Hunting Bullets for .22WMR?

[Frozen North]

I have a Henry .22 Magnum lever rifle I want to use for varmint hunting. It will be shooting nothing larger than a coyote out to around 100 yards, maybe a little more.

I can see that there is an abundance of hollow point and expanding ammo for the .22WMR, but what works for you guys?

This rifle seems to group and feed anything I feed it quite well.

 

[jimmyraythomason]

CCI Maxi-mags,40grn hp.

 

[cowpoke]

Winchester 40gr fmj does a good job yotes & bobcats.But have never shot them past 75 yards .

 

[Frozen North]

Am I better off with FMJ for better penetration or does this round have enough energy to penetrate with expanding bullets?

My previous choice was a .270 with 90gr TNT Speer bullets... The critter was pretty much gutted, skun, and ground up upon impact. It was a real mess!! I am trying to get away from that with a lower energy round without such a loud report. I am not too concerned with a little loss of meat, but that .270 was a little ridiculous...

 

[DM~]

My vote is for a 40 grain bullet of the HP design. That's what i've been shooting for more than 40 years, and it works just fine.

BTW, i have a lever Henry 22WMR too, and i like it a lot.

DM

 

[Frozen North]

Thanks... CCI Maxi Mag?

 

[Justin Holder]

The CCI maxi mags are good for general hunting but I like Winchester Super-X 40gr. JHPs a lot better. It is the best load for bigger varmints IMO. I have killed coyotes out to 106 yards with this load. If it was legal I bet this load would have little trouble taking a small deer at close range with a lung shot.

If you want rapid expansion for coon sized varmints on down the CCI 30gr. TNT hollow points are hard to beat.

 

[Jeff F]

If you can find them, RWS JHP. The most accurate out of a few different rifles and blows a nice hole in a coyote at 150 yards. A little pricey though.

 

[jimmyraythomason]

CCI Maxi Mag?

These are CCI's .22 magnum cartridge.

The CCI mini mags are good for general hunting

Mini-mags are CCI's .22 long rifle offering.

 

[Justin Holder]

Oops, I meant to say Maxi- mag.

 

[Frozen North]

A simple typo... I knew what he meant. It sounds like you guys like 40gr for hunting...

I guess I should pick up a few different flavors and see what this gun likes to eat. This is my first try with .22WMR and I can already see that it has a ton more smack than a .22LR. I think I am gonna like this rifle and caliber allot. The action is much smoother than I expected, but the trigger has a weird spot. It is far from a bad trigger, but if it won't wear in properly, I may have to do an outpatient surgical procedure on it...

 

[mr.trooper]

When I had a 22mag rifle, i was very fond of Fiocchi's 40gr soft point offering.

Though I sold the rifle, i still have plenty of that ammo. I've been holding onto it in hopes that I will pick up another 22mag rifle someday. i like it that much.

Both accuracy and terminal performance were great, and it was cheaper to shoot than CCI.

 

[Sunray]

Suspect a solid wouldn't kill a coyote cleaning unless you only made head shots. The .22 Mag will kill ground hogs and the like deader than spit. HP's are better for them though. A solid isn't as reliable.
In any case, as with any rimfire, you must try a box of as many brands as you can to find the ammo your Henry shoots best. Pricey shooting, but the price of the ammo means nothing. And you must practice.
Your rifle scoped? If not, forget 100 yard shots on Wiley.

 

[Frozen North]

Scoped yes, practiced, yes... 100 yards with irons... you bet I can!

It seems to group Federal 50gr the best, but it groups everything I feed it well enough for hunting. So far I have shot CCI Maxi mag FMJ 40gr, CCI TNT 30gr, and Federal 50gr hollow points. The rifle came with a ton of ammo, most of it was FMJ though.

Coyotes are thin skinned and have light rib cages, plenty have died to 22lr. I am not concerned with the rifle's ability to kill one. Shot placement is king. I do look at the cavity on the TNT bullets and wonder how far they would penetrate before they fragment though. I think those are out for bigger stuff.

I would love to see what kind of velocity those 50s are doing...

 

[GooseGestapo]

My Henry .22mag was a "stinker". Shot ~2" at 50yds. I parted with it quickly.

My Remington M597 is a tack driver. ~1" at 100yds with the Winchester 40gr HP.
Also accurate with the Winchester 34gr Supreme load. Dont' know if Winchester still markets them.
The 33gr Remington V-max load is good, but over priced.
All around, the Winchester is the superior load. The CCI's shoot good in some guns but not a well in the half dozen guns I've tried them in.

The FMJ's wouldn't be my first choice for "song-dogs" but if I was hunting them for pelts, I'd definitely try them. Shots would need to be well placed in the head or spine. This means closer shots.

I've only taken 3 coyotes with the .22mag and all three were with the 40gr Winchester. All were one-shot kills between 40 and 90yds.

 

[jimmyraythomason]

The CCI's shoot good in some guns but not a well in the half dozen guns I've tried them in.

My Savage 65M will shoot any load(of those I've tries over the last 30+ years)within 1 and 1/2 inches at 100 yards but prefers the CCIs hence my recommendation. I had a Steven's bolt action (I don't remember the exact model but it used the same magazine as the 65M) 40 years ago that shot Winchester 40 grn and CCI 40 grns into 1 hole at 100 yards with a cheap Bushnell scope. My Savage is fully glass bedded including barrel channel. It shoots CCIs into 1 hole at 100 yards using a Barska 3x9 scope. I once used this rifle with a Bushnell 4x32 Bushnell Sportview to take 3 half grown grey squirrels at 125 paces with 4 shots. Winchester 40 grains hp ammo.

 

[silence of the lambs]

CCi Maxi Mag V

I find the CCi 30 gr maxi mag plus V excellent for pure accuracy out of my Mauser mod 107 these are the rounds with the silver case they do 2200 fps. Next to them I would use the CCi max max again 2200fps these have a very big hollow point on them. I have shot a lot of Fox and crows with these but will not shoot further than 120 yrds. All the best.

 

[scotjute]

I've used the 40 grn CCI out of the same gun as OP and put large feral dog down with one shot at 55 yds.

 

[McLovin]

has anyone used winchester 50 gr 22 mag?

 

[T.R.]

I've been hunting small game and varmints with my Marlin 22 MAG for over 30 years. Best accurasy is with WINCHESTER 40 grain hollow tips. They hit like a grenade with violent expansion and tissue damage. Typical example of accurasy: I can hit a Dixie cup nearly every shot at 75 yards. I've toppled many coyotes with this rifle when we lived in South Dakota.

Worst accurasy in my rifle: Remington ammo featuring plastic tipped bullet.

TR

 

[alsaqr]

i use the CCI 40 grain TMJ.

 

[silence of the lambs]

Mclovin. I have Federal 50gr, but use them only on a beef that we would be butchering or for putting down a horse or some big animal. THE cci Maxi mag 30gr TNT are what I use mostly must try to put up a picture of the hollow point on them it is a big hole.