Henry Lever-Action 22

[foggy1111]

Agreed, highly unlikely you would be caught and also agreed they seem to not be at the edge of extinction.

But how sure are you that when you die and go to the pearly gates there won't be a jury box full of grackles.(-:

At 16 I shot everything that flew, walked or crawled. At 58 I tend live and let live.

Agreed....but I said my GRANDSON just turned 13.....and this is his first rifle. I'm just glad he passes on the song-birds. :thumbsup:

 

[RobertN]

Just a side note... Have you checked out the 4H shooting program in your/his area?

My son did that for a couple years. Between what I taught him, and what he learned there, he is an excellent shot. And knows firearm safety inside and out. It was really a good, fun program.

It was cool too, because they got to use the range guns too; the range had some sweet heavy target rifles.

That local range also has it's own monthly youth program too.

Agreed....but I said my GRANDSON just turned 13.....and this is his first rifle. I'm just glad he passes on the song-birds. :thumbsup:

 

[roygage]

Agreed....but I said my GRANDSON just turned 13.....and this is his first rifle. I'm just glad he passes on the song-birds. :thumbsup:

Hey Foggy, I'll tell you my grackle story. So I bought this neat little model 62 Taurus exposed hammer pump. Gun felt great but hadn't shot it yet. I am about as excited as I get when I pull up to my daughters acreage and load it up with 22 long rifles.

I go to the back side of here barn where I got some targets set up and what is sitting at the very tippty top of the tallest tree in the grove but a nice big fat grackle.

Now like I said being a softy I don't shoot much anymore except targets, rats and wobbly skunks. Rats being largely guilt free and wobbly skunks being a recognized safety hazard.

But that old black bird was just setting up there about 75 yards out and what chance did I have of hitting him anyway what with iron sights and having never even shot the gun before.

So I line him up, squeeze the trigger, and drop him like a box of rocks.

A mixture of dang, what a shot and oops, didn't really mean to do that little buddy.

Signed, The pot which called the kettle black. (-:

 

[foggy1111]

A quick good-shot story. (OK...lucky shot)

Several decades back....before I was married.....I had a great-shooting, low-cost, Winchester semi-auto rifle. I was known to be a pretty good shot.

Two friends and I were plinking in an old farm site near the Minnesota river.....the river being about 1/2 mile away from the abandoned farm site. After we had just about quit shooting, a crow flies into a tree-top down along the river (1/2 mile away or so). I made some kinda bold statement like "watch this"......threw the gun up....aimed about 40 feet over the crow and squeezed the trigger. About 2 seconds later the bullet hit that crow and he somersaulted to the ground: DEAD. My buddies were amazed (and so was I).

Just goes to show....you can never do "magic" if you don't pull the trigger!

Oh.....and back then, we didn't have a crow season.

 

[MossRoad]

Hey, here's another quick story.

Back in the 60s a good friend of our family who was in his early teens was out in his backyard on a nice sunny day when he was shot in the torso by a .22 caliber slug that was fired from a gravel pit over a mile away. He was taken to the hospital and recovered nicely from the wound.

Yes, I have done stupid stuff as a kid (and adult) too and will admit to it. But please teach your kids the ramifications of shooting a rifle into the air at a target with no backstop. Having said that, squirrel hunting comes to mind. Don't most folks us .22s for that? What about coon hunting... what is the preferred firearm for that? Just asking.

 

[foggy1111]

Hey, here's another quick story.

Back in the 60s a good friend of our family who was in his early teens was out in his backyard on a nice sunny day when he was shot in the torso by a .22 caliber slug that was fired from a gravel pit over a mile away. He was taken to the hospital and recovered nicely from the wound.

Yes, I have done stupid stuff as a kid (and adult) too and will admit to it. But please teach your kids the ramifications of shooting a rifle into the air at a target with no backstop. Having said that, squirrel hunting comes to mind. Don't most folks us .22s for that? What about coon hunting... what is the preferred firearm for that? Just asking.

Yep. Happens. We typically don't take shots without a good backstop.....and one of the purposes of this thread was to let folks know about low-power Colibri loads that are good alternative to 22 LR.....and good for short-range shooting safety - especially with kids. Something that is needed by many.

But as you said....squirrels and coons and lots of birds and other critters are largely shot with 22's.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

We use .22 shorts when shooting around the house as they are much quieter then .22LR but with plenty of power for killing woodchucks and other pests.

 

[two_bit_score]

Hey, here's another quick story.

Back in the 60s a good friend of our family who was in his early teens was out in his backyard on a nice sunny day when he was shot in the torso by a .22 caliber slug that was fired from a gravel pit over a mile away. He was taken to the hospital and recovered nicely from the wound.

Yes, I have done stupid stuff as a kid (and adult) too and will admit to it. But please teach your kids the ramifications of shooting a rifle into the air at a target with no backstop. Having said that, squirrel hunting comes to mind. Don't most folks us .22s for that? What about coon hunting... what is the preferred firearm for that? Just asking.

My Dad always said .22 rifles were too dangerous for us. We couldn't have them until we got old enough to buy our own. My first gun was a .410 single shot when I was ten.

His reasoning was just what you said. The bullet goes so far.

 

[masscity]

My brother and I wanted a BB gun, but my Dad thought they were too dangerous and bought us a .22 instead.

 

[TMR]

Just took out my 22 revolver and loaded with long rifle to work on my red squirrel population. Was really surprised by how loud it was and also at the "blow by" from the cylinder. Went out and bought both hearing protection AND some 22 shorts TMR 3 squirrels 0...

P.S. The pistol is a little used Ruger single action revolver...is cylinder "blow by" normal...issue was I was holding with opposite hand near the cylinder...ouch! TMR

We use .22 shorts when shooting around the house as they are much quieter then .22LR but with plenty of power for killing woodchucks and other pests.