Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Rimfires which 22 mag to get...

I have a Ruger American 22 mag. Mine is limited edition farmer's model. Mine is a tack driver. I bought a Ruger American 17 hmr. I thought I would use it alot. But I always grab my 22 mag. My 17 hasn't had 50 rds thru it.

Yes, hanging a tube magazine off a barrel is always good for accuracy enhancement. It's why lever actions are so accurate and commonly seen in benchrest competition. LOL

I like mass and penetration when hitting a beavers hard head.


Althought there are a lot of 17hmr's on the used rack....

It has been my experience that the 22 MAG is a more reliable killer of animals over +/- 10 lbs then the 17 HMR as long as the ranges are not more than +/-75 yards and wind is not a critical factor.

Tag

Not a rifle recommendation, just a placement recommendation from a reliable source I know who shot beavers from an elevated position over a pond with a .22 Magnum. A beaver’s head is thick, sloping and greasy. A 40 grain Winchester hp deflects. A shot just behind the head breaks their neck and they float.

Thanks for the info.

My swamp is 5 acres filled with slough grass except for an open water perimeter about 15 feet wide that they swim "patrol" on at night. Limited shot angles and few trees standing that I can put a deer stand on so side shots dominate when they pop out of the grass.

Getting a good floater is a thing of beauty and sniper skill.

And the final results are.....


A friend of mine had a Marlin 882 blued standard weight barrel in a plastic stock and a spare wood stock, simmons 3x9 scope, a couple spare magazines and 6 boxes of ammo for a good price so I'm going that way. He says it shoots a ragged hole with Hornady ammo at 50 yards so I'm going to pick it up tonight.

Otherwise I would have bought the ruger.

Thanks for the input fellows.

I killed a couple of dozen beavers with a 22 mag before several neighbors built homes on the other side of the pond behind our house. Most were head shots at 25 to 35 yards while they were swimming. Marlins with inexpensive 4X scopes were very effective. Most were on still nights with a high angle moon.
I recall at least one body shot on one on the bank across the pond at about 100 yards.

All of the beavers sank. Some thrashed around before going down but some just went under. The proof of the kill came a day or two later when I would see a hairy basketball looking thing floating somewhere in the lake.

I remember shooting one with our 22LR in a small stock pond and it was rolling. My dad said it didn't need a second hit... and it went down and grabbed something and didn't come up for a week...

But it was dead.

I never bother recovering them and the bears come and eat them.

I moved straight to a 223 for shooting beavers.

The Marlin in the classifieds for the past week or so is hard to beat.

Thats what I normally use or my turkey shotgun, but sometimes the 22 mag is for more stealty quieter sniping at night.

If I could go back in time, I would have never sold my Ruger 77/22 in 22 Hornet. That was a beaver killing SOB.

Hmmm.... My brother inherited my dad's model 43 win in 22 hornet and I don't think he uses it... maybe I better borrow it. You are correct that is about the perfect beaver caliber and not too loud.

Given the two options my suggestion would be the Ruger. Have experience with both. Neither is a bad choice. Bench, field experience and production/brand status would lead me (considering your query) to the Ruger.

No need to. A 22WMR works perfectly well.

I am curious as to how many beaver you have shot with a 22 mag vs. a 223 to reach this conclusion, after all a definitive statement like this should have some basis of comparison.

drover