The Sportsman's Corner
By Bob Cox, Mountain Valley News staff
When the conversation comes around to handguns these days it seems about all people think about is the ones that are popular for self-defense and protection.
I certainly understand that home and personal protection is a popular topic right now, but sometimes it is just fun, and often beneficial, to think about handguns in the world of hunting.
While Colorado allows big game hunting with handguns, the requirements are strict and pretty much limits us to using the big boys. Small game, on the other hand is a whole different story.
Just about any handgun is legal for taking of most small game, and using a handgun to hunt rabbits or squirrels is a great way to improve all of your handgun skills. It can also be very humbling.
There is a big difference between taking a favorite handgun to the range and poking holes in paper and carrying one through a sagebrush-covered flat waiting for a cottontail to explode from under a bush or rock.
There is an even bigger difference between hitting a grouse in the head with a scoped rifle and doing the same thing with a .22 pistol, but if you want a challenge, grab your favorite plinker and turn it into a hunter.
I have three handguns I like for small game stuff. They each offer different advantages, disadvantages and challenges.
Not long ago I acquired a revolver chambered for the increasingly popular .17 HMR. It has proven to be one of my favorites. It sort of reminds me of my old model 15 S&W. It, like most firearms, shoots as well as the shooter can make it shoot. After about $30 in practice ammo, I finally got to where I can shoot it reasonably well, but I do not claim to be really good with it yet.
My other favorite revolver is an H&R that has interchangeable cylinders, allowing me to use it with the .22 WMR or the simple .22 LR. I usually have the magnum cylinder in it. It has fixed sights, which is a drawback, and it is very loud, also a minus, but it shoots well. It is a gun passed down from my dad, so that makes it a little more special.
Then there is the model 622 S&W. This little semi-auto has netted me very few rabbits. On the range it seems to perform rather well. When I get it out for a little rabbit hunting, it becomes a very efficient ammunition burner. It likes to go after running rabbits, but usually requires at least one re-loading between hits. I would love to tell people that I can hit a running rabbit in the head with this gun, but that would be really stretching things. I think I did pull off a head shot a few years ago, and I think it was the last cartridge in the magazine that did the trick.
The 622 has its advantages. It is stainless steel. I always like that in a gun. It makes them less susceptible to my corrosive fingerprints and rust. It is also much cheaper to shoot than either the .17 or the .22 mag.
Regardless, what you settle on for a small game handgun, the real enjoyment comes from actually using it and becoming proficient with it. I some cases, it just takes more practice, which means more trips, which means more fun, which means…Well, you get my point.
