I have carried about every type of pistol there is in the woods, including 4 inch 44 specials, 10mm Glocks, and Ruger Single Six’s. Unless I am in an area with bears there is no reason to carry a big bore pistol since I usually have a rifle. If I am out hiking or camping then I want a pistol that I can take a squirrel or occasional rabbit out with. I settled on the Ruger Single Six for a long time. We have a few of them floating around the house, and it was the simplest one to grab. A few years ago Tactical Solutions sent me a Pac-Lite upper for a Ruger 22/45. I had never really loved the 22/45 as I thought it was heavy for what it was and not as accurate as I wanted. The Pac-Lite upper changed my entire outlook on a semi auto 22 pistol.

I changed out the weighty, and less than optimal factory upper for the TacSol Pac-Lite. In my opinion, what makes the Pac-Lite upper so amazing is the precision machined aircraft grade aluminum barrel that contains a steel liner crowned at 11 degrees. Each barrel is hand chambered with a manual machine so the operator can actually feel the steel being cut. There are many accurate 22 pistols, but once you shoot a hundred rounds or so then the accuracy and reliability goes downhill like a snowball headed to hell. If I am headed to the woods I am probably going to be doing a lot of shooting over a weekend, and the last thing I want to do is break the gun down. TacSol chambers are designed to give the maximum accuracy while keeping reliability. TacSol guarantees each pistol will do a 1 inch group at 25 yards with standard velocity ammo. Chet tells me to use Eley ammo but that is a bit pricey. I run standard CCI Blazer.

I outfitted my pistol with a Vortex Venom red dot, which is a major upgrade over the old Single Six pistol sights. I use the 3 MOA dot and find it sufficient for about anything I could need while in the woods. In the future I might go with a bit smaller dot. I have used Vortex products for 10 years now, and could not be happier with their optics. The one time I broke one they replaced it, no questions asked. Since the pistol is threaded and in the great State of Tennessee, I can use a suppressor to hunt. I also added my old Aklys 22 can. I have several thousand rounds through this little aluminum ear protector and it keeps doing the job. I recommend getting a suppressor to go with your PacLite. Coupled with a few magazines, and a brick of CCI the whole camp can have a few days of quiet, fun plinking and shooting squirrels for the cook-pot.

-Jacob Herman