Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Rimfires PRACTICAL .22 MAGNUM APPLICATIONS

For what species and under what conditions do you guys use the .22 Magnum? Would you opine it's too inferior for coyotes at any range?

A game warden on an AZ reservation told me he uses the .22 Mag for javalina. To me, that was a pretty impressive testimonial of the cartridge's capability.

Mando, I have 2 22 WMR's, Ruger 10/22mag and a CZ and they have very limited use on yotes. Usually on a drive by when one just happens to be in fairly close, within 75 yards or so and it has worked great. Most use is the yearly safari for eastern oregon sage rats and both guns great a real work out, somewhere around 4K rounds per trip.

I have three 22 Magnums. A Marlin bolt action with a scope, a 24DL Savage with a 20 gauge lower barrel and peep sights with a Firesight front and finally a single six convertible.

With the bolt action, a scope, and the better [in my opinion] bullets that Winchester makes I find it works good at 100 yards with hollowpoints. Past that it seems to fall off.

I am good to 75 yards on marmots and badgers with the peep sights and I find a badger is a lot toughter than a coyote.

The single six is good on a coyote if I have some time out to maybe 40 yards. But then I am a lousy pistol shot.

I've shot a few coyotes and a bobcat with a 22 Win Mag... it is pretty marginal, unless it is a well placed shot.. and has to be within 100 to 125 yds...

I have also dispatched several deer that have been hit by cars, with headshots with a 22 magnum... that limped off the road...
Right between the eyes, drops them like a ton of bricks...you see their eardrums bulged out of their ears.. and if you shake their head, it sounds like water in a boot...

I think it is too spendy for sage rats, but makes a dandy long range squirrel cartridge...

For 75 yards or less bobcat or coyotes my 10/22 mag is all good.

I don't take risky shoots, and the bugger is a tack driver after I changed out everything but the reciever and bolt!

Plus I've got those backup shots incase the yote stats spinning.


spot

We use ours for Prairie dogs, turkeys and miscellaneous encounters. Things like porcupines, raccoons, snakes, (with or without birdshot). The occasional badgers, skunks, jackrabbits and the like are all fair game for the "M".

We use both a handgun and a variety of rifles and are on the lookout for at least one more handgun. We usually set 100 yards, +/- as the dog town range with them but that isn't mandatory. Ya' just can't limit fun.

I have a Marlin .22 Mag, with a 6X Weaver.I've never had the chance to use it on a 'yote, but certainly would if I had the chance.I use mine for groundhogs and coons mostly, but I've also used it on fox and have to say its perfect on them.I've tried a lot of different ammo, but keep coming back to plain jane CCI 40 gr. HPs.I've killed several groundhogs at up to 150 yards with that load.

Groundhog and fox are ideal IMHO. Never shot anything bigger. Regularly used to smoke grey squirrel at 60 and 70 yards. Lots of practice and tuning on the Marlin to find the best ammo and torque on the action screws. It was good for groups at 50 yds that would be totaly covered with a dime. Miss that rifle a lot.

Growing up in the midwest where centerfires weren't allowed for hunting,I used it for everything. It's still a favorite.

I don't think it's unreasonable for anything up to dog sized. I've taken a number of coyotes with it. I think 150 yards is the upper end of the limit, if you stick with the heavier bullets.

Of course, as with any cartridge, shot placement will vary performance greatly.

Strider,

Have you tried the 50 grain Fed load?

I bought my 9422M to shoot coyotes in an rural area. I live in the mountains outside LA. In fact, at night I can see the lights of LA if a drive a few miles west. While deer hunting is allowed up here, I wanted to be as unobtrusive as possible when hunting coyotes. I've had it about five years now, and I have yet to hunt with it. Seems like the only 'yotes I shoot are with buckshot when hunting mountain quail. 20 gauge No.3 buck kills 'em right quick!

A few years ago there was a lame 'yote stalking my dog while it was in our front yard. Almost thought of shooting it (game warden told me to), but it was just too close to the highway.

BTW, what amazed me about my little 9422M was how much more powerful it is in comparison to the .22 LR.

Mando,

Would a .22lr be able to put down a coyote w/i 50 yards? Never hunted them. Thanks!

I use mine for beavers. MUCH more effective than the .22LR with head shots, and even works OK with body shots if they're up on shore. The other reason to use it over my 22 Hornet or .222 is that we can't use a centerfire for "trapping" operations if an open season for big game is in progress.

With a good head shot, yes.

A 22 lr would penentrate on a broadsie lung shot, but I doubt the yote would die soon.

BMT

I have heard similar praise for the 9422m before.

BMT

BMT,

Thank you for the response. Guess I need to switch to the .223rem for coyotes.

Leo

leomort,

By "putting down" 'yoyes, if you mean kill, absolutely a .22 LR will kill a 'yote at 50 yards. A. 22 LR will kill many things at 50 yards. But I would refrain from using one to do so. I would not anticipate a hasty death. I would much prefer a cartridge that will assure a clean and humane death.

We are inundated with 'yotes where we live. They cross the roads up here like rabbits in the desert. Every once in a while I see one that is much larger in body mass than others. If I were to shoot one with a .22 LR, it would probably be while I was hunting much smaller game, the 'yote presented itself with a classic broadside shot, it was close enough that I was confident the bullet was going into the boiler room or the head, and I was using premium bullets like Remington's Yellow Jackets, which kill jackrabbits like lightning! But I would not go out hunting 'yotes with a .22 LR.

I have a .223 Rem, but it is loud. Moreover, the range of the bullet is of serious concern. For where I live, the .22 Mag is about perfect if shots are within reason. Maybe a .22 Hornet might be better for my purposes, but I love the design of the 9422M. Now if had been offered in .22 Hornet...

Shoot'em in the eye...anywhere in the eye.

Mark

....The 22mag BRNO 611ZKM auto-loader I have has been a good night varmit rig. It'll dispatch coyote quickly with lung shots at the close ranges encountered with night calling,Bobcat too.

Mando,

Yeah there was a question of ammo if using a .22lr rimfire. A solid might penetrate better than one those high velocity hp.

Coyote would be "one of opportunity" when out for other small game. Out at our sportsman club, they say coyotes are quite common out here and they impact the turkey population pretty hard. Wouldn't mind thinning the population out a bit, but we only have 200 acres and property perminter is highly populate with housing plans on two sides and golf course on another.


The club is located in restrictive county where centerfire rifles a disallowed for deer hunting. Haven't hunted coyotes or groundhogs so haven't check the regs about centerfires such as the .223rem to hunt coyote/groundhogs in that county.


Leo