Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Rimfires Sell me on magnum rimfire

The .17 HMR is the best rimfire caliber for squirrels. Full Stop.

Unless I am shooting in a tight space( Barn). The 22 mag is my ground hog death stick. It allows a 100 yard effective (rifle) range and in my Ruger single six, 22 mag cylinder allows me a close range option that do come up from time to time. The 22 mag brings a notable difference in power over the 22 LR. As stated earlier, the 22 hornet (handloaded) would allow next step up or down in power.

I think that 22 Mag ammunition has gotten better over the past five or ten years. I have 350 CCI Maxi Mags here. I sorted 250 by rim thickness tonight and I'll test some next week. Random versus sorted.



250 cartridges

1. 3/250 - 1.2% (44.0)
2. 68/250 - 27.2% (45.0 to 45.5)
3. 168/250 - 67.2% (46.0 to 46.5)
4. 11/250 - 4.4% (47.0 to 37.5)

The .22 wmr allows more opportunities from a rimfire cartridge. I am with the 'get a hornet' crowd, yet i have pulled off the occasional 200 yard shot with the .22 mag also. But if I had constant, steady 200 yard shots all the time, my nod would be the hornet or the 223. The loads available for the 22 mag today overshadow the 22 mag loads available years ago and overshadow the long rifle by a long shot. The hornets advantage is a case that is reloadable to me.

There is a few hound hunters here that kill mountain lions one after another with there .22 mags. The shots are measured in feet as they are up in a tree. To date no body or dog has been harmed by a wounded cat cause they fall out of the tree dead as a door nail.

I have felled bobcat, coyote, porcupine, skunk, feral cats with my 22 magnums, with some shot placement discretion as with every cartridge, it just works. For me its darned near ideal for a 'going for a stroll in the north 40'.

17HMR if you are looking for gilt edged accuracy/precision on targets and good explosive power on small critters like ground squirrels. One of the most consistently accurate rimfires I've seen. I use one for some shoots that require speed and accuracy to dominate the competition. In some events where they specify "rimfire only", the 17HMR is almost like cheating. Just a FYI..

22WMR if you are chasing animals up to the size of coyotes.

Grabbed this old Ruger Single-Six (with .22WMR cylinder only) at the last local gun show. Didn’t have any .22WMR ammo, so a friend provided some equally old Winchester 40gr. JSP rounds (headstamped H). The first six rounds (shot two hands standing at fifty feet) convinced me that this guy is a keeper:


Seems I always gotta toss that one flyer, though.

As my friend was providing the ammo, and I was already satisfied with the results, I quit and let him shoot up the rest of it in this revolver, which he appeared to thoroughly enjoy.

That's a sweet old pistol. Great shooting too..

Thank you, sir.

It represents the all too familiar tear-jerking story: Had one during my youth; let it get away; shouldn‘t have; missed it terribly; finally got another to replace it, all these many decades later. ‘Scuse me while I wring out my cryin’ towel.

Very cool!! I myself started out with a model 29-2 when I was a young teen. When I was a kid, I didn't have much use for a 22lr pistol, but learned to shoot pistols with the big magnum. I always say I'm not a pistol shooter, but have shot them a lot. Kind of got bored with them. The only time I pull them out is when I'm shooting the occasional bowling pin shoot. Your 22wmr would be a sweetheart to own and shoot though.. Thanks for sharing.

Probably as good as reply as I can think of.
I think it is a fun little cartridge. I went a spell without one. But have righted that wrong more than once. I don't have a specific use other than the fun aspect.

Ok I did it! Bergara BMR in .22 mag just came home…

Congratulations! I am sure that you will find a use for it, like reducing the varmint population for instance.

Several years ago I lusted for a nice 22LR. I searched for an action to do a build but never came up with the right one. I bought a Cooper Western Classic and love it. I decided a 22 mag would be the next step and fun to shoot short range prairie dogs, and other vermin. I got a CZ 457 and it's scary accurate. It just doesn't move me aesthetically however and another Cooper moved in next to the 22. Evolution can be a cruel thing and the 17 HMR beckoned to me. I bought a Browning T bolt with the medium heavy barrel. It's a great gun, accurate and I like the 10 round magazine. I don't care for the crappy stock and plastic trigger guard. The web can be a cruel and financially destructive place. I found another Cooper in 17 HMR. Out of all of these my favorite is the Cooper Custom Classic 22 mag. I'll probably get the Browning restocked at some point and the CZ will probably go up for sale.
I have a 22 Hornet as well but the rimfires are much handier to use especially in confined spaces.

Cool. If you don't mind, let us know what you think of it and how it shoots.

Excellent, congratulations!
Ironically, I just picked up one of these today also. I have ordered a 0-MOA rail to replace the 30-MOA. Hopefully it will arrive in a few days.

These seem to be neat little rifles.

I have three 22 Magnums. All are handguns.

Ok not a rimfire guy, other than dispatch a animal in a trap, squirrels, and one coyote that was my only thing i shot with a 22 mag ( Savage plastic stock wonder) I am in the market for a real 22 mag just to have for nuisance control and shoot for the hell of it. The savage i have is really accurate, threaded for my noise reducer, but the action is like standing next to a rock crusher when you run it - what is the best "real" 22 mag rifle - old Rugers? I have even looked at the lever actions before? Not trying to hijack the thread but not a rimfire guy as of yet. Thanks!

Marlin has always made good 22 WMR rifles

You can smooth that action up with some lapping compound, it makes things a lot slicker

I've got one just like it that's as old as I am but it's in much better shape. My father in law once used it to dispatch a wolf (domesticated) that a nearby village idiot thought it would be okay to let her two wolves run our calves on the summer range. It was the only gun he had in the truck when he chased it down bouncing through the meadow.