The Chiappa Little Badger survival rifle (VIDEO)

Chiappa makes interesting guns. While they may not have the most fans, nobody’s going to say Chiappa isn’t inventive. The Little Badger, a survival rifle chambered in .22 Long Rifle, may just push them into the spotlight.

The Little Badger isn’t like most survival rifles — it takes minimalism and weight reduction to a level we’ve only seen inside the custom gun world — it’s a single-shot folding rifle with a wire stock and smattering of rails for accessories, like a mini red dot sight or a pistol grip. Since it’s a survival rifle, you may as well throw a flashlight on it.

Not that you really need a red dot or any type of optic on it. One thing that makes the Little Badger so appealing is that it’s got nice adjustable sights on it. A single-shot rifle, it’s break-action and uses an extractor.

It has five sections of rail, a short quad rail that doubles as your handguard and a smaller section behind the trigger that gives you a little traction. It’s got a plastic-capped wire stock and that’s it. Oh, and the stock carries a handful of cartridges in a nylon sleeve, and comes with a matching nylon carry bag.

The end result is a gun that folds down to just 16.5 inches long and weighs just over 3 pounds.

This rifle is perfect for backpacking and camping, plinking, showing new shooters the basics, keeping one in the car, one in the truck, making a gift… If Chiappa prices these right they could sell them in six-packs.

The Chiappa Little Badger from behind. Rrarrrr.

Officially, no word on pricing yet. Unofficially, we’ve heard around $150 give or take $25. Their product page is a bit bare, with few details. Availability is expected to be “later this year.”

Barring some crazy unforeseen shortcoming the Little Badger is going to be wildly successful, in a itty-bitty gun sorta way.

The only thing Chiappa needs to do now is introduce one in .22 Magnum, one in .410 bore, one in .357 Mag…