Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Rimfires Anybody tried a Ruger American .22 Magnum?

Been so long since I've seen 22 Mag ammo on store shelves, I even forgot owning several rifles so chambered...its scarcer than 22 LR....at the same time, the few times I have seen it, its in oddball stuff like Bird Shot...

I have thought about one in 17HMR... that is available all the time locally... tho not cheap anymore... its cheaper to shoot 223...but the Ruger American, will take these 20 Round Mags I bought for the Ruger 77/17...or my Ruger 77/22 in 22 Mag...

would be a fun gun where I walk from Fence post to fence post along a fence line wasting sage rats....but then again, the 17 HMR doesn't give those fun loving explosions that a 223 gives ya...where almost ALL sage rats become "Airborne qualified..."

like little miniature Jihadi suicide bombers...every thing but the Allah Akbar...

Seafire,

I can only remember buying maybe three boxes of .22 Magnum in a store since Obama's reelection, but have purchased a few bricks over the Internet, part the reason I had so many different brands to experiment with in my RAR. Right now have around 3000 rounds on hand, and since I don't shoot little rodents with the .22 Magnum that should last a while.

.17 HMR is always available on the Internet, but the price varies. I wait for sales, and usually get it for around $110-115 a brick, which includes shipping. Just ordered another the other day for $114, delivered to my door.

Shot mine yesterday and the Hornady stuff is WAY better than any of the other stuff I had on hand.

The RAR has a barrel twist rate of 1 in 14". So it ought to shoot the heavier rounds better then the older 1 in 16" twist rate. Ruger was considering bringing the RA out in left hand bolt action - but that decision seems to be still on the back burner. The 22 magnum is nice cartridge. I'm not a fan of any 17 caliber because one has to be cautious when cleaning the barrel. So I've passed on the 17 and find the 22 mag to be good for what it is.

"I'm not a fan of any 17 caliber because one has to be cautious when cleaning the barrel."

Why?

I had lots of experience with 77/22 Rugers 22 mags, none of it good, so I won't be trying the currents rifle.

Mine likes the Hornady v-max stuff better too.. My chuckster seems to like the Remington accutip better..

Curious, where did you hear that information? I've been requesting (begging?) a LH American rimfire every chance I get through their "Tell the CEO" web page. Never had a reply, but I keep submitting them.

I made an account on this website specifically for this response. After reading numerous positive reviews on the Ruger American Rimfire in 22WMR, I decided to buy myself one. I bought the model with the 18" threaded barrel. The barrel is slightly heavier than the plain model. Topped it with a Vortex Diamondback 3-12x40 scope. These are some range results from the first evening to the range.

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Here is the first group shooting the Hornady Critical Defense 45gr. Shot at 50 yards. The squares are 1". These are shots 5,6,7,8 that have ever been fired out of this rifle.

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I read online that these rifles love 30gr ammo. So I put in some 30gr CCI Max-Mag+V and these are shots 9,10,11.

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Overall, I am more than pleased with these groups. In fact, I'm thrilled. I haven't measured these groups and I really should because if it can keep it up at 100 yards, it has potential to shoot 1/2" groups. A more realistic number would be 3/4" I'm sure but there aren't many 22WMR rifles around that can shoot those numbers. I highly recommend this rifle to anyone. This rifle model is the 8335 model.

Awesome shooting! Thanks for signing up and posting pics too... Welcome to the fire. After seeing the results of the predators, it makes me kind of wish I would have bought one of those instead. However, I'm pretty happy with the results of my standard RAR:

I know what you mean by "typical" 22 WMR level accuracy. I'm used to my chuckster. It's a pretty good shooter:



I wouldn't expect my RAR to shoot as well as the Chuckster, but it holds its own..

FYI, Whittakers has the Predator WMR's on sale now for $250.

Damn, that is a great deal!!

I believe I paid $289 with free shipping and I thought that was a deal. $250 is a steal! Now if only the shelves would start filling up with 22WMR ammo....

It is a lot of Gun for that price.

We just did a couple of "trigger jobs" last night....the light spring and removal of the trigger safety makes a huge difference...

Takes all of about ten minutes to complete.

Last winter I bought one of these and I am sorry I did. I have not shot it yet. It might shoot like a house of fire but I cannot get past the cheap feel of this rifle. I also have a CZ 452 in 22 LR. And it looks and shoots great. I wish I would have waited and bought a CZ in 22 mag. I know the CZ is more money but quality costs more. Just my opinion.
Erich

One of the many .22 Magnums I owned before this Ruger American was a CZ, because I'd had such good accuracy luck with many other CZ rifles, including several rimfires. While the .22 Magnum shot OK, it didn't shoot any better than most .22 Magnums, so went down the road, even though it "looked better."

I might eventually replace the factory synthetic stock on my RAR with walnut from Boyds--but probably not.

You guys will chuckle, but the best shooting 22 mag I've ever seen was a Marlin 57 lever action. I cleaned all the squirrels off the property with it in one day in a fit of giddiness. I've been squirrel-less for about 5 years now. It liked the 33 grain Remington IIRC. I finally sold it because there was nothing left to kill with it. It truly was an amazing shooter.

I don't mind the stock on these rifles. I'm pretty darned happy with mine, just the way it is. I don't need the higher comb that comes in the box, but as it sits it feels pretty good to me...

I think Ruger hit a home-run when they made this rifle. Their aim was a "budget" level rifle that still held its ground accuracy wise against others in its class and even more expensive rifles. At the price point, I didn't expect it to come with a heated stock and laser guided squirrel tracking bullets. The stock doesn't bother me too much but they had to cut costs somewhere to keep it as a budget rifle. I'd rather them cut the corners on the stock rather than the barrel. Overall, I think for the price, it is a superb rifle.