Barnyard Rifles

In the 1950's and 60's my uncles got 10 cents for each rat they shot, but they paid for their own ammo! Bolt action 22's were King! and all was right in the world. In the 1970's and 80's I had a personal war going with Ground hogs, raccoons, and opossums. My caliber of choice for the 150 yard or less distances was 22 Hornet and in the 90's, added 218 Bee to the arsenal!

35 to 50 grain bullets at 2700 to 3100 fps was relatively quiet and quite lethal!

My first Light Varmint rifle in centerfire was a Savage 340 in 22 Hornet. It was the first of 6 of those guns I've owned. I paid $149 for the used gun, almost $30 for the two-piece scope base, and around $29 for a brand new Tasco 4x scope. That was about 1983. 5 of the 340's were in 22 Hornet and one as in 30-30. Using Remington Accelerators in the 30-30 they were just plane deadly to ground hogs, opossums and raccoons! I also along the way have owned about 15 other 22 Hornet rifles, all of varying cost and quality,

The most accurate 22 Hornet I ever owned was a H&R 219 single shot break action (think 26" light weight barreled Handy Rifle) It shot dime size groups at 150 yards. The least accurate was a CZ clip fed synthetic stocked rifle that was about a consistent 5" at 75 yards rifle. The current 340 is from 1958, has a Bushnell "Big Eye" 4-12x 44mm objective and shoots dime groups at 100. I use the 35 grain Hornady V-Max ammo or equivalent reloads in it.

I have several great 22RF rifles that harvest their share of varmints, Kimber of Oregon, Anshutz, and Weatherby. I also had a Anshutz 64 MPR (clip fed) in 17 HMR. What a ground hog killing machine! I found one lot number that all ten rounds stayed in the 1/4" at 50 yard group! (Hornady's 17 HMR was typically 8/10 in the group with 20% flyers!) I located 4 cartons of that group, giving me 2000 rounds. I still had 1700 that went with the rifle when I sold it after my stroke.

But I went all out and bought what I thought was going to be the ultimate 22 Hornet. An Anshutz 54 with AAA Walnut and a Stainless bull barrel. They made 5 for the shot show around 2000. I could never get it below 1" at 100 yards (which is good, but not near as outstanding as the price!). It went the way of Beautiful, but otherwise Ho-Hum rifles.

In the late 90's Ruger made a large batch of Ruger No 1-S in 218 Bee with 26" Medium weight barrels. I bought one new and a box of Winchester 50 grain ammo. It shot 2 3/4" at 50 yards with a 4-12x40mm Veri-X III Leopold, I was very disappointed! I took the fired brass home, got out the Lyman 45th edition manual and loaded up the accuracy load with H4227, Rem 6 1/2 primers and a now discontinued Nosler 50 grain Solid Base SPBT. went back to the range and got a ONE Hole group at 100 yards! After they discontinued that bullet, I now use Sierra's 50 grain Blitz bullet, it's made to expand at the Bee's lower velocities.

When I taught the boys to shoot and hunt ground hogs, one of the things I insisted on is, ACCURACY IS EVERYTHNG! I insisted on sub 1" groups at 100 when shooting prone and 3" when shooting standing! It seems that 50% of the shots we got were while walking to our hunting area! The kids knew I wasn't bluffing when we were walking on dad's farm, and I spotted a big sow in the grass and nailed her in one shot from my current 340 Savage. We measured the distance: 167 yards and I was standing!

How accurate does a person need to be? Chipmunks are the smallest animal I hunt with a rifle. So that is about a 12-ounce pop can size. You need to be able to hit a pop can with your gun, your sights, and your ammo. The distance is as far as you can do that, that or 150 yards max is the Barnyard Gun Limit.

That's my viewpoint on light varmint hunting. Feel free to throw in your observations.

Ivan

We will talk Heavy Varmint Rifles another time.

I had a CZ527 in .223 that I handloaded for and it was death on woodchucks. Best shot 476 yards measured with a laser rangefinder.

Had a Rugger 77/22 Hornet and it was ok, but not like the CZ.

Had a fellow bring in a heavy bull barrel Ruger 77 in .26-06 and that thing was great! Never really thought much about the .25-06 until I shot that one.

Best,
RM Vivas

RM Vivas said:

...Had a fellow bring in a heavy bull barrel Ruger 77 in .26-06 and that thing was great! Never really thought much about the .25-06 until I shot that one.

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I'm a big fan of the .25-06. My first was a custom rifle I built on an Oberndorf Mauser action back in the mid-80s. 20 years later, I loaned it to my son, once, then again, and after the third time I just told him to keep it. Didn't take too long before I missed it right smart. Fortunately, an opportunity came up to earn a freebie from Ruger, in the form of an American Predator in .25-06, a special run that they built just as a sales incentive for retail salesmen.

In my experience, I've found that the .25-06 has a quiet cult following. I don't believe there's anything magical about any particular round's ballistic capabilities, but this one certainly seems like it at times. In the 2 rifles I've owned, shooting a large selection of commercial and handloaded ammo, I have yet to find a load that didn't shoot at least very well, and every critter I've shot with it has been DRT.
(Sorry, got a little off-topic. The .25-06 does that to me I guess!)

In my time I have seen and shot dozens of backdoor 22 Rifles.
I think I was full up before I actually saw a store bought cleaning Kit.
So when you see an older American Made 22, single shot or bolt, look in the bore and go Ugh, that was a Backdoor Farm Rifle.
Little rabbit and squirrel hunting now and then, but its primary duty was at the backdoor.

When I was a kid, Dad had his single shot 22LR scoped at 75 yards, and it was dead on at that distance. We really didn't have many places/fields that offered more than 100 yards or so. I have no idea the brand of the rifle and no idea what he did with it before he died. I used the Marlin 39A, iron sights, and back then I was pretty close to Dad's accuracy, but we weren't playing horse shoes. I still have the Marlin, but it's a pain driving up to New Castle, PA just to get some open area far enough to shoot it. The State rifle range is okay, but if there is anyone else there it's a pain to place, change, and/or remove the targets when leaving.
Dang, Ivan, that's some good-shooting rifles. Plus, I've heard of some of those calibers but have never seen one in person. Growing up, all I had was a 22LR, 16 gauge pump or single, and 30-30 for deer. I think I may have shot Dad's K22 Masterpiece maybe 3 times, with one in the cylinder, and Dad standing over my shoulder! He was a smart man!!

1971, I was on my first enlistment stationed in Long Beach, CA and going up to the Barstow, CA area about every other weekend. Down the street from where I lived was a Phillips 66 station, and the owner and I became fair friends. One day I was talking to him and noticed a rifle case behind the counter. It contained a Marlin Model 57M. The owner was going to sell it, and when I asked the price, I was told $45.00 out the door. Newly married, and nearly maxed out on rent and other bills, still we had a wee bit of spare cash and the wife said I could buy it.

Like some other rifles I've bought since, I was unaware of the "high" cost of .22 mag ammo. A couple of weeks later I was able to buy two boxes of ammo and still had to wait another week before we could go up to Hesperia and the desert, to shoot my "new" rifle. That rifle is still on my inventory list.

It has survived being transferred from California to Alaska, to Florida, to San Francisco, to Washington DC, to Rhode Island, back to Long Beach, and finely to NW Illinois. I took a shot at a groundhog here in Illinois 125 yds off my back deck and she was DRT after jumping about 3ft in the air, and doing a backflip which would have earned her a 10 in Olympic gymnastics.

The rifle had not been shot or sighted since I left Alaska, except one time in Rhode Island when a neighbor asked me to dispatch a troublesome raccoon.

I have many other rifles in .22 caliber, all long rifle size, and still if the shtf that 57M is one which will being going with me into wherever location I go to secure my safety.

I have recently acquired a Ruger 77 in 220 swift and a Remington .222, both with medium weight barrels that I have yet to shoot. The Ruger only cost $110.00 but the ammo has raised the price to nearly $500.00.

None of these are backdoor guns but they will do the job if needed. My true backdoor gun is a bolt action Savage Sporter manufactured in 1921. It is un-scoped but shoots to point of aim in 50 yards which is good enough for me.

I love my Stevens 325 .30/30, essentially the same gun as the Savage 340 but with a distinctive butter knife bolt handle. Great guns, and great write up of back door guns.

Back in the early 60's my brother and I learned to make each shot count,
since the .22 rifle that we had to use at the duck club during the summer
mowing , burning etc. to get it ready for the future hunts, was a old broken
Savage semi, that would not feed and turned into a single shot.
After you shot, you handed the rifle over to the new shooter !!

Even though it was a single shot, it had great iron sights and good balance
that we both got very good at shooting.

Father told us, if it is not a person, dog or duck.......... it is fair game.
Lots of critters bit the dust, but we only shot ONE Skunk, with that rifle.

That smell kept us from that area for weeks and we learned a lesson the hard way,
for younsters !!

For over thirty years, my go-to barnyard rifle was my Ruger Model 7722 with a Cabela's 2x7 Pine Ridge Scope. What a tack driver! I've lost count of how many skunks, foxes, and racoons I've shot with that thing. I would take it out to the hay fields, set up a shooting table, and wait for the ground squirrels to poke their heads out of their holes. Once, in a two-day period, I went through 500 rounds with hardly a miss.

Another favorite of mine is my Winchester 9422M mounted with a Leupold 4x. It literally catapults ground squirrels out of their hole.

Lately, I've been relying on the old trusty Ruger 1022 with a Volquartzen trigger and mounted with a Bushnell 1.75x4 scope. It has taken down skunks, racoons, and even a coyote.

Our "Barnyard Backdoor rifle" is a Remington 511 Scoremaster that we inherited from my wife's grandfather from South Carolina. The rifles were manufactured from 1939-1963, but were not serial numbered. We believe this one is from October 1945 based on the "E PP" barrel date stamp. It's not worth much but it's a fun and very accurate shooter, and I taught both my sons rifle safety and marksmanship with this old girl. Enjoy!

Hawg Rider said:

Our "Barnyard Backdoor rifle" is a Remington 511 Scoremaster that we inherited from my wife's grandfather from South Carolina. The rifles were manufactured from 1939-1963, but were not serial numbered. We believe this one is from October 1945 based on the "E PP" barrel date stamp. It's not worth much but it's a fun and very accurate shooter, and I taught both my sons rifle safety and marksmanship with this old girl. Enjoy!

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Mine was a 511-X Scoremaster Dad gave me for Christmas in 1963.,with a little 4X scope. I refinished the stock in the early 80s. It hung over the backdoor of the Cabin until 2019.

For a couple years before that it was a Single shot Stevens "Favorite" from around the turn of the Century!

Today it's a Ruger American Compact in .22mag [9rd mag] with a 1-4x20 Leopold Shotgun scope.

Savage Model 340 Rifles were amazing. A lot of gun for the dollar.

I once had a scoped Savage 340 in .222. Nothing outstanding in grouping performance but good enough. I did a little work on the trigger and that helped some. It was sort of an ugly duckling and I never got very attached to it. I sold it sometime in the early 70s.

Who was it who said ... "Only accurate rifles are interesting !" ...

was it Col. Townsend Whelen ... and Boy was he ever right .

I never had the chance to own a 22 Hornet but my choice would be a H&R single shot break action ... and I still have an eye out for one !

It's a shame that beautiful Anschutz wasn't a better shooter ...
I know the wood was probably drop dead gorgeous ...
... but ... Only accurate rifles are interesting !
Gary

In Their Natural Environment...

Okay, back to the original topic, I thought I'd show a couple of my barnyard guns as they exist in their natural environment. Being country folk, we tend to have the odd problem with vermin, mostly chipmunks, red squirrels, gophers, and rabbits, but on occasion a coyote can be spotted out back. Having quick and easy access to a loaded .22 comes in handy.

Up top we have the Barn Door Back Yard rifle, a Marlin Glenfield Model 75 that lives year 'round hanging muzzle down on the inside of the barn door.

Then there is the Back Door Garden Rifle, a Ruger American .22LR with Vortex 2-7x32 scope mounted. It hangs from a coat hook in the mudroom, ready to defend the vegetable garden and beyond. (Normally it does not hang sideways like that, but I have given up on trying to figure out how to turn pics upright when they get stubborn about it.)

I have many .22 caliber rifles. Many could be regulated to back door rifles.
This one is a Winchester model 43 in .218 Bee. It has been drilled and tapped and drilled and tapped, kind of Swiss cheesed. I didn't give much for the rifle, but it had been someone's toy and has been glass bedded. I put the old 4 power Redfield scope on it and it's very accurate for most critters. I do have some V Max loaded for it.



This old rifle has served well for a back door gun. It's a put together Winchester Model 1890 made from two different serial numbers and a Marlin .22 S,L,Lr barrel. it is chambered for .22WRF and I have defaced the original roll mark and added the WRF marking. This rifle is very acceptable accurate and well worth the $12.00 I gave for it several years ago.

Two amazing accurate .22RF rifles I owned:
1. Remington "Scoremaster" with a weaver 4X scope/
2.Savage Model 23AA

I had several 340 series rifles in 22 Hornet as well as 23 series and the Savage 219 Hammerless single shot. Being somewhat of a snob wanted a Winchester 43 because I was too cheap to buy a M70 Hornet. Also couldn’t see the sense in a Hornet on full size gun. Well the Win 43s weren’t near as accurate as the Savage guns.In fact the 219s were best. I don’t know anyone with a Ruger 77 Hornet that is happy with accuracy. Quite a fan club for the CZs. Haven’t owned one but most of the accurate Hornets I have run across were single shot actions rebarreled to Hornet. My gunsmith did a lot of martini action/ Douglas barrel Hornets.
Everyone had a groundhog gun 222-22/250-220 etc. Mostly shot from rest.
The Hornets we called Cruzin Pieces. These were for walking guns for offhand shots of opportunity.

Got 2 that come to mind when talking about the barn guns.

One I have is a Taurus 72 in 22 mag, and the other is a 9422 in 22LR.

The 72 has the factory irons still and the 9422 has a small Leupold 2x optic on it.

They both get the job done when needed.


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Currently I have a pair of 22 Hornet barrels for the contender, 10" and 16". Both are handy and serve different purposes. I also have a 17 hornet barrel as a gift from a friend that is yet unfired.

I grew up with a 22 bolt action my brother now has. It was a post WW2 Mossburg. My first was a Glenfield semi auto that is now long gone. Current range toy is a CZ452 my kids refer to as Grampas sniper rifle.