Favorite Small Game Cartridge
Favorite Small Game Cartridge
I have a picture of my grandpa, Ron, sitting on a mountainside in Colorado with his Ruger 22 Single Six on one knee and a Gray Jay sitting on the other. My grandpa was an avid outdoorsman who used to travel to Colorado for an annual elk-hunting trip. One of his friends captured the scene during a trip that was long before I was born.
My grandfather passed away 21 years ago, but I can still picture his Ruger .22 Single Six and his Winchester 62a safely stored and on display in his 12-gun wooden cabinet. As we were going through his belongings, my grandma insisted that these two firearms now belonged to me.
I could definitely purchase a newer, shinier and more potent long-range firearm to use on small-game, but I haven’t and likely won’t. Besides the fact that these two .22s “get the job done”, they allow me to carry a piece of my grandfather and the memories we made during my small-game hunts. Plus, they give me a reason to continue to talk about the man who helped unlock my love for the outdoors. And now, I pass the love to the third generation. Once my oldest daughter started showing interest in shooting and hunting, the Winchester 62a was the first firearm she got to practice with. If only my grandpa could’ve been there to see her hit her first bullseye, that would have been sweet.
The nostalgia connected to these two .22s and the opportunity to continue adding memories to their rich history are the reasons they are my favorite small-game cartridge. It’s a bonus that I can find the cartridges about anywhere ammo is sold and it’s fairly cheap. I also appreciate that it has an almost nonexistent recoil and it’s fairly quiet (which is why it was the first firearm I had my daughter shoot). A standard .22 travels at roughly 1,100 fps and is accurate up to 50 to 75 yards.
Good news, if you’re looking to change things up or shoot something different than a .22, you have options.
.17 HMR is a small, low-recoiling 17-grain bullet flying upwards of 2,500 fps this round is a legitimate 200-yard rifle. This cartridge is probably too much for smaller game like squirrels. But is deadly on other small critters like prairie dogs and nuisance varmints like raccoons. It’s even suitable for coyotes within 100 yards.
.22 Magnum is a .22 LR on steroids. It’s 30-grain bullet flies faster at 1,450 fps and hits harder than a standard 22. It’s lethal on everything from coyotes to rabbits.
.17 WSM travels at 3,000 fps. Like the .17 HMR, it’s a little much for squirrels. However, with its speed and accuracy, it’s deadly on bigger game like coyotes and bobcats all the way to rabbits.
.410 is obviously not a rimfire like all the other cartridges and firearms I previously shared. And yes, it might not be a firearm to start a youth hunter with. But it provides the benefits of a scattergun while keeping shots at rabbits and squirrels a challenge. It’s lightweight. It has a low recoil. It’s range is about 25 to 30 yards.
If you don’t already have a small game firearm that provides memories for you and your family, start today. These are cartridges that provide rich history and stories that generations will share long after we are gone.
By Kyle Dana
April 2025
