Is a .222 / .223 Contender Pistol Deer Legal?

[jblay]

I am thinking about a .222 Contender pistol for deer hunting. As I read the regs, a centerfire pistol must be .24 caliber and up. Yet a centerfire rifle can be .22.

Does the Contender handgun count as a rifle because it fires a rifle cartridge?

I am not asking if the .222 is an ideal deer cartridge, only if it is a legal cartridge in the Contender pistol.

Thanks,
John

 

[338Shooter]

The contender pistol is a pistol for all intents and purposes.

 

[jblay]

That doesn't make sense to me. I realize laws may not have anything to do with sense, though.

I can take the same action and the same cartridge, add a butt stock and I am legal?

John

 

[schlockinz]

Call ODWC and ask

 

[_CY_]

ya...but you'd better get ready for SBR paperwork (short barrel rifle)

I can take the same action and the same cartridge, add a butt stock and I am legal?

John

 

[jblay]

ya...but you'd better get ready for SBR paperwork (short barrel rifle)

For the sake of the discussion, let's say pistol or rifle, it is a 16" barrel. No need to complicate the OK law with the Federal law.



John

 

[338Shooter]

A pistol is a pistol. It doesn't matter what cartridge it fires.

 

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

Yeah, evidently the .25-20 would be legal in a pistol, but not .223. So the answer is no. Shooting a "rifle caliber" does not a rifle make.

Of course, in a rifle, .223 and other .22 centerfires are legal ONLY if you are shooting a 55 gr or larger bullet.

 

[jblay]

Well, I just called the Game Warden. He said that if I was fine with bullet weight, a T/C Contender in .222 or .223 would be legal.

He did say that would be his opinion if he stopped me in the woods, so it may not be universal.

John

 

[schlockinz]

I figured thats kind of how it'd go. Only had one unpleasant run in with a game warden in Oklahoma, and that was while fishing. Every one that has stopped me while hunting has been pleasant. Just be nice, offer them some coffee maybe, and they'll probably let you walk with a pistol chambered with a "rifle" caliber.

Then again, thats not the gospel, so take it FWIW.