Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Wildlife Management Varmint Rifle

Browning used to make a lever action with a very short throw, AND the trigger traveled with the lever.....no pinching your fingers with that one. Don't know if they are still that way or not. I second Yolk's opinion, though..very fine rifles.

My pretty recently acquired one is still that way. Browning definitely marches to the beat of a different drummer sometimes, the BLR and Tbolt configurations come to mind....but produces a really high quality product.

Real wood stock? I guess I am old school but, I like real wood not a plastic.

Bill -- by now, your brain must be like a class 5 hurricane swirling inside your skull.



For now, it might be best to get a lever-action Daisey Red Ryder BB gun. Get a 1/2 pint "milk carton" of BBs. Together, the combination won't come close to breaking your budget. It won't even hit a coyote in the eye at 200 yards.

Load it up with 200 projectiles. Take it down to the pond with an empty plastic soda bottle. Throw the bottle in the pond and start plinking. Let your mind wander before you make the next step.



Ralphie

Bingo!!

I actually still have the old BB gun from when I was 8 years old, wood stock, sounds like very sound advice!

Just joking. Actually, I got the response from PBF I had hoped for. Lots of opinions and reasons why. Now, it is up to me. Just like when the forum gives advice to a member about his pond or anything else. The inputs are there as food for thought but, at the end of the day, it's yer decision which, IMO, is one of the reasons why this forum is still going after all these years and growing.

Ken,
That's classic stuff! LOL

Just to close the loop....After looking at all the posts and PMs one more time, I am going middle of the road, Henry lever action chambered for 22 Magnum....as soon as my dang FOID card arrives!

Thanks for all the help guys!

What's an FOID card?

IMO A way for Illinois politicians to fund their expensive getaways!

Serious though, Illinois requires a Firearms Owner ID card to own/buy a gun or ammo.

Obviously you do not have it yet. How long has it been since you applied?

Well since ya asked....I mailed in the application March 3rd. Got it back March 12th stating they no longer accept paper applications after March 9th. Their letter postmarked March 8th. I appled online March 14th. Now waiting. They say will be 30 days.

I feel sorry for those of you who live under the communist flag. Maybe someday we can all enjoy the freedoms that those of us in the free states enjoy.

Bill D, I love my 22Mag Remington simi auto but the shells are hard to find. If u have a problem locating soma ammo send me a PM and I will let u have a box of mine. Maybe trade out a YP trip as I have never caught or had one of the famous YP sandwiches, that I hear of here

Tracy

Thanks Tracy,

That brings up a good point. Maybe I will wander a couple of the local places that sell ammo to make sure that is not going to be a problem.

If yer ever up around here, stop by and I will hook you up with a YP sandwich! Hopefully, some of my original stockers will be pushing 9 to 10 inches by this fall. Assuming they are still in there. I've never wet a line in my pond so not sure what's in there!

Bill good call on the 22mag. I would definitely go with the Remington semi as well and a nice scope. Shoulder strap and your off. Don't get any one with the flat straight clip grab the ones with the role clip that when in place sits flush with the bottom of the gun.

The boys 17HMR has the straight clip and one 22 we had did. If happen to be sitting the gun on the clip when shooting she will jam the next round if semi and can be difficult after time to get the next in with a bolt action.

Cheers Don.

P.S. I really like the 20 gauge rifle barrel with a sabot slug. Stopping power of a 12 gauge but less kick. They are $$ for each shot. Our deer hunt here is shotgun only. I hunted first with a single shot Russian 12 gauge with rifled slugs and that thing kicked like a mule. The gun was super light so nothing to hold her back but my own shoulder. The pumps like the wing master has weight to them so the kick is not as bad.

Welcome to IL.

Suppressors were mentioned- No Go in IL, at least for now. Check back in a few years, that may be changed.
We just got SBR's (Short Barrel rifle's) approved, with a few extra hoops to jump through. Thank you NRA, ISRA (IL State Rifle Association) and all others involved.

FOID, enacted in 1968- needed to even buy/posses ammo and firearms, for residents. Even airguns over .18/700 fps. We even have some towns that prohibit air guns completely.
If you visit from out of state and plan to shoot here, bring lots of ammo or have a local buy it for you. Even if it is legal for an out of stater to buy ammo (limited exceptions to FOID act) most places won't mess with it. Or just cross back into a free state to re-supply.
And remember IL does NOT honor any other states CHL/CCW (Concealed Carry), except in your vehicle.
And most non-residents can not even pay for an IL CHL yet.
But it is getting better.

22 Mag ammo- Good luck, I don't think it has really come back into stock yet. But I haven't really looked for it lately.
A quick search of some ammo search engines turned up a few mail order options (like 2 or 3) 35-50 cents per round plus shipping and a walmart search turned up none local to me (Kankakee Co).
You can get any of the major handgun rounds for the same or less than that (9mm/40/38/45)

I would seriously rethink the rimfire option as I don't see ammo really coming back into NORMAL stocking for another few years. Too much pent up demand, too many people that haven't even shot any for a couple of years because of cost/availability. When it start becoming more available we will be buying it all up.
I love my .22's, but with only a few thousand rounds on hand I haven't shot it in a few years, I keep my stash for students and kids. And some of those I gladly paid $45 dollars per 500 for when things were really bad. I got caught with out a good stock on hand, and then we got CCW and I started teaching classes for it.
I can reload centerfire handgun for less than I can buy .22's for.
It's gotten a little better, but still is scarce or expensive.

If you are set on a lever action, a 357 would fit the bill nicely, but may be out of the budget.
The Rossi's get mixed reviews, still may be worth a look.

Please be careful with your shooting, We had a neighbor put a 40 cal round through our classroom right above one of my instructors head. He had just sat down a minute before. Round ricocheted off of frozen ground and traveled another 150 yds before punching through the wall.

Bill, what area of N. IL are you in?

If you are not too far away (Kankakee Co) I can keep my eyes open for something that might work for you.

Although the only lever I have found recently at a cheap price was a black tactical thing.
Not my cup of tea, even if most of my guns are black and plastic.
A lever action should look like a cowboy gun, for me at least.

And keep an eye out on Armslist, you may find a local deal on there, it can happen.

Hey Matt,

I am in Boone County. I was looking at Henry's cause they are still wood stocks. Very disappointed in the quality I see now compared to my 1956 30-30 lever action. The new ones look like toy guns.

On ammo availability.....I was at Cabelas near Chicago yesterday looking thru their ammo out front and saw no 22 Magnum rounds so I asked the guy at the desk. He had some behind the counter. He said they keep the hardest to get ammo behind the counter. Apparently, 22LR is the one they have the hardest time keeping stock. His explanation was it is one of the least expensive rounds to shoot so everybody uses them for target shooting.

Bill,

From personal experience, the newer 30-30 lever actions, particularly those that are still considered Winchester 94s, may not be built like the pre-1964s. But, they are still pretty good guns. They are built a little different. Most manufacturers moved to chemically-coated stamped-steel in the 1960s that doesn't take bluing. They have hollow vs., solid roll pins. But, they are still pretty darn rugged and solid.

A couple of years ago I got to borrow a friend's Henry classic lever action 22LR. Like the Winchester 94s, these aren't the guns of the 60s and before. But, I found it to be very well built, very rugged, and very accurate even though it was sighted for my friend's vision, and not mine. I still ended by going with a Marlin Model 60 .22 semi-auto. But, that was me wanting something nearly identical to my old JC Higgins. I love it.

By the way, we cleaned out my 92 year old father's-in-law closet last weekend. He passed away in December. I resurrected a Daisy Red Ryder that I gave him as a gift many years ago.

Don't over think this whole thing. Find something that is comfortable and that you like.

I love classic old rifles, and even a few classic handguns that are fun to look at, fun to shoot, accurate, and just plain fun. Not all do the jobs I need done. I also really don't want anything that has a clip -- too easy for my ADHD mind to lose.

I'm happy having a good 1300 fps .177 pellet air rifle for quiet squirrel/chipmunk elimination, decent 22 semi-auto center fires with tube feeds for general purpose varmint removal, lever action 30-30s for getting dinner, and 12 gauge shotguns as all around pest use. My gun safe has a number of other things, but they very seldom ever get used.

I don't know what it is like in you part of IL, but I've found a lot of really nice rifles and shotguns at farm auctions in our area. The wood may look beat up. The metal may have lost its bluing, or other coating. But, if the barrel is clean and un-rusted inside, and the mechanics work reasonably well, they can often be gotten for really good prices. Parts are still reasonably available for rifles and shotguns that are well over a 100 years old.

You just need to take an experienced friend to the sales. I've got some really wonderful old Damascus steel barrel shotguns. I no longer re-load, so I no longer dare shoot them. But, they sure are pretty. youjust have to decide on what is really useful.

Ken

Thanks Ken.

Your comments bring me all the way back to when I was 14 and my dad brought me that old 410 he picked up for probably $5 somewhere. To anyone else, it was a rusty beatup piece of junk. I worked hard stripping that gun down and bringing it back to life. Now, 45 years later, it is still a beautiful gun. Maybe it is time, I follow that old plan and bring a discarded piece of history back. I will start looking around.

Thanks again!

Bill

I have a closet full of shooting irons. Most, like me, are considered classics or at least vintage. All of the closet queens are WWII era. With the exception of the Swedish Mauser, the Win model 73 in 38-40, and the pre 64 Win 30-30, all are 30-06.

I recently traded 100 pounds of lead ingots got an old Marlin Model 10 single shot 22. It takes up less room than the buckets of lead and allows me to shoot tree rats with Calibri's. I still have about 100 lbs of lead wheel weights waiting for me to get bored enough to melt down.

I also have 7 or 8 pistols of different calibers but am not much good with short guns. Most are 40+ years old and go from 22 through 45 ACP.

I very rarely shoot these guns but none are for sale.

I recently bought a Ruger American in 270. I had a scope around that I put on it and it shoots pretty well. I don't anymore. I can't really get used to the idea of plastic clips and stocks. I know they are called "composites" but to me they are still plastic. I still prefer wood and steel. That is the only new in the box gun that I have bought in many years.

With the exception of the 22's, I reload everything. When I got the 270 I bought new dies, brass, bullets, etc. That gets expensive. I have many thousands of dollars in reloading gear and components. Someday all of this stuff goes to my only Grandson who hunts and likes to reload. I started teaching him when he was about 5 years old. At that time he sat in a deer stand with me. He had his BB gun and I had my 30-06. He got to take the first shot and if it wasn't a clean kill, I had to finish them off with my 30-06. His Mom, my daughter, just bought him a Quigley 45/120 with a set trigger. That sucker is heavy but doesn't kick much. I tried it but can't get used to the set triggers. Like me, he's a gun junkie.

I've known for some time that I have way too much shooting stuff.

It is spring cleaning time in the basement.

As I was inspecting and doing a final cleanup on guns that were not properly put back in the locker over the winter, I laid these on the floor. I guess all could be considered varmint guns.

If I were a varmint, the scariest would be the one at the bottom. Big barrel -- same size outside dimension as the double-barrel 12-gauge at the top of the picture. That thing could shoot your eye out! It is a genuine Daisy Red Ryder.

The one below the double-barrel always looks scary too -- it is a .177 pellet gun that cost me about $25 with the 4x scope from the old Cummins Tool company. At 30 yards it is darn accurate, and will go right through a squirrel.

Sweet !!!! I bought a Western Feild semi auto 22 with a 4 power in 67 fro $40. I've fired thousands of rounds through it and it broke two days before Squirrel season last yr. I'm gonna try ta get it fixed but don't have my hopes too high.

If you have neighbors you are worried about shooting towards for safety reasons, have you thought of trapping the yotes? You'll reduce their numbers much faster and with less issues than shooting may bring you. Course you also have to be sure your neighbors dogs and kids are not running around your property as well. But you will clean those pesky critters out quicker trapping than shooting. As for the feathered friends, buy some popper shotgun blanks. They shoot no shot, only a primer or powder load noise. Just some additional thoughts.