Question for you all
- Thread starter mrpike
- Start date
Thanks for that info Bogie!
And yes, they are about the simplest gun I've ever worked on. stock, a barrel, and a trigger with a spring.. THAT'S IT... LOL
My first was my brothers hand me down. A CIL single shot that saw pretty much only 22 shorts for most of it's years (shorts were the cheapest back in the 70's). It has taken more than it's share of gophers. Still have it, still shoot it. After 20,000 + rounds it still poops them out like it was new. But the one shot one kill rule was "a given" and my shooting disipline stems from this rimfire.
I'm a Model 39 first gun man as well. I had it stolen along with my car back in 1965. I had one given to me since, and bought another new one. One of them got stolen as well!! I carried my old 39 on many a "safari" out on my Dad's farm. We had about a mile of deep creek running through the farm. It was a haven for a kid to spend Saturdays hunting "in the wild". I found out years ago that Louis Riel and Gabriel Dumont and their people used to follow that creek to a lake south of Broadview, SK. The creek emptied into the Qu'Appelle Valley just east of Crooked Lake. Neat piece of history and even neater to think that I've "hunted" the same area as these old-timers.
Never had a gun when I was a kid.
However, from my fairly extensive experience in the gopher fields of southern Alberta, I can tell you that a single shot will improve your shooting over a semi-auto.
It isn't in the rifle or the principles of marksmanship. It is all in the psychology of knowing you have only one bullet to make the shot vs thinking you have a bunch more shots if the first one isn't right. That subconscious thought tends to make the semi-auto shooter more careless with his shooting and thus results in more misses.
I have seen it with novices and experts alike. I have seen it in myself. Which is why I refuse to use a semi-auto shooting gophers.
A few years ago I met a guy who was a died in the wool 10/22 marksman. This guy was good. In the time it would take me to cycle the action, he could chase down a running gopher and kill it, which was a bit frustrating for me. We spent the entire summer shooting together, him with his g/d semi-auto and me with my heavy single shot target rifle. Just about the time I was ready to concede defeat and go to the dark side, he admitted that he was jealous of my kill rate and ability to whack gophers at extended ranges with only one or two rounds and he would be getting a single shot target rifle.
Since that time we have known people who would be lucky to tally a 10% kill rate with their semi-autos. These guys just go out and blast and blast and blast rounds downrange till they hit something. Their thumbs going bloody from loading mags.
Where we, with our single shots, would routinely rack up kill rates in the 70% range.
The semi-auto guys are the ones bragging about going through a brick or two in a day's shooting but the truth is they are only killing 50-100 gophers in the process. Where, with a single shot, I can shoot a measly two boxes to get the same number of kills. If I go through a brick of ammo in a day the body count will be closer to 300-350. Which is more satisfying?
It does make a difference between knowing you have one single shot to get the job done vs having a magfull of rounds at your fingertip. The first promotes marksmanship where the second promotes ammo wastage.
However, from my fairly extensive experience in the gopher fields of southern Alberta, I can tell you that a single shot will improve your shooting over a semi-auto.
It isn't in the rifle or the principles of marksmanship. It is all in the psychology of knowing you have only one bullet to make the shot vs thinking you have a bunch more shots if the first one isn't right. That subconscious thought tends to make the semi-auto shooter more careless with his shooting and thus results in more misses.
I have seen it with novices and experts alike. I have seen it in myself. Which is why I refuse to use a semi-auto shooting gophers.
A few years ago I met a guy who was a died in the wool 10/22 marksman. This guy was good. In the time it would take me to cycle the action, he could chase down a running gopher and kill it, which was a bit frustrating for me. We spent the entire summer shooting together, him with his g/d semi-auto and me with my heavy single shot target rifle. Just about the time I was ready to concede defeat and go to the dark side, he admitted that he was jealous of my kill rate and ability to whack gophers at extended ranges with only one or two rounds and he would be getting a single shot target rifle.
Since that time we have known people who would be lucky to tally a 10% kill rate with their semi-autos. These guys just go out and blast and blast and blast rounds downrange till they hit something. Their thumbs going bloody from loading mags.
Where we, with our single shots, would routinely rack up kill rates in the 70% range.
The semi-auto guys are the ones bragging about going through a brick or two in a day's shooting but the truth is they are only killing 50-100 gophers in the process. Where, with a single shot, I can shoot a measly two boxes to get the same number of kills. If I go through a brick of ammo in a day the body count will be closer to 300-350. Which is more satisfying?
It does make a difference between knowing you have one single shot to get the job done vs having a magfull of rounds at your fingertip. The first promotes marksmanship where the second promotes ammo wastage.
For what its worth, my first 22 was a Cooey 64 that needed work. Wouldnt shoot a whole box of ammo without binding up the bolt. You could actually see it slowing down. Got that sorted out though. My family all hunted and I was taught to shoot like I only had one shot anyways. Only once did I use a whole mag on the biggest groundhog I had ever seen.He was 10ft from his hole and running full bore. Hit him with 8 of the 9 rounds I put out. Probably a 40lb ground pig. Where we hunted in Ontario, one shot was usually all you got anyways cuz everything went to ground right away. Never did learn to rely on the spray technique so guess I was lucky. Shoot like you only have 1 shot and you cant go wrong regardless of what you shoot. My $0.02
Started out with a Winchester single shot 410, then a Spanish 16 guage double, moved to a Wim. Model 12 pump, had several others over the years then in 1971 or 72 went to a Cooey Single shot 20 gauge. Shot and killed more ducks, geese, and pheasants with that little 20 than with all the other guns combined. I found that it either killed the bird, or missed completely. Can't recall ever chasing down a cripple with it.
Got another one at the Calgary gun show 2 yrs ago, and it was like renewing an old friendship.
I think what happens is that the idea of having only one shot to do the job makes you a lot more careful, knowing that you won't have a second chance.
Got another one at the Calgary gun show 2 yrs ago, and it was like renewing an old friendship.
I think what happens is that the idea of having only one shot to do the job makes you a lot more careful, knowing that you won't have a second chance.
I remember I got a Ranger single shot .22 at a gun auction (my Mom bought it for me) I welded flat bar to the receiver and put a scope on it. It was a super super accurate rifle even with the home made mount. I think all the time I spent shooting at targets as small as birds and rats at all different ranges had more to do with improving my accuracy than it being a single shot
