I enjoy shooting 22lr much more than any other caliber.

[Orion8472]

Title kinda says it all for this topic. Yesterday, I went to the range to shoot my new "Canada compliant" CZ P-07. I was like, . . . "meh, good enough". I like my CZ P-09 better, but none of my pistols are as enjoyable to shoot as my Mark II. I think I prefer the lack of recoil [though the CZs aren't all that bad], but also the extreme accuracy . . . . coupled with the Volquartzen trigger that adds to the accuracy potential.

I think I've just come to the place where shooting 22lr is just more enjoyable. Even my brother's new Henry rifle was a lot of fun, yesterday. I just have the larger calibers as "a tool". Sometimes, I feel I'd just like to only have 22lr pistols/rifles and get rid of my others, . . . but I probably won't actually do that. I have them for self defense, . . . even though I seriously hope to never need them for that reason.

 

[frankiestoys]

Not me ,for range work its a 9mm... every .22 pistol I buy I end up selling because of the lack of. WTS I do enjoy hitting far objects with my Savage MKII but that's the thing we have choices .

 

[Zaydok Allen]

Ummm..... ok

I like center fires.

 

[Mike OTDP]

To the OP...Good! While the rest of these guys are playing Hunchback of Notre Dame picking up brass, you get to shoot. And you've got the potential to move into much more sophisticated hardware. The Olympic-grade target pistols are a delight to shoot.

I very rarely shoot centerfire cartridge myself.

 

[bhk]

I shoot both my centerfires and rimfires quite a bit, but shoot the rimfires much more. Be aware, though, that once you get really hooked on rimfires you can spend as much or more on quality rimfire handguns and rifles than on centerfire arms.

 

[MedWheeler]

I also have a soft spot for the "lowly" .22. Perhaps my favorite .22 pistol to shoot that I own is a FEG AP-22 from 1998. It's a rimfire version of their PA-63, normally in 9mm Makarov.

My Ruger Mk-II is not quite as much fun at typical range distances, though, as it's just "too easy." It becomes more fun when range (distance) is pushed out to the limits, and opportunities for that around here are scarce.

Pocket, "budget-class" pistols, like my Phoenix HP-22A, are fun because they present a bit of a challenge at distance as well. My Taurus PT-22 is probably the easiest-handling of them because of its light weight and smoother texture.

Now, if ammunition was as readily available...

 

[wally]

Now that .22lr ammo has started being made out of unobtanium, I shoot a lot less of it than I used to, reserving most of our last remaining 15K rounds for my wife, this used to be maybe a 4 or 5 month supply for us. Had ~60K on hand just before Sandy Hook (by dumb luck) and thought we'd have no worries.

Ran a few hundred rounds a couple of days ago, I sure do miss it!

 

[Vodoun da Vinci]

I often feel the same. My father in law had a decent collection of varied firearms and the ones he used the most or shot daily were all .22's. Single shots, autos, six guns...there was a .22 in every drawer in the house and they all took their turn.

I learned a healthy appreciation for .22 LR from him. Very versatile, accurate, and easy to get good with.

One of the things that has kept me from depending on my inherited .22's from his collection and indeed really enjoying shooting them is that I must depend on someone else to make for them for me - center fire I have enough components to shoot to my hearts content but when the .22 I have is gone I am skeptical I can readily replace it without searching and hunting and waiting and playing games.

But that's another story. I'm a huge fan of .22 and in a different circumstance might actually put many of the others away and shoot .22 90% of the time.

VooDoo

 

[chicharrones]

I like shooting the .22 handguns as well as the centerfires. On top of the fun factor of .22 shooting, I like how I can notice every false move I make while tripping the trigger on a .22 much more clearly than when shooting a centerfire. That goes for rifles too.

 

[CajunBass]

If all I had were 22's, I wouldn't miss the rest of the stuff.

 

[Fiv3r]

I still enjoy the powerful push of a .45 or even the snappy flash of a good .357, but shooting a .22 pistol is relaxing.

They can get boringly accurate though. I back my target out 15 yards at the range the other day and shot out the center with 10 shots from my mkiii.

.22, for me, is a lot more fun when you're plinking at cans or spinners or something with a dynamic report.

That said, if I could find more of the good stuff to run through it, I would be shooting .22 pretty much exclusively right now.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

I love the .22 LR -- I have about 2 1/2 cases left (about 12,500 rounds) and hope the shortage clears up so I can buy several more cases.

I consider the .22 LR one of the 4 1/2 useful handgun rounds:

1. .22 LR

1 1/2. .38 Special.

2. .357 Magnum

3. .45 ACP -- especially in the gun designed for it, the M1911

4. .45 Colt -- in the right gun, it will do anything a .44 Magnum will do.

 

[Orion8472]

Someone mentioned "relaxing". I think that is an excellent characteristic of shooting 22lr pistols and rifles. It can be rather theraputic. I even shot come Colibri out of a Ruger Single Six and the limited sound [and no recoil] is pretty hilarious. Especially if you brought those rounds to the range. . . along with an M44. Polar opposites. hehehe

I hope the 22lr becomes more available soon. I will do more shooting in that case.

I'm not all about the 22lr. If I want to shoot a nearly boringly accurate 9mm pistol, I will take my customized CZ SP-01. The SAO trigger breaks at about 2.5lbs and makes short work of the center of any target that has the misfortune of being in the sights of that gun.

I think another thing that I like about the 22lr, . . . specifically, would be taking a bunch out to a field with cans, plastic containers, and whatever else, and loading them into a lever action rifle [tube fed]. When my Marlin 39a is done at the gunsmith, I may do just that.

 

[BCRider]

I'd hate to give up my bigger bore stuff. But I do find that I can enjoy my .22's just as much. I enjoy them for different reasons of course. But I enjoy them all the same.

I must like them. When I look at the collection I've got almost as many rimfire handguns as I do center fire all put together. It would be an easy slam dunk win for the rimfires other than for my cowboy shooting guns that have to come in pairs. Two cartridge guns, two 1858 Remington clones and two 1860 Colt clones. That's 6 handguns just for that one event and it slightly pushes the big bore stuff ahead of the total number of rimfire pistols.

 

[mdauben]

I got a agree. If it fun shooting, precision target, or just casual plinking it's hard to beat a .22 handgun or rifle.

Now, I enjoy shooting my SD guns (.357, 9mm and .45ACP) but the enjoyment of ly lasts do long. My .22s I can keep shooting and grinning all day long.

 

[Drail]

I used to. Haven't seen any rimfire in a long time down here in the Missouri Territory.

 

[TennJed]

Thanks goodness because 22 is cheap and easy to find.


Wait...................Nevermind

 

[BCRider]

What's hard to find? A couple of weeks ago I casually walked into one of my local dealers and bought a case of Blazer .22LR. Easy peasy. And it was just a hair over $230 even with our local sales taxes.

You folks in the more panic hoarding areas likely didn't want to read that, didja.....

 

[bannockburn]

I love shooting my .22s and always take a couple of them along on every range trip. Still have plenty of ammo on hand though I tend not use as much as I use to these days. Accuracy with my Mk.II is amazing with both CCI MiniMags and Wolf Match Target ammo.

 

[Orion8472]

I was fine shooting the 22lr rounds I did this past Wednesday. Got them at Bass Pro a several weeks back. Remington Thunderbolt. Dirty and smoky. In fact, Bass Pro had more of it the other day. Didn't buy any, and was glad to use up the couple of boxes that I did get back then.

 

[Furncliff]

I own more rim fire firearms than anything else. I'm old and a bit shakey so off hand shooting is more of a challenge than it once was. As a result I've gravitated to .22 RF bench rest shooting. I have a few rifles that are a joy to shoot from a rest and pushing the distance that you can accurately send a .22 bullet keeps things interesting.

 

[UpperAtmosphere]

I sent a Mark II to Clark Custom late last year and got it back a couple of months ago, but range time with my shooting buddy didn't line up until yesterday.

Shot just as well as I had hoped. Smooth as glass.

 

[montanaoffroader]

I'm a rimfire kind of guy too. Nothing beats an afternoon of plinking with a good old "twenty-two". Relatively low noise, no recoil and (usually) cheap ammo.

Don't get me wrong, I like the bigger stuff as well. I put plenty of rounds downrange from my magnum revolvers and 9mm semi-autos, but a .22 of some sort always comes along on a range trip and generally sees more trigger time than anything else.

Unfortunately, my .22 stash is starting to run a bit low. So unless things loosen up before the end of summer, it looks like I'll be shooting a lot more .38 and .357 than .22LR.

 

[MedWheeler]

Montanaoffroader, I'm a bit jealous because, well, you get to off-road in Montana!

 

[tuj]

I shoot more rimfire than centerfire by far, even with the current ammo situation. A day at the range with some bullseye targets and my Pardini SP and I"m a happy camper.