22 WMR Rifle Thread

CZfool68

CZfool68

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I have had the itch for another lever action for a while so used some sale proceedings on a new Henry Small Game rifle in 22 WMR. From my research it seems that many are getting out of 22WMR so this seems like a totally illogical purchase. But I wanted something with a little more umph than my 22LR and less than my 44 Mag. So here it is. I know little of the 22WMR. Let's pist pics, discuss uses, the good, bad and ugly.
 
Savage 22wmr

Possum gun!
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My favorite gun to shoot is my CZ 22lr but I would like a 22wmr for the velocity and range. But ammo is very expensive and on the same price scale as 5.56 so I continue to pass. I may end up with one in the future for small game hunting but not for range fun. That's a great looking rifle and that caliber will be great for squirrel, groundhog, coyote, and more.
 
BlackGun said:
My favorite gun to shoot is my CZ 22lr but I would like a 22wmr for the velocity and range. But ammo is very expensive and on the same price scale as 5.56 so I continue to pass. I may end up with one in the future for small game hunting but not for range fun. That's a great looking rifle and that caliber will be great for squirrel, groundhog, coyote, and more.
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I'm getting my ammo for around 20 cents a round.
 
Yeah, but there aren't any cool looking lever action .223's with a 12 round tube.

But yeah, stictly based on $$ a .223 make sense. I've got a CZ bolt in .223 for that reason. But a .223 for walking around the woods and hitting little critters at 50 yards or so seems like overkill. Plus, for me, the 22WMR will have less recoil, and should make for a good next step for my daughter learning to shoot. Iron sights and a reasonable stepping stone before she tries a centerfire.
 
No photos (yet) but I have this mid-70's Savage/Anschutz 164M manufactured in West Germany that is, in a word, unbelievable. Dead-on-balls accurate, smooth action, sweet trigger and has been the last sound that a whole bunch of groundhogs in our back yard ever heard.

Got it as part of a trade and definitely a score.
 
CZfool68 said:
Damn, that is disappointing. You make two incredibly wise, detailed posts in the 'Get Home' thread and that's all you have for the 22 magnum. ;)
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Which one of my three long posts in that thread was not detailed or wise? Now I'm offended. :D

I'm tired. Give me a break. I generally only make long detailed posts when I am happy or pissed off. Been pissed off all day. Now I'm just tired. :p

The love of .22 Magnum is hard to articulate. It barely makes sense. I would say it bridges a gap but with the newer calibers we have now and "somewhat" better access to noise suppressors, those arguments barely hold water.

But, for a long time the .22WMR was the go to gun for poachers, mainly spotlighters around these parts.
And while I despise a poacher for the most part, (which incidentally was one of my first struggles with the notion of libertarianism not being anarchy as some folks paint it) lessons were there to be learned.

You could kill a deer at some pretty decent ranges with head shots. It packs a punch. But you don't get the boom to alert as many folks to your location. And the negligible recoil made those precise shots under sometimes adverse conditions more doable.

I love the .22WMR being in my stash for those reasons. Turn your 12 year old kid into overwatch within 150 yards. And I love being able to still occasionally buy the Marlin bolt actions for less than $150. I've bought many for $100 over the years. Get a cheap scope, really really zero it to point of aim. Buy 200 rounds of ammo, and for less than $200 you have a great barter gun or even a stash gun for the cache that makes a whole heck of a lot more sense than an SKS or a Mosin. They are the overlooked gem for preppers.


How bout dat? :p
 
thrillhill said:
Which one of my three long posts in that thread was not detailed or wise? Now I'm offended. :D

I'm tired. Give me a break. I generally only make long detailed posts when I am happy or pissed off. Been pissed off all day. Now I'm just tired. :p

The love of .22 Magnum is hard to articulate. It barely makes sense. I would say it bridges a gap but with the newer calibers we have now and "somewhat" better access to noise suppressors, those arguments barely hold water.

But, for a long time the .22WMR was the go to gun for poachers, mainly spotlighters around these parts.
And while I despise a poacher for the most part, (which incidentally was one of my first struggles with the notion of libertarianism not being anarchy as some folks paint it) lessons were there to be learned.

You could kill a deer at some pretty decent ranges with head shots. It packs a punch. But you don't get the boom to alert as many folks to your location. And the negligible recoil made those precise shots under sometimes adverse conditions more doable.

I love the .22WMR being in my stash for those reasons. Turn your 12 year old kid into overwatch within 150 yards. And I love being able to still occasionally buy the Marlin bolt actions for less than $150. I've bought many for $100 over the years. Get a cheap scope, really really zero it to point of aim. Buy 200 rounds of ammo, and for less than $200 you have a great barter gun or even a stash gun for the cache that makes a whole heck of a lot more sense than an SKS or a Mosin. They are the overlooked gem for preppers.


How bout dat? :p
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Shazam!
 
I bought a .22 mag way back when, it's a Marlin which I've always had great luck with. My intended use was to reach out and touch squirrels at better range than my .22 LR's. Well, that didn't exactly work as intended. I could reach out to around 80/90 yards but was only harvesting "half squirrels". Back then about the only ammo you could get was the CCI 40 gr hollow point or the solid. Obviously I stopped that practice due to meat loss and never really found another good use for it. It peaks out around 110/125 yards and isn't accurate at that range anyway.
Enter the new fangled .223, a round that I find much more useful to my purposes. I obtained a Rem 700 in .223 and set about working up a load to maximize the accuracy. Still working toward that goal and hope to suppress it when I reach the magic accuracy level. THEN we'll see who has the last laugh at 100 yards on a squirrel, or since we now have Coyotes maybe pop one or two of them as well...
 
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Sandman_NC said:
I like the .22 WMR.... just not crazy about the lack of availability or price of the ammo.
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I LOVE my PMR/CMR combo! Never thought I'd say that about a Keltek! Ammo, both price and availability are getting better! My LGS had 5 cases of CCI for $13 a box. I bought it when I could find it and had a pretty good stock put away. That CMR can go thru a crap load of ammo! Those things are fun!!!! I may pick up a bolt gun in .22 WMR sometime in the future, but I've got so many small bore rifles that I don't shoot, maybe not.
 
I feel your pain... the PMR likes to eat ammo pretty quick. I picked up a bolt action for a little more ammo discipline. lol
 
I love .22mag. I'm on my 2nd one, a marlin 782 with beautiful walnut. No complaints at all about the gun, but it could use a little trigger work.

I find my marlin to be pretty accurate. I used to take it out to DPRC's rifle range and bang the 200 yard steel. The cost of ammo has cut back on how much I shoot it, but Its still one of my favorite calibers.
 
I think 22 magnum is a very underrated round. The one I have is an absolute tack driver but honestly it rarely comes out. The fact that I shoot it so little is the main reason I don't have more then one. I really like the round.
 
I got my first .22 WMR back in high school in the 80s. Owned two Ruger New Model Single Sixes with dual cylinders. Both 5.5" but one blue and other stainless. Still have the blued one. Then in my senior year in 83' picked up a used Marlin 783 that was a tack driver. Took many small game with it over the decades until I sold it in 07'. Been looking for a replacement lately.

CD
 
Combat Diver said:
I got my first .22 WMR back in high school in the 80s. Owned two Ruger New Model Single Sixes with dual cylinders. Both 5.5" but one blue and other stainless. Still have the blued one. Then in my senior year in 83' picked up a used Marlin 783 that was a tack driver. Took many small game with it over the decades until I sold it in 07'. Been looking for a replacement lately.

CD
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With most things rimfire I'd normally just suggest buying a CZ and be done with it, but wanted something other than a bolt action. The Henry feels great and cycles very smoothly. Hopefully I can shoot it Sunday and report back. I really wanted decent aperture sights and a little more capacity.
 
Combat Diver said:
I got my first .22 WMR back in high school in the 80s. Owned two Ruger New Model Single Sixes with dual cylinders. Both 5.5" but one blue and other stainless. Still have the blued one. Then in my senior year in 83' picked up a used Marlin 783 that was a tack driver. Took many small game with it over the decades until I sold it in 07'. Been looking for a replacement lately.

CD
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The rifle I spoke of in the post before yours is a Marlin 783 and at 100 yards it will make a ragged hole. I had a random Nikon 3-9x40 that I threw on top of it and I couldn't be happier with that rifle. I really need to get that thing out again.
 
I'm wondering if the .17 has surpassed the .22 Mag?? Higher velocity, seems to be as accurate and ammo is all over the place for fair cost. What I don't like about the .17 is having to buy special cleaning equipment just for that rifle.
 
Bailey Boat said:
I'm wondering if the .17 has surpassed the .22 Mag?? Higher velocity, seems to be as accurate and ammo is all over the place for fair cost. What I don't like about the .17 is having to buy special cleaning equipment just for that rifle.
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And keep this in mind. You know there are people that only carry a handgun in a caliber starting with "4". Well, those guys don't want a rifle in a cliber starting with a "1". :D
 
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CZfool68 said:
I know little of the 22WMR. Let's pist pics, discuss uses, the good, bad and ugly.
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No pics handy for now. But as to the .22 WMR, in my opinion you can't find any other small round that gives you the performance that this on does for the price. The .17 HMR is amazing, but a wee bit more expensive.

I remember the naysayers when I bought my first rifle, a Marlin 783 bolt action in .22 WMR. But it's a flat shooter, accurate as you could ever want, and retains plenty of power to reach out and tap ground hogs at 100 yards.

Word to the wise...head shots only for squirrels, unless you like loosing a portion of the meat.
 
Bailey Boat said:
I'm wondering if the .17 has surpassed the .22 Mag?? Higher velocity, seems to be as accurate and ammo is all over the place for fair cost. What I don't like about the .17 is having to buy special cleaning equipment just for that rifle.
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I don't think so. The 17 has it's place but it has a number of drawbacks of its own. 22 Mag has been around for years and while I'll agree, it's not popular, I think it has more to offer then the 17.
 
I don't own a .17 and have never shot one, just going by the variety of ammo and rifles available.
As for shooting game with the .22 Mag, I found that even with a good head shot I still lost useable meat, almost a no win situation. I don't know if the .17 would be better or worse??
 
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Bailey Boat said:
I don't own a .17 and have never shot one, just going by the variety of ammo and rifles available.
As for shooting game with the .22 Mag, I found that even with a good head shot I still lost useable mean, almost a no win situation. I don't know if the .17 would be better or worse??
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I love my .17 but, it is most susceptible to wind with that small of a bullet. My .22 WMR doesn't mind a little wind!
 
Hammer12b said:
I LOVE my PMR/CMR combo! Never thought I'd say that about a Keltek! Ammo, both price and availability are getting better! My LGS had 5 cases of CCI for $13 a box. I bought it when I could find it and had a pretty good stock put away. That CMR can go thru a crap load of ammo! Those things are fun!!!! I may pick up a bolt gun in .22 WMR sometime in the future, but I've got so many small bore rifles that I don't shoot, maybe not.
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@Hammer12b, do you still like the CMR30?
 
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REELDOC said:
@Hammer12b, do you still like the CMR30?
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I do. I rar shoot them because finding ammo is a chore, but I love them both. With Keltec, you either get a gold medal or a loser. No in between. I picked up a CZ 455 Mannlicher stock in .22 mag and put a Sig scope on it and I love that thing ! Mags are a bit pricey but it shoots great!
 
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I've got a Rooga 77/22 mag lever that I threaded to silencerco specs O-ring engagement etc
It's fairly quiet, I'd say hearing safe.
16" bbl 22WMR is definitely underappreciated.

One thing I always wished for was a heavy supersonic 22 WMR loading. More penetration, better wind bucking.

I may eventually take up a .25 caliber setup so I can load it to my wants.
 
Slacker said:
I've got a Rooga 77/22 mag lever that I threaded to silencerco specs O-ring engagement etc
It's fairly quiet, I'd say hearing safe.
16" bbl 22WMR is definitely underappreciated.

One thing I always wished for was a heavy supersonic 22 WMR loading. More penetration, better wind bucking.

I may eventually take up a .25 caliber setup so I can load it to my wants.
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Doesn't Federal still make the 50 gr load?

CD
 
My first rifle was a Marlin 783 bolt action, tube fed, .22 WMR. Bought in in 1982.

It was stolen about 10 years later. I sure do miss that rifle. I put THOUSANDS of rounds through it, plinking, squirrel hunting, splashing birds out of trees, etc.

Unbelievably accurate, open sight or with the cheap $9 scope from Walmart I put on it. Reaching out and touching ground hogs in the head at a hundred yards was fun.
 
I have a Winchester 9422 in 22WMR, but no photo... here is it's safe-mate, a 9422 in 22LR. Only difference is the magnum rifle has no checkering. Both sport iron sights now.

9422 rifles are among the best 22 rifles ever made...

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MacEntyre said:
I have a Winchester 9422 in 22WMR, but no photo... here is it's safe-mate, a 9422 in 22LR. Only difference is the magnum rifle has no checkering. Both sport iron sights now.

9422 rifles are among the best 22 rifles ever made...

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Except if you want to suppress it.
Then it's possible the worst ever made.
šŸ˜œ
 
Dont forget the Ruger Single Six sidekick option - my rifle is 77/22 laminated / target grey accurized by CPC.
Got an ammo can full of bang pill varieties to last a while.
 
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