Quiet, effective rifle, cheap and legal
I think the average shooter today isn't satisfied with a new gun unless he's blinded by muzzle blast, his eyes and shoulder hurt and his ears ring. They read too many gun rags. I've long had enough of that.
My most used rifles are a 24" Marlin Cowboy Limited .357 and a ca. 1870 single-shot break-open "rook" rifle which I rechambered from .360 No. 5 to accept .38 Special ammo. Factory .38 Special 148-gr. midrange wadcutters it gets about 870 f.p.s., shoots 2" with iron sights at 50 yards and makes no more noise than firing Mk. 23 "hushpuppy" loads in an MP5SD, or shooting Eley Tenex in a long barreled .22 match rifle. The difference is that it has a useful amount of energy, not like a .22. I also get very good accuracy with factory 158-gr. LRN .38 Special loads which give about 950 f.p.s. and shoot about 3" at 100 yards all day long and hit a 6" Colt Speed plate often enough at 200 yards with a little Tennessee elevation to make plinking interesting.
The quietest thing you can get today noise-wise is one of the 24" barreled Marlin Cowboy Limited, firing low velocity .38 Specials in it. The 24" barrel really isn't long enough to get it "cat sneeze" quiet with factory loads, but it's no louder than a .22 with high velocity. For really quiet shooting which doesn't disturb the neighbors you need to handload a soft lead 158-gr. bullet , with 2.7 grs. of Bullseye for about 850 f.p.s. in the 24" barrel. VERY quiet, and still quite effective on small game, wild turkey, groundhogs, and so I am told my a friend in Maine who uses the same outfit, the occasional deer in the garden, if you pick your shots and keep them within 50 yards. These days I want an effective rifle that's cheap and fun to shoot and "doesn't sound like a gun" and attract attention.
I would really like to see a very light H&R break-open single-shot with 28" thin tapered barrel, on the older style small receiver like the used to use for the .410 more and 28-ga. guns prior to WWII. The current versions are clubby because they use the same receiver whether the gun is a .410 or a 10-ga.! It should weigh no more than 6 pounds, be fitted with a white inlay XS products post sight and ghost ring peep having a threaded aperture, so that you can put a target disk in for load testing, and a hunting aperture for the woods. Chamber it in .357 Magnum so you have the option of full power hunting loads for deer, but use .38 Special in it most of the time for quiet suburban popping.
Keep the price affordable so everybody can get it at Walmart. If they made similar versions in .25-20, .32-20 and .32 H&R Magnum they'd also make very nice small game rifles, but the .38 Special / .357 Mag. combo with an extra 26" modified choke 3" magnum 20-ga. barrel is perfect for the gentleman farmer's, rancher or bush pilot's utility and woods walker and is the only one they need to make.
I think the average shooter today isn't satisfied with a new gun unless he's blinded by muzzle blast, his eyes and shoulder hurt and his ears ring. They read too many gun rags. I've long had enough of that.
My most used rifles are a 24" Marlin Cowboy Limited .357 and a ca. 1870 single-shot break-open "rook" rifle which I rechambered from .360 No. 5 to accept .38 Special ammo. Factory .38 Special 148-gr. midrange wadcutters it gets about 870 f.p.s., shoots 2" with iron sights at 50 yards and makes no more noise than firing Mk. 23 "hushpuppy" loads in an MP5SD, or shooting Eley Tenex in a long barreled .22 match rifle. The difference is that it has a useful amount of energy, not like a .22. I also get very good accuracy with factory 158-gr. LRN .38 Special loads which give about 950 f.p.s. and shoot about 3" at 100 yards all day long and hit a 6" Colt Speed plate often enough at 200 yards with a little Tennessee elevation to make plinking interesting.
The quietest thing you can get today noise-wise is one of the 24" barreled Marlin Cowboy Limited, firing low velocity .38 Specials in it. The 24" barrel really isn't long enough to get it "cat sneeze" quiet with factory loads, but it's no louder than a .22 with high velocity. For really quiet shooting which doesn't disturb the neighbors you need to handload a soft lead 158-gr. bullet , with 2.7 grs. of Bullseye for about 850 f.p.s. in the 24" barrel. VERY quiet, and still quite effective on small game, wild turkey, groundhogs, and so I am told my a friend in Maine who uses the same outfit, the occasional deer in the garden, if you pick your shots and keep them within 50 yards. These days I want an effective rifle that's cheap and fun to shoot and "doesn't sound like a gun" and attract attention.
I would really like to see a very light H&R break-open single-shot with 28" thin tapered barrel, on the older style small receiver like the used to use for the .410 more and 28-ga. guns prior to WWII. The current versions are clubby because they use the same receiver whether the gun is a .410 or a 10-ga.! It should weigh no more than 6 pounds, be fitted with a white inlay XS products post sight and ghost ring peep having a threaded aperture, so that you can put a target disk in for load testing, and a hunting aperture for the woods. Chamber it in .357 Magnum so you have the option of full power hunting loads for deer, but use .38 Special in it most of the time for quiet suburban popping.
Keep the price affordable so everybody can get it at Walmart. If they made similar versions in .25-20, .32-20 and .32 H&R Magnum they'd also make very nice small game rifles, but the .38 Special / .357 Mag. combo with an extra 26" modified choke 3" magnum 20-ga. barrel is perfect for the gentleman farmer's, rancher or bush pilot's utility and woods walker and is the only one they need to make.
