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Any love for the .22 mag rifle?

3K views 52 replies 26 participants last post by  ozzy 
#1 ·
I never really wanted one, never thought they'd be useful for anything. I mean, they're a might big for squirrel and a might small for pigs. I don't hunt varmints. There are some coyotes around, but I don't sit out at night calling 'em. If I won't eat it, I generally don't hunt it. I've considered thinning 'em out, but heck, that's an impossible mission, just too many around here and they're wiley.

A guy showed up at my door one day when I had a couple of little motorcycles for sale. I had this XR70 that he wanted and I wanted to be rid of it, he offered to trade me this .22 mag rifle for it, Bushnell 3x9x40 Trophy on it, and with a soft case. It was a fair trade. At first I thought I was getting skinned. The gun is a Remington 597 magnum. At the time I could buy 597s in long rifle for under 200 bucks at Wallyworld. Then, I looked up the price of the magnum online. Well, it was a good trade.

Again, I didn't need the gun, just figured it'd be easier to get rid of at a gun snow than selling an XR70. After I took it to the range, I decided I needed to keep it. Groups were impressive, 1.5" at 100 yards with most ammo. It doesn't like that TNT green stuff, more like 2" at 100 yards, but maximag and VMax shoot 1.5" at 100. I have a hard time getting rid of accurate rifles regardless of if I have an actual use for 'em. :laugh:

So, last spring, I took a tom turkey with it. This is one task that it's up to. :D This season I've been hunting turkey with my .223, but haven't seen/heard a turkey this year. I've shot a squirrel with the gun, 60 yard head shot. It is a good small game getter and can reach out further than a standard .22. I put a Volquarsen hammer in the gun which greatly improved the trigger. I have no real desire to sell the gun, it's a good, accurate rifle. But, the lack of .22 mag ammo on the shelves even with .22LR coming back is a bit off putting. And, heck, I can buy steel cased .223 for what CCI maximag costs when I can find it and that Tulammo stuff is available at all the walmarts around. I'm not sure why I wanna keep the gun considering all that, just do. Ammo will come back...SURELY. I'm not real sure why rimfire ever got scarce, just know it did.

So, I got out in my shooting/reloading room today, nice day to be outside. I shot some groups with various ammo in the .22 mag. Just got to wondering what uses others have found for a .22 mag and if there's any love for it out there.
 
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#3 ·
Only 22mag I ever had was an NAA Mini Revolver. Don't know why I got rid of it. Well, maybe because I never have trouble carrying my TCP. And maybe because the ammo cost as much as .223, and I scratched that itch of shooting a PMR so the curiosity was no longer a nag.

I do love the 597, though. Mine is just a .22LR and is cheap fun at the range.

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#6 ·
It's a heck of an Armadillo buster....

Outside of that, it's way better than a LR on things like fox/raccoons/o'possum and other annoying four legged vermin.
 
#8 ·
I think they do have their place. I know a farmer that uses his on coyotes, pretty often. They're attracted to some of his calves. Ammunition isn't really all that available around here though.
 
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#13 ·
They had two boxes of CCI TNT green or whatever it is at Academy in Victoria last time I stopped, that's it, TWO BOXES. I bought 'em out. :rofl: Don't know ewhere a Cabelas is. There's a Dicks and a Bass Pro other side of Katy 80 miles from here and a Gander Mountain about the same distance in Sugar Land. Once in a blue moon I see .22 mag in a local walmart or hardware store. Everyone has .17 HMR.
 
#16 ·
I like 22mag! :)

Yes, it's hard to find right now, but then again so was 22lr and it's coming back.
I like shooting it in revolvers, and it's definitely great for 100 yrs out of a long gun! I have a Ruger American Rimfire compact in 22mag that's lots of fun.

Now 22 hornet is the bee's knees ( Hee-heee)!), but talk about hard to find!

Sometimes you don't need to justify why you want/own something; just enjoy it!
 
#18 ·
You DO know, you can handload that hornet. :D I've often thought a 10" Contender barrel in .22 Hornet would be fun. :D
 
#19 ·
I've always thought the .22 Hornet was the perfect light rifle cartridge. Probably cheaper to reload than buying .22 Magnum.

I had a Universal Carbine in .256 Winchester Magnum once which was a hoot.
 
#20 ·
Universal as in M1 Carbine? WOW, that would be really cool. :D I have a Chiappa in .22LR. It's a fun shooter and I'll start shooting it again as soon as I an get my cataracts removed so I can see the danged sights. :rolleyes:
 
#22 ·
.17 don't cost twice .22 mag, not at Walmart, anyhow. They're about the same and, bonus, they actually have .17 in stock.
 
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#32 · (Edited)
I'll pick a nit with that.

A quick jump to Wikipedia has the .17HMR at 2550 fps and 245ft/lb for 17 gr and 2350 fps and 250 ft/lb for 20 gr.
Same source shows .22WMR at 2300 fps and 322 ft/lb for 20 gr, 1875 fps and 324 ft/lb for 40 gr, and 1530 fps and 300 ft/lb for 50 gr.

The only place 17HMR beats 22WMR by 1000 fps is 17 gr HMR vs 50 gr WMR. The .17 may shoot flatter but the .22 delivers more punch. To be clear, I'm not down on 17HMR, or trying to promote 22WMR, both have their uses, but the disparity is not as great as you make it out to be.
 
#25 ·
I have never shot .22 mag but have always been intrigued by it. Well now that I have the Rough Rider with the .22 mag cylinder I'm really wanting to shoot some. Sadly I'm not seeing much .22 mag ammo around here. :( I like that Savage in the earlier post.
 
#27 ·
I use 22 mag in my heritage RR. It's a fun round to shoot. Riflewise, I'll take my Savage Bmag in 17WSM (and you thought 22mag was hard to find). Just after Thanksgiving, I had it with us out at Sand lake. TH was popping nutria (big rats) at 100+ yards freestanding like it was a shooting arcade. The 17 WSM outperforms the HMR, HMR mach 2 and 22 Mags hands down. The round has enough of a thump factor that it'll flip a 20 lb nutria twice with a headshot.
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#28 ·
Seen any Hornady Critical Defense? I haven't seen any in years. I bogart my last box as it's self defense ammo and my NAA Black Widow loves it.
 
#29 ·
I have a revolver that fires .22 magnum. It's a wonderful cartridge. The rifle must be great to handle. Ammunition is not easy to find -- we have a local shop and I stop in if I'm in that area and he has .22 magnum sometimes and I'll buy at least a hundred if available.

I have an antique Model 90 Winchester that shoots .22 WRF - even more rare by far than .22 magnum.
 
#30 ·
I've had a yen off and on for a .22 mag bolt action, but why kid myself, I just don't get out very often hunting for anything. Due to a great real estate year, I could buy some other guns, but still have three guns bought over the past six months I have only shot once, I haven't squeezed the trigger on anything, besides my trusty Benjamin in the past 90 days. My trigger finger is getting very itchy!
 
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