Some plinking with a classic

[Sir Henry]

Thanks, guys.

I've always had a fascination with single shots of all kinds. There's just something about boiling it all down to just that one shot for both the gun and the shooter that appeals to me. It also helps that I used 22 LR single shots for so much of my hunting, back in the day, and never missed having a repeat follow up shot. Some of my favorite 22 single shots back then included a Winchester 67 (the one I used the most), a Remington 510, an Ithaca 49 Saddlegun (should not have been so accurate, but it was) and an old Savage 24 22LR over 410. The Savage, of course, was technically not a single shot, having two barrels, but we used it as one, depending on what hunting we were doing. The 410 barrel was great for shooting rats down at the corn silo. Later came the Contenders and much later, the Encores, both of which I still shoot.

And, yes, Bill and I are now very fortunate to have some of these high end single shots, not to mention other types of 22s. We still enjoy shooting centerfire, but more and more it's the rimfires, now. Hard to call it plinking when you're shooting centerfire rifle ammo that costs over a buck a shot, these days.

I had an old Steven’s 22/410 when I was a kid. Not sure what happened to it.

[North Country Gal]

Those Savage or Stevens 22/410s sell crazy fast when one shows up around here. I suspect ct people want them for a garden/pest gun or something.

[Sir Henry]

Those Savage or Stevens 22/410s sell crazy fast when one shows up around here. I suspect ct people want them for a garden/pest gun or something.

I’ve been looking for one for the last 20 plus years.

[North Country Gal]

There's one at Mel's Trading post in 22 LR/20 gauge right now for $675 or so. Saw it yesterday when I stopped in to buy some new fishing line. It's a more recent Savage with the funky opening latch built into the trigger guard, though. I do not like that. No way. I want a traditional top lever.

[Sir Henry]

There's one at Mel's Trading post in 22 LR/20 gauge right now for $675 or so. Saw it yesterday when I stopped in to buy some new fishing line. It's a more recent Savage with the funky opening latch built into the trigger guard, though. I do not like that. No way. I want a traditional top lever.

Ideally I would want a .22WMR/410 but would take it in .22LR. I already have a ton of 410.

[North Country Gal]

For this kind of gun and the way I've always used it, I also prefer the 410. When we were kids out at the farm, we used the 410 a lot for keeping the rat population down at our corn silo and also a neighbor's silo. Those corn fed rats were huge.

[North Country Gal]

Been doing sone work with the plinkers.

The 1920s vintage Marlin pump 22 got a different scope. I was using a 2x pistol scope with the barrel mount, but wasn't too keen on only 2x, so I found an old Bushnell Sportview 4x that was actually a pretty decent air rifle scope in its day, AO and all. The Marlin sure seems to like it, so I like it.


As always, shooting these 22 pumpers is so much fun. One thing I appreciate with a pump is how easy and fast you can shoot it while using a rest, compared to a lever gun.

And speaking of shooting fast, a lot of these pump 22s from the old days can be slam fired. This Marlin sure can. Yup, just hold back the trigger as you pump and you can empty the mag pretty darn quick. That can make for some very interesting plinking.

[FormerParatrooper]

That is a pretty rifle.