My wife and I enjoy small game cartridges. We have several rifles chambered in .22 Hornet, K-Hornet, .218 Bee, .25-20, .32-20, and even .32 H&R Magnum.
We have used the .22 Magnum for a kitchen gun for many years now, in both standard rifle and the Marlin Garden Gun. We jumped into the .17 HRM pond with three rifles. The little 17’s are great rifles; they easily shoot those little groups we all like to brag about.
The center fire cartridges are not ideal kitchen guns because the small calibers are either short on killing power or over penetrate. We are continually experimenting with different bullets and the center fire rifles are not always zeroed to “farm yard” distances. The rim fire magnums are good kitchen guns; we sight them in and leave them alone. The rim fires are always ready to shoot.
If the rim fires come up just a little short, it is in real life killing power. I am not talking about a careful shot made while varminting. I am talking about jumping up from the diner table, grabbing a rifle and hurrying to the back door to bust a porcupine, dog, coyote or bobcat while trying to remember to take “ears” so you can shoot off the covered porch. With the center fire cartridges you have the added worry of over penetration.
I am thinking “we” need to go back and revisit the .25 Stevens rim fire, or perhaps the hi-velocity .25 rim fire that was planned in pre War days. The high velocity .25 rim fire with modern “trick” bullets would seem to satisfy our need. I intend to look into this using our Savage M-23 in .25-20. I think other forum members keep kitchen guns. What are your thoughts?

Do bother to cast bullets for the .22hornet, but really don't think of it as a kitchen gun. Will work fine, but it seldom gets used that way. Nice little Martini action and an old 6X Unertl, but that kind of works against it as a "jump up from teh table and shoot" gun.

Kept an old Savage 340V 225WCF simply becasue it handles cast bullets very well...in this case, that rifle is a better cast bullet gun that it is a varminter. Old beat up rifle, with an equally old Weaver 3-9X on top...cranked dwon to 3X and with the magazine loaded (but not the chamber) it makes a pretty good jump-up-and-shoot rifle.

17HMR is a pretty good round...tried it, but ended up sticking with the .22mag. for my use. Don't have the longer ranges to contend with, so the trade off (50% reduction in bullet weight for 25% increase in velocity) didn't seem too productive when shooting Nutria. This one is a ruger AW...and yest, I've hosed it off with the garden hose after some Nutria hunts. Have tied a big orange float on a ling line to it before...just incase it goes over the side...have had that happen in the past, and walking arround Bayou with your shoes off to feel for the rifle with your toes in the muck is one of life's less fun pastimes.

Freind is keeping my Destroyer carbine at his camp...odd little bolt action in 9mm Largo. WHile 115gr. JHP's at 1760fps aren't the most common choice, he likes the little gun and has ( "had" now) a 'possum problem. Those little pistol bullets are a bit over-driven, so they act a bit like varmint bullets at close range.

Guess that's what an old Marlin 27 pump 32-20 does best...doesn't have the range, usually slinging 115gr. bullets at just about the speed of sound, but drops small game nicely without tearing it to bits. Does seem a pretty good racoon and 'possum killer at the ranges you'd shoot the trash radiers at night. Just sits there waiting, tube mag. loaded and chamber empty, waitihg to be chucked on the run.

5.7MMJ on an old WWII M-1 Carbine works great, but need ear protection if firing under the eaves. It's more or less just a rimless version of the 218 Bee. Will take a skunk out to 100 yards 2800 Fps. with the 45 grain Hp's. Was considdering a .25 cal
version of the .30 Carbine round with heavier bullets, more of a 25/20 improved rimless, but this one shoots too good to change it. Also have an Iver Johnson .22 LR Carbine that works best for close in shots. They are both short, light, and convient to set behind the kitchen door, just use a spring clip to hold them from falling.

Lee L.

William, I'll bet a Savage Model 340 chambered for the .22 Hornet, rebarreled to .25 Hornet would be just right in the performance range you are looking for.

Lee L.

The 256 loaded right would probably work. I think Marlin made some leverguns for it way back. Universal also made some M1 carbines in 256.

My kitchen gun is Benjamin Sheridan 20 cal pump airgun. I would like to use a .22 lr, but live in a small community that has about a hundred folks planted around the hillside so I'm stuck with something that does not sound like a rifle and does not carry very far.

Mostly I have problems with loose dogs chasing the cats or a skunk or racoon around. Usually one of those 20 cal pellets with six pumps behind it will discourage most small pests if you nail them in the behind.

Once in a while we'll get a coyote or a couger off the mountian side down having cat for dinner, those will get a warmer welcome with a real rifle. doesn't happen much.

Our hillsides are covered with deer and the predators that like them don't get to far away. Mostly there are enough dogs around that they won't come into town.

My next door kneighbor who lives right on the edge of the mountian side had a black bear run right by him on his back porch, scared the dickens out of him. He was going to get his gun, but bear was done gone. He never saw it again. Last year it was in the apple orchard next door and fighting with the dogs. Just a little one and Fish and Game come up and trapped it and we never saw it again. Really hate to shoot anything that's not going on the table.

We have played with the .256 and the .25-20 quite a bit. Both work in the middle power range. At full power they oth tend to over penetrate.
The Bee is a little better than the Hornet for most use. A .25 Hornet would probably be about ideal.
My problems with kitchen guns is keeping the rifle sighted for the ammo. I am always playing with loads and the rifle is often not sighted to the ammo at hand.
that is why the idea of the rim fire is appealing.
ENGLANDER is a pretty serious air gun shooter. The UK guys have a very different equipment available to them. The .25 caliber air rifle is a serious hunting rifle over there. Those guys are using walk around re-charge bottles and high quality scopes with sound moderators. The Air gun magazines are quite a surprise to me.
Feral animals are a problem here and it takes a little more than a .22 Magnum but a LOT less than a .223 to stop them in their tracks.

I have a Rem #4 in .25 Stevens. Its not particularly powerful (regardless of whether .25 or .25 Long is used), especially compared to something like the .22 mag, and the ammo is MOST expensive. With modern powders and bullets it could be improved, i'm sure. It would, i think, be a good way to get some of these older guns back in service.

What the heck is a Nutria?

What the heck is a Nutria?

Try:
http://www.nutria.com/site.php

South Louisiana is butt-deep in the critters. Have been periodic eratication tries...now we are trying a hunting season. Was once a cooking contest for Nutria (on the assumption that if you put enough tobassco on, it won't tast as bad as they look).

Call it a 15 poound orange toothed water rat and you'd not be far off...but they are vegetarians....if they'd stop diging in levey systems and didn't ovr populate and run off the other fur bearing crtitters, could ignore them.

But they do raise a lot in a litter and we're a bit short of things that will eat them...with the come-back of the 'gators, had hoped the popultions would level off...what seems to have happened is that they moved into more urban areas where people won't allow 'gators to roam around.

Now the bad news is that they are more noctural than anything else...love the water...but tend to sink if you kill them in water.

The maps showing the range are old. Nutria are common around water in West Texas and have been for more than fiftenn years.

sounds like fun

The maps showing the range are old. Nutria are common around water in West Texas and have been for more than fiftenn years.

IN the 1970's, would shoot a car-tuyrnk full of them every so fotern and drop them off at one of the early aligator farms. IN exchange for that (and another rancher's problem with armadillos) would get to hunt that guy's land in deer season (and there wasn't any doubt about where the gut-pile was going).

Proably agains tthe law even back then, but enough years have passed that I doubt they'll come for me now, but we'd jack-light them from a drifting flat botom boat along the bayou....had to kind of herd them twards the shore or the buggers would sink on us. Weapon fo choice was a .410...in case you ever wondered why in the world they offer .410's with large sized shot...at the range of a jack light, it does the job just fine.
----------
Old man gave me that carbide bullseye lamp...still have it...still works.

Wow, that story brings back memories, ribbonstone. In the late 70's and early 80's, I worked as a bounty hunter on a huge tree farm. Killed many a beaver and nutria. The best day I had, my buddy and I killed 24 nutrias in one running shoot-out. I used a Ruger Blackhawk 357 and my buddy had his old High Standard Sport king 22. Man, those were some good times.

Back on topic, my kitchen guns are a scoped Marlin 1894M 22mag for day, Ruger 10/22 with red dot scope for night.

I've got a 54" .40 caliber blowgun... I love that thing.... Imagine a razor sharp dart, flying at 350 FPS... It'll go in hard plastic bucket almost 2 inches.

How in the world do you get 350 fps out of that thing. That is amazing!

We were gonna try and put an air compressor nozzle behind it to see how fast we could get it... haven't had the time to try yet... I'm betting on close to 700 FPS.

A half bubble off topic but...

iorg made me think when he wrote: "The rim fire magnums are good kitchen guns; we sight them in and leave them alone. The rim fires are always ready to shoot."

I am forever dinkin' around with different loads in a variety of centerfires and half the time I don't have things set up for the way I want to use it. The lesson for me is to get a good load for each gun, sight it in, and leave it alone.

This is a corallary to "Beware the one-gun man." I am a fan of the '06 for big game, but the much touted versatility of so many bullet weights and loads is a catch-22. I would be better off to settle on a bullet weight and load, so that I always know what it will do without worrying about sights, trajectory, etc.

I guess this is why I am finding fixed sight revolvers to intriguing these days. "Find the load that hits where I am looking...and forget it."

This is wher my model 60 marlin really shines. Leave it in the corner with the tube full and whatever groundhog or other critter wandersinto my yard it will hit. The zero on this gun hasnt changed in 15 years.
Only problem is the 22lr is a little weak for some of the critters. Usuauul headshot groundhogs with a quick follow up shot just to make sure.

Don't doubt that that's the velocity area of a blow gun (with healthy lungs)....VOLUME is the trick, the air prssue is sustained for the length of the tube so even a small amount of pressure yields a long sustained push.

Have a liking for fixed sights myself..once you finally get them "on". Thinking about it, some of my adjustable sighted pistols (and rifles) have been using the same load for so long, that I haven't a clue if the sights still adjust.

Guess it's part of being in the south, but most farmers I've met keep a shotgun fro this kind of theing...a beat up old pumps seems most common, but do rember some single shots as well...just leaning near the back door waiting for trouble.

I keep my 10/22 by the door with Aguila 60 grain subsonics loaded up.

It's my Marlin 39A for me with the Winchester Dynapoints. I also keep a Mossberg 500 12 Gauge with 6 Express Loads full of BB's just incase I need a lot of lead flying in a single direction.

My wife and I enjoy small game cartridges. We have several rifles chambered in .22 Hornet, K-Hornet, .218 Bee, .25-20, .32-20, and even .32 H&R Magnum.
We have used the .22 Magnum for a kitchen gun for many years now, in both standard rifle and the Marlin Garden Gun. We jumped into the .17 HRM pond with three rifles. The little 17’s are great rifles; they easily shoot those little groups we all like to brag about.
The center fire cartridges are not ideal kitchen guns because the small calibers are either short on killing power or over penetrate. We are continually experimenting with different bullets and the center fire rifles are not always zeroed to “farm yard” distances. The rim fire magnums are good kitchen guns; we sight them in and leave them alone. The rim fires are always ready to shoot.
If the rim fires come up just a little short, it is in real life killing power. I am not talking about a careful shot made while varminting. I am talking about jumping up from the diner table, grabbing a rifle and hurrying to the back door to bust a porcupine, dog, coyote or bobcat while trying to remember to take “ears” so you can shoot off the covered porch. With the center fire cartridges you have the added worry of over penetration.
I am thinking “we” need to go back and revisit the .25 Stevens rim fire, or perhaps the hi-velocity .25 rim fire that was planned in pre War days. The high velocity .25 rim fire with modern “trick” bullets would seem to satisfy our need. I intend to look into this using our Savage M-23 in .25-20. I think other forum members keep kitchen guns. What are your thoughts?

I imagine it should be intuitive, but being a nub, I've simply never seen the term, "Kitchen gun." what is the official definition?

I imagine it should be intuitive, but being a nub, I've simply never seen the term, "Kitchen gun." what is the official definition?

It's not any special gun, just usually a loaded knock about gun stored behind the kitchen door for use in pest control, like when a fox gets in the Hen House, or garden pests are observed in the garden.

Lee L.

Exactly. When my Dad was growing up in the late '20's and through the '30's the average farm house had a single barrel shotgun somewhere in the kitchen - or more properly the entrance to the kitchen where you took off your muddy boots and coats.
When I was a kid in the '60's, Dad had a little more money and there was a rifle and a shotgun! You could always start an argument at the feed store about 12, 16 and 20 ga. shot guns, each bore having its supporters. For small game cartridges there were even more arguments. Very few people were reloading. Those that were reloading used the Lyman 310 tool or the Lee original loader.
My hunting Uncles believe the sun rose and set on the .25-20 WCF. They used it for everything.

I have a Rossi stainless steel single shot rifle chambered for .357 magnum that serves as my kitchen/truck/camp/boat gun. It shoots low vel 38 Special quietly, and accurately but also shoots my 357 mag 180 grain Partition Gold loads when needed. I've also loaded up CCI shot loads for small critters as well as rubber bullet loads for indoor fun. I'm in the process of loading .360 round lead balls for plinkin'/pest loads. This gun is so versitle, simple, and easy to maintain I wish I bought 2. Hard to find now since it's been discontinued so if you see one grab it quick.

My kitchen gun used to be a 98 lb. female rottwieller :eek: But about 3 months ago she got bone cancer and we had to put her down. At the time I had a cast on my right arm so I couldn't take care of her myself. Bawled like a baby in the vet's office. Abby never did like that place. :(

My kitchen gun is either a model 90 Winchester in 22 WRF or my ugly old 788 in .223. :)

I've started to look for another rottwieller. They load real fast and are pretty accurate until they get tired. :D

Rem 597 in .17, and H&R 12 ga...

Ganjiro
I agree it is hard to beat a .357 break open single shot. We have a 21" .357 Maximum TC barrel that has spent time leaned against the wall in the kitchen. We have it equipped with a Williams Guide reciever sight when placed on standby duty. With wad cutters it is quiet, efficient and accurate.

Hi William, The thing that this Rossi rifle lacked was a decent rear site the factory one being cheap plastic, and adjustable only for windage. I discovered that the rear site from a TC Contender fits perfectly after picking one up on Ebay for $5. Also added an elastic ammo butt cuff that holds 9 rounds so I always have ammo at the ready even if not loaded in the chamber. I know of many guys that have length reamed their chamber to .357 Max on their NEF/H&Rs, so may consider the same with this gun in the future making it even more versital.

Sights are sure a problem on the .357 rifles. Reciever sights are good for my old eyes but... You cannot hold over with peep sights. With good square notch open sights and an equaly good flat top front sight you can really get the most out of a rifle like this. Once you learn its trajectory you can hit at quite a distance. The problem for us is the varying size of our targets. This morning it will be a racoon and this evening a skunk. A skunk can be pretty small at fifty yards and they move in sudden starts and stops. We have one around the house now that is a real stinker. Havent seen him yet but I'm looking!