Part IV. SMALL GAME HUNTING WITH HANDGUNS

Chapter 10. Handguns for Small Game Hunting

It was the end of the trail. Before us the wilderness stretched toward the headwaters of Pistol River in Southwestern Oregon. Across the divide, you could, by traveling the rugged back country, eventually drop into the Rogue River drainage. But it was plenty rugged going. What we had in mind was fishing, hiking, exploring—being in the back country be­cause it was back country, beautiful and unspoiled.

The fishing was good, too good. We took all the trout we needed, fishing the rise late evenings for a half hour. Squirrel hunting was also good, both red and gray squirrel. We hunted them with a Smith and Wesson K-22, and a .22 automatic Ruger.

Ever eat squirrel done to a turn over a small campfire, a good trout stream singing on the riffles below your trail camp, the first evening stars held captive in the dark pools? If you don't know, you don't know, that is all. If you do know, you understand the necessity of having a handgun when roaming the backcountry. On such trips, either fishing, hiking or explor­ing, a handgun should be standard equipment.

It is light to carry when weight must be considered. It is efficient for all small game hunting within reasonable range limits. Tree squirrel are made to order for a handgun—if the same amount of skill ordinarily used in shooting a rifle is brought to the problem of tumbling one from the hardwoods.

First question usually asked by hunters planning on adding a handgun to their kits is, what caliber is best for all-around small game field performance? It is an important question, too —equally important with the problem of selecting proper rifles for small game hunting, and like the problem of selecting a rifle it has several answers.

A hunter's first handgun should be a .22 revolver or auto­matic pistol. When one starts with heavy caliber revolvers or pistols, such as the .45 Colt Auto, the .357 Smith and Wesson Magnum, or the .44 Special, the problem of accurate shooting is emphasized by the heavy recoil. Quite often the beginner will find himself developing a tendency to flinch, to get off sloppy, inaccurate shots because the big bores are a bit beyond his ability as yet.

A .22 handgun will curse this tendency by its mild report and its lack of recoil. In addition it will come closer to exemplifying the inherent accuracy of all well made handguns at a time when a beginner needs to discover that there is superb accuracy and ranging ability in all handguns.

A very good selection for the beginner is the Smith and Wesson K.-22. This .22 revolver, with its six inch barrel, excellent adjustable sights, and beautiful crisp trigger pull, is about tops for small game field shooting. It is not only a good field gun in its own right, it is also an excellent understudy for the larger calibers, such as the K-.38, .38/44 Outdoorsman, Smith and Wesson Model 44 target, or the .357 Magnum. The K.-22 weighs in at 38 ounces, plenty of weight for good steady holding.

Smith and Wesson .22 Kit Gun is also an ideal choice for back country hiking and fishing trips. It is compact, and light in weight, but with excellent field accuracy. This little revolver, with a barrel length of 4 inches weighs just 21 ounces. It can be dropped into an outside pocket of your rucksack, along with one hundred rounds of .22 long rifle hollow point ammunition, and the weight will scarcely be noticeable. Then, should you decide to do some pot hunting to supplement your pack grub, you have a very excellent choice for the job.

Many wilderness trappers of my acquaintance carry the Smith and Wesson Kit Gun on their trap lines, an excellent endorsement for reliability and accuracy. It is surprising the amount of game they take with it, in addition to shooting the larger trapped animals, such as raccoon, bobcat, and coyote.

Colt's Officers Model in .22 long rifle caliber is another very good small game handgun. It weighs 31 ounces with a 432 inch barrel. It also has those all important adjustable sights. Just about anything said about the Smith and Wesson K-.22 is applicable to this handgun.

The Ruger Single Six is the quality single action .22 revolver for outdoorsmen. This revolver was brought about by popular demand. It is a very close copy of the fabulous Colt single action Frontier. The refinements which have been embodied in it, such as coiled mainspring and a bit faster lock time, are all to the good. But the traditional trappings of the much loved single Action are all there, from grip to the distinct clicks when you thumb back the generous hammer. The Ruger Single Six comes with a five inch barrel and weighs 36 ounces, trail side. It has semi-adjustable sights, and accuracy comparable with any of the quality revolvers.

Dropping down the line in price, an outdoorsman has a fairly wide choice of inexpensive revolvers from which to choose. Probably the best of the lot from the standpoint of accuracy and reliability are the Iver Johnson revolvers. I have carried an Iver Johnson sealed eight, Model 68 on a trap-line and in my rucksack while hunting, fishing and tramping the back country for several years and always it has proved reliable and accurate on both game and plinking targets.

Usually the inexpensive revolvers come from the factory with the trigger pulls which leave much to be desired. But a little time spent with a good oilstone can take the creep and uneven-ness out of them. If you haven't any ability at this, it is best to turn over the job to a gunsmith. Once the trigger pull is cor­rected, an Iver Johnson, or Champion .22 Target, the Super Shot, or the Harrington and Richardson Sportsman are all nice packsacks guns for the rough and tumble of hiking, hunting and plinking.

The .22 automatic pistols are well represented by three out­standing selections: Ruger, Hi-Standard and Colt. All these are good choices for the give and take of small game hunting. They are amply accurate enough to snip the head off a grouse at twenty yards, knock off a tree squirrel, or roll a rabbit at reason­able range. Weights in these models range from 31 to 38 ounces. Barrel lengths are from 4/2 to 6 inches.

It is just as natural for a woodsman to have preferences in handguns as it is for squirrels to climb trees.

My own preference in automatic .22 pistols is the Ruger. I carry this handgun a lot on my field trips. I have shot it over a period of two seasons, and more and more, I find myself dropping it into my packsack when I am preparing for a wilder­ness trip. If you were to ask me why, the answer would be hard to come by. There are a lot of intangibles built into all firearms—little nuances of mechanical differences which add up to an over-all preference.

First off, I like the big, hand filling grip of this pistol. I like the angle at which it is set to the receiver. There is a natural pointing to the Ruger .22 automatic which spells good field shooting accuracy. I have yet to examine a Ruger which left the factory with a poor trigger pull, something which I cannot say about many handguns, with the exception of the Smith and Wesson, and Sturm-Ruger products.

All .22 handguns must be used with a great deal of judg­ment in small game hunting. A handgun, remember, is only a substitute for a rifle. It is limited in range and accuracy. A .22 handgun can be used for tree squirrel hunting, if you are careful to take only shots which offer a reasonable chance of killing. Eventually you will want something heavier for your small game handgun hunting. These heavier caliber handguns are the logical outgrowth of plenty of .22 handgun shooting. When an out-doorsman is ready for larger caliber handguns, he should be able to handle a .22 very accurately afield. By this time he will have decided preferences as to type of sights required for small game hunting. He will have preferences as to barrel length, and trigger pull. In short, plenty of .22 handgun shooting will de­velop skills which can be complemented and enlarged by going to heavier handguns.

Smith and Wesson revolvers, in their K series, enable a hunter to progressively up the power of his handguns without any radical change in design, weight, trigger pull or barrel length.

One of the best of the heavier calibers is the K-.38 Smith and Wesson, in .38 Special caliber. It has superb accuracy and plenty of killing power for all small game shooting. In addition, the recoil is not the least bit unpleasant for a handgunner who has had plenty of shooting with a .22 revolver.

Killing power, of course, is a relative thing. I recall a hunting partner taking a black bear with a K-.38, using a 158 grain bullet at a velocity of 900 feet a second handload. Compared with a rifle, even those considered a bit on the underpowered side for deer, this loading is a pip-squeak, but with careful, accurate shooting, it kept this skilled woodsman from getting into some very serious trouble.

This bear, having been wounded by other hunters, was a bit cross-grained when my woodsman friend almost stepped on her. She was lying in an elk wallow near a forest trail at the time. She came to her feet, clicking her teeth together, and moving at an awkward lope toward him. All the while he was frantically unslinging his rucksack and clawing his .38 Special out of a side pocket. He dropped her neatly, though, with a head shot at fifteen feet. With careful, short range shooting, the .38 Special, K-.38 is a good killer.

I know several hunters who use this caliber for shooting treed game. It will tumble raccoon or bobcat from a tree, and in the hands of an experienced and accurate field shot, it will kill treed mountain lion or bear without trouble. Its best field, however, is in small game hunting, such as squirrel, rabbit and woodchuck, when a hunter wants to put plenty of stalking ability into his hunt in order to get within handgun range of such game.

Another very good choice in heavy handguns is the .38/44 Smith and Wesson, or the Colt Official Police in this caliber. Both these guns use the full line of .38 Special cartridges, and in addition they handle the .38 Special high speed loadings. This later loading is a souped up version of the standard .38 Special, driving a 150 grain bullet at 1100 feet a second, and with a muzzle energy of 400 foot pounds. By careful handloading, this caliber will drive this same bullet at 1250 feet a second with perfect safety, making it a superb cartridge for the larger treed game.

The Smith and Wesson Outdoorsman Target revolver in .38/44 caliber comes with splendid adjustable sights, 6 inch barrel and weighs 418 ounces. The Colt, Official Police in .38/44 caliber also comes with a 6 inch barrel, the preferred length for all handgun field shooting, semi-adjustable sights, and weighs 36 ounces. This weight is a bit on the light side for a revolver using as powerful load as the .38 Special High speed, and for that reason most handgunners will find the Smith and Wesson, with its weight of 41¾ ounces more comfortable for field shooting.

The .357 Magnum is the most powerful factory loading presently available. A revolver using this cartridge is an especially attractive one when you are prowling the backcountry, fishing, hiking and camping. It gives you maximum power for self defense, using a 158 grain bullet at a velocity of 1450, with a muzzle energy of 690 foot pounds. In addition, it will handle any of the loads designed for the .38 Special, or the .38/44, giving you a wide range of cartridges from which to select.

Smith and Wesson's offering in .357 Magnum caliber comes with adjustable sights, and in barrel length from 3½ to 8¾inches. It weighs 47 ounces with the longer length barrel. The Colt in this caliber comes with adjustable sights and barrel lengths of 4, 5, and 6 inches; it weighs about 43 ounces.

There are factors an outdoorsman should take into consid­eration in selecting a .357 Magnum for exclusive use with maxi­mum loadings. Unless he is a very experienced revolver shot, it is doubtful if he will get his best accuracy with a .357 Magnum, using full powered loads. No one can step directly from a .22 handgun to a .357 Magnum. He should progress through the intermediate calibers, gradually developing his ability to handle recoil.

Of course the .357 Magnum, like any of the large caliber handguns, can be tamed with mid-range handloads, and by the use of .38 Special loadings. The power of these loadings can be stepped up as the hunter becomes more used to the peculiarities of his handgun, and when he feels he can use the extra power the heavier loads give him. But the .38 Special loads in the .357 Magnum will be found sufficiently powerful and superbly accu­rate for most small game shooting.

Some very extravagant claims are often made for the .357 Magnum handgun. Comparing the .357 Magnum to such rifles as the .30/30 is nonsense. The .357 drives a 158 grain bullet at 1450 feet a second in the maximum loadings. It has a muzzle energy of 690 pounds. The .30/30, a questionable deer caliber, with a muzzle velocity of 2200 feet a second, has a muzzle energy of 1860 foot pounds, using a 170 grain bullet, almost three time the striking power of the .357 Magnum in its best loading.

All handguns are comparatively short range. A hunter should confine his small game shooting to not more than sixty yards, thiry-five is much better. In many ways this constitutes a virtue, in that it places emphasis on painstaking stalking to get within efficient handgun range.

The spread of handgun shooting, ranges from the .22 to .44 Smith and Wesson is not nearly as great as the comparable range spread of suitable small game rifles. You have enough accuracy and power with a .22 handgun to take rabbit and squirrel, using hollow-point high speed ammunition, to about thirty-five yards. When you switch to heavier caliber handguns you will not up your sure killing range much beyond the before mentioned sixty yards.

The .44 Smith and Wesson Special is the choice of many backwoodsmen carrying a heavy revolver for self protection as well as small game shooting. It has many advantages, when measured from the standpoint of practical field use, too. This caliber drives a 246 grain bullet at a modest velocity of 770 feet a second in its factory loadings. But with handloads, the .44 Special will drive a 250 grain Keith bullet at 1200 feet a second, a velocity close to that of the .357 Magnum, and with a much heavier bullet.

Many outdoorsmen believe that this is our most accurate handgun. It surely is the easiest for which to handload, giving nail driving accuracy with a long list of handloads from the midrange to full powered loadings.

The .44 Special Smith and Wesson in their Model 44 Target weighs 39½ ounces, has a 6M inch barrel, and come with adjust­able sights. It is an excellent "tree" gun when you are running heavy game with dogs, in addition to being deadly on small game with proper loading.

There are many other calibers which might be considered, but this spread of handguns just about covers all the best when measured against small game hunting requirements.

Sight requirements for small game handguns are not essen­tially different from those selected for small game rifles, in one sense of the word. You have the problem of dim light in the woods, or neutral colored targets, all of which adds up to a front sight which gives plenty of contrast to make it stand out against the target. This is best accomplished by either a square white partridge type sight, or a square gold bead, such as the Redfield Sourdough, which can be adapted to handgun use by installing a ramp base for it. A red plastic bead is also good, though it has a tendency to blend with the background late in the evening.

Front sights with rounded beads are very poor selections. Like comparable rifle sights, they have a tendency to shoot away from the light source. When the sun is directly overhead, they shoot low. When the light is from the left, there is a tendency to shoot to the right of your target, all because the gunner centers the brightest part of his front sight bead in the rear sight notch.

Rear sights should be adjustable, both for windage and ele­vation. Those with a square notch are best for either target or game shooting.

The problem of carrying a handgun appears relatively simple to the inexperienced hunter. Just buy a good belt holster, swing your handgun to your belt and you are all ready. All ready for what? The most uncomfortable day afield you ever put in.

Swing a 41 ounce weight from your belt for a full eight hours afield and you are going to be plenty tired of the deal before you finish your hunt. It will swing and bump your leg. It will pull down unmercifully. By noon you will ponder the pleasure of leaving it beside the trail.

Best solution is a shoulder rig which will enable you to carry it under your left arm, the weight coming directly on the shoulder where it is scarcely noticeable. With a proper shoulder rig, you can wear your gun while carrying a rucksack. How­ever, I have found it much more to the point to detach the shoulder rig when packing, and drop the gun in an outside pocket of my rucksack. In states where this would constitute a concealed weapon, it is a simple matter to attach it to the side of the pack with a snap and thong.

In selecting a holster for a handgun, one can easily come a cropper, too. There are many holsters on the market which had their inspiration in those worn by drugstore cowboys and Holly­wood gun slingers, all nicely cut away for a quick draw, all nicely designed to drop a valuable gun on the rocks the minute you stoop over one.

Just forget the quick draw, and all the Western trappings associated with revolvers. Get a holster which is opened at the barrel-end so that wet leaves and water will not collect in it to rust your gun. See that there is a snap across the trigger guard to keep your gun secure. You are not going to break any speed records getting into action, but that is unimportant. The important thing is what you do after getting into action with a handgun.

Remember you are carrying a substitute for a rifle, once it is out of its holster you have the problem of shooting it accurately, or there is little point in carrying it afield.