirrels are out of range for him, he asks me to press Big Blister into service, because he is from a bloodline that does not like to see things get away. My 6-year-old son, Anse, squirrel hunts with me most days now, and he’s dubbed the gun Big Blister. When they asked for it back, I told them no, and sent them a check for it instead. It’s the most accurate firearm I’ve ever owned. Two years ago, I got this rifle-mine’s a. 22 Short, because it destroyed very little meat. 22LR, but 20 years ago, many of the serious squirrel hunters I knew swore by the. That’s not a huge advantage these days, since few people shoot anything other than. 22 cartridges, in addition to the usual Long Rifles.
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It’s a tube-fed autoloader, still in production, and it’s one of the very few autoloaders that will handle Short and Long. With a classic walnut stock and the unmistakable brass deflector, the 552 Speedmaster is another icon of the squirrel woods. Remington 552 Speedmaster The Remington 552 Speedmaster.