Savage rascal using CCI quiet ammo. The blaze orange stock makes it easy to keep track of

Don’t waste money on a Heritage rough rider - poor quality and hazardous.

.22 is best for dispatch.
The best ammunition i have found is CCI segmented hollow point. During penetration, the bullet splits / fragments into three petals that each make their own wound channel. It is offered in different speeds - 1,640, 1,235, 1,050, and 710fps. From a handgun i prefer the 1,640 for good bullet performance. From a rifle, choose a slower speed.

A good trapline gun does not need to get beat up.

A list of good trapline handguns that i use:
Browning Challenger II
Ruger Single Six
Ruger Mark II
Ruger SP101
Ruger Mark IV

A good, small, light rifle is a Chipmunk. Or any single shot .22 rifle - I used to have a Winchester model 67 that was light and reliable.

that picture is troubling , do you see it ?

the firing pin protruding into the gap between frame and cylinder , this is how my old Colt new frontier clone worked as well , which means you can only load and carry with 5 rounds safely

and in the dark , load one skip one load 4 more hammer back , hammer down . if you do that you get the hammer and depressed firing pin on the empty chamber

the Wrangler and Single Six are true load 6 guns , with a the transfer bar safety so that the transfer bar is only in place when the trigger is pulled

almost every gun that needs halfcock to load , lacks a transfer bar and thus needs to be carried on an empty chamber.

Prior to my I frame S&W, I carried this Ruger Single Six. It’s old enough it was before they offered a 22 mag cylinder with them. Someone added King sights to it. It’s been with me a very long time.



Then there’s my 1902 single shot rifle. I found it in a little gun shop 35 years ago. It had a broken stock. I bought it for $35. The stock was complete, just broken. I was able to use it at a template and made a replacement from maple. I carried it for years when I was able to drive by every coyote set. Saved me having extra weight on my hip and has killed hundreds of coyotes. Along with scores coon, badger, rabbit and grouse. I always used the CB longs or shorts. I still keep it around though I haven’t had it out in years.

I left my gun laying in the limbs of a cedar as I drug a deer out one time when I was young, I was going to run right back for it , then stuff happens , it's 9pm I realize my gun isn't where it belongs and get a sick feeling , then remembered and I had to toss my boots and coat on and go for a hike in the dark in a foot of snow so I would have my gun for hunting in the morning made it easy to follow my drag track back to the tree at least.

now everything has a sling even my shotguns have slings , because when you run out of hands I don't want to set the gun down.

I watch friends go to tie a boot and lay the gun down in the wet grass , I just don't like that.

I've got a 22 lr revolver, a Ruger Single Six knockoff import from the 70s-80s called a Buffalo Scout, made/imported by FIE. Not much to look at but it works every time.

One of these years I'll replace it with a Ruger Wrangler. Couple buddies have them and they seem to be a perfect trapline gun.

I'd love a real Ruger Single Six or a Buckmark or Mark IV, but I fall down, forget and bang into stuff too much when trapping to have nice things.

Heritage was on sale for 89 bucks at local fleet farm recently. Regular 120 I think

I came across a new model Ruger Bearcat a couple years ago traded some MJs for it it was too nice to carry around the river breaks ended up giving it to a buddy of mine that took me on a hog hunt.

I still us emy Grandfathers High Standard .22 which he bought form a magazine so who knows when that was, post WWII.

Also used my daughters Henry Accu-bolt mini (small small gun) for a decade

I shoot .22 short and CB caps or subsonics - worked fine for everything from squirrels and rabbits to beaver and coyotes

Looks like the Super wrangler is the best deal...from what Cowboy listed.

I tried those quite rounds they were CCI if I remember correctly I was not impressed with the results. I like the plastic hundred pack of the CCIs I add napkins to the bottom I can’t stand the rattling going down the road.

LCP2 is very short barreled, takes some practice for sure. It’s nice that there is never an exit hole, I think it’s too short to burn all the powder. I’m sure I’m not just scaring them to death !-)

wws

I like the Rascal over the Cricket because it cocks on closing the bolt, instead of having to pull back on a cocking piece.

25 dollar H&R revolver and shorts bought it when I was 12

Super wrangler, Heritage, and an old single shot .22. Used them all. .22 short hollow point is the bullet of choice for me. No exit wound.

i just retired my old ruger 3 screw single six. bought ruger sp101.

Dang, I didn't realize Single Sixes had gotten so expensive, mine was my dads that he got back shortly after I was born. I've got both cylinders for it, but always used the long rifle for trapline dispatch. I did use the magnum sometimes while hunting with it and had a scope on it for hunting, which made it not quite as convenient for carry. I had a High Standard nine shot revolver that was also designed to shoot both magnum or long rifles, but I only have the magnum cylinder for it. I bought it off my cousin probably ten years ago because it was a good deal, and test fired it before I bought. Hadn't shot it since, so a couple of years ago I decided I really probably should use it for something. So that is what I have been packing the last couple years, good reliable gun, carries well in a shoulder holster although it spends most of its time under my snowmobile seat. Fixed sights, but accurate, 22 magnum is overkill for anything but wolves (which 22 long rifle also dispatches well) but not too bad. 22 magnum in a pistol though is LOUD, not a good choice if you are someone who does suburban trapping like so many of the eastern folk on here do.

I've got a Mark II I have used a few times, and various rifles at different times, including a 218 Bee Improved that was Way too nice to pack on the line, back when they first opened up wolf trapping here and we were required to use centerfire for the first couple years until they amended the law. But those two revolvers have been what I used the vast majority of the time, and mainly the Single Six.

I’ve got a couple I rotate and for no particular reason.
One is a cricket youth single shot.
Other is a 10/22.
Either work well for me.

The cricket was cheap and easy to carry. In dark it can be a little bit of a pain to load but it works well and it didn’t cost much so not concerned how I treat it or what elements I’m using it in.
The 10/22 is just a great gun and the small 10 round rotary clip is easy to carry until I need to load and use it.

Jim