.22LR or .22 Magnum for small game?

I like 22.lr for my ar-7 pack riffle.
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I used to have an AR-7 just like that. It wasn't very accurate, although it bagged a few rabbits, but it was a hell of a lot of fun.
 
Plainsman said:
There are currently ammo shortages everywhere but New York it appears! :confused: Maybe because there are so few gun owners in that state!?!
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LOL, not where I live! It seems that Walmart has very little ammo any more, just 12 ga target. Gander Mountain, however, has racks of ammo but it's pricey, especially the big bore stuff. I'm resisting paying over $30 for a box of .303. The more exotic calibers, like .300 Holland & Holland, can run from $80-$100 for a box of 20. Incredible. .22lr is still affordable.
 
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I have taken a lot of game up to 20 pounds reliably with a .22 LR. The Mag seems best suited to "Big" small game like turkeys, geese, coyotes, or maybe javelina. For those jobs however I prefer a .32-20.

"without totally destroying it like a direct hit with a .36cal+ round ball would have done. "

That is not, in my experience, the case. That's why they called them squirrel rifles!
 
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This is completely a personal preference for the shooter. If you feel more confidant in making a kill shot with a .22 Mag, then absolutely, it is 100% up to you. I personally don't use my .22 Mag any more, no need. I have several .22 rifles, my absolute favorite being a 1906 Savage pump action gallery gun. It has a 7 round magazine, a heavy bull barrel and peep sights. Sure it's old, but the gun can reach out much farther more accurately than any of my newer rifles.
This last winter, we setup on the John Day river and ranged 100 yards, I was hitting golf balls. We set them at 200 yards, drilled em. By the end of the day I was hitting a soccer ball sized rock at 404 yards. Remember, this is with a .22 rifle. I never in a million years would have thought I would have been able to do that with a .22lr, but we were drilling our targets.
I have an older friend who told me of a year they didn't have much food to put on the table for the family, so he went out and got a deer as needed. He killed 10 deer one year, every one of them with a .22lr. He also over the years, killed a few elk with a .22lr. Obviously not legal, but that is what he had to feed his family.
Again, it comes down to what you are comfortable with. I like many of you .22lr supporters are confidant in our abilities to take game with the .22lr. Mostly it comes down to accuracy, obviously some rifles are more accurate than others, some shooters are more accurate than others. I know guys that have "Pimped" out 10/22 rifles that can drive tacks at 150 yards. Literally, they can have three shot groups touching each other.
Another thing i really like about the .22LR is the cost, I know you Mag guys say it isn't that bad of a price, but, you haven't gone sage rat shooting. I will blow through 1000 rounds in a day, easily! That cost can really add up with the larger round.
 
Oregon Knife Guy said:
you haven't gone sage rat shooting. I will blow through 1000 rounds in a day, easily! That cost can really add up with the larger round.
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Just curious, with respect, but what the hell are sage rats and how do you shoot that much at them? Do they come at you like a wave of lemings?
 
Coldwood said:
Just curious, with respect, but what the hell are sage rats and how do you shoot that much at them? Do they come at you like a wave of lemings?
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They are very plentiful in eastern Oregon this time of year. You go out into a field and just start shooting at them. They are awsome. They hear a shot, and come out of their hole to see what's going on. Try have huge underground tunnels so farmers and ranchers hate them. You can easily wack 500 in a day in the right field.
They are about the size of a rat more or less. They are carnavours too, so by shooting them, your also feeding them. Find a place that has em and you will have a ball.
Look at this link..
http://www.shootingsquirrels.com/oregon/unity-oregon-sage-rat-hunting-competition/
 
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.22 LR for sure on small game.
.22wmr is great for medium game and even on the smallish whitetail deer around here (with proper shot placement).

In LR...My favs are my Copper/Anschutz 54 action and Sako Finnfire.

By far my fav .22 pistols are my SW model 41's.



In the .22 magnum, my fav rifle is my Anschutz 64 action, and in a pistol my 10" contender.
 
Ken44 said:
.22 LR for sure on small game.
.22wmr is great for medium game and even on the smallish whitetail deer around here (with proper shot placement).

In LR...My favs are my Copper/Anschutz 54 action and Sako Finnfire.

By far my fav .22 pistols are my SW model 41's.



In the .22 magnum, my fav rifle is my Anschutz 64 action, and in a pistol my 10" contender.
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You have very good taste in your selection. You are blessed.
 
Hard to pick one over the other. I have both. Both are extremely accurate. The shells are cheaper for the 22lr but there is no comparing it to the authority with which the 22 Magnum offers along with the added range and flatter trajectory. My Magnum is the old 640K Mossberg Chuckster.
 
.22LR- for some reasons:

Ammo variability- I've been testing out aguila 60 grain subsonics and they have a huge mass of impact at moderate range over the standard win. Xpert I tend to use in my sportsman (6 inch revolver). In my old stevens M1938 rifle, I can load anything from a short for teaching my son up to a hypervelocity HP that will print good hunting groups at 50 yards without even trying.

.22WMR is going to be better for longer range poaching, but that's not generally survival shooting. If you need 100 to 150 yard shots on a regular basis, I'd suggest going with .223- it's ALMOST as cheap to shoot as .22WMR. And you can still carry 50 rounds easily.

I'm a huge fan of airguns and for small caliber (less than .32) I think the .22 is the way to go. GOOD inexpensive ammo and really fantastic expensive ammo. - the only caveat is that I don't think anyone has a really solid take down carbine with real hunting power as a durable stock unit. (the discovery is the absolute best of the mid range survival guns, IMO, with some of the gas spring .22s coming up there. My little hand customized 1377 .22 carbine conversion is good, but only hitting around 600fps reliably - plenty for taking squirrel out to 35 yards without any worries- and I'd prefer to get a bigger, better pump mechanism on a 16 inch barrel take down that could get my 800fps.)

I would have to think hard, in fact, between taking my crosman 101 .22 airgun (from 1936!) versus my .22 rifle if I was going in a long term, unsupported, survival hunting/homesteading situation.
 
I have to agree with the .22lr guys. I also agree with the .17HMR guys over the .22WRM.

The .17 would be effective for a variety of survival situations. With 20gr solids and polymer HPs it's versatile. From what I've seen, effective on bipeds as well.
 
Personally, .22 for me. I consider it THE survival round for many reasons. Long after stockpiles of surplus military ammo are bought up, you'll have .22 rounds on the shelves. You can carry more .22 comfortably than any other. You can buy more .22 than any other rimfire round for the money. No other round has taken down as much game as the lowly ubiquitous .22lr. You'll shoot this round more often and more accurately with more practice. All in all, it is ideal.

No one will change my opinion and I don't intend to change others. I'm just saying this is my personal go to round for small game for the above listed reasons.
 
There's a lot to that. I've got some 9000 rounds of .22LR - and it's not overkill. You can easily go through 500 in one day of taking friends out shooting (between 2 rifles and 3 pistols, it's easy).

I haven't bought a .17hmr yet. I'd probably get one if I could find a $150 single shot break action or something.

I'm really curious to see how the .17HM2 plays out- if it clocks in at .22LR prices in the next few years and I can get a nice inexpensive single shot (wouldn't trapdoor be nice?) gun that's accurate enough to justify the ballistics improvement... yeah, that might sell me. The .17HMR is just too pricey for the perceived benefits for me.
 
i bought my ruger 1022 for hunting small game and it is chambered in .22lr people have told me it is good for smaller games like squirrels,rabit,and targets
 
I prefer the humble .22LR. If the game is too big to take with a .22LR, then it's probably too big for a 22 magnum also, and .22LR ammo is cheaper, lighter, and generally more abundant.
 
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