One of the better selling rifles that Chiappa Firearms sells in the US market is a minimalist gun called the Little Badger. The Little Badger is a survival style rifle that can fold into a small package for storage behind a truck seat or in an emergency bag on a small plane. They can also be just plain fun to own and shoot.
The original Little Badger is chambered for the ubiquitous .22 LR. This rimfire cartridge can be found around the world and is suitable for taking small game or varmints that can keep you going in an area where a pizza delivery simply won’t reach. Chiappa also offers a version of the gun chambered for the more powerful .22 WMR (aka .22 Magnum.)
Well, as we head into 2017, the Little Badger got a little toothier with the addition of the .17 WSM. The .17 WSM is also a rimfire cartridge, but one with near centerfire performance. The .17 caliber round can make for 3,000 fps with a 20 grain bullet. For a rimfire, that is screaming fast.
As with the original guns, the new Little Badger is a single shot rifle. It breaks open and has an extractor to aid in the removal of the spend cartridge case. Although the gun is not magazine fed, there is a cartridge holder between the wires that make up the stock.
Although the gun does come with sights, Chiappa added a small rail to the gun that allows you to add a scope or red dot. I would imagine that a low to medium power variable scope might work very well with this rifle. While iron sights will work, when you are hungry and dependent on the next shot to put a rabbit in the pot, having a nice Leupold 1.5-4x might help make that shot count.
The barrel on this gun is 16.5” long and the total package weighs in at a little under 3 pounds. As I mentioned, the gun does fold down for a more compact storage solution. Folded, the gun is only about as long as the barrel itself. This means it can ride in your backpack when hiking or store in your dry bag when on a multi-day kayaking trip.