223/5.56 vs 22lr/magnum for small animal control

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That won't reliably kill a bull.The correct spot to shoot on cattle is 1 inch above an imaginary line drawn from eye to eye, and centered. I've killed cattle this way, and my son does it for a living. As Gordon said, .22 Mag. is the preferred caliber.

Medula oblongata.

The way I was taught was to draw a cross from opposite ear to eye (left ear, right eye, ie) and aim through it for the spine. Normally culling big animals I'll be standing on the rails in the yards so a quartering-on shot through the eye will absolutely end up in the right place.
Pigs and goats mentioned, out to 50 yards. Any more and I'd get a bigger gun.
 
No, 22 lr cannot be used in a 22 wmr. The wmr case is bigger in diameter and the lr case has a tendency to split If fired in a wmr chamber.

The 22 wmr case is based on the old 22 Winchester Rimfire. A production run of these is done every so often and I have seen them online at Midway. I have also seen exactly one rifle (a Winchester pump with external hammer) chambered for the round.
 
It depends on if you want them dead right there or crawl into a hole or under something to die. I use a Ruger American Rimfire in .22 mag for that purpose. It is a much more decisive killer than a .22 LR. A .223 is too much in my opinion. .!7 HMR is also good and a .22 LR can work if all your shots are accurate and under 50 yards. Any further and accuracy and energy are iffy. .CZ makes a good 22 Mag. Model 512. It is supposed to be a pretty accurate and reliable. There are a few others.
 
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No, 22 lr cannot be used in a 22 wmr. The wmr case is bigger in diameter and the lr case has a tendency to split If fired in a wmr chamber.

The 22 wmr case is based on the old 22 Winchester Rimfire. A production run of these is done every so often and I have seen them online at Midway. I have also seen exactly one rifle (a Winchester pump with external hammer) chambered for the round.
But you can use .22WRF ammo in one and they work perfectly around a ranch for pests as they were designed for 100+ years ago. I first discovered how deadly the 45 Grain flat point of a WRF moving out a Winchester model 90 pump was many years ago and now use that load in my Winchester 61 pump as a first round in the chamber. I chronograph them at 1300 FPS out of a 24" barrel. 45 grain lead flat point :)
 
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I picked up a Henry Mares Leg today in 22 Mag, to match my Henry Mares leg in 45 colt. Accuracy is awesome and plenty good for me at the 40-50 yards average I need. Holds 9 rounds, very easy to carry in the back country. For those not used to the mares leg it can be difficult to shoot. But I have much practice with the 45 colt version. I made a successful 1 shot kill at about 50 yards of an armadillo. I used a Hornady VMax 30 grain round. Nice clean shot. I am looking at several different options for 22 mag rifles now. I said semi auto at first. But may consider going with a lever action. I am a huge lever action fan, and this purchase makes for the 4th lever action gun I own. For those used to using a Mares Leg, it is very accurate to 100 yards on my 45 colt. Will do some target practice Sunday to 100 yards to see if I can be as accurate with 22 mag as I can be with 45 colt
 
For the critters you mentioned, assuming ranges under 100 yards, a Ruger 10/22 in .22LR with a decent scope (you don't need high end on a .22) should do nicely. Pick your poison high velocity hollow point, whichever cycles best and provides superior accuracy.

I personally prefer a bolt action for pest control. This gives you the versatile option of using subsonic ammunition for more discreet pest control, and generally provides slightly improved accuracy over a semi-automatic. I use a bolt .22LR for pest control up to coyotes around my property. I do step up to Browning brand extra high velocity HP for those critters. It's on the marginal side for coyote, but easily dispatches the smaller critters. Mine is setup with a fixed 6x Eastern European scope (made by IOR Valdada before they became expensive) with a 30mm tube and 45mm objective diameter for good vision in low light. I have a set of see through mounts to co witness the irons in the dark. An LED soft glow pen light clipped on a mount I JB welded to the barrel to illuminate the front sight for night use.

If you desire a bit more range and impact results, I would choose .17HMR over .22WMR, although chambering the round in semi-automatics has been problematic. Not sure if anybody has worked this out yet, I tend to fall behind the times on new firearms I have little use for.
 
I have a soft spot (or a hard one :eek:) for .22 Hornet. Ackley, if you please. (Stock hornet is shyt on case life if you reload, and the Ackley or K-hornet gives much better twack. And you can still fire factory ammo in a modified chamber) Definitely a contender.
 
22 mag gets my vote. I use a Henry H001M around the farm for most all my varmint killing, paired with CCI's gamepoint bullet or WW's JHP. Both are 40 grain loads and both do a number on whatever they hit. That Mare's Leg will do pretty good for you I'll bet since you're already used to it. I always wanted to buy one and then SBR it with a full size rifle stock. Maybe someday. At any rate, it sounds like you've found a solution to your problem. Good luck and let us know how she shoots!

Mac
 
I had to look up "mare's leg". I thought all the pictures coming up had been cropped, but nope... that's a thing.
 
When I was a boy I hunted nearly every animal you have on your list with 22 Shorts. A center fire rifle on a 15 acre property is asking for trouble especially if you have neighbors with livestock. You have to think that even if your neighbor's house is far away they or their animals could be anywhere in their property. I know the Texas Hill Country well. Its beautiful country & there are hills so maybe in your case it may not be so much of a problem but any of those animals can be killed with a 22 RF. No need to risk it.
 
I had to look up "mare's leg". I thought all the pictures coming up had been cropped, but nope... that's a thing.

I only knew what it was because I like the show Firefly and one of the main characters uses one, so don't feel too bad.
 
I throw in a vote for 22lr. That's the historic champ of pest control right?

All depends on what your "pest" of choice is. On my property, its hogs. Not going to go hog pest hunting with my 10/22.

I had to look up "mare's leg". I thought all the pictures coming up had been cropped, but nope... that's a thing.

First time I ever saw one was in the movie Zombieland, 2009 I think. Nice little rifle. 22 Mag would probably be the only useful caliber I would use it for, as I don't typically stock revolver rounds.
 
I only knew what it was because I like the show Firefly and one of the main characters uses one, so don't feel too bad.

It’s also used by woody harelson in zombieland, and by Steve McQueen

Both my 45 colt and 22 wmr are fun to use and are very accurate once you learn how to shoot with them. They do have a learning curve. They can also be fired quite rapidly as well.

I am thinking about making the form 1 application to make an SBR out of one of them. Maybe even both, you can get a rifle stock for $50 that will work with either mares leg.
 
All depends on what your "pest" of choice is. On my property, its hogs. Not going to go hog pest hunting with my 10/22.



First time I ever saw one was in the movie Zombieland, 2009 I think. Nice little rifle. 22 Mag would probably be the only useful caliber I would use it for, as I don't typically stock revolver rounds.
I know a couple of people who have killed more than one hog with 22 LR (at shorter range). Sometimes they run off and they find them later, other times they don't go very far. It can do the job. 22 Mag and 223 will certainly hit harder. If you are harvesting the meat, that is another matter.

The other advantage of 22 LR is it can be much quieter depending on ammo and gun. I recently had a friend tell me about shooting a racoon with CCI Quiet ammo. With a suppressor, the ability to shoot quietly is even better.
 
I know a couple of people who have killed more than one hog with 22 LR (at shorter range). Sometimes they run off and they find them later, other times they don't go very far. It can do the job. 22 Mag and 223 will certainly hit harder. If you are harvesting the meat, that is another matter.

One of my first survival schools we had to choral a wild hog. Each group of 4 was given a single shot 22 and one round to put down Babe for dinner. If that round didn't work, well we had knives. It was an Army school so the incentive to do well on force on force simulated combat/patrols was getting onions, carrots, and maybe a bottle of BBQ sauce for the pork. Possible, sure. But if I am going to cull pest pigs in my backyard I am using a 5.56 or 35Remington.
 
I know a couple of people who have killed more than one hog with 22 LR (at shorter range). Sometimes they run off and they find them later, other times they don't go very far. It can do the job. 22 Mag and 223 will certainly hit harder. If you are harvesting the meat, that is another matter.

The other advantage of 22 LR is it can be much quieter depending on ammo and gun. I recently had a friend tell me about shooting a racoon with CCI Quiet ammo. With a suppressor, the ability to shoot quietly is even better.

I came across my first Javalina on my property Monday. I used my Super Redhawk 454 to kill it. I was in my “back country” and it was close range. We kinda snuck up on each other. Had a good head shot at 10 yards before it noticed me. I had my 22mag Mares Leg with me, but chose my big gun instead. It was the only two guns on me at the time. It was a clean kill. I used my back hoe to dispose of it in a nice deep hole I dug with the back hoe. The bullet entered the head and down his neck and into the body so didn’t exit.

Javalina isn’t worth eating, and in Texas there is no requirement to harvest the meat. I would never feed that crap to my dogs even! Lol
 
There are a lot of things people do with the 223 that I think would be better suited with a 22 Mag or even the 22 Hornet. But 223 is dirt cheap, chambered in just about every rifle imaginable, and goes with the AR that most people also have. So I think it's mostly a matter of convenience. Aside from my AR, I don't own a 223 rifle and see absolutely no need to buy one. I have a 22LR, a 22 Mag, and a 22 Hornet. Anything that can see at distances in my area can be cleanly and efficiently be killed with any one of those three calibers.

But I tend to shy away in general to calibers that are a dime a dozen. I even took a nice, fat doe last fall with the 22 Hornet placed right behind the shoulder. Shocking what that little 45gr soft point did to the internals of that deer.
 
There are a lot of things people do with the 223 that I think would be better suited with a 22 Mag or even the 22 Hornet. But 223 is dirt cheap, chambered in just about every rifle imaginable, and goes with the AR that most people also have. So I think it's mostly a matter of convenience. Aside from my AR, I don't own a 223 rifle and see absolutely no need to buy one. I have a 22LR, a 22 Mag, and a 22 Hornet. Anything that can see at distances in my area can be cleanly and efficiently be killed with any one of those three calibers.

But I tend to shy away in general to calibers that are a dime a dozen. I even took a nice, fat doe last fall with the 22 Hornet placed right behind the shoulder. Shocking what that little 45gr soft point did to the internals of that deer.

Really any bullet properly placed that can penetrate the hide of the beast that needs killed will make a kill.

If you put a 22 mag to the eye of an elephant and point it in the right direction of the brain stem it will kill the elephant. Point being...
Make penetration with proper shot placement and u can kill just about anything.
 
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