Best general purpose farm gun?

Stick with shotguns.. please!

Thanks for the Rossi info.Looks like a couple of those would meet just about any need at a very good price to boot.
What is the quality of the Rossi paired guns?
Do they hold up? Dependable? Does a laser sight tie up to the sight rails and what kind?
Links?

Thanks much,

BooBoo

donsgal Do you have any experience with firearms?

If you'd like drop by and bring as many 2' long Copperheads as you want. You can choose whether my wife, daughter or I do the shooting. Heheheheheh (O'boy sheewwww) If we can't hit a 2' copperhead at 6 feet then I'll buy you a steak dinner. BUT if we do You buy the Steak dinner. DEAL?????

To make it fair I'll shoot it with a 3" barrel S&W pistol, My wife will use her Ruger Mark I pistol and my daughter will use a Single Shot Cricket 22LR Rifle.

Now if you bring enough targets I'd like to shoot that pesky 2' Copperhead at 25 yards (That's 75 feet for the uniniated) I'll use a little Ole Ruger 10/22. Or my dear wife will shoot it with the 10/22.

Hope you and the targets visit soon.


Kenneth in NC

Pam,
<is it safe to carry a gun on a tractor?>
Dh ALWAYS carries a gun, period. Our Long tractor has a kind of shelf indention similar to a dash, and we carry a holstered 22 pistol there. Not my good Ruger toy, just "the junk gun", which is what we call an ancient revolver we have. Shoots good. Works fine. But we wouldn't cry too much if it fell off the tractor and got lost.
You'd be amazed how many snakes you see when you're on a tractor. And one of my friends accidently bushhogged their cat when he decided that it would be safer to hide in the tall grass than to run. Didn't finish him off, but my friend had to make one of those sad "run to the house for the gun trips."
You'd probably want to lock up critters when you're doing tractor work.
Anne

Yeah!

__________________
Freedom isn't Free

Red Devil,

I loved how you used the term "Shock and Awe" and then displayed your M44.

The M44 does definitely provide "Shock and Awe", especially when it is loaded with Russian surplus ammo. The one foot by two foot fireball exiting the barrel would make any intruder "void his bowels".

Share the Love,

Diamondtim

"I hate communism - but I love their guns"

the rossi matched pairs rifle barrels are drilled and tapped for a scope rail, the shotgun barrels are not (the one I have aint). the problem with the scope is the hammer, if the rings dont raise the scope high enough the hammer gets in the way.

I bought a youth size 22/410, for backpacking and travel, it breaks down real small, and since I aint very big, the small factor doesnt bug me. I kinda like it. I have a rail on the 22 for a large scope, and a small lazer sight I got cheap for close plinking of rats and such... for 23 bucks, a cheapo laser sight is the best toy you can buy. put the dot on the rat and pop.
I havent had a problem with the rossi.

oooo now a m44 might knock her on her butt.... it did me. too much kick for me thanks. indestructable rifle if you want a toughie.

see you people ruined my day. I went out to pick up some lumber and came home with 2 pistolas.... a 357 blackhawk (MINT... unbelievably cheap) and a near new ruger GP100. wow is that a nice shooter, even with a 357 round its kick is not much worse than a 38sp.

now I am broke.. I might have to sell the balckhawk, but I had to pick it up it was just to cheap.

I almost spent the lumber cash too... I need to stop window shopping.

that is what I have. It gets the job done. In this neck of the woods we do not have snakes, etc, but there is a share of black bears, grizzlies and cougars. For them, I have a 30.06

tinda

Nice pic. Absolutely go with what suits your needs best. Your level of experience will play a large part in your effectiveness, either on human or animal targets. Also, your level of confidence will vary depending on your experience. What I can do with my .22 pistol, some cannot do with a centerfire rifle, and what I can do with my pistol, doesn't even come close to what my Dad can do with his, etc. Most shooting ranges also will let you shoot a variety of firearms for relatively cheap, and even coach you on their disassembly if they think that you might be interested in buying something and are not sure what you want. It is in their best interest and they will be willing to help. I have a 67/8" Ruger MKII that I can freehanded shoot .22 shell casings with until I get tired of showing off, but then again I just bought a 51/2" model and sighted in from my bench, but due to an initial sight problem, I just don't have confidence with the weapon, and though I'm sure that the gun will hit exactly where I point it from a bench, I do not trust it to kill things effectively freehand, and I do not trust myself to do so with it, yet. PRACTICE, PRACTICE, AND THEN PRACTICE SOME MORE. And have fun doing it!

Bootlegger.

Armchair... I ain't THAT big!

And no, I don't blink. Sniper training kind of removes that from you (if you continue to practice and don't always have a spotter). I don't blink with my .338 Lapua, .300 Win Mag, or .308's either... but I'll grant that this is tough to learn.

.22LR cannot be beat for a "first gun"... and an over/under really can't be beat for an all around gun. Me, I carry a handgun at all times when on my land, and I carry the scout rifle when we've seen bear, etc.

As far as the kick on the M44 in the pic, yeah... it's pretty severe. You don't shoot that gun 50 times in practice at one sitting. The cut down barrel and lighter stock make the kick worse, but the forward mounted scope helps with the recoil a bit.

R

I'd think VERY seriously about why you want gun(s) and for what reasons.

I've lived here with 22+ acres for almost 5 years and never had to use one.

I'd ask all posters how often and for what reason did they use a gun.

The rattlers by my back door and the 5 foot snake that dropped off my roof (yes, roof) were killed by shovels. (Drive the end into it and grind away) The tarantulas I let walk away. My dogs dispatch everything from rabbits to elk around the house or wherever I am at. No bear here, just cougar screams at night. Never seen one, think I'd let it live though. Coyoties (sp?) - see & hear them a lot, but I've done everything to keep my chickens safe.

I guess I live & let live and take preventive measures.

The only time a gun has been used except to practice on my property is when DH used it on me and my truck! I couldn't get to one and YES, I'd have used it - not to kill, but to injure. He's in jail now, on $125,000.00 bail.

If you have one for 2 legged protection, would you use it?? Would you practice until you can injure, not kill? The law says there's a big difference between killing, (even in self defense) and maiming. Are you willing to always carry so the same situation doesn't happen to you? And I do mean carry - not leave it in the truck while you're feeding your horses?

In this area, most things happen when the owner is not home. Have you ever walked into a neighbors house that's just been robbed, all guns taken; seen the closet floor littered with broken boxes of bullets with all the bullets gone that matched the guns?? Have you ever watched the explosions from boxes of ammo from a house that's just been torched?? Makes one wonder if these houses would have been robbed if there hadn't been guns around.

Just a few thoughts from one grumpy ol' lady that has a FFL (Federal Firearms License)

Good reason to own a gun!

[quote]If you have one for 2 legged protection, would you use it??
You bet. In a new york second.

NOT A CHANCE. Two to the chest, one to the head. Make darn sure their DRT! Whats the point of carrying a weapon if your not going to kill the predator? If my life weren't in danger i wouldn't be needing to pull a gun on the 2 legged predators.


Yep carry all the time.

Thats kinda like saying you wouldn't have been robbed if you didn't have anything in your house of value like jewels or tv's. Not particularly true. If one goes around bragging about what they have, you ask to be robbed.

Great, Thats a good thing!

Sure you bring the copperheads. what distance do you want me to shoot them at.

Someone asking what rural folk in this area might want to own and use a firearm for besides hunting?

Let's see. I've used a .22 for shooting pesky squirrels with my terriers because the squirrels try their best to get at the poultry feed and chew on the house to try and get in the eaves.
A coyote once I had to dispatch as it was getting too friendly with my dogs and just wasn't welcome for that purpose. I used a 30/30 at 100 yds. for that. A fox with severe mange was shot with a .22 in the hen house during the winter once.
Other vermin shot were skunks (maybe about half a dozen since living here about 10 years), mink that were killing chickens (about 4 total) with .22 and or 12 guage shotgun. Bears in the vicinity never had to shoot, but a handy rifle isn't a bad idea in case they get more daring or beligerent than normal to protect personal life and limb. A woodchuck with .22 that was terrorizing the garden (though frankly, a whack in the head with a board also can dispense with the woodchuck as they move slow), porcupine that the dog could have got 'bothered' with if too close to the house.
That's about it.
Things that live in the woods are fine there where they belong.
A firearm on the farmstead is nothing more than a necessary tool sometimes.

__________________
The human spirit needs places where nature has not been rearranged by the hand of man.

I have fired a weapon in anger!I am always armed when walking my property regardless of the task at hand.A recent post confirms my theory I have held for a long time after hanging out in many local gunshops.Knowledge of firearms or firearms laws is not necessary to get a FFL!If I were 2 Horses ,I would get a CCW,Then I would buy myself a small frame revolver probably a .38 special,and I would carry it everywhere I went.

This is my rifle,this is my gun,this is for killin,this is for fun!

See, comin' here makes me realize how fortunate I am. I haven't fired a shot in anger in over 50 years, and that wasn't on US soil.

I can't see doing all my daily chores, from milking to cleaning out hog pens to checking feeders to climbing silos with a sidearm. I can see the growing hogs getting even a covered holster open and helping themselves to a gun.

I keep a .410 and a .22 in my tool shed for when I need to shoot a varmint up by the buildings. These are both old guns I've had since a teenager. I have a 12 gauge a .30-.30, a .308 and a .220 Swift, but those are guns that are kept locked up in the house.

__________________
"Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity." Gen. George S. Patton Jr.

I got some great advice years ago that I have always remembered. When the bad guy shows up, of course you shoot him and kill him, if needed. But you never admit you wanted to kill him, you say you wanted to make him stop. If you say you wanted to kill him, his family goes after you for manslaughter or premeditated murder or something. You just wanted him to stop. You don't know how he ended up with two in the hat and one in the chest, you just closed your eyes and fired, hoping he would stop.

Also, if you only shot him to wound him, and you admit that, they will say the threat must not have been very great and you shouldn't have shot at all.

One more thing, I use factory ammo in my carry guns and house guns. I reload everything else, but if reloads are used in self defense, the lawyers have fun painting you as some psycho who brews up special man killer bullets in his basement.

There is nothing like a shotgun for home defense. One can puchase a new single shot for around $100, and that includes 12,20, and 410 gauges. Years ago I bought a small 410 known as a "Snake Charmer". It isn't very long,has a pistol grip,a small stock, and storage space for four shells in the but of the stock. If I couldn't have but one, well I've a double-barreled twenty that shoots mighty fine. If you can handle a twenty,go with one. Start with a single barrel,they are fairly dependable. They don't jam too often. The type load in your shotshells makes the world of a difference. You should keep 8's and 6's for snakes and small varmits. An animal the size of a fox needs a size four shot or larger. I'd think you'd want at least a number three buckshot for any thing the size of a coyote and above. I've shot odd,possibly rabid,raccoons with a 410 and it done the job. I used a 3" shell with no.4 shot. A gun is like any other tool, you need one that you can useand be comfortable using. It takes a pretty good shot to put a .22 in a copperhead with a pistol. If you can, you can. If you have a good sharp hoe,not one of these chinese tack-welded deals, you can kill a snake with it. Unless you can handle that hoe fast,and with accuracy don't tackle a coiled up snake unless you have too.

plowhand I have been shooting since I was 5. My dad emphasized hitting the target early on. If I wanted any extra ammo I had to hit 4 out of 5 bulls eyes at 50 feet with rifle and later on 4/5 at 25 feet with pistol. I may be much older now but at 6 feet as the challange was made. Well I hit 22 casings at that distance. We often use bottle caps at 15 feet "just for fun". Must be a country boy thing.


Kenneth in NC

Well, Kenneth, I take your word for it and I am mighty impressed with your skill. Here in the Ozarks you can't hardly even SEE a copperhead in the yard at 6 feet owing to the tall grass. A friend of mine and co-worker once nearly stepped right on one while she was hanging up the clothes because she couldn't see it. If she hadn't dropped a clothes pin and bent over to retrieve it she would have stepped on it for sure. The idea that you CAN hit such a nasty bugger at with a small caliber gun is really awesome.

If I could see it clearly *and* if neither I nor it was moving *and* if I had plenty of time to aim, and conditions were near' perfect, *MAYBE* *JUST MAYBE* I might get a lucky shot with a .22 and I have always fancied myself a darn good shot, having plinked with a rifle since I was seven or eight years old. But to even attempt such a feat with a hand gun would be right out of my league for sure. I doff my cap to you, sir, in admiration!

How did you get so good anyway? Yeah, I know....practice.....

donsgal