To our OP, the 22WMR is a very good alternative. A 17HMR is an excellent option too, but the 22WMR has a bit more oomph. I missed an opportunity to buy a Savage Anschutz 22 WMR and haven't looked for one since, mainly because I have four 17HMRs that take care of almost everything that needs taken care of. Had two other 17HMRs, but sold them. I have a very good 22Hornet, but find that I don't shoot it much. If I need the punch of something bigger than the 17HMR, I have .223 and .204. For most people, the 22Hornet is a good option only if you reload, which I do. Factory ammo is just too expensive to be a viable alternative.
22WMR or no?
- Thread starter trekker73
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Old Hobo
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Thnx, informative.
Sometimes one has to shoot through hide and meat. The .22 mag. doesn't "blow-up" as quickly as the .17. Found some videos to cover that, however folk already know this. Like on clay blocks, the .22 mag blows up, then what's left, the mushroomed bullet, exits the back of the block; whereas, the .17 HMR blows-up and its fragments enter the block and DO NOT penetrate = great for pelt hunting. The Aussie pelt hunters loved the .17 Remington decades ago due to this property, i.e. instant death & no exit wound.
Here's a history source on the .22 Hornet :
https://www.americanrifleman.org/content/the-22-hornet-history-performance/
On thin-skinned not-large varmints, the .17 HMR is probably dynamite. I don't know, so I looked for a video on the .17 HMR for nutria.
Sprechen Sie Deutsch? Ich spreche Deutsch sehr kleine.
I've killed 100s of prairie dogs with the 17HMR, which fits the description of thin-skinned not-large varmints. It is devastating on p-dogs, which you want when trying to eliminate a pest. I'm not a hide hunter so not concerned about pelts. It is a fun round to shoot and effective. If I had a nutria problem, it would be my go-to round.
BTW, it is also my preferred round for late season squirrels when the absence of leaves offers longer shot opportunities. Head shots are a given for me with any rifle. Do I always make them? Of course not. But even if I hit too far back and take out the shoulder, most of the best meat is preserved. Plus you have fewer crawl-offs than with a .22
BTW, it is also my preferred round for late season squirrels when the absence of leaves offers longer shot opportunities. Head shots are a given for me with any rifle. Do I always make them? Of course not. But even if I hit too far back and take out the shoulder, most of the best meat is preserved. Plus you have fewer crawl-offs than with a .22
I use Hornady 17gr V-Max. It has been the most accurate in all 6 of my 17HMRs. Tried all the other variations, but the Hornady 17gr V-Max has been the most consistent. CCI TNT 17gr and Federal 17-gr V-Shok are close seconds and worth buying if I can't find Hornady.
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I used to have a .22-250 that was super-deadly on varmints out to about 300 yards. It was also very accurate and won many turkeys at local turkey shoots, including one on a bet that my wife hadn't shot a rifle in years, but could outshoot everyone with that rifle. The next week, she did it!!! Perfect pinwheel at 100 yards!!! She did it from prone, resting over a log, laying on an angle (due to being 7 months pregnant).
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Your wife`s maiden name wouldn`t be Oakley, would it?
Y'all have me perusing GB for .22 Mag rifles now.....sigh....I have had a .22 Mag revolver for a very long time, and my son has a Henry .22 Mag that is slick as snot. My buddy used to have an H&R semi auto .22 Mag rifle and it was a hoot. I really do need a .22 Mag rifle.
Varminterror
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Haha! @Walkalong, dude… I was pushing boxes around this weekend as I reorganized my ammo shelves (new house, and my son unpacked all of the ammo onto the new shelves, and I can’t help but reorganize it)… I happened upon 400 rounds of 22WMR I’d forgotten I had…
My only saving grace right now is wringing my hands over whether to buy a 22WMR revolver or bull barreled Savage…
OR… buy a RimX for NRL22 and simply buy another barrel and bolt to convert it for part of the year to go after bunnies…
Maybe this paralysis by analysis will help me totally dodge buying a 22WMR entirely, if I can only keep it up a few more months…
My only saving grace right now is wringing my hands over whether to buy a 22WMR revolver or bull barreled Savage…
OR… buy a RimX for NRL22 and simply buy another barrel and bolt to convert it for part of the year to go after bunnies…
Maybe this paralysis by analysis will help me totally dodge buying a 22WMR entirely, if I can only keep it up a few more months…
I have over 1K .22 Mag rounds, two 500 packs and a few loose 50 round boxes.
@Walkalong and @Varminterror , you are both doomed to get a new gun chambered in 22WMR. Resistance is futile. 
To be honest, I would probably have a 17HRM along side my 22lr and 22 WRM guns if I didn't already have a 17m2 rifle.
PS; I still might end up with a 17HRM if I can find a good deal on a Savage 93 GVL or 93 BTVLSS.
To be honest, I would probably have a 17HRM along side my 22lr and 22 WRM guns if I didn't already have a 17m2 rifle.
PS; I still might end up with a 17HRM if I can find a good deal on a Savage 93 GVL or 93 BTVLSS.
Really am enjoying my Savage 93R17 FV. It`s a challenge to shoot sub-MOA groups at 100 yards ( 3 or 5 shot groups ) but certainly doable once you find which load your gun likes. The scope on mine only goes to 7X and I wonder if it`s not a bit under scoped.@Walkalong and @Varminterror , you are both doomed to get a new gun chambered in 22WMR. Resistance is futile.
To be honest, I would probably have a 17HRM along side my 22lr and 22 WRM guns if I didn't already have a 17m2 rifle.
PS; I still might end up with a 17HRM if I can find a good deal on a Savage 93 GVL or 93 BTVLSS.
I have three 22 revolvers that include a 22 mag cylinder. The cylinders sit in the safe unused. I also have a Rock Island XTM, their looks like a 1911 22 mag hand gun. It is an extremely ammo finicky little SOB. Yeah, that is my honest appraisal of it. Lots of muzzle blast and a big fire ball when it does shoot for not much action when the bullet hits and for the cost of a 9mm. It might function better with the CCI A22 ammo mentioned in another thread but I have never seen any of it among the sparce selection I have found locally or even to order. I attempted to trade it back to the dealer I bought it from. No dice. He says he has had no one wanting a 22 mag of any kind in the shop for over a year and doesn't want it just taking up space in his display counters. Unless I find an individual to sell or trade it to I am stuck with a fire breathing mini-monster that sometimes fails to take a breath.
“Fire breathing mimi-monster”
My NAA .22 Mag is absolutely that.
My NAA .22 Mag is absolutely that.
Ha ha! Before we were married, I bought her a Ruger Bearcat single-action .22LR (Western-style revolver). She could hit beer cans at a hundred feet or so, offhand with that little gun. The grip was too small for my hand, so I couldn't shoot it very well, but she was deadly! She used to own a one-chair, hair salon in Winslow, Maine and often worked until after-dark, so kept that Bearcat in her cabinet near the chair. The only other business in the building was a barber shop, run by the building owner, so there were several men on the property from time to time and it made her nervous, so the Bearcat was very comforting to her. Fortunately, she never had to use it either in fear or anger.
Not Oakley...but I've often wondered whether somebody "up there" may have been watching and said to the angels, "Hold my sceptor and watch this!" I couldn't have run up to a blank target and pushed a pencil through the center of the target any closer than she did it...from a hundred yards!
Sounds like a lady to whom one would not commit domestic violence. At least not for long!
Skylerbone
Member
I say this as an old fool with too many wants and safes chocked full of oddities; save your money. The next real need may be right around the corner or a real want that’s relegated to wish because you bought a ___ for 75 yard squirrels. Read your wind and trust that it is capable.
I have enjoyed the acquiring but my reality is that more than a few honest dream rifles have slipped away because I justified buying what was right in front of me. Had I been more discerning with guns (and wives) I’d have collected far fewer of each and far happier with what I had.
I have enjoyed the acquiring but my reality is that more than a few honest dream rifles have slipped away because I justified buying what was right in front of me. Had I been more discerning with guns (and wives) I’d have collected far fewer of each and far happier with what I had.
citizenconn
Member
I don't hunt little critters; mostly I give them what my Dad calls animal welfare by feeding them along with the plethora of stray cats in the area. But I live in a wooded suburb where the worst damage I get is an occasional armadillo digging under the fence or a raccoon bathing in my swimming pool and mucking up water bowls.
Could I not just load a .223 with a 36-40 grain load if needed rather than buying another guy? I know, I know. Blashemy to suggest not buying another gun.
I grew up on a small farm in West Texas and my Dad never had to dispatch any critters other than the occasional problem rattlesnake, for which he has a .22 Mag pistol. He worked as a tool pusher and driller in the oilfield for most of my youth and that's the only firearm I ever remember him having to use against any problem critters. But he had a pretty "live and let live" attitude towards critters and even when we had foxes get in the chicken pen he just fortified it so they could not repeat their chicken feast.
Could I not just load a .223 with a 36-40 grain load if needed rather than buying another guy? I know, I know. Blashemy to suggest not buying another gun.
I grew up on a small farm in West Texas and my Dad never had to dispatch any critters other than the occasional problem rattlesnake, for which he has a .22 Mag pistol. He worked as a tool pusher and driller in the oilfield for most of my youth and that's the only firearm I ever remember him having to use against any problem critters. But he had a pretty "live and let live" attitude towards critters and even when we had foxes get in the chicken pen he just fortified it so they could not repeat their chicken feast.
Over the years, I've bought guns from gun stores, at gun shows, and after having a FFL, ordering them from a distributor. The latest one I bought is a stainless .45 Auto, stainless 911 handgun, made by Remington, that I bought out of the gun counter at Cabela's in South Portland, ME. It's a beaut, and it has an excellent trigger pull! The latest rifle is a Rem 700 ADL, .223 Rem in the original box, found at a Marden's "salvage" store in Waterville. Not the prettiest and wasn't the best, but it was so cheap, I couldn't walk away from it. It was the second new Remington rifle I've bought from Marden's...the first being a beautiful .22 LR, 504 (picture), bought about 20 years ago. I've bedded both rifles and they shoot great!
The 504 is about the prettiest rifle I own. Scope is a 4.5-14X Simmons.
The 504 is about the prettiest rifle I own. Scope is a 4.5-14X Simmons.
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Bottom Gun
Member
In case any Anschutz shooters are interested, Triple K is now shipping back ordered 8 rd .22 magnum magazines for Anschutz rifles.
The 54 and 64 actions use the same magazines.
The 54 and 64 actions use the same magazines.
Old Hobo
Member
Why was poor Annie Oakley such a good shot? She had to be. Her father died when she was age six. Her mother's second husband also died.
https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/annie-oakley
"Because the family did not earn much money, they lived in a poor house, and Oakley who went by 'Annie,' was sent to live with the Edington family. Oakley worked with the Edington family at the infirmary where she learned how to sew and helped with the younger children. She later stayed with an abusive family, whom she referred to as 'the wolves.' At the age of eight, Oakley started hunting. She would sell the game she shot to local restaurants to help earn money for her family."
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Somewhere else, I read that she also sold pelts to feed her family.
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Many years ago I bought a bearcat from a guy at a very good price. I found it to be difficult o grip and my wife didn't care for it either so I wound up selling it. The thought of becoming grandparents hadn't even entered out heads then except for it happening a long way down the road. If I had kept it I would have presented it to my only grand daughter because it would be perfect for her small hands. Oh, well, you live and sometimes learn.
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