Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Predators and Varmints .22 Mag effective range

As far as you can hit.

I’ll take that to the bank lol

I have shot a fair amount of game and predators with the .22 MAG and think that it is a poor choice for coyotes unless the range quite close. 'Cats and foxes are physically built a lot lighter than coyotes, so you might (emphasis on "MIGHT") stretch the range out to 125 yards on them. My preferred 'cat calling rifle is a Remington 597 in .22 MAG loaded with 33 grain plastic tipped bullets. They are sure killers at close range and the ability to have 5 shots available at the squeeze of the trigger is comforting when the 'cat you're shooting at is within 20 yards. I have killed coyotes with a .22 MAG revolver shooting 40, 45, and 50 grain bullets, all within 20 yards and although none went far, none were DRT kills either.

Unfortunately weather didn’t permit today. The snow must have kept the squirrels nestled up

It's true.

100-125 yards, federal premium 30 gr Sierra works pretty good.

Agreed

Me thinks that there are different interpretations of what is considered effective range. Or maybe more to the point, what does effective mean to you?

Aiming in the ribs. Humanely harvesting the animal

For many years while living in Michigan, a rimfire rifle was all the DNR allowed for night hunting varmints....they all assumed anyone with a centerfire would just poach deer! While they have since changed the law, and centerfires are used at night, I used a .22 Mag for said purposes. The most accurate was a Marlin 883S tube fed gun and it was a true MOA rifle with most brands of ammunition! I used to practice by shooting Egg's at 100 yards off the bench at my gun club.

I’ve used the 22magnum on exactly one bobcat, 5 beavers and a handful opossums and skunks. I shoot the 40g CCI HPs, as they shoot well in my CZ.
I’d keep ranges under 100y for predators and be very careful with my shot placement, do that and you shouldn’t have much fuss.

I was always amazed at the effectiveness of the 22WMR, as it always seems to be far more potent than the numbers said it was.

Good luck!

22 mag is THE best fox medicine there is if you want to save hides IMO, unless you enjoy stitching. For Coyotes it is less than desirable. When they finally changed NYs predator law to allow sub 223 cal center fires during deer season, I was first in line to buy a 17 Remington. The 22 mag has been neglected since.

I shoot the Hornady V max 30 gr tipped. My Savage 93 likes them and I am confident on G-hogs out to 150. However I enjoy the challenge of getting closer. Meaning 100yds. we have coyotes on our farm and I will be toting along a fox pro electronic caller for the yotes and G- hogs at the same time.. I will try the Hornady v-max and let you know how it does. I do anticipate a long followup track on lung shots and less of one on head shots. I also realize that I am asking a lot of the 22 mag. Small hammer, big nail.

Yep.

As far as you can hit.

As far as you can hit...……...but only as good as you can track.

At extended ranges you will get little to no bullet expansion and not even a great deal of penetration. A coyote will go a LOOOOOOOOONG way with a .22 cal hole in it.

At what range does a 30 grain V-Max stop expanding?

Couldn't tell ya...………….

I have more experience with the 5mm Rem Rim Mag than the .22 Mag. I do know that the Aguila 5mm half-jacket HP (2400-2450 fps) stops expanding somewhere inside the range at which I can hit woodchucks. Now, it'll still kill them with a ribcage hit. But woodchucks ain't coyotes. I'd not hesitate to shoot a coyote 150 yards or so. But much farther, I think a good tracking snow and lots of spare time would be in order.

I had a model 24 Savage that had a 22 mag as the top barrel that rode around in my farm truck for 20 years. On chucks, feral cats, barn rats, squirrels and other like size vermin it was DRT out to 100 yards plus with 40 gr hollow points. Killed a good many fox with it as well mostly under 50 yards. Shot at 2 Pa coyotes with it. One at about 50 yards and it folded when the gun cracked. Another at about 150 yards, let out a yipe and never saw him again. Didn't try all that hard to find the filthy bugger to be honest but am confident he wound up dead.

It always amazed me how much better the 22 Mag kills better than the 22 LR

I use a 22 mag on coyotes in places where a louder report may stir up the neighbors. My favorite load was the 40 gr Remington soft points followed by the 50 gr Federal hollow points. The various 40 gr hollow points were down the line with the 45 gr Dynapoints by Winchester are far behind. I haven't tried the lighter bullets much, I blundered into a pretty good supply of 40 gr bullets and wish to use them up before trying other bullets.

I found the effective range being what has been mentioned- 100 yards is about max. I prefer closer but if there is some snow I feel comfortable out to 100 or a little more as I can track them down when they run. Given a choice I would prefer a 9mm chambered carbine or similar pistol cartridge to the same distance but a 22 WMR is also capable.

In my experience, not many people can punch the lungs of a coyote much further than 150yds with their 22 mag. Although I highly doubt they stop becoming effective at 180.

So like I say, as far as you can hit.