Wondering if a high-powered .22 pellet rifie should be the second member of the arsenal. Legal for up to turkey size critters, quiet, suppressors legal even in CA, and come with scope and all in the $250 dollar range new. Not considered firearms in most regs, so not subject to some bans on rifles or pistols in public land areas in certain seasons.

Thoughts?

Thanks.

I think my second (actually was a Ruger Security Six) firearm would be a stainless revolver..357mag, 3 or 4inch barrel...K or L frame S&W (I prefer the 3inch round butt M65/66) or Ruger GP100..

It looks like you decided on the Remington 870 as your first weapon: a good choice.

For the second, you may want to consider if any second long gun is practical to carry given the circumstances you envision. Carrying 2 long guns could be a bit of a burden.

So I would agree on a handgun as a second, and a .357 lets you use a variety of ammo, from .38 wad cutter, shot and up to full power .357. It gives a lot of flexibility. In this, it has similar advantages to the shotgun. Personally, as I mentioned in your other thread, I would go with a 6 inch barrel: I think 3 inch is a bit short. 4 inch might be a reasonable compromise. Also, you might find a good used .357 at a very reasonable price.

A high powered break air rifle will weigh 8+ lbs and practical hunting will be limited to 35-45 metres. Ammunition will very light though and you could easily carry 1000s of pellets.

But if your requirement was for a backup then a Ruger Mark II Stainless Slab side Competition Target Model 22LR pistol might be worth looking into.

Edit

How about one of these

http://www.crickett.com/crickett_hunterpistol.php



Cricket Hunter single shot pistol .22LR

You should also be able to get a full replacement stock for more control which would take the weight of the rifle to around the 3lb mark.

Pistols problematic in CA. Banned from many public game refuges and parks. Debate rages whether OK to carry while hunting: clearly banned if hunting in an archery season, debatably OK with burden on you to convince suspicious officers in other seasons if you are not actively assisting in the hunting or "take" [so what is the point of carrying it].

I am still trying to understand the tangle of regulations and laws on pistol carrying. The DFG, DOJ, and the CA Attorney General have overall jurisdiction, but so doeas every schoold district, municipality, common carrier, county, etcetera. It is enough so at least for now I am discouraged from a pistol as a second member of the arsenal.

Carrying a second long rifle is a practical concern. That is why originally I was so interested in the rifle-shotgun combo guns. This device might make life with a second long gun tolerable:

http://www.gunslingercorral.com/

On the subject of legalities....
http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/showthread.php?t=73404
Conventional wisdon seems to be if the suppressor is permanantly attached and an integral part of the air rifle, it's probably OK. But, if it could be removed with anything less then a hacksaw and and attached to a conventional firearm it's illegal. Interpertation is subject to the local LEOs, so YMMV.

Oh...so many choices.

And be careful, once one gun follows you home, soon they start accumulating. You'll be thinking 3rd, 4th and 5th soon enough

For me, a second gun = a small gun. I am partial to the simplicity of the Glock, but I've kind of moved into a revolver state of mind over the last year or so.


I REALLY like my Savage Arms M6 - it's a .410 and .22, it's compact, accurate enough and really neat.

I've also been very happy with my .17 HMR Henry - that one is so light and the rounds so fast that it's pretty awesome.

Does anyone know of a sub 1.5 lb bolt action take down short barreled .22 Mag constructed from Titanium and Carbon Composite materials? I'm thinking of a design something like the Cricket Hunter single shot pistol shown above but with a removable adjustable stock attachment. There must be a market for a very compact and ultra lightweight survival/backpackers rifle.

Although the Cricket .22 is primarily designed as an introductory Children's rifle I suspect it would make a very reasonable backpacking rifle with some modifications.

http://www.youtube.com/user/CrickettRifles

http://www.youtube.com/user/CrickettRifles#p/f/18/W_SiTY86DpQ

Is the Cricket Rifle subject to ATF regulations being a SBR

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_barreled_rifle

A good quality pellet rifle is good for small game. I don't know about turkey unless you can stalk or bring them in close enough for a clear head shot. But rats, medium-sized birds, squirrels, and average size rabbits are all possible. You can get a lot of practice with a pellet rifle and do it on short money. $5 gets 500 to a thousand pellets.

I also think your overestimating the price. Yes, you can spend $250 on a pellet rifle but there are nice spring guns, complete with a good scope, that go for about $125. It is entirely possible to set up a temporary 33' indoors range for such a rifle and get in some rainy day shooting. Thirty-three feet, or more, isn't long but the basics of keeping shots in a quarter-inch circle are the same as bigger targets at longer ranges.

It can be fun to make a game of it. Plastic army men and all you can shoot off-hand in a minute as competition. Most of the higher power pellet rifles are single-shot with a muscular cocking process so a minute isn't very long.

For a bit more than $250, I figure, less than $300 I figure, you could get both a nice pellet rifle and a magazine-fed bolt-action .22LR. Both new. Buy used and you might swing it for $250.

Not a bad choice. I might put it fourth or fifth, but if I was in a more urban area that would modify my ranking.

Big advantage- limited range. A .22 is still quite leathal after 800 yards of forest so long as it doesn't hit a tree. Three times that if you were shooting at something up IN a tree.