Rimfire or semiauto for hiking?

[azmark]

For those who carry .22s while hiking, do you like semiauto or revolvers better and why?

[mcwoodduck]

I think it depends on where I am hiking.
Normally I will slip a walther TPH in my pocket.
Small  slim sub compact semi auto matic that makes a Beretta 21 look like a brick.
It is really loud and has chased off a few coyotes and had ended a few of them that were attacking my dog. 

[Graybeard]

In the past I've generally taken a S&W M63 or a .38 Special snub nose depending on what I figured was most likely to need shooting. I now have a Ruger 22/45 Lite and a Walther P22 so I figure if a rimfire goes along with me it will be one of those if just walking around and not really hunting.

[pastorp]

Depended on my mood. Years ago when I lived in the southwest desert, I carried either one. But since I only own revolvers now guess it is a revolver.  usually a Ruger SP 101 in 22lr.

I keep saying I'm going to rechamber it to 22 mag. Even bought the calendar reamer but it shoots so good the way it is I just can't bring myself to change it.

Regards,

[williamlayton]

The way I soot today---I need a .410. 
Blessings

[azmark]

Why do you suppose the Beretta Neos is nearly $100 less than comparable .22 autos?  Is it because people just think it looks weird?  Reviews are very positive. 

[kennyd]

.22 bearcat.  Fits in myu pants pocket.  Will shoot Aguila BB cap things (one on a long case), shorts, bird shot.  Usually it has just the 5 regular HP's.  Actually, it ends up being a .357 on my belt.  You didn't say where we are hiking.

[t-reg]

My Buckmark has had a few revolvers challenge it's #1 position over the years.  It here, they're gone, going on 25 years this year.


Main reasons:  It's easier on the ears and more accurate.

[mcwoodduck]

When you say hiking are you talking about long walks in the woods
daily walk around the neighborhood
or walking from one point to another. 
I think you need to look at what you will need a side arms for? 
Preditors, two or four legged.  and how big.
Walking around in the wilds of Montana I would pack one of my 44's or a 357 mag.
Walking around on the Farm in NC I would grab a 22LR, more often a shotgun.
Walking around the neighborhood in southern CA it is often the TPH as it hides well and people here freak out about you having a gun. 

[azmark]

I will hike relatively short distances in the Huachuca mountains which are just north of the Mexican border.  I like to stop there on my way to work to get some exercise.  There are mountain lions and bears that live there but no one has been bothered in the 8 years I've been here to my knowledge.  Of course there are rattlesnakes.  Mexicans do come through the area on their way deeper into AZ.  I haven't ever heard of any confrontations, but it's always possible.


My hikes don't last more than an hour or an hour and a half.

[Mike in Virginia]

Since I got my Mark III, I like to carry it on hikes.  However, I'm to nervous to not carry something else.  I have the .22 on the outside of my clothes for fun and a meal, but something bigger concealed.  Hiking today, in almost any location, has a risk factor. 

[Ladobe]

Too many variables possible for me to pick just one rimfire maybe.  While I have a specific order of priorities when carrying a rimfire handgun, it still depends on the parameters of the hike.   Short or day hike, a weekend or if for a week or two into the back country.   And terrain.   Now days lugging a big, heavy handgun over tall mountains or across hot deserts for days, weeks would not be a first choice if I had something I can just stuff in a back pocket that will get it done just as well.
 
In most cases when I carry a rimfire handgun hiking it's primary duty is for cook pot fodder, but also just for the fun of shooting it or for better than having nothing protection.    Which RF handguns were carried have been quite varied during my life with lots of them, as well as including revolver, auto or singleshot.   Those that were favorites were carried the most though - easy carry, reliability and just plain how well I could shoot them myself prevailed when I got older.
 
Some favorites I have carried....
 
Ruger Bearcat, Super Bearcat or Single Six old models.
Colt New Frontier Buntline convertable
S&W 22/32/34/63 Kit Guns
 
High Standard HD Military
Colt Woodsman/Huntsman
Ruger MK I, II
Browning M41
Colt Ace
Beretta M21 Bobcat
Astra Cub 22Short
 
Stevens 35/43 Tip Up
Stoeger Tip Up
H&R Handygun
TC Contender
 
I have scaled way, way down on all my firearms the last few years, so now my rimfire handgun choices are limited to 4... yet all of them are very capable for all of my uses.   In order of what would be my choice to carry now days...
 
Beretta Bobcat 22LR - most of the time.
Ruger Super Bearcat 22LR old model - the rest of the time.
High Standard HD Military 22LR - seldom - too big/heavy.
Ruger Single Six 22MAG old model - seldom - don't need Mag.
 
If I still had a S&W Kit Gun it would be #3 - I can shoot the Bearcats far better than them even without sights.  But they are an easy carry back pocket, and very capable.
 
 

[williamlayton]

The honest answer is both platforms are fun---just depending on which one you want for this day.
Blessings

[cwlongshot]

When I first started carrying a hand gun I like to take my fathers old Ruger single six when hiking and camping. At the time I was just out of school and did not have the $$ for more than the 45 Commander that I carried. This was a early gun and only chambered in LR. When funds allowed I found and purchased a S&W 651. This is a 22Mag DA revolver and it remains a favorite today! I also bought a 63 as a companion but sold it off as I used the Maggie all the time. This began my "affair" with the 22Magnum. About 1988 I bought a AMT Auto mag II. I liked the gun and it shot well enough until I blew a case and ripped off its head. . I tried a short barrel version but it did not cycle well. I sold off both. I have bought a couple single six's, a single nine and last month a PMR-30.

I like it allot and its ultra light weight is a real plus for hiking. But I have to say I still like that 651...  I thought hard about a new Ruger LCR in Maggie. But at almost 600$. It's a bit costly, I mean its a bit lighter then the 651 and has one more round BUT its DAO... The 651 is hard to find and expensive when you do. But Taurus makes a passable version in there 94. Not to mention the excellent Ruger SA line. The new Shop Keeper model in STS and round but is a sexy little revolver!! (I do t think its a Magnum)

I have never once felt under gunned carrying it. Practice and shoot often, the 22Mag has allot of bark little bite to the shooter and is a efficient killer if you do your part with accuracy.

I vote for a 22mag revolver!

CW

EDIT;  Something important I forgot to add. Most people in the know will not recommend a rimfire for defence. Not only because of power but because its a rimfire and subject to frequent miss fires. One way around this is to use a revolver. IF a missfire occurs a simply second squeeze of the trigger brings a fresh chamber and bullet to bear. With a automatic, time in most cases previous time is lost racking the slide for a fresh round.

[mcwoodduck]

I will hike relatively short distances in the Huachuca mountains which are just north of the Mexican border.  I like to stop there on my way to work to get some exercise.  There are mountain lions and bears that live there but no one has been bothered in the 8 years I've been here to my knowledge.  Of course there are rattlesnakes.  Mexicans do come through the area on their way deeper into AZ.  I haven't ever heard of any confrontations, but it's always possible.


My hikes don't last more than an hour or an hour and a half.

I guess the better question is what are our options?
What do you have in the safe?  Lion may follow you but unless you look like prey, get on all fours or run from them they will mostly leave you alone.  Bears are well bears anbd who knows what Yogi is thinking. 
if you are better with a semi or a wheel gun then go with the one you are better with and will be able to hit what you need to be it a 38 or a 9mm or a 44 mag. 

[bluecow]

i like a revolver.  no reason or explanation  just what i like.  no ive never felt under gunned hiking with a rimfire

[Ladobe]

I will hike relatively short distances in the Huachuca mountains which are just north of the Mexican border.  I like to stop there on my way to work to get some exercise.  There are mountain lions and bears that live there but no one has been bothered in the 8 years I've been here to my knowledge.  Of course there are rattlesnakes.  Mexicans do come through the area on their way deeper into AZ.  I haven't ever heard of any confrontations, but it's always possible.


My hikes don't last more than an hour or an hour and a half.

While I've lived with lions, bears and rattlesnakes all my life, the only place I have even been seriously confronted by a lion was in those mountains, in Sawmill Canyon about a mile up from the old Boy Scout cabin in Garden Canyon - all within Ft Huachuca.   I was hiking for Lepidoptera, studying their life histories.   Later that day when a friend stationed there as an admin officer came up to see how it was going (also someone interested in Lepidoptera) and found out about the lion "attack" (just and occurrence to me), he insisted I file a formal report when I came down later that day.   At the time they were having a lot of run ins with them when army personnel were out on field maneuvers, some that had been injured by them.   IOW, they wanted all the data as they were trying to get depredation approval to kill some off.   It was not legal for a civilian to carry a handgun/firearm on the reservation, so I had left my handgun in my hotel room.   But the situation did not warrant needing it... a simple jab in the face with a long net handle sent it packing.   That was in Oct '92 (would need to dig out my field journals for the exact date).   I went back there many other times later up to about '01, but with my friend no longer stationed there have no idea how long their lion problems continued.    I wore a handgun in the field all my trips there except when on F.H and in Madera of Ramsey Canyons.   Never needed it despite many run ins with illegals crossing at places like Guadalupe, Copper, Cave, Pena Blanca, Sycamore Canyons, etc.  I'd hike down them to the border both day and night, saw illegals both.  They'd mostly always drop and run back to ot toward Mexico, the couple of times I actually confronted them I gave them a choice.   Saw border patrol often when in the border country and talked to them a few times as they always wanted to know what I had seen.   No comment about my being armed was ever made - it was open carry so legal except when riding my my 4X4's that they also ignored.
 
 

[Bigeasy]

For just bumming around in the woods, two of my favorites..
 
Larry

[PAHUnter04]

My back woods hiker for many, many years. The Ruger Single Six, convertable 22/22 MAG. Always accurate, always dependable.
 
Regards PAH

[Iowa Fox]

For 40 plus years I carried my Ruger Mark 1 5 1/2 in a nice padded holster with a padded flap that completely covered the grip so it was always well protected. Last year I got a Ruger SR22 to save a little weight on my old body when I'm out Mushrooming in the straight up and down hills. Not once did the Mark 1 ever fail to feed, fire, or eject since I have owned it.

[Couger]

 
Recently I discovered the High Standard Sentinel .22LR wheelguns.
 
A reasonable and even great 9-shot design!
 
 
 
In a compact and lightweight kit gun (8 or 9-shot if it existed), would make a heckuva trail gun, IMO. 
 
All my shooting life we had Ruger Mk I's or Mk II's, that are extremely dependable. 
 
But at this point would prefer something a little more versatile that multiple ammo choices in that wheelgun would permit. 

[SHOOTALL]

Well it would be an SR 22. light accurate with extra mag easy reload. Very compact for a pistol of its kind.

[S.B.]

I prefer a revolver to the semi auto simply because of the varity of ammo that they are reliable with.
Steve