22 WMR?

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A bit light for coyotes to 100yrds, and by a bit light, I mean HIGHLY constrained for said application. But if a guy has one which is capable of sufficient precision (not always as easily assumed for 22mag as some other rounds), it’a a dandy bunny gun.
 
I am a big fan of 22magnum. My best use of the caliber is to add hp to my .22 revolvers.
I have seen what it will do to small game, nasty, but I would not buy one intending it to be a great coyote gun.
I have two 22mag rifles, I like them both.
I dont think ammo is too expensive....? Unless you're plinking away boxes at a time. I get them for $10/box of .50
 
I have had six or seven rifles and a couple handguns in my short life on this earth. Of the rifles, only the last, a M77 All Weather, was capable of under 2" at 100 yards and I killed exactly one coyote, two coon, one beaver and one muskrat. All one shot. All well under 100 yards which doesn't make me an expert or able to recommend it as a dedicated 'yote gun. I would take it in a minute over my 17 HMR as it has failed me three out of four times on coyotes, all at 75-125 yards, and all hit in the chest/shoulder area.
When I go down to my little farm with the intent on coyote hunting I have either my Contender carbine in .223 or my Savage 24V 222/20..
 
I bought a CZ 455 in .22 WMR and didn't care much for the accuracy. I shot a young coyote at 30 yards and wasn't happy with the result. I shot quickly and hit it well, but it took at least three more shots to kill it.

No matter what I did to the rifle, and ammo chosen, best accuracy was about 1 1/4"-1 1/2" inch 5-shot groups at 100 yards.

I bought a new heavy, fluted barrel in .17 HMR and am very happy with the results. Accuracy is 1" or less at 100 yards with Hornady ammo and results on critters is excellent. Trajectory is flatter than the .22 WMR, being within 1" of point of aim from 50 to 130 yards when sighted in 3/4" high at 100 yds.

My female neighbor has shot about 10 crows with her Savage, after I sighted it in for her, some at 150 yards. It's the best she's done with any rifle, including a .223 she used to have.
 
I have an older tube fed 22mag Marlin bolt action. I haven't shot it for groups for a very long time but any small critter I've shot with it gas been dead quickly. No coyotes with it but I've no problems with giant trash pandas and Armadillos.

If I was going for coyotes use the 50 grain Federal as it will likely expand and give more penetration than the other choices.
 
My Marlin 640KD "Chuckster" is probably the most accurate rifle I own up to 100 yards. I believe it would take any coyote within that range. After that, the .22mag begins to drop off rather rapidly. I think another caliber would be a better choice so you're not so "range restricted". Many coyotes that I see will not let you get much closer than 100 yards anyway, except by accident. I saw my dad drop a coyote in a dead run with a .22lr single shot. It's all he had at the time and his sheep had been on the coyote's menu far too often.
 
In a rifle, I think of the 22 WMR as a really good jackrabbit,raccoon, ringtail, and fox round. I have a couple of reasonably accurate rifles (an old Marlin with a tube magazine and a nice Savage with accutrigger and a thumbhole stock). When I was growing up, I heard tell that it was favored by deer poachers.

For me it is more useful as a handgun round. I like the solids in a handgun rattlesnakes and putting down wounded animals. (I also use a North American Arms Pug as a concealed carry gun pn the rare instances that I think that I might need a little something along).
 
Were I to get something in that range it would be either a .17 Hornet or .22 Hornet. I’m guessing about the same cost to shoot, reloadable, and most probably more accurate. Plus, harder hitting and more range. Same amount of noise

If you do, I’d stay away from Ruger and get a CZ, Browning, etc
 
If you do, I’d stay away from Ruger and get a CZ, Browning, etc
The Rugers are very picky. At least mine is, but I did finally find what it likes. If I had to do it over again, I would buy a CZ. (Actually, if I had to do it over, I never would have sold the Savage 23D or the Sako, what a dufus I am sometimes.)
Ruger 77-22 .22 Hornet at 100 Yard Range Pic 2.JPG


But I also love the .22 mag and don't mind that it isn't as potent as the .22 Hornet, isn't as fast or as cool as the .17 HMR........ :)
 
I have an older stainless Marlin 22 mag 882 I bought over 20 years ago. I don't doubt I could hit a coyote at 100 yards with it, as I can hit a golf ball with it at that distance. I have no doubt that the wound would be fatal to said yote. I'm just not sure if I would be successful in recovering the carcass for the pelt. Then again, I've never shot anything bigger than coons and possums and such with it.
 
It’s one of my favorite cartridges. Two of my rifles consistently shoot sub MOA and are a joy to shoot. It’s a great round for taking care of pests around the property without a big blast to annoy neighbors.

However, if you plan to hunt with it, you need to use 40 or 50 gr bullets. The 30 gr simply don’t hit hard enough to reliably kill. Nearly every critter I’ve shot with 30 gr ammo has required a finishing shot. In contrast, the 40 and 50 gr kills them reliably.

I get great accuracy with CCI 40 gr HP, CCI 40 gr Gamepoint and Federal 50 gr HP. I picked up some CCI 40 gr FMJ the other day and was really surprised at how crappy it shot in my rifles. It sprayed bullets all over my target at 100 yd. I wouldn’t have thought a different bullet style would make such a huge difference but it does. I put the remainder of the FMJ aside to use for pistol plinking.

If anyone is interested, I found CCI 40 gr HP for 16 cents per round with free shipping.

https://www.ammunitiondepot.com/19-cci-maxi-mag-22-wmr-40-grain-jhp.html?unit_type=21
 
I am a big fan of 22magnum. My best use of the caliber is to add hp to my .22 revolvers.
I have seen what it will do to small game, nasty, but I would not buy one intending it to be a great coyote gun.
I have two 22mag rifles, I like them both.
I dont think ammo is too expensive....? Unless you're plinking away boxes at a time. I get them for $10/box of .50

Little bit of a thread hijack ,but ... Have you tried 22 wmr through a revolver to hunt squirrels? I was talking to a fella at work and said that's what I was thinking about doing and he said no way 22 mag is way too much for that. I was like ehhhh I bet the velocity out of 22 mag from a revolver is about the same as a standard 22 LR from a rifle with similar bullets. After looking at ballistics by the inch, it looks like the revolver may be about 100 fps faster than a 20" rifle.

Only asking because the last single six I shot shot phenomenal groups ,like 6 rounds a nickle at 10 yards offhand vs a 2" or so groups with the LR cylinder. So that much better accuracy would sure be helpful on tree rats.
 
Little bit of a thread hijack ,but ... Have you tried 22 wmr through a revolver to hunt squirrels? I was talking to a fella at work and said that's what I was thinking about doing and he said no way 22 mag is way too much for that. I was like ehhhh I bet the velocity out of 22 mag from a revolver is about the same as a standard 22 LR from a rifle with similar bullets. After looking at ballistics by the inch, it looks like the revolver may be about 100 fps faster than a 20" rifle.

Only asking because the last single six I shot shot phenomenal groups ,like 6 rounds a nickle at 10 yards offhand vs a 2" or so groups with the LR cylinder. So that much better accuracy would sure be helpful on tree rats.
I used to shoot a lot of fmj in my brother's 22 mag. I can't remember if it was plated or jacketed.
To the OP, a 22 mag will work well for that. A 17 WSM will work better.
 
I shot a yote at a dead run from my backdoor. Witnessed by three of my best friends, who also thought.22 mag to be too anemic. Coyote was DRT. It’s plenty enough gun for most situations.
 
I have a Savage 93 and it shoots one round - Hornady 30 gr ballistic tip - but it does that very well so I've kept it. A good big boar coon can soak up about as much .22 lr as any small vermin that I'm aware of and still run off but they generally flip right over when they get hit with the mag. Not a round known for it's accuracy but I still like it better than the .17 so that one stays in my stable.
 
When I was a kid and the .22 WMR was new, I coveted one greatly. It seemed like the rich kids I knew had them but none of us poor kids did. Don’t know why I waited so long but I finally got one in 2012 when I was 53, a CZ 512. Don’t know what percentage is sentiment and subjective compared to objective but I love my .22 Mag. It works great on coons at night and I’ve shot a couple of coyotes at night at well under 100 yards. At the short distances coyotes were shot it works fine.

My 512 is sighted in at 75 yards and is sub-moa with CCI 40 grain HP. The rifle had a horrible trigger new and I paid a gunsmith to fix it. He did.

bc8GtP8.jpg
 
I shot a yote at a dead run from my backdoor. Witnessed by three of my best friends, who also thought.22 mag to be too anemic. Coyote was DRT. It’s plenty enough gun for most situations.

And where was the hit? LOL
DRT usually means head and just about anything there does the job.

I think what most here are asking is...........how does the .22 mag perform on critters up to coyote size with chest hits.
Killing is one thing, finding what was killed can be another.

Personally I like the .22 mag for chucks under 100 yards (preferably 75 and under).
And with some fox around, think it might be the ticket.

Yote I have .223 and .243.

Always wanted an H&K300. .Found one a yr ago, decent price.......but just a little too dinged up. Proly get the CZ
 
I had a friend that was pretty disabled physically. Loved to coon hunt. He used one of the original calllers with the cassette tapes. He’d pull into a good area and put out the caller with a baby coon is distress tape. Wait about 15 minutes and turn it on. Used a spotlight and a .22 Mag.

Once in a while they’d crawl off using a .22 but not with a .22 Mag.
 
For pests and chucks I like the 22 mag, I get decent accuracy from a Ruger RAR. The critters are a lot less likely to crawl off with it than a .22 Mag. I never shot a coyote with one.
 
I've got a Savage Model 93FSS with the bull barrel in .22WMR, I've got a SS Bushnell Elite 3X9X40 scope mounted on it in a Boyd's laminated black and grey stock, now as far as inaccuracy goes I haven't had that problem with mine, as it is very particular as to cartridge preferences, mine will shoot Federal 50grn HP's under MOA on almost any day of the week. Now if you get out to say 150 yards, yes, it will open up considerably. I've shot quite a few coyotes out here with it at anywhere from 50 yards to 125yards and all but one was an instant kill, not needing a second shot. The one that needed a second shot was definitely my fault as it was right at 50 yards and I hit a branch of mesquite brush just in front of him, however the second one was completed with my revolver up close and personal. BTW that was back when we were getting $20-40.00 per hide up here. Why not my .223, simply that firearm would definitely shoot thru and thru a coyote, and most of my shots were under 100 yards.
 
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