Ok here is my situation.
I keep getting raccons and possums in my chicken house. I want to shoot them descretly (not alot of noise).

I would like to get an semi automatic pistol that is accurate and can handle short rounds. The shots are within 20 feet in side my chicken house. I also need a laser on it because the varmits are only there at night.

With that said I would also like to be able to plink and shoot pesky crows that get into all my bird feeders, so I would change over to Longs.

Is there such a pistol or do I need to go to a revolver??

Thanks

You will need a revolver, unless you want to hand feed the auto. I knew a fellow that used a 25 cal Beretta for the chicken coup, not sure how quiet it is. I have heard of 22 CB caps that I have no idea what they are for, or if they are still made. They should handle coons and possums with a head shot. I have some 22 "Rocket" shorts and they would be hard to hand feed to an auto, at least with my big hands.
Jim

I would suggest a Smith medium frame revolver. Most Semi-auto pistols will only shoot 22 long rifles. Some can be set up to shoot shorts, but then can't be made back to a long rifle easyly.

I shoot a little Rossi 4 inch barrel revolver I've had for a number of years and it is accurate and deadly.

As far as the laser sight I've never used one. There appear to be a lot of them on the market though.

Ruger Single Six is my suggestion. It can shoot anything and does it pretty well. long, short, long rifle and even 22mag with the provided cylinder.

Mine shoots CB longs quieter but they aren't nearly as quiet as they are in my 24" barreled Marlin 39A. They are quite accurate out of my single six up to 50 feet.

None of my auto loaders will feed/cycle anything but standard+ velocity LR rounds.

You can get CB caps that have long rifle case length. They would probably feed in an autoloader pistol but will not have enough power to work the action. You would have to operate it manually for each shot. I dont think the CB cap is powerful enough to take raccons cleanly. It probably would be best to use a rifle with a long barrel and the 60 grain ammo from Aguila. I have a rifle with a 24 in barrel and the muzzle blast is a lot less with this round. It should kill a raccons easily. There is also less blast from a pistol and the 10 inch Ruger autoloader would probably be fairly quiet. There are a number of lasers on the market today and you should be able to find one for any gun you decide to get.

Will have to go to a revolver. Not that there were/are no .22short pristols...are made for olympic rapid fire and will funtion with standard vel. shorts but not usually CB caps...but these are not inexpensive guns. the only one i got to shoot was vented shortly ahead of the chamber and was louder than the devil.

Were some pocket sized pistols...even some with extended 4" barrels...but for what you want to do, if it's got to be a pistol, then a revolver makes sense. Those little pocket guns (the last one i had was a 4" barrled Beretta Minx..also called the "camper") could do the job, but aren't made now.

Rifle would be a lot quieter and easier to hang a light or laser on.

Starting to lean towards a rifle. I was hoping for an auto loader for shorts but I guess they dont make them.
When I was a kid My friend had a lever action .22 that would fit my needs.

I cant find a pistol that I am intrested in.

Hmm what was that .22 lever action??

Smith & Wesson Model 18 K22 Combat Masterpiece

.22 rifle may be your answer, but I'd check out a pump. That way you can stay on target for fast moving critters. I have a H&R 9 shot revolver that shoots S,L, and LR. Bought it used for $75.0. 7 1/2" Target barrel, and double action. Great pest gun!!

Are again out of luck in an easy to find .22short semi-auto rifle. Was a time when there werre some that would cycle with .22shorts, longs, long rifles...and a time when there were some chambered for the .22short alone.

But other than hunting one up on the used gun rack, are pretty well out of luck.

Can find a pump or lever gun rated for .22short/long/long rifle use a good bit easier. In handguns, considering the use you have in mind for it, any good revovler should do the trick.

I have an old camp rifle, 22 over 410. These are very cheap, and a handy gun to have around.
Jim

Remington 552's shoot shorts, longs, and longrifles. Kinda spendy tho. I just bought a "broken" on that worked fine for $25. Had no sights on it.

I believe Browning autos also shoot all three. More spendy tho.

Check out Henry lever rifles, they shoot all three, even CBs.

The Browning shoots .22LR's...they did make a .22Short version but stopped sometime in the 1980's. Haven't seen a rem. 552 in a little while...would have to look it up to be sure they are still being made and that they still take .22shorts.

Sorry bout the Browning. Thought they shot them all.

Remington 552, according to InternetGun cat. does still shoot all three. I can shoot CBs in mine, but I have to work the action meself.

Have an old J.C. Higgins Mod. 31 that works with all three. Modern hyper-vel. rounds and the 60gr. Aguila are too much for it...will function with them, but a good strong puff of gas and a loud noise comes out the over-driven breech. I pretty much only shoot .22shorts in mine, finding that the standard vel. .22shorts (when you can find them) will cycle the rifle and really keeps the noise level down.

Can see the appeal...won't do all that a .22LR can do, but the .22short has a few things it does very well.

Do get a good bit of noice from a revolver's cylinder gap even with CB caps...enough that you notice the difference between equal length barrels on a revolver and a semi-auto (and to get equal length barrels, have to include the cylinder in the revolver's measurments).

All in all, the quietest shooting would be CB caps from a rifle barrel...lever or pump prefered for rapid shooting. Can learn to cycle either one without taking the rifle from your shoulder, just takes a bit of practice.

Looks like a Remington 552 is exactly what I am looking for.

I am on a search for one right now.

Hpdrifter is that the 552 you have to work the action?

From what I gather here Browing MAY have one that will shoot all three , just an older model. I will search and se fi I can find one.

Keep em coming this helps out a ton.

fmd, only have to work it manually with CB shorts. All other ammo that I have used works it just fine.

Ok here is my situation.
I keep getting raccons and possums in my chicken house. I want to shoot them descretly (not alot of noise).

I would like to get an semi automatic pistol that is accurate and can handle short rounds. The shots are within 20 feet in side my chicken house. I also need a laser on it because the varmits are only there at night.

With that said I would also like to be able to plink and shoot pesky crows that get into all my bird feeders, so I would change over to Longs.

Is there such a pistol or do I need to go to a revolver??

Thanks
You could buy a Ruger MKII and then buy this 22 short conversion unit that for sale on the MKII.org site (click this URL to view): http://www.markii.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=3666. You'd have about $500 invested in a the project but you would be able to accomplish all your goals. Add a set of Crimson trace laser grips (click this URL to view): http://www.crimsontrace.com/default.asp?id=527 for about $230 more and you'll be all set with the priciest coon killin' machine in town.

Jay bar;
That is very interesting. I am looking into it now.
Thanks for the help.

Jay bar;
That is very interesting. I am looking into it now.
Thanks for the help.
I'd get a Rossi 22 pump with a 16 inch barrel at Wal-Mart. Quiet and functions with all 3 loads. Short, longs, and long rifles. 16 inch barrel would be handy for CQB. About $150.

Jay bar;
That is very interesting. I am looking into it now.
Thanks for the help.


go with a rifle. If you want discreet you want just one quiet shot. One quiet shot nobody knows if they really heard something. Two shots in a row and most know it's a gun. Racoons are not easy to kill humanely with a .22 rimfire. It takes a well placed shot. Also, if there's just a bit of light a good scope can be used at night. A well placed shot is best made with a rifle. I've done alot of critter ridding. I have a ruger markII with a bushnell holo sight that is quite accurate but I'd never consider that for discreet vermin control. I use a marlin bolt action with a 4x scope. Or else a sheridan silver streak .5mm pellet rifle. a remington 552 would be a good choice if you want a semi. I borrowed one once and it shot short, long rifle, and remington subsonic long rifle all accurately enough to impress.

A long time ago I had a winchester 190 semi auto rifle that would shoot shorts longs and long rifles

Marlin still makes a bolt action 22 with a tube magazine that takes all three rounds.

How about a 10/22 using the CCI sub-sonic hollow points. Those in a rifle are still much quieter than shorts or CB's in a revolver.

I've shot CB Longs in my 10/22; you still have to cycle the action by hand. It's quieter than most air rifles and shoots heavier bullets. I've also shot them in my MarkIII Hunter, and they're definitely louder than the rifle, though still not bad. If you're talking middle-of-the-night pest control when it's dead quiet, use a rifle. You also have a better chance of hitting your target with the first shot.

Whatever you choose, you can easily use the 60 grain Aguila ammo. I bought a bunch at the last gun show, and it functions very well in my 10/22 and Mark 2, along with a friends Rossi 9 shot .22.

why not think about a tube fed bolt action. In .22, you could prolly cycle it as fast as a semi.....

<OR>
the taurus pump action model 62 (http://www.taurususa.com/products/product-details.cfm?model=M62R&category=Rifle)
I've seen them for about $200.

I had a similar interst last year. I wanted to target shoot in my backyard without alarming the neighbors, so I was looking at CB caps. I had a Marlin 60 and a S&W 22A, both semi-autos and would not cycle the actions. So I bought a .22 revolver. Even with CB caps it was louder than I wanted. Finally picked up a nice old Stevens bolt gun with a tubular magazine. It shoots anything I can feed it, and the CB caps, Aquilas etc come out with a pffft. It's quieter than my springer airgun. Actually, the loudest noise is the impact of the lead into the backboard.

So I'd suggest a bolt gun with tubular magazine, or a lever gun like the Henry. THe Rossi pump is also a good suggestion, I had not though of that.
Unless you have young eyes, be sure whatever you get will accomodate some sort of sights that you can see at night. I like the holosites - the open red-dots like eotech.

Aquila SSS might be sufficient and quiet for coons, but I wouldn't use anything less. And you'd need a headshot.

If you want to be quiet...get a crossbow. Don't laugh, they are much more deadly than a 22. I don't know how far your nearest neighbor is and what they can hear.