Centerfire equivalent of .22 LR?

[Zeede]

Hey folks! I've had my first gun, a CZ 452 FS chambered in .22 LR for about a week now, and have had a blast. I've forgotten how much I enjoy the smell of gunpowder smoke

Anyhow, shooting standing position at 25 yards is definitely a lot of fun and challenge, but my mind is already thinking forward to the next gun, which will be a centerfire. I picked .22 LR because of all the wonderful things y'all already know about it. Cheap, low recoil, accurate, and did I mention cheap? FNP90s are neat guns but I can't afford to feed it that ammo on a regular basis. So, what centerfire calibers are sort of like the .22 LR equivalent in the centerfire caliber world? I know .223 is, anything else?

Thanks in advance,

Cameron

 

[Aaryq]

My vote would be 9mm or .38 Special/.357 Magnum. For Centerfire ammunition, it's rather inexpensive and low (enough) recoil. I don't know what you intend on shooting, but there are handguns and long guns chambered in those calibers. The other benefit is you can buy the inexpensive ammunition for your fun target shooting and some expensive reliable self defense for your home defense or for CCW. But that's just my 2 cents.

 

[jonnyc]

I think 9mm Para/Luger is about as cheap as you can get for centerfire handgun ammo.

Ooops, forgot this was the rifle board. For realtive cheapness, you'll probably want to look at .223/5.56, 7.62x39, or 7.62 NATO/.308.

 

[BADUNAME13]

Right now, in low recoil 5.45x39 is about the cheapest you'll get.

 

[270Win]

Another vote for 9mm.

 

[wanderinwalker]

I'll add another .223 vote. It's just like an overgrown .22LR. Cheap (relatively), low-recoil, accurate and did I mention low-recoil and accurate? It's easy to learn to shoot at longer ranges with a good .223 rifle IMO. Out to 300 yards, find a nice, scoped varmint-type bolt gun, add good ammo, repeat as needed. What more do you want?

 

[grimjaw]

9mm or .357/38 carbine for something (relatively) inexpensive to shoot.

jm

 

[JesseL]

7.62x54R surplus is almost competitive with 22 rimfire as price goes. It's a little different for noise and recoil though .

 

[K3]

7.62x54R surplus is almost competitive with 22 rimfire as price goes. It's a little different for noise and recoil though .

Yeah, it's got a slight kick when fired from an M-38, but not too bad. Give it a try. Not too much more recoil than a .22LR. Just a few orders of magnitude.....

You'll LOVE the fireball if you fire it at night.

Seriously, to the OP: I'd go with something in 7.62X39 myself. Pretty low recoil and though prices have risen a bit lately, it is still relatively cheap ammo. So are some of the weapons that shoot it, particularly Yugo SKS's.

 

[Beetle Bailey]

You can get a lever-action in .357 mag and shoot .38 specials out of it - it's kinda fun and inexpensive for a centerfire. 9mm would be good but there aren't a lot of options for 9mm carbines in California. Another choice to look at is the M1 Carbine in .30 carbine.

.223 rem is probably the best choice for a rifle cartridge.

 

[okiebuckout]

Ah heck, just go 9MM and get a Beretta CX4 Storm. (relatively)cheap centerfire rounds and you can get a nice 92FS to go along with the mags. Perfect combo.

 

[skinnyguy]

If you're looking at 9mm, check out the carbines available, Hi-Point is inexpensive and has several aftermarket mods available, Marlin Camp 9 is a bit more expensive and some would say more reliable than the Hi-point. Not sure about the aftermarket mods. Ruger's PC9 has been discontinued, but it can be had for $400-500 if you look around. It takes the P89 mags, and there are a few 30 round capacity mags you can get for it.

There are several more brands that you can search out. I'm not too up on the lighter caliber rifles though, so that's about all the info I give you. GOOD LUCK, and let us know what you decide on!!!

 

[rangerruck]

cz makes a 221 fireball, which is very low recoil, but ammo is expensive. you also have 30 carbine, which is also expensive, the best maybe 22 hornet, which is very expensive. Unless you reload any of the above. You could get the new remington in 17 mach 4, which is a non recoiling hoot!!! but ammo again, will be expensive. so if your ammo is store bought, the cheapest is 223, and 762.39.

 

[DMK]

There really isn't a centerfire equivalent of 22LR

For the low recoil and good accuracy, 223 would be really close. However, it's not what I'd call cheap.

For cheap ammo that you can burn up a few thousand rounds without denting your wallet, there's 8mm and 7.62x54R surplus. However, I wouldn't call them especially accurate or readily available like 22LR.

 

[JonB]

For cheap ammo that you can burn up a few thousand rounds without denting your wallet, there's 8mm and 7.62x54R surplus. However, I wouldn't call them especially accurate or readily available like 22LR.

8mm is getting hard to find - it's still out there, but you have a look a bit. Plus both 8mm and 7.62x54R are tough on the shoulder MUCH quicker than 22LR. I can get about 20 rounds out of my 8mm before I start to feel it. Recoil pad helps, but you still feel it. 196gr bullet in 8mm vs a 36 gr (or so) bullet for 22LR. Big difference.

 

[DMK]

Plus both 8mm and 7.62x54R are tough on the shoulder MUCH quicker than 22LR. I can get about 20 rounds out of my 8mm before I start to feel it. Recoil pad helps, but you still feel it. 196gr bullet in 8mm vs a 36 gr (or so) bullet for 22LR. Big difference.

Right. That's why I said there's no exact equivalent: .223 for recoil/accuracy or 8mm/7.62x54 for cost.

If you want 22LR, buy 22LR. If you want a bigger bang, then you must accept the tradeoffs.

 

[ugaarguy]

So, what centerfire calibers are sort of like the .22 LR equivalent in the centerfire caliber world?

There really isn't a centerfire equivalent of 22LR

You've got to step outside the rifle world, but it exist. John M. Browning designed the 25 ACP to replace the various rimfire .22s for pocket pistol use. The primary concern was lack of reliable ignition of rimfire cartridges, still seen today, but even more of an issue in the early 1900s. The .25 ACP is basically a centerfire .22 LR.

Now, as far as relatively low cost, low recoil, etc. you're looking at 9mm in handguns & pistol caliber carbines, and .223 or 5.45x39 in rifles.

 

[Zeede]

Thanks for all the info! Looks like, as I guessed, the .223 would be my next logical choice. Here's to hoping the Beretta RX4 doesn't suck... (choices are limited here in California. No, I don't want an AR)

Cameron

 

[ArmedBear]

.22LR barrels are good for 100,000 rounds without degradation.

.223 barrels last for less than 5,000 without degradation.

Ammo price and recoil notwithstanding, that's a huge difference.

Furthermore, .22LR is fine at 100 yards.

So the real question is, what do you want to do with the gun? That's a better way to choose a caliber.

 

[DMK]

I say find a nice Finnish M39 Mosin Nagant (about $250-300) and a few cases of surplus 7.62x54R (maybe $80-100 per 1k rounds).

The big M39 won't be too hard on the shoulder, most shoot pretty well, and that will give you a rifle you can practice with out to 200-300 yards (even more if you have excellent eyesight or put better sights or a scope on it).

 

[BADUNAME13]

Everbody's ignoring my 5.45x39 comment?

 

[MrBorland]

Everbody's ignoring my 5.45x39 comment?

Not everyone - looks like usaarguy agreed with you

 

[Mannix]

+1 on the Nagant, they are cheap, widely available, and the ammo is the about the cheapest military caliber round out there. Though when it comes to recoil, there aren't .22lr's, that's for damn sure.

 

[Frog48]

.223 Rem/5.56 NATO or 7.62x39.

However if you're looking to keep costs down, 7.62x39 is the way to go. You can get a new SKS (Yugoslavian M59/66) for about $150.

 

[Zeede]

Hmm, that is quite a lot of difference in barrel wear approximations. 100k rounds for a typical .22LR barrel and 5k rounds for a .223. Maybe I should stick w/ the .22LR

Cameron

P.S. If I got a centerfire it would be for medium range target shooting, like 200-300 yards.