Is .22 mag more fun to shoot than .22LR?

[GEM]

I had a SW 651 which was a very nice gun. I found that after 50 rounds or so of 22 mag, it was so filthy that the cylinder bound up. I also noticed that if I fired it at a 7 yard target, there was quite a bit of unburned powder on the the target.

I also have a 22mag NAA convertible. I fired a 22 Mag snake shot round in it and I thought the damn thing exploded. It was at a range between two partitions. I saw a giant fireball and felt my hair blown backwards and a pressure wave under my glasses. I thought the gun had vaporized. Wow!

Bottom line - I stick to 22 LR revolvers nowadays. I don't think the added oomph was worth it for me. I'd like to play with the new 17s but haven't had the chance.

 

[Pappy John]

Have you shot CCI Velocitors in your .22's yet. They're pretty spicy for long rifles. Unlike most hyper-velocity .22's they are a full weight 40 gr bullet and advertise 30% more energy. Maybe they'll satisfy your desire for a little muzzle flash and bang. I actually broke a rifle action with them....it was a cheap POS rifle though. I'm more selective about what I shoot them in now.

 

[DougCxx]

Is 22 mag more fun to shoot than 22LR? -I would say no.
If you were hunting and needed the extra power maybe it would make sense, but for general messing around the cost advantage of the 22LR makes that nicer. I know local farmers who keep loaded 22WMR rifles ready for incoming coyotes, but that's about the extent of the caliber's use locally.

If you wanted a lower time-of-flight you could get a 17HMR revolver, as I did--but the reasons I did are a bit convoluted: when I heard about the 17HMR being available I went into the local gun shop looking for an autopistol in that caliber, but nobody made them. They did have a S&W 17 revolver on hand, I had no revolver at that point, and I figured that even though it was more than I wanted to spend that day, a first-year of a totally new caliber S&W wasn't a bad investment, even if I didn't shoot it much. I do like the lower time-of-flight than 22LR, but don't really shoot it much, and only target shoot with it--so its performance on live (animal) targets is of no concern to me.
....
If what you want is a "zippier-caliber" small handgun, you might just wait until the 17H2's come out in September. "Standard" ammo is like shooting like near 2000 FPS? The ammo for that is said to be quite a bit lower-priced than 17HMR or 22WMR.
~

 

[Ben Shepherd]

FWIW: My dad recently bought a stainless ruger m77 rifle in 22mag. It's now his favorite range gun, squirrel rifle etc. It's the perfect companion for his super single six. He has more fun bouncing golf balls around at 100 yards with it then he's had out of his other guns in years. Much more expensive than 22lr, but it does hit a lot harder as well.

 

[Brian Williams]

I just recently got a S&W 35, a J frame with 6" barrel. it is a very accurate gun and will out shoot my Ruger Sngle six in 22mag. I have more fun with it than most any gun I have because I can shoot it a lot and I do not have to worry about if the mag will work??? or did I bring the mags???, even tho they are in the guns box, I can 1 pull the gun out of my range bag 2 open the cylinder and 3 load six and 4 close it and 5 shoot six, repeat 2 thru 6 and have fun.