Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Rimfires 22 WMR on game -

Had a really nice 94/22m for some years, never hunted with it. Best it did was 1/4” for 3 pops at 50 yds. I was in the middle of whacking a bunch of wild hogs with .22 CB shorts and never felt the need for more power. There aren’t any elephants around these parts and only a few Buffalo. It shot best with WW JHP ammo.

the 22 mag is my perferred Ground hod caliber. I have killed a pile of them with it. My back up is a ruger single six 5.5 inch barrel with the 22 mag cylinder on board. Horn. 30gr. V-max in the savage 93 and CCi 40gr hp maxi mag. Mostly head shots are taken. My optimum range is 100yards. I do enjoy stalking them in order to get to that range. I like the power level it gives me over the 22lr.

I've seen the field reports on your TC and it's victims. Might be a record holder! Reminds me of a video I found recently, LR in the eye on a 300-400 lber at night.......took a dirt nap, right now.

I think the 22 mag as a solid 100 yard death stick. As long as you do not try to ask to much of it. As with any animal place your shot well and the animal dies. But you have to wait for the right presentation. Otherwise follow up shots are needed.

there sure are plenty here... but then I have relatives back home in Virginia and over into West VA, that pull the same crap.... shooting them mainly tho on their own property....

To me, If you are going to poach, at least kill the animal, instead of just wounding them....

Couple years ago, there was a really nice buck that I found in the brush at my place, that had been shot and was dying...Season was over, and here some nimrod had try to head shoot the animal, and hit it straight in the nose.... poor thing was laying down and just gasping his last... I could have gone in the house and got a rifle to dispatch it... but instead I just left him to himself, to die in what peace he could... he was so out of it, he didn't even know I was there.

he expired before I could check on him 15 minutes later. neighbor was having some backhoe work done on his property, so we buried it in hole that had been dug and then was about to be filled in...

both of us were fit to be tied, but not knowing who had done it, could do nothing... we both stewed over it for a good 6 months....

Doing some range work, before Sage Rat season one year...

I took a Ruger 77 in 22 Mag and using CCI 40 gr FMJ and HPs, I ran off a bunch of targets off of Noslers site, that was of the silhouette of a Standing Prairie Dog.. With a 6 power scope that had a Target turret on top, I was reliably hitting the targets out to 200 yds....

What I recalled ( IIRC)... with a 100 yd zero, every 25 yds if I raised the elevation 1/2 inch, I was Minute of Prairie Dog or even sage rat right out to 200 yds...That season, when 22 Mag was cheap... I shot a bunch of it, using that formula, while my 223 barrel was cooling down...

both my Ruger and my Marlin, were both pretty predictable with it....

on the Marlin, I changed over to a Tasco 4 x 16 scope with had hash marks on the reticle.. they were spot on, so I had no need for a target turret on the rifle.. I went thru about 3,000 rounds of 22 Mag that summer...with probably a 90 % kill ratio....

but I only verified it using the CCI 40 grain FMJ or JHP.....don't see that ammo much anymore tho... and surprisingly both rifles didn't do that good with the 30 gr V Max loads....which is what started showing up at our local BiMart...

They seem to kill above their size from what I have seen. Good truck gun for varmints. Things like an armadillo a 22 with a body shot kills them but they run off. A magnum blows a hole in them and plants them.

I like the .22 Magnum in a rifle. I have killed a bunch of odd and end varmints from coyotes, coons, groundhogs, crows, feral cats and stray dogs chasing my livestock. The old WW 40 gr. hollow point always did the job. I hate to shoot it from a handgun other than on the range with good ear protection. That little cartridge has just the right pitch to shred my ears! My Single Six Magnum cylinder collects dust.

I have a Leupold 6x36 scope with LRD reticle on my .22 Magnum. With the W-W 40 gr. JHP load, if you sight in for 100 yards, the dots are pretty much spot on every 25 yards thereafter. So it gives you holdovers for 125, 150, 175, etc.

A friend of mine in northern Minnesota loves his 22 WMR. I think he shoots beaver with it mostly but also coyotes (and wolves, but that may be just talk).

I found the same issue. I have a Frontier Scout and I cannot shoot it without hearing protection. It is painful! Regular 22s no problem.

I killed 55 Coyotes in one Summer with a Ruger 77 in 22 Mag. 40g Winchester HP is a killer.

Lots of ignorance when it comes to a 22 Mag.

First of all, if you ever shoot a copper plated bullet, your barrel is fouled in 25 rounds max, now you have a job on your hands.

Regular Jacketed HP and poly tip bullets will keep the barrel up and running for 250 round cleaning intervals where 1-1.25" acccuracy at 100 yds is the norm.

The 22 Mag is one of the most under rated cartridges in terms of it's killing ability, Win 40g HP rules, those poly tip bullets do not penetrate much at all, and will not reliably kill a cat at 100 yards with 100% confidence.

Excellent info everyone, enjoyed and appreciate you folks sharing. Thanks.