22 WMR rifles obsolete..?

[thunder173]

I suspect ghat one of the reasons one doesn't find many used .22 magnum rifles out there is that those of us that actually shoot them,...probably are not at all interested in parting with them. I have 3, and the usual Ruger Single Six to go with them. I wouldn't think of selling them. I personally have no need for any 17 caliber anything. YMMV

 

[Rollis R. Karvellis]

When the clerk told you, you needed a 17, did you by chance count how many he had for sale?

 

[carbine85]

I bought my .22 mag revoler as a companion for my .22 mag rifle many years back. It's a good choice. The round wouldn't have survived this long if it wasn't a good round. One of the guys I work with bought a Savage .17 recently. He said it is better for coyote than his .22 mag. You can't hunt with a center fire in Ohio so I think the .17 is preferred for this type of game.

 

[MCgunner]

I'm glad I have a .22 mag, can actually find AMMO for it. LR, not so much.

The thing is a laser. 50 yard groups are about 1/2". It's a Remington 597 magnum.

Only pistol I have in .22 mag is my oft carried NAA Black Widow. That thing is pretty amazing for a tiny gun, groups better than most small .380s, about 3.5" at 25 yards off a bench.

No, far from obsolete. .22 mag shoots a bigger bullet...which is sorta laughable, but it's true. It lacks about 50 yards of range out of a rifle on the .17 and neither is for hunting much bigger than coyotes.

 

[788Ham]

MCgunner,

Too bad you're so far away, I'd make you a deal on 6 boxes of CCI 22 mag ammo. I no longer have the rifle I got it for..... found in my stash the other day. NO, I'm not even thinking about buying another firearm to shoot them, safe's jammed now !

 

[Specs]

I started with a Ruger SS convertible 22lr/22 magnum many years ago. A few years ago i bought an NAA 1 5/8 bbl convertible 22lr/22 magnum. I started looking around at 22 mag rifles last year and lo and behold I found a Ruger 96/22 mag lever NIB at a low price and snapped it up. I really like the common calibers and utility. The ammo is small and compactly fits about 1K rounds in a 30 cal can. In the oft repeated "if you could only have 1.... whatever" I could almost say that I would pick my 22 mags as all around tools. I have a pocket pistol backup, a 6 1/2 in SA both of which double with 22lr and also a freakishly accurate and smooth action lever gun with a 22 mag scope to help me reach out a bit. Actually pretty efficient.

The 96/22 mag was discontinued by Ruger so it was just a bit of luck to find one, but after looking at the other low end rifles I was elated to acquire the Ruger. It looks like a10-22 but a lever.

 

[Hokkmike]

Just picked up a Marlin 883SS. Now I am going to look for a .22 mag pistol or revolver, maybe one of the new Rugers.

Obsolete?; nah!

 

[ThomasT]

I have two 22 mag rifles. Both Marlin bolt guns and 2 ruger single six's with 22mag cylinders. I really like them and would love to have Specs ruger lever in 22 mag.

I bought 4000 rounds of Armscor when sportsmans guide had it for $5.60 a box of fifty with free shipping. I have about 5500 rounds total so I'm set for a while. By the way Armscor loads the 22 mag ammo for Fiocchi. And everyone likes their 22 mag ammo.

The old gun writer Ross Seyfreid wrote that he took a 22 mag to africa and killed lots of whitetail sizes antelope with it and it worked just fine. In a survival situation it should be an excellent meat getter.

Obsolete? Not around here.

 

[280shooter]

Ammo for both 17 and 22 mag aren't cheap..I have one box of 50. cci,v mag the price tag is still on it,, little more then 6 bucks...try to buy them for that,, lastt ime i priced them, they were over 15 bucks,,I guess they might be going for 25 now.. I do like my 22 mags, ruger single..

 

[gazpacho]

My three favorite 22wmr rifles are no longer in production:

CZ 452 FS (Bolt)
Ruger 96/22m (Lever)
Taurus M72 (Pump)

CZ now makes the 455 FS, which is similar.

All three make it to the range frequently, or out an about. I love 22LR, but it lacks excitement. It has plenty of fun though. 22wmr, for me, has a bit of excitement to it.

The 17hmr was introduced in 2002. Ten years ago. Plenty of time to topple the venerable 22wmr. And yet, the only rimfire on the shelf at my local Bass Pro Shop is 17hmr. It never sold out. People have bought up all the 22wmr, 22lr, 22 long and 22 short.

Besides, does anyone really want a 17hmr handgun? I know they make them, but you really need barrel length to make the 17hmr superior. You already know how much fun a Single Six is with 22wmr.

 

[hovercat]

OP does have a point concerning rimfire firearms. Winchester made a rimfire .22 in 1903?? that no longer has ammo made for it. My .41 rimfire derringer is just a paperweight.
Great-great grandkids will probably not be able to shoot our newer rimfires. But if they have any giddyap in them, they can buy their own rifles.

 

[eastbank]

i stocked up on .22wmr when a small gun shop went tits up,i was a friend and customer to the owner and helped with the sale. instead of money for the two weeks i helped him leading up to the sale, he gave me a super deal on any ammo i wanted and i cleaned him out of .22LR and .22wmr. so for me the .22wmf will not be obsolete in the near future as i only own two .22wmr,s. a charter arms revolver and a ruger 77/22wmf. the ruger will shoot 1.5 inch groups at 100yds from a rest and the charter revolver will shoot 3 inch groups at 25yds(i,m not the best revolver shot). eastbank.

 

[goon]

Funny thing is the 22 WMR is the weapon of choice for Alaskan Indians that live off the land. They have a 75% one shot one kill record on Alaskan game. They favor the 22 WMR because it fits into their nomadic lifestyle and it gets the job done.

From what I have seen, Alaska Natives use anything that works for hunting. Many use semi-auto .223's like the AR-15 or Mini 14. There are plenty of '06's and .270's around up here and a few .308's too. I wouldn't be surprised if some have used the .22 magnum, but just as many use something else.
Just sayin'

 

[sta500rdr]

I have found that people often tend to think whatever they own is "better". It is not the job of the sales person to sell their opinions. It is to provide information to the purchaser so they can make their own informed decision. I have shot side by side using a 22 wmr with someone who shoots a .17 for years. While the .17 is a great round, there is no denying that. I will grab my 22 wmr any day. It is much more effective for my application. I have seen too many coyotes run off wounded from a .17 to make me change my selection. 22 wmr has the power and energy that I look for in my particular application. My Savage 93FVSS heavy barrel and synthetic stock is hard to beat at the price. I think I paid like $250 complete. Hard to beat than in anything these days.

Here in Michigan you can predator hunt at night as long as you use a Rimfire Rifle. I think applications like this will help keep these rounds from becoming obsolete. I love my 22-250 and .223 as much as the next guy. But its hard to beat a good .22 Rimfire.

 

[CaliCoastie]

Quick observation on my experience (and all i own between those two calibers is the 22mag). I hit allot of Pawn shops in the eastern north Carolina area over the last five years (about 18 of them and i tried for one a week between visits, or sooner), in that time period i saw less than 10 22mags, but every Pawn shop had a selection of 17hmrs. The 22 mags wouldn't last more than a couple of week (if that), for me if i needed a rifle to depend on in a survival situation it would be the 22mag if i had my choice. Btw i can still find 22mag at 11.99 a box for cci, haven't seen 223 in a few months (even cheap stuff then was running more than 22mag) God luck, i would go the 22mag direction, or if your interested in 17hmr hit a Pawn ago and low ball them, you might get lucky.

 

[Kachok]

Not to say anything rude about 22 mag owners but as long as there are poachers the 22 mag will have a strong following, that is their favorite for some reason. I have known several people who used to hunt out of season or at night and all but one said the 22 mag was their favorite (the other was a 223 Rem fan), never asked them to go into detail as to why.

 

[scotjute]

Henry .22 WMR lever-guns are supposed to be at least 1 1/2 MOA.

 

[bpl]

Personally, I'll take the 22mag. I have no use for a 17. I guess if all you shoot is small rodents than a 17 would work well. For a coyote, or a turkey or even a decent sized groundhog I'd much rather be shooting a 22mag. When the 17 came out, the ammo selection for 22mag was mostly limited to heavy bullets, but now you can get lighter, flatter shooting ballistic tip type loads for the 22mag like the 30gr Vmax. Wind drift is much better with 22mag. If I'm likely to shoot beyond 100-125 yards, I'll take my .223 anyway so no 17's for me. I have a Marlin rifle in 22mag and a ruger single six in 22mag and I have no intention of getting rid of them.

 

[krupparms]

The. 22mag. has aways been a great round. I have owned a few &still do. I had a B.A.Marlin and sold it in a moment of weakness to a friend. I will get a PMR -30 if I can. The same with the ruger lever action. I have no doubt my grandsons will be useing this round one day. It is a great hunting round but with some of the new H.G. rounds out it will be a great S.D.round also!

 

[Picher]

I have a CZ 455 in .22 WMR and love it!! I was disappointed in accuracy at first, but after pillar-bedding, it shoots 1" groups at 100 yards all day long.

It's finicky about ammo though, loving CCI V-Max 30 grain ammo better than anything else. Other CCI like Maxi-Mags and Winchester 40 grain rounds will shoot 1 to 1 1/4" groups at 100, but to a different POI, so I stick with V-Max if I can find it.

I love my CZ 455 for walkabouts on the property. It's very light and the WMR gives me confidence to quickly kill varmints like coyotes, skunks, raccoons, and porcupines more quickly and farther away than a .22 LR.

 

[CaliCoastie]

Kachok, i know that the 22mags got a big following for poachers. A guy in the town i grew up in used to run bears and he would finish them off after he treed them with a ruger single six in 22mag.
Also it fills my need for that caliber area, for me it's better than 223, i know that I'm going to get flak for that one but...... It works for me and i don't have to fight to find ammo yet. Btw i do have a pmr-30, along with a Marlin 1894m, 883ss. Plus a couple others. Hell there all fun. Grab one and run

 

[Shanghai McCoy]

Henry .22 WMR lever-guns are supposed to be at least 1 1/2 MOA.

Not exactly a compliment...

 

[chicharrones]

Not exactly a compliment...

Well, it is a lever gun. No offense to lever guns as I like 'em, but the lever guns I've fired are hunting accurate not exactly benchrest shooting accurate.

 

[BigG]

The thing about 22 WMR is that it costs a good bit and folks object to throwing away a half buck or so per trigger pull without the possibility of reloading.

 

[chicharrones]

The thing about 22 WMR is that it costs a good bit and folks object to throwing away a half buck or so per trigger pull without the possibility of reloading.

Well, the only people I hear say that are reloaders or people that don't see the need to go up from regular .22LR. For non-reloaders, it is certainly almost the poor man's centerfire cartridge.