M6 Survival: .22LR vs .22 WMR?

[JCooperfan1911]

I am thinking about buying an M6 survival rifle from TPS Arms:



These are available in several rifle calibers, all paired with a .410 shotgun barrel. I’m debating if I should choose .22 Long Rifle or the .22 Magnum version. My location is Southern Illinois.

My uses would include:

-Plinking
-Squirrel hunting
-Camp defense gun
-General woods loafing

Which combo would prove most versatile and ideal to you? Thanks.

 

[dodo bird]

I would go with 22lr. I don’t have any experience with 22 mag fwiw. I just know 22lr is cheaper and works great for squirrels, and you can use 22 shorts which are quiet for when that is needed. Then 410 slugs for defense.

 

[Heir Kommt Die Sonne]

That would actually be pretty useful. I would do the .22 magnum version.

 

[Mosin77]

I’d flip a coin. Both equally good in different ways in this sort of gun.

The .22lr cheap and cheerful, the .22 magnum better if you might need to take a longer range shot or a varmint.

I’ve also got lots of .22lr rifles, no 22wmr…

But I think if it were my money, I’d have to go .22lr.

 

[Ohen Cepel]

I had one of those years ago. Neat idea. I removed the trigger guard as they were not designed with one originally and it keeps it from folding as it should which makes it harder to pack. Also, I didn't see much need for the guard given the way it operates. The "trigger" on mine was hard to get used to (for me) or to be accurate with it.

All that said, I could argue for either round. Mag would give you more game taking power (if needed) and is the way I would go if I was going into a real survival situation and was going into it with X # of rounds with no more to come. However, Mag is more $$ if for casual use. Tough call for me. If you are going to plink with it a lot, go 22LR. If packing it around in the wilderness a lot then maybe go with the 22Mag.

 

[silicosys4]

I had a 22hornet/.410

To be honest, it's not a good walk around rifle. Terrible trigger.
Terrible sights
Slow to load

It's good at what it's intended for
but you want a Savage 24....not an m6

 

[sparkyv]

If truly for a survival application, 22LR is my choice solely because of availability of ammo.

 

[mavracer]

My Savage 24 is a 22mag 20 gauge. When I was looking I didn't care LR or Mag or really 410 vs 20g and found this one. I really think in hindsight that the mag is slightly better for that application.
I know you didn't ask but IMHO the 20 gauge is a huge improvement over the 410.

 

[jmorris]

I have an old M6 that doesn’t get used much, it’s probably the least accurate rifle I own. The Savage 24 doesn’t deliver “match grade” accuracy but you would think it does, if you ever shoot both side by side. Even the often trashed AR-7 puts it to shame accuracy wise. It’s not packaged badly and I like the idea but I understand why they never got very popular.



.22/20ga is my favorite, if I don’t know what I might be using it for. This one is better regulated than the one above, so I keep it on the mule with shot and slugs and a slip on pad keeps .22lr handy.

 

[CraigC]

My Savage 24 is a 22mag 20 gauge. When I was looking I didn't care LR or Mag or really 410 vs 20g and found this one. I really think in hindsight that the mag is slightly better for that application.
I know you didn't ask but IMHO the 20 gauge is a huge improvement over the 410.

A .22Mag/20ga makes the most sense. It's not like you're going to be plinking hundreds of rounds in a sitting with it and the extra power/range of the .22Mag would be preferred in a primitive camping/survival type situation. That and .410 shells are exorbitantly expensive. The 20 just adds a lot more capability and versatility to the platform without having to deal with 12ga recoil.

 

[21H40]

Anything the 22LR can hunt, the WMR does from farther away. You can shoot LR in the WMR, but not the other way around.

 

[gotboostvr]

It's not going to be a high volume plinker, so I'd take the extra versatility of the 22WMR.

 

[troy fairweather]

I'd have to think, would depend on how much ammo you can/want to carry. I'm not the biggest fan of 22mag but say you only had 7-10 shots I'd take the mag. Does anyone make a little chamber insert for the 22mag, that maybe something to look into. If it's shtf stuff I'd go 22lr.

 

[jmorris]

Does anyone make a little chamber insert for the 22mag, that maybe something to look into. If it's shtf stuff I'd go 22lr.

Ace used to but they are gone, there is also an accuracy loss, 22Lr bore min is .217" vs 22mag is .219". Groove mini for the 22Lr is .222" vs 22mag minimum is .224".

I have made other adapters for mine though.

 

[Old Hobo]

Though a big fan of the .22 magnum, for a knockabout combo, I'd go .22 LR. Hitting small game with a .22 mag splatters the critter and ruins edible meat. Once upon a time I had a pesky rabbit getting into my garden. So I see Mr. Rabbit and had a .22 mag rifle in my hand (had bought it that week). The round turned the rabbit inside out. Were one to have a photo of that, he couldn't publish it here -- gory mess. I'll not even speak of the details.

For most small game-getting / survival purposes, standard velocity .22 LRs are more than sufficient. Very little meat damage and no loud report. Why announce to everyone that you are out there hunting?! You don't wish to disturb other game either. You can use the .410 for poisonous snakes ... whatever.

Poisonous snakes: Don't just step over logs. Send forward your walking stick first. Climbing rocks? Reach above with your climbing pick/axe, i.e. NOT your hand. People bit by rattlers rarely report having first heard the rattler -- you get bit, then the rattler rattles. There was a Texas ER physician who had the record for treating the most snake bites. At a convention lecture, he stated the above advice. Heard him say this myself; I was there. So, this isn't me talking, these are the words of a physician who'd treated heaven only knows how many hundred snakebite patients. Me, I've been massively lucky in not seeing lots of poisonous snakes, this even though I've spent many a day hiking and hunting in Southern Appalachia. A walking stick is your friend ... but those survival rifles sure do have their place also. Cotton mouths are FAST.

 

[Mosin77]

Anything the 22LR can hunt, the WMR does from farther away. You can shoot LR in the WMR, but not the other way around.

Good point. In a true survival situation a .22lr will fire from the .22wmr chamber just fine… it just might split the case. So with the wmr version you get two in one.

 

[chicharrones]

Normally, I'd want a .22 WMR in a "survival" rifle. The idea of hitting harder further away than a .22 LR has merit.

However, if the M6 is really a very short range rifle due to the trigger, design limitations, lack of optic mount, etc. I'd just stay with .22 LR. And by short range, I mean how far away can that gun hit a squirrel's head consistently? 10, 15, 25 yards?

 

[TTv2]

Ace used to but they are gone, there is also an accuracy loss, 22Lr bore min is .217" vs 22mag is .219". Groove mini for the 22Lr is .222" vs 22mag minimum is .224".

I have made other adapters for mine though.

View attachment 1153465

I just got an email from Ace, had a question for him on some .22 Mag to LR adapters. AFAIK they're still in business.

http://mcaceak.com/products.html

I did get concerned tho and the realization that this is the only operation currently making adapters for .22 and .32 for rifles, not shotguns. So, in my next order I'm going to grab ones that I didn't have an interest in getting years back because who knows what the future brings.

 

[Picher]

I had a .22LR/20 gauge Savage Deluxe and it was "okay", but it was the only shotgun I had as a teenager and I used it to hunt ducks. Unfortunately, I couldn't use the rifle barrel, nor have any .22 LR ammo on me when hunting ducks in a Maine beaver bog. I did manage a triple on ducks by lining up three teal sitting on the water, but I wouldn't do it again. It took several shots to finish them off, and they were only about 30 yards away. A couple of buddies in a canoe came from across the bog to help retrieve the ducks. They were the only ducks we got that day. I never hunted there again. What sticks in my craw was that I lost the magazine to the "borrowed" bolt-action shotgun and it cost me about $30 for a replacement. That was a lot of money for a teenager in the 1960s! (I never borrowed a gun again, so I learned something from it all.)

 

[jmorris]

I just got an email from Ace, had a question for him on some .22 Mag to LR adapters. AFAIK they're still in business.

http://mcaceak.com/products.html

That’s good news, the link doesn’t work for me though.

 

[Coyote3855]

I voted .22 Magnum. That firearm would not be in my top 10 choices for the applications mentioned by the OP. However, I never question how other people choose spend their money.

 

[JCooperfan1911]

I voted .22 Magnum. That firearm would not be in my top 10 choices for the applications mentioned by the OP. However, I never question how other people choose spend their money.

Whys that?

I was under the impression the M6 was the absolute rockstar of the bushcraft/survivalist movement?

 

[MikeInOr]

Can you shoot 45 lc out of the .410 barrel? With any accuracy?

If I wanted a single take anywhere rifle I would want more oomph than 22lr or 22wmr. I guess you could always use .410 slug for 2 legged predators if you had to.

 

[mavracer]

Can you shoot 45 lc out of the .410 barrel? With any accuracy?

45 colt won't fit in a true 410 chamber so unless it's marked 45 colt/410 no. And that's one big reason I said the 20g has a huge advantage. 410 slugs are 1/5 or 1/4 oz so 110-135 ish grain. For a 20g you have 250 and 275gr sabot slugs and 3/4 to 1 oz foster slugs. It's not even close.

 

[ms6852]

For me 22 magnum is the all around cartridge in a survival situation. One can dispatch larger type varmints from further distances and is quite more potent than the 22lr and since it is a survival situation that could mean also a self defense scenario. You can carry just as many rounds as you would with a 22lr with only a couple of ounces in weight difference