Truck guns/ shorty

[Dave223]

Im thinking of putting together a short barreled Handi to keep in the truck. Im thinking short, like 18 inch barrel, but powerful enough to kill a deer, coyote, hog. Longest range i would shoot would be 175 yards  id love to have a 45/70 for primative weapons season. How would this do in the short barrel? I dont reload, so it has to be readily available ammo. What caliber would you reccomend in such a short barrel, at those ranges, in a caliber thats readily available just about anywhere? This will be built from the classifieds here but i do have to ask, should i pick up a receiver and send it in to be fitted or take my chances on a barrel here?  Oh yeh, post any pics you may have of those shortys!  Thanks, dave


Sent from My a/c thermostat

[Spanky]

Sent from My a/c thermostat

 
Hehehehehe... I love it.
 
 
You'd probably do alright with one of the pistol caliber Handi's. If you want versatility you can't really go wrong with the good old 357 Mag/Max. You can use 38's for plinking and small game and heavy Maxi loads for hogs and deer. Best of all it works really well as a shorty.
 
 
 
Spanky

[giddens1972]

Here's 2 of my shorty's...My 358JDJ shoots 1hole cloverleafs at 100yds.  17HM2 about as good depending on the wind.  The 358 was a shortened 357 max before I got it, and I did the 17 myself.

[Spanky]

That 358 is a nice one. How's it treat your shoulder when it goes bang?
I've been thinking about sending my Maxi out to be rechambered to a 356 or 358.
 
 
 
Spanky

[OSOK]

175 yard maximum range, factory ammo, short barrel. The only thing you didn't mention is scope or iron sights.
Either way, sounds like you need a .45-70. If you could find a Talo Trapper you'd be set out the door. They came with 18 3/4" barrels and iron sights, drilled and tapped for a scope.
For the game you mentioned, any factory ammo would be fine, with the long range edge going to the Hornady 325 gr. FTX loads.

[OldSchoolRanger]

Sent from My a/c thermostat

 
Hehehehehe... I love it.
 
You'd probably do alright with one of the pistol caliber Handi's. If you want versatility you can't really go wrong with the good old 357 Mag/Max. You can use 38's for plinking and small game and heavy Maxi loads for hogs and deer. Best of all it works really well as a shorty.
 
Spanky

Spanky,
I didn't even notice it until you pointed it out.    I usually just ignore the "sent from my Tap-dancing phone" notices.

[giddens1972]

It's not quite as bad on the shoulder as my 45-70, but you know you pulled the trigger!  Using the load data from the contender I'm getting 2700fps out of 180's and 2500fps out of 200's.  I was gonna try to push it a little, but I don't think there's any need for anything faster.

[petemi]

I use my Maxi shorty most.  It's in the truck every time I go out back on my place.  With the 16.5 inch barrel it swings completely around easily inside the cab.

I'd say the .356/.358 (18 inches) recoils about the same as my 18 inch .38-55.

You won't get top performance out of any of these if you don't reload.  All three are easy 200 yard rifles.  One of the problems is most of us use the Hornady 180 gr. Single Shot Pistol bullet running over 2000 fps in the Maxis, and as far as I know that load doesn't arrive over the counter.  My .38-55 is loaded with a 213 gr. custom bonded bullet over RL7 running an accurate 2275 fps out of this shorty.  Factory ammo won't come close because of all the old rifles still in use.  Lastly, if you're not in a very enviable  financial position, you won't be shooting .356 or .358 ammo much at 55 bucks a box of 20.  That rifle will push a 200 gr. bullet to 2600 fps.

Pete

[Mr.Crowley]

one of my classmates cut a 45-70 handi rifle down to 16 1/4" barrel totally impractical in my opinion but sweet looking and very compact. Ridiculous fireball comes off the muzzle Id love to put some rounds through a chrony see how much velocity it has lost compared to my full length barrel 45-70.

[cwlongshot]

I love the "handiness"  Of the shorties and the 16'' Maxi tops my list in that reguard. But a 16/18'' 454, 44, 445, 45Cwould all fit my bill as a ''perfect'' candidate.

Since we are showing pics.. 

Here is a 45C with a 1X Nikon


Here is a Maxi with a Red Dot Tasco


Here is a 454 with a Handi Grip and a Leupold 2x7 German #1 Reticule


Here is my newest, its a 22Mag re chambered form a LR Versa pak barrel. Currently with a 4X Tasco Tactile


CW

[Dinny]

The 7mm-08 Superlight would work well for you. It comes with a lightweight 20" barrel. Lots of factory ammo out there for it too.

Thanks, Dinny

[hoytcanon]

Right now my "walk around/drive about" gun is Pete's old 7.62X39... she's been gussied up a little! She's a shorty now and sporting a Ross Schuler brake... she's pert in her textured black Boyd's Sterling thumbhole stocks set and wearing a Mueller Sport Dot 3-9X40mm with DNZ mounts. That doesn't help you much though for readily available ammo (or calibers for that matter)... but it shoots the nasty steel hull stuff pretty good... except I don't use that crap... I'm loading Hornady A-Max with 28.5 grains of H4895.
Here's my Black Russian;

Here it is in .30/30 configuration with Mueller Multi-Shot;