Carrying Ammo while Hunting with a Single Shot

I like single shot rifles. The Gecado Plinker .22LR shown in the image below was my uncle's. It is over 50 years old. My father also had one, but his had the round knob on the bolt handle. These Plinkers have a long barrel and a sleek figure, and somehow, to me, when I pick them up I think 'I could hit something with this'.

Carrying ammo in a way that you can quickly reload is a challenge when using these simple rifles. It can just be kept in your pocket, but .22 ammo can be contaminated with fluff and grit.... and it can also be damaged or have the projectile loosened in the case if it is subjected to too much stress. Of course I have carried it loose in my pocket, but nowadays I generally have it in an open ziplok sandwich bag which helps ensure that it stays clean.

Recently I cut a bit of aluminium tube to make a holder for five cartridges. I blocked one end and found some plastic tube to make a removable stopper for the top end. This hangs from my belt and I find I can tip one cartridge at a time from it just using one hand.

I sometimes jam one or two cartridges under a rubber band which I tie around the rear of the barrel.

In the past I had a leather bullet belt which was ok, but I wondered if it might take some of the lube off the bullets. I also made a wrist strap from wide elastic that could hold several cartridges.

I was just wondering what other ideas folks here might have. Best wishes...

https://i.imgur.com/BwBXVUg.jpg

Nice post. I think you have it. Maybe get someone to ream it out for .22WMR. Even less need for quick reloads and no worries about them being too long for the magazine.

I like the tube idea, how about a cheap 10 shot mag with a belt clip welded on? They are very easy to load (I load my 10/22 mag as I walk) and sliding one bullet off at a time would be easy. Also they won’t slip out if you trip or climb a fence.

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Originally Posted by muzza

You mean you dont hold the spare rounds in your mouth ? I though everyone held spare .22 ammo in their mouth when using single shot rifles?

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I did until @Coote suggested a better way. I use my 10/22 for most rabbit hunting, the single shot was my go too for lone rabbits near the house. Sadly mum and dad have sold up so both guns sit in the safe now. Shot my last two bunnies with the single shot the day they moved.

I saw a butt stock .22 round holder in the store that shall not be named the other day.

I never need more than one shot :thumbsup:





Yeah, right....

Dad put this on for Mum over 60 yrs ago and it's still usefull now.
Attachment 111506

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Originally Posted by john m

Dad put this on for Mum over 60 yrs ago and it's still usefull now.
Attachment 111506

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Has that got a boot sole for the buttplate?

part of a mud flap

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Originally Posted by Cigar

I never need more than one shot :thumbsup:







Yeah, right....

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Me too, but some times there is more than one bunny, last two I shot were two of three.
2 out of 3 an’t bad. :)

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Originally Posted by muzza

You mean you dont hold the spare rounds in your mouth ? I though everyone held spare .22 ammo in their mouth when using single shot rifles?

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NA, they taste too good and I had to stop myself from chewing them!
So when I used to hunt with my Gecardo Plinker I had about 4 rounds in between my left hands fingers, got pretty quick at taking second shots :)

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Originally Posted by muzza

You mean you dont hold the spare rounds in your mouth ? I though everyone held spare .22 ammo in their mouth when using single shot rifles?

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Works till I sneeze. 22's are a pain to find in long grass.

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Originally Posted by Coote

I like single shot rifles. The Gecado Plinker .22LR shown in the image below was my uncle's. It is over 50 years old. My father also had one, but his had the round knob on the bolt handle. These Plinkers have a long barrel and a sleek figure, and somehow, to me, when I pick them up I think 'I could hit something with this'.

Carrying ammo in a way that you can quickly reload is a challenge when using these simple rifles. It can just be kept in your pocket, but .22 ammo can be contaminated with fluff and grit.... and it can also be damaged or have the projectile loosened in the case if it is subjected to too much stress. Of course I have carried it loose in my pocket, but nowadays I generally have it in an open ziplok sandwich bag which helps ensure that it stays clean.

Recently I cut a bit of aluminium tube to make a holder for five cartridges. I blocked one end and found some plastic tube to make a removable stopper for the top end. This hangs from my belt and I find I can tip one cartridge at a time from it just using one hand.

I sometimes jam one or two cartridges under a rubber band which I tie around the rear of the barrel.

In the past I had a leather bullet belt which was ok, but I wondered if it might take some of the lube off the bullets. I also made a wrist strap from wide elastic that could hold several cartridges.

I was just wondering what other ideas folks here might have. Best wishes...

https://i.imgur.com/BwBXVUg.jpg

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You just gave me a great idea.......
I am going to copy your tube mag idea, but mine will hold 12 rounds and be fixed to the underside of my plinker!
Technically it is surely a magazine. I wonder what the future holds for me and my magazine fed single shot plinker?

top pocket of shirt and a couple in left hand if thought action would be thick n fast...shot 11 possums with 11 shots out of haybarn one night,2 managed to escape before a chance to shoot was presented... got really quick with that old remington,she was very accurate,sure hope the fella who bought it has looked after her.with .410 or even the .12ga shotgun..two spare rounds in left hand is the norm.

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Originally Posted by muzza

You mean you dont hold the spare rounds in your mouth ? I though everyone held spare .22 ammo in their mouth when using single shot rifles?

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Yeh thought that was just how it was done, lead and all. As kids we just hunted with a mouth load of air rifle pellets tucked down beside our gums in Squirrel fashion. Have never had a lead / blood reading... could be interesting.

I think this should do the trick. You can stay in the field all week.

.22 Rifle Bandolier at Amazon

So stylish!

You're welcome. :thumbsup:

Thanks for all the comments, ideas and memories. I, too, recall the sweet taste of air rifle pellets.

That bandolier really makes a statement OPS-4.

I'm not all that sympathetic. Nowadays the idea of choosing to use a single shot is that you have one shot and make it count. If you want more firepower you will have a magazine rifle you can use. Dont try to make it something it's not.

Accessories used back in the period like a wrist strap, leather loops on the butt and mud flap butt pad would certainly add to the experience, though. In the old days it used to be easier to get another round out of the cardboard box you carried in your pocket, too.

Attachment 111729

Something like this sling might work.

Poke one up each nostril and one in each ear

What about something like a builders belt with nail pouch.
I think the 10 shot mag on belt clip is best idea though.

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Originally Posted by Cordite

Nice post. I think you have it. Maybe get someone to ream it out for .22WMR. Even less need for quick reloads and no worries about them being too long for the magazine.

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@Cordite I have a Savage 3D with a really dinged up chamaber edge, that could be just the ticket.

Thanks for all the comments and ideas.

Sure, most of us probably do have access to a magazine repeater or even a semi-auto nowadays.... nevertheless there are some beautiful single-shots around and I can understand some folks wanting to experiment with different ways of using, enjoying and becoming more proficient with them. No matter what firepower we have, it is desirable to make the first shot a good one.

People who like muzzleloaders are true single-shot enthusiasts. Some black powder shooters like to get faster at reloading and shooting, just as I imagine the early users of single-shot cartridge rifles liked to become proficient at quickly reloading - at times their life may have depended on making another quick shot (eg early hunters in Africa, or British soldiers using a Snider or Martini-Henry).

To me old single-shot rifles have a certain 'mystique'. As a child I recall my uncle telling me about an old roadman who kept his family fed with a single-shot .22. And my dad had an elderly acquaintance who lived on d'Urville Island in the early 1900's. This guy was portrayed to me as a hardworking, tough achiever with a gentle nature. One day dad was with him when he robbed a wild bee-hive and carried the honey home in two four-gallon buckets with wire handles that must have really been hard on his hands. Another time his sheep dog bailed a big pig and was getting a hard time. He dived on to the pig and grasped it tightly in a strangle-hold... he went to pull out his sheath knife and found it wasn't there. So he rolled down the hill with the pig and drowned it in a creek..... Anyway, this guy had a Winchester single shot .22 (but apparently didn't have it with him for the pig incident). It had a very heavy barrel, and you had to pull back the cocking piece after closing the bolt. He used it for all sorts of game including wild cattle because it is what he had. This gentleman (Ron Hope) was a hero to my father... and to us kids as well.

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Originally Posted by Tommy

@Cordite I have a Savage 3D with a really dinged up chamaber edge, that could be just the ticket.

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Hope it goes well. Reamers available on evilbay. 22WMR even requires the same twist rate as .22LR.

But it's the end of (as) cheap plinking. Cheap ammo arguably does not make aomeone a better shot...at least not as quickly. (-:

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Originally Posted by northdude

Poke one up each nostril and one in each ear

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That solves the problem of bullet lube loss...

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Originally Posted by Cordite

Hope it goes well. Reamers available on evilbay. 22WMR even requires the same twist rate as .22LR.

But it's the end of (as) cheap plinking. Cheap ammo arguably does not make aomeone a better shot...at least not as quickly. (-:

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Well, it's a single shot, so I'm not going to burn through it THAT fast! I also have way too many 22lr rifles anyway. This doesn't even go bang

Had a savage single shot that I converted to 22mag worked really well....apart from it still has 22lr written on the side, which Dad now uses to shoot the possums in the cage trap with 22lr bullets:XD: says the lower velocity is better at that range :XD:

May have already been said but how about a straight 22 mag strapped to the fore stock beside the action you then just push out what you need at each shot. Save on the fishing in ya pockets and picking out the fluffy bits.