Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!wuarchive!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!sample.eng.ohio-state.edu!purdue!haven.umd.edu!mimsy!sgi.com From: danac@sgi.com (Dana Crom) Newsgroups: rec.guns Subject: Re: Long gun for rural property advice request Message-ID: <35610@mimsy.umd.edu> Date: 14 Jun 91 00:56:45 GMT Sender: magnum@mimsy.umd.edu Organization: Silicon Graphics, Inc. Lines: 59 Approved: gun-control@cs.umd.edu In article <35290@mimsy.umd.edu> uunet!cfctech.cfc.com!alexb@cs.UMD.EDU (Alex Be ylin) writes: #Up to now my wife and I lived in suburbia. Becouse any confrontation #would probably take place in tight quarters, our self defence #arcenal consists of a Glock 19 and a Colt .38 Special. #Now, we are about to move a bit further out of town (classified #suburban/rural by the bank). The house is located on 15 acres. #About 60% of property is lightly wooded, with the #rest (closest to the house) a horse pasture (we'll have 3-4 horses). #What kind of guns am I likely to need? I have two .22LR rifles, #but they are only good for small vermin. I would like to #have sufficient fire power to deal with a wild animal as bif as a #large dog plus any two-legged threat. While the Glock is #most accurate, I am just an avarage shot with it and would not want to #count on long distance hits when under preasure. In article <35557@mimsy.umd.edu> rrubert@cisncc.intel.com writes: # I would suggest a carbine type rifle. A 30-30 lever action or perhaps #even a pistol caliber rifle. I would prefer a Browning 44mag lever action. #Pistols are nice indoors but if I am outside I would always do better #with a rifle. I have seen the suggestion that a .22LR would be fine #for any dog problem. I would be worried about wounding a dog with a .22 #resulting in a more dangerous animal that might not die for days. I grew up in a situation much like you describe, in an area that had a *large* feral dog population. From the time I was about 13-14 till I left for college, I shot an average of 5 or 6 dogs per year for chasing our cattle. (I love dogs, and hated doing it, but it was necessary). My uncle and cousins probably accounted for another 3 or 4 each year. Our standard carry rifles were .22 rimfires - .22LR and a single .22WMR. Prime considerations for us were accuracy, humanity (ie, quick kill, no wounding) and safety. A thing to consider is that outside of the varmint calibers and loads, centerfire cartridges are designed for game much larger than most dogs. I quite carrying my 30-30 after finding that standard deer loads would not reliably expand; I found that .22 hollow points carefully placed were more effective, and a good .22 is usually more accurate than a 30-30 carbine. In four years, the only animal that required a finishing shot after closing in was a dog shot in the chest with a 30-30. If you lived in more open country, a light varmint round such as a .222 or .223 would be ideal, but most varmint rounds carry a *lot* further than the rimfires will, besides being more noticeable to the neigbors. Finally, be aware of both your own limitations and neighbor relations; sometimes you have to be satisfied with chasing the dog off because you cannot safely shoot it. Unless your livestock are in immediate danger or have been repeatedly chased, you might be better off smacking the offending animal in the butt with a good slingshot and talking to the owner. Most farmers are quite aware of the problems dogs can cause; the only problems I have had with this approach are the transplanted city folks who could not bear to think of chaining or penning their darling dog while they were at work. Usually, though, talking to the owner solves the problem and gets you a reputation as a good neighbor; most people are only too glad to cooperate and were honestly unaware of Fido's little hobby. -- -----------------------+------------------------+------------------------------ Dana Crom | Silicon Graphics, Inc. | Smile - let them *WONDER* danac@morc.asd.sgi.com | (415) 335-1449 | what you've been up to . . .