.22 Caliber "backpack guns"

[jmorris]

Wouldn't call the AR7 style water proof but they do float. The Mk pistols can be taken down quite easy once you learn how, not revolver easy but even a kid can do it.

I seem to grab my SBR 10/22 more than the rest of the ones I have, as its the only one alwasy ready to fire..

 

[Hanshi]

I've owned and fired (a lot) #5 and like it. I still own and use a MKI (#3) and can't comment on #1, #2 and #4. However I'm surprised nobody mentioned my favorite, the Remington Nylon 66. Accurate, reliable, feather light but hard to come by. I've owned mine for decades and still use it. It wears a scope but the iron sights work just fine. It's almost indestructible, to boot.

 

[chicharrones]

I gotta admit, I've always liked threads pertaining to stuffing rimfires into packs or bags and going out into the woods. That's just an entertaining weekend to me.

So, due to my own limited experiences after Hurricanes . . . I will stick to rimfire guns in this thread which is much more entertaining than the reality of needing centerfire guns in an urban environment when power, gas, and food is all gone.

I'll just post up what I have that could qualify for packable rimfires. The choice for the day would depend on what I had in mind and how much space I had for the day.

1. Beretta Neos Carbine with bag on stock for 4 spare magazines and storage under the butt plate for over a dozen more rounds (weight of 3.8 lbs. empty). It is mostly covered in plastic muzzle-to-butt with an aluminum rail on top. Mags are stainless. Very accurate up to 60 to 70 yards with the aperture sight.

2. Ruger Single Six 9.5" barrel with .22 WMR and .22 LR cylinders (weight of 2.5 lbs.). Can be very accurate up to 25 yards shooting from an improvised rest. Admittedly the stainless Single Six Hunter with 7.5" barrel would be a better choice for foul weather, but I don't own one of those.

 

[Hanshi]

As an aside, truth be known, I would carry my Nylon 66 AND a lightweight centerfire revolver - caliber unimportant as long as it starts at .38spl. Forget "combat" of any kind; we're talking survival (food, protection) and not going up against Military or Militarized police units. Storm Troopers ALWAYS win; see!?

Realistically (think about it) you CAN'T "bug out" like that and survive. Unless you have a lot of TRUE mountain man experience - not the silly kind attributed to a few criminals who are usually found dumpster diving - and can live hardscrabble in the wilderness. Too much support is needed especially if family is involved. You'll be lucky to survive days or a few weeks at most. So the main concern is where you live right now.

 

[itsa pain]

to me the AR 7 is the best smallest lightest and packs away taking up less room then the other more costly ones here. as far as jamming do you expect to be in a hurricane in a swamp firing thousands of rounds fighting off a chinese human wave assault? Mine never jammed and in the 80's there were more add ons mags etc for the AR 7 then the 10-22. maybe buying a junk 35 rd mag from a company that lasted 1 year led to the erroneous jamming rumor

 

[itsa pain]

As an aside, truth be known, I would carry my Nylon 66 AND a lightweight centerfire revolver - caliber unimportant as long as it starts at .38spl. Forget "combat" of any kind; we're talking survival (food, protection) and not going up against Military or Militarized police units. Storm Troopers ALWAYS win; see!?

Realistically (think about it) you CAN'T "bug out" like that and survive. Unless you have a lot of TRUE mountain man experience - not the silly kind attributed to a few criminals who are usually found dumpster diving - and can live hardscrabble in the wilderness. Too much support is needed especially if family is involved. You'll be lucky to survive days or a few weeks at most. So the main concern is where you live right now.

peasants in Vietnam Iraq and afghan sorry to say did pretty good

 

[weblance]

For a backpack gun, I really like this one. Beretta Neos Carbine. Amazingly accurate, absolutely reliable, and 5" shorter than any 10/22. Goes together in seconds.

 

[Critical J]

Honorable Mention

Keeping in mind that approx. half the people building 72-hour bags are just looking for any decent .22 for a reasonable price, one that didn't quite make the list was the Heritage Arms .22 Rough Rider. Now obviously, this ain't no top shelf wheel gun, but if you've only got a spare $150 then a cheap revolver with a free .22 mag cylinder is nothing to turn-up your nose about!
+ it's available with a 9-shot capacity and it's the only single action I've ever seen with a safety, but who really cares?

 

[Skylerbone]

For a TD .22 rifle I'd take the Marlin Papoose over any of those yet listed followed by Browning's svelt offering and finally the aforementioned Neos Carbine. At 3.3 lbs. the Savage Rascal would be another hard to beat offering, though only a single-shot.

I'd haul a brick of .22lr around long before I'd consider stuffing the equivalent 17 AR magazines and a 7+ lb. carbine with me. To me, bug out is far different than hunker down and what you choose is as much a function of situation as of weight or bulk. Hurricane preparation, recreational backpacking and all-out anarchy are simply not same level events. "Other threads" are often far more specific as to the disaster at hand which allows more thought provocation rather than the other type of provocation.

 

[X-Rap]

To bad we suffer from the NFA as the 10/22 or Henry with a workable stock (folding on the ruger) would both make fine SBR's. I would favor the 10/22 due to the fold ability and detachable mags.
The MK series pistol is very effective on small game out to 50yds and while I would choose a larger caliber for personal defense the 22 rf is nothing to sneeze at with good placement that the rugers are very capable of. The softer report of the 22 while hunting in a survival scenario is something to consider as well as the ability to carry a considerable payload of ammo.

 

[grimjaw]

Having backpacked on multiple day trips where we carry everything, I can tell you I wouldn't want to carry any of the items in the first post. I usually carry an Airweight J-frame when I hike, but it's a .38. I have had to worry more about snakes than other potentially dangerous animals. For the rattlesnake we almost tripped over, a rock was sufficient. For two-leggers, .38 will have to do.

I've run into situations where there were fuel shortages and there wasn't a natural disaster involved (e.g. prior to closing the passes in the Cascades in the winter in Washington, there's sometimes a queue at the gas station). Having to carry everything you need on your back should be a consideration.

If it's got to be a takedown rifle and rimfire is preferred, I like the Marlin 70PSS. Very light for an autoloading rifle, over a pound less than the comparable 10/22; doesn't have the bad juju following it like the AR7. Good luck finding one, though. It's still listed in Marlin's catalog but I have had no success replacing mine.

I don't know how easily the Crickett rifles come apart, but they are extremely light and very affordable. I also like hso's suggestion of the Keltec, even though I still wouldn't backpack with it. There are plenty of rifles that can break down to be compact, but weight will still be a factor. For example, your standard AK47 type with a wire folder will fit in a tennis bag with a couple of mags, but it's not exactly a featherweight.

 

[SharpsDressedMan]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned this: Beretta 21A

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[chicharrones]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned this: Beretta 21A ]

I've got one in .22LR. It was my first pocket gun 20 years ago and I've taken it out in the woods to shoot many times. The problem is it has tiny fixed sights and you have to know where your point of aim is to be to hit your target. For hitting a squirrel on the first shot, you gotta be close and you gotta be used to the sight picture and point of aim.

If you have time to walk your shots into the target, like for plinking, it can be fun indeed. A small live target will skeedaddle before you get a second shot lined up, though.

 

[Critical J]

@ Pilot

say, what's that Ruger pistol w/ the stock and fore-end grip?
I've never seen those accessories offered before, pretty cool...

 

[Carl N. Brown]

Back in 1994 I bought a used Armalite Cosa Mesa AR-7 for $79.95; only needed a new front sight blade. And either new or properly adjusted magazines.

Couple a years ago, I took mine to the mountain to have something to do while my son was drilled in use of the M4 by a military friend.

I fired all five 8 shot magazines I had with the gun dry with no boggles (CCI Stinger). The gun had been in the case for about a year.

The weak point of the AR7 is the magazine has to be in good shape, the ammo must be high velocity, and bullet noses should be round. It is a gun you must learn, use and work with. I do not recommend just buying one and sticking it in a bugout bag. The closest to "buy it and forget it til you need it" in .22 would be the Ruger pistol or the Marlin 70 Papoose takedown rifle.

 

[Willie Sutton]

^^ if you can find one if the surplus Israeli Air Force AR-7's you will be good to go then. Wire type collapsible stock and a FN/FAL pistol grip. Lots more compact than the floating stock, which has to be bulky if its going to float the rifle.

I think, with all due respect, that the basic premise of carrying a .22 for other than fun is wrong though. There's nothing I can shoot with a .22 that I can't shoot better with a 9 mm. Thus the SUB-2000 in my tool-bag.


Willie

.

 

[akodo]

Okay, IMHO in a bug-out bag you need a medium sized handgun, a few reloads (either a pair of mags or three speed loaders) and a spare box of ammo.

In a bug-out situation the 22LR just doesn't stop the two legged troublemakers with enough authority.

And remember, it's a BUG-OUT-BAG, it's something you are going to be using to live out of for a day or five as you get to your new location. So don't plan on choosing the gun inside to be a hunting firearm to harvest rabbits and squirrels with. You can go 2 weeks without food. A couple of MREs in the bug-out-bag is smarter than trying to go squirrel hunting in the middle of a disaster.

Now, in the cabin where you plan to go hunker down until things get better, there having a month's worth of food, water, a 22 rifle for hunting, and 1000 rounds of ammo is a good idea.


On to the guns you've chosen.

The combo 410/22 LR actually has a heck of a bad reputation. The original was actually 410/ 22 hornet and much better made. I'd skip that combo gun.

The Mare's Leg. I have no idea how you are managing to shoot it accurately, but I sure can't. In a situation where I'd need to shoot it I think i'd find a short chunk of 2x4 and some duct-tape and jury-rig a stock. Shy of that, no, it's a real bad choice.

Honestly, if it was going to be anything other than a trusty sidearm, I think the NEF/H&R single shot shotguns would be ideal. (Rossi makes them too) Combine it with a chamber conversion to shoot 22, throw in 5 rounds of buck and a 100 round pack of 22 and you are good.

Ideally a converter would be about 12 inches long, that'd be enough to get decent velocity and accuracy out of a 22.

I did a very quick google search, here are three

http://www.gaugemate.com/purchase/gaugemate-cartridge
http://shotgunadapter.com/
http://www.mcace.com/shotguninserts.htm <--- long ones

You know, it might be just as easy to get a whole second barrel vs a converter. Converter would take less space though.

I'd rather have this that the M-6 scout!



This would be another option, especially with a converter, but you can easily get a 2nd full barrel




NOTE: the above are both 20 gauge. IF YOU NEED A SHOTGUN, FOR DEFENSE, FOR HUNTING, FOR WHATEVER, YOU NEED SOMETHING BIGGER THAN A 410

 

[Manny]

IMHO the 10/22 takedown is the one gun everyone should own. Very low profile in it's carry case which gives plenty of room to add other needed gear for an outstanding "grab & go" bag. It's reliable, durable, accurate, useful and fun.

 

[Critical J]

@ akodo

In all honesty, the wife shoots it better than I, but at 100 yds. I've seen her plink pie pans with that Mare's Leg. As I understand it, Henry deliberately over engineered this little .22 because it probably wouldn't be taken seriously.

The best way we've found to shoot it is neither holding it out front nor pulling it into your shoulder, but allowing it to tip forward and catch the stock with your cheek. Works perfectly fine, just takes practice, ya dig?

 

[Esoxchaser]

Browning BL22
Ruger Single Six Hunter

 

[mgkdrgn]

1) reliable
2) light
3) no magazine to loose
4) accurate
5) if a rifle, break down is a plus

Remington Nylon 66 hits a lot of those, so does the Marlin 60.

If you want more "punch", maybe one of those single shot "handi-rifles" with a .223 and a 20g barrel set.

Handguns ... (despite the laughing I hear in the peanut gallery) I think the Taurus Judge, short barrel, is tough to beat as a multi-use trail gun.

 

[weblance]

@ Pilot
say, what's that Ruger pistol w/ the stock and fore-end grip?
I've never seen those accessories offered before, pretty cool...

Thats no Ruger... Its a Browning Buckmark, and Buckmark Carbine.

 

[weblance]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned this: Beretta 21A

I just got mine back from Jim Pixley. SO MUCH FUN, small, and quiet... Great backpack gun, if a pistol is what you want.

 

[akodo]

As I understand it, Henry deliberately over engineered this little .22 because it probably wouldn't be taken seriously.

This here makes absolutely no sense.

What do you mean by 'over-engineer' it? Set it up to handle higher than normal internal pressures? That makes no sense.

Do you mean they set it up to be uber-accurate? How exactly is that done? If it can be done with the 'pistol' version, why isn't it done with the regular henry 22 rifle?

If it is done, to what purpose? Henry is in the job of selling guns, if they were doing some magic voodoo to make the 22 mare's leg extra accurate, why aren't they crowing about it?

 

[Critical J]

@ akodo

Look, I'm an ironworker, not a gunsmith. I did have a gunsmith explain it to me once though; basically, Henry makes some great products and a few sub-par products, just like most companies. On a regular basis, according to this professional gunsmith, mind you, the same products come-in over and over. Cheaper repeaters, a certain 5-year run of Goldenboys, etc. sometimes they need repairs, sometimes they just need aftermarket work right out of the box to really excel (there was some gun that was still using leaf springs up through the mid '90s, for instance) but the usual improvements and tune-ups he would be paid to do on various rifles were already handled on the Marie's Leg. According to him they're right up there with the higher end Henry heirloom quality rifles, save expensive inlays and etc. etc.

Polishing stiff actions and all that, whatever, it was done in-house at Henry because they were hoping for a good response from the Cowboy Action crowd, which has been mixed, really...