Opinions on the 22lr

[Quoheleth]

Old story by Skeeter Skelton, visiting his old pal Dobe Grant. If you read Skeeter's work, you know Dobe is one of the saltiest, crustiest, orneriest old codgers who ever came out of South Texas which is two degrees cooler and fifteen percent dryer than hell. Skeeter asked Dobe what his choices would be if he could pick only one gun. Dobe started with a scoped .30-06, a 12 gauge and a pair of sixguns, a .22 and .44 Mag. Through the evening's conversation, Skeeter whittled Dobe's list to the .22 and .44. After storming out of the house to feed the livestock, Dobe returned with a couple headshot rabbits and his answer: his one gun would be a .22 rifle.

Q

 

[.38 Special]

"Fun" for the OP apparently doesn't happen without involving some measure of physical force.

I submit that he could enjoy even further monetary savings by giving up guns entirely and limiting his recreational activities to hitting himself in the face with a 2x4.

HTH!

 

[MCgunner]

if 3030 was as cheap as 22 id plink with a 336 with peep sights all day

...and buy a new rifle every other year when you burn the bore out. I don't recall ever seeing or hearing about a .22 burning out its bore. They are very easy on metal, another bonus for the plinker.

 

[John828]

Quoheleth,

Why you got to make me pull out my twenty-five year old Shooting Times issues?

Those old rags are dog eared and drooled on and pretty much unstapled. I cut my gunporn teeth on those old magazines. Now I got to go sit in the corner and do alittle reminiscing.

ETA: And yes, a .22 goes with me to the range irregardless of any other gun, and probably always will unless I have a very narrow reason for going and time is limited, but then, why bother going? Sucks to be in a hurry at the range.

 

[The Deer Hunter]

I love .22lr. Its cheap, plentiful and easy on the shoulder. My shotguns, .30-06, and the Mosin all have their place on the range, but .22lr is just something fun to plink away with on an afternoon.

After all, .22lr kills paper just as dead as a 50BMG.

irregardless

No, no, no, it's regardless. Irregardless isn't a word. =D

(inside joke...)

 

[.38 Special]

Aw, you screwed up my line. I was going to tell him it was "irregardlessly". Courtesy George W. Bush.

 

[erict]

The most expensive pistol I own (if you include the supressor costs) is my custom Mark II with a tac solutions upper. My wife wonderd why I spent so much on a little .22.

I love to shoot ALOT and that is the gun I shoot the most so it only made sense to me to have a nice plinker to practice with. Long live my fun little 22's.

 

[mejeepnut]

Lets see,the 22lr will kill game all the way up to moose without a problem as long as its a well placed shot.If you look at the people that die each year from gun shot wounds-what % died from 22lr?We are talking about defensive and offensive shooting,not even taking into account shot placement!If I could only have one gun it would be a 22lr,probably a tube fed bolt action.If I could only have 2 guns then throw in a 22lr revolver.If I could only have 3 then I guess a 30-06 bolt action or a single shot 20ga would round it out.

Today, 09:36 PM #28
MCgunner
Senior Member



Join Date: 12-03-05
Location: Texas Coastal Bend
Posts: 10,543 Quote:
if 3030 was as cheap as 22 id plink with a 336 with peep sights all day

...and buy a new rifle every other year when you burn the bore out. I don't recall ever seeing or hearing about a .22 burning out its bore. They are very easy on metal, another bonus for the plinker.

Lots of 22lr's out there with worn bores.Not many 3030's that I have seen have had bad bores.They both started with corrosive black powder loads but the 3030 was more likely to have been cleaned.The modern low pressure clean burning 3030 loads with a basic half a$$ed cleaning every now and then will not burn out the barrel out anymore then flushing the toilet 100 times a day will burn out the toilet!The modern 22lr round is even easier on the bore!

 

[Dookie]

I know i'm gonna stir up a storm but i believe it is the most overrated caliber. I bought one because its all i can afford to plink with. Its fun to shoot, yes. But a 8mm, 3030, 12 guaeg slug, are all way more fun to shoot. Centerfires give a kick against your shoulder, telling you its ther, can drop game bigger tahn a groundhog, make that bang we all love. I say they should stop make rediculously huge amounts of 22 and make centerfires cheaper.

with that statement you lost all credibility of your argument. That is probably the number one reason so many love it. $15 for 500 rounds and a few hours of shooting.

And more deer have been taken with the 22 than any other round. Center fires are considerably more expensive for multiple reasons, more expensive to manufacture, more parts, copper jacket, more material. With todays manufacturing costs, you would not want to shoot a 223 that cost $0.03 to make. It would probably blow up your rifle if it even fired.

Spell check dude

 

[MaterDei]

Best ever!

 

[Golden Hound]

And more deer have been taken with the 22 than any other round. Center fires are considerably more expensive for multiple reasons, more expensive to manufacture, more parts, copper jacket, more material.

Hell, Chris McCandless managed to kill a MOOSE with a Nylon 66. But really, I don't think it's going to be anyone's first choice for a hunting rifle unless they're after rabbits.

 

[fireman 9731]

Pound for pound, ounce for ounce, I pretty sure the .22LR is the most efficient round out there. Not to mention the funnest, you can shoot all day with out having a headache or ear ache.

If I could have one gun, it would be 22LR!!!

 

[mljdeckard]

I'll say this, and I hope I don't sound to inflammatory in how I phase it, don't get mad,

Everyone I know who hates .22s is a lousy shot. They are in love with bigger, sexier guns, and as a result, they skip over the experience of sitting down with two bricks and just shoot until the pull is subconscious, and they have made one ragged hole and not touched paper in the last 50 rounds. They don't do it with their bigger guns either because it's too expensive, too painful, or both. I have a .22 kit for my 1911, and I will shoot it untli my hand is tired.

Me and my bro-in-law are considering going in together in a chipmunk to get the littlest kids in the family shooting early without scaring them off.

If it's more fun, cheaper, and softer to shoot, the odds are it will get shot more, which is always a good thing.

 

[pgeleven]

yes it will definetly increase your marksmanship.

some days you just want to unleash all the rage inside you and explode, and something as simple as the 22LR and an hour or so of plinking will make you feel calm again. this caliber has probably attracted and seduced more current shooters than anything. every girl i have taught to shoot who was afraid at first fell in love with this caliber. it makes starting shooters not afraid to pull the trigger. plus you can blow off a whole brick without feeling bad. 550 round for 20 bucks, awesome. 550 rounds of 223/17HMR/45ACP/.308? horrifying.

shooting to me, i find is a peaceful and proactive way to vent out my inner frustrations, without choking the life out of someone. if i sit at the bench, or wherever, and blow of an ass-ton of rounds, it balances me out. the BIGGEST determining factor is once the smoke clears, did i just shoot off $10 of ammo, or $80 worth of ammo? the former amount will keep me calm

 

[C-grunt]

Best Caliber Ever!!!!

You can easily carry thousands of rounds. I know people who would hunt many animals up to deer with it. In a rifle its not a bad defensive round either. In a SHTF/EOTWAWKI situation I believe it would be my go to weapon.

 

[CZguy]

.22 LR is my favorite caliber. I have very fond memories of my whole family plinking with it on Sunday afternoons from the back porch. I try to take a half hour or so everyday to plink. Not just to keep my skills honed, but for the sheer fun of it.

 

[Davek1977]

A .22 has taught more people the basics of shooting than all oterh calibers combined. They are INCREDIBLy accurate, easy to handle, and one can afford to easily shoot a few thousand rounds over a weekend and not break the bank. Try doing that with ANY centerfire. AS much as I love big game hunting and centerfire pistols, I'd sell every gun I own before parting with my collection of .22's (all 9 of 'em)

No, no, no, it's regardless. Irregardless isn't a word. =D

(inside joke...)

Possibly regarding a certain Danny Masterson movie? "Tiny Classified ads" ring a bell? "Its complex" LOL

 

[CajunBass]

Actually, other than deer hunting (shotguns) a 22 is all I ever need. A 22 would even do me for self defense if I didn't have something else already.

I've got two SKS's. I've fired them a total of 60 rounds. I've got two Mosin-Nagants I've never fired: I've never even owned ammo for them. (I have thought about trading the SKS's off for more 22's, but I don't guess I will. They ain't eating nothing.)

I've got two 12 ga pump guns. One was my dads. I don't know how many times he fired it, but I'll bet I haven't shot it a dozen times. Mine I've had since at least 1976, and I don't guess I've fired it but a couple hundred tmes.

I shoot my 22's a lot. All 15 of them.

 

[pgeleven]

hey there CajunBass, how much you willing to loosen you grip on one of those SKS's for...? since youre not really using them...

 

[QuietEarp]

I think this is the most one sided caliber war I have ever seen. Add one more to the ranks of people who love the .22. I think the reasons have been pretty well discussed. .22LR .22LR .22LR .22 LR .22LR .22LR .22LR .22LR .22LR .22 LR .22LR .22LR .22LR .22LR .22LR .22 LR .22LR .22LR .22LR .22LR .22LR .22 LR .22LR .22LR .22LR .22LR .22LR .22 LR .22LR .22LR . . .

 

[22lr]

Um ya my username name kinda says it all. Very underrated.

 

[gdcpony]

You know my 10yr old 60# daughter would love to try your 8mm. No? I think she stay with the .22 then.

 

[k9870]

22lr is the best on my wallet but id rather buy 500 rounds of 8mm for 12 bucks and fire that

 

[TeamPrecisionIT]

Wonderfully underestimated caliber and incredibly useful in many aspects of shooting. Yup, that covers it.

Damian

 

[punkndisorderly]

If cost was equivalent (or I hit the lottery) I'd probably never fire rimfire again. However, until I can afford to run 1000 rounds of centerfire handgun and as many rounds of centerfire rifle in a month, I'm more than happy to supplement my centerfire practice with a couple or three bricks of 22lr.

Something I've noticed is that almost everyone I see at the range who is a really good shot either burns through a lot of .22lr or did so in the past. The guys that turn up their noses at the lowly rimfires are usually not as good.