[Mickey Rat]

My personal "tree rat" weapon of choice is a Marlin Model 39A Golden Mountie with a 4x12x40AO scope. Favorite ammo is Federal short HP. Accuracy ie amazing! I used to routinely take head shots out to 50 yards.

Sadly, the Marlin has been "pre-heareted" by my son. I didn't think he should have to wait for me to die to get it. He's wanted it since he was little, and a Browning Lever action 22 didn't satisfy him. I had aquired a second Marlin 39A that was full sized, so it wasn't like I needed two.

One of the best 22 rifles to own is a Remington 550 series. These rifles have a floating chamber that allows them to easily fire short, long and long rifle ammo interchancably. What most pepole don't know, is the gun will fire CCI short CB Caps semi-automatically. I have 2, and my brother has 2 and all 4 will work with CB Caps. The sound level is about as loud as a pellet gun (less loud than a lot of them) and at 40 yards (max killing range) they will stop under the skin on the far side of a squirrel. Accuracy with the CCI will run and inch or less. This is THE setup for hunting around a populated area. Drop is not bad out to 40 yards, but after 50 yards the drop dramatically. I suspect that one hitting you at 100 yards would only sting and not penetrate skin. We have hunted "town squirrels" for years. Many city dwellers have problems with overpopulation of squirrels. The often chew into homes and cause damage to the wiring.

I have done service work for years, a I have several customers that depend on my brother to keep the population down, especially next to the golf course it the old Garden District of town. The Police Department will issue you a permit to kill them with a 410, but we have used powerfull air rifles and now the Remingtons for years.

I gave my brother, Bubba (yep, it's the south), a nice air gun with scope nearly 20 years ago. In 3 weeks he had chalked up 85 one shot kills with it in town while pulling calls.