Why No .22 Rimfire Interest?

[T. O'Heir]

"...nor are they tactical..." Except when used by Mossad agents and assassins. Suppressed, of course.
Post an opinion on any .22 cal firearm, particularly a target pistol, and stand back. Shooting a .22 target pistol well is far more difficult than a cf.
"...not being a good self defense round..." Beats a sharp stick every time. None of the assorted forums on this site are strictly about defensive anything.

[RC20]

Well 4 year ago I bought my to die for 22 (for me)

On a nice day after my rifle target shooting I finish up wityh a sesssion of 22.

Considering the dearth of ammo for a while, either someone was shooting a lot of it up, or more likely hoarding it and why would you buy a 22 if you can't shoot it?

It brought tears to my eyes to have a guy showing his little girl how to shoot and telling her they did not have any more ammunition. I should have gotten his phone number to get him some. I did not have much either but I would have gladly given up what I had for that.

I now keep extra boxes in the gun case to give someone if it should happen again.

I learned to shoot with a 22 and I still love shooting it.

When I was young and good eyes I was a crack shot with a pistol. I carried a 22 when I needed a gun (other than the woods). I could shoot your eye out at 25 yards (it was a very accurate 22!)

[RC20]

This forum is more about dragging you rifle threw the dirt to improve the looks of your firearms. Or maybe a 22LR upper for an ar15, which I do have. So yea, You can talk those bangbang shoot em up black 22LR.

I totally disagree. Not that its not 22 oriented, its not, but it is very general over all oriented.

And it runs from revolvers to reloading not to to mention competition.

[FrankenMauser]

I agree with RC20. TFL is so generalized that it could be seen to lack any focus, at all.
...But that's not a bad thing. It means everything is welcome (except for zombies, TEOTWAWKI, and inciting violence).



As for rimfires...

There are plenty of rimfire discussions here - but definitely not as many as there used to be.

I love mine. I shoot them on most range/desert/mountain trips.
I don't try to hide them. Nor do I think shooting rimfires isn't "manly".
But they're no longer as affordable to shoot, I don't do as much small game hunting as I used to, and all three of my "go-to" loads were discontinued during the rimfire Barackalypse.

I know plenty of people that went to 'alternative' cartridges when rimfire ammo was difficult to obtain, and they simply didn't come back. Some of the cartridges picked up as alternatives were .22 Hornet, .223 Rem, .32 S&W Long, .32-20, 9mm Luger (in rifles, especially), 9mm Mak, .38 Special, and .44 Special -- some because they wanted something that was usually available even during shortages; and some because those cartridges can be dirt cheap to reload.

[pkevinb]

https://youtu.be/GAlU9nVnFx8

.22rf is great

[SIGSHR]

Yes, RimfireCentral for the 22 shooter. I suppose a 22 Forum here would be nice, but a tad redundant. I have been shooting only 22 RF lately, broke a long shooting drought with it. I learned to shoot a handgun practicing Bullseye with my High Standard 22 Victor, lately I have been firing my browning High Power with my Ciener Conversion Unit, fired it more in the last 3 years that in the previous 48. And the 22 is THE way to introduce and train new shooters.

[JJ45]

One of my favorite pursuits is hunting small game and varmints with a .22. Both rifle and revolver....that said, I spend a lot of range time finding the loads my weapons will shoot well.

it's just one more phase of the hobby...I might feel like shooting 45s, 9mm, 45LCs, 30-06s,etc.,etc., or maybe my 22s.

[joed]

I used to shoot a lot of .22 rf but quit when I couldn't find ammo during the shortage. Don't know why there was ever a shortage but found it isn't all that expensive to shoot cartridges like .22 Hornet compared to rimfire.

[blchandl2]

Us rimfire fans keep a low profile lest we be banned from the forum. Plenty of us here, if you have something to discuss, speak up.

[xcc_rider]

In my neck of the woods, a lot of the 22rf shortage was in part due to hoarding and then by the AR crowd buying it up. 556 & 223 was harder to get and extremely expensive so they converted to 22rf or bought 22rf AR's to shoot. Now that ammo prices are down they're back to shooting the "big" guns.

Rimfirecentral is the place to go. I routinely shoot 22rf along with the larger cartridges. I recently found an old Stevens 22rf single shot in my safe (can't for the life of me remember where it came from) and went and put a couple hundred rounds thru it at the range. Accurate as heck, fun to shoot and I admired the simplicity of a firearm that ceased production in 1944.
That rifle is to be my grandson's first rifle. By the time he shoots it, it will be over 80 years old.

I'm waiting for responses to some emails for a CZ 22rf I want to buy. I didn't go here to discuss the purchase, I went to Rimfirecentral and got some great info and leads. At $500+ for a 22rf rifle (which isn't all that much considering the real good ones go for $2k or more) I won't post here on my purchase. It's just not orientated to RF shooting like RFC is.

Once there you'll see there's a great following and some pretty cool competitions too. My uncle in PA shoots weekly in a 50ft competition that they use a micrometer to determine the winner.

Yeah, nobody brags about their big, bad 22rf but I sure had a few guys itching to shoot the old gun.

[tony pasley]

I love shooting 22 have several rifles and revolvers and pistols. I stocked up back when you could buy bricks for 8.99-9.99. I still have plenty left for shooting with grand kids or buddies.

[PatientWolf]

SGW is a regular at Rimfire Central, which I know because I'm a 22lr lunatic.

I apologize. I didn’t think to look.

To be honest I haven’t been to RFC lately. Free time lately has been at a premium.

Growing up a spent a LOT more time with .22s, because they were cheap and could easily be shot around the property. I remember being upset when a 100 round box of Ammo at Farm and Fleet went from $0.99 to $1.49 and CCI Stingers were first available in the area in the 70s.

I cannot shoot around the property where I now live with more than a pellet gun and as time at the range is limited, I don’t shoot my .22s as often. I also miss some of the .22s I grew up with owned by my father and uncle (S&W model 18 Combat Masterpiece and model 34 revolvers, a Mossberg M44, a Ruger 10/22, an H&R model 65 Reising and a High Standard Victor).

Nowadays, I have a Ruger Mk3 Hunter, a Ruger mk3 22/45, a takedown 10/22 and an old Sears semi-automatic that appears to be made by High Standard. If I ware to look to add a new .22 today, I’d probably look for a revolver or a S&W Victor or possibly a CZ bolt. If I were looking for used, I’d probably look for an example of the Mossberg M44 or the H&R model 65 mostly for the nostalgia although they were plenty accurate to take gophers at approximately 100 yds.

[ammo.crafter]

What ever floats your boat.

I competed in a rim fire steel shoot last year and had a great time. Didn't have to spend a fortune on ammunition and competed the entire day.

[osbornk]

I go to Rimfire Central nearly every day as I love 22s. I have 22 rifles in bolt, semi-automatic and lever as well as semi-auto pistols and a revolver. They provide good practice at an affordable price and are much cheaper to shoot than my 223, 9mm, 38 Special and 380.

[fourbore]

I expected to annoy a few folks with my comment "This forum is more about dragging you rifle threw the dirt to improve the looks of your firearms."

I was reading a post where the OP was asking how to touch up the anodized black damaged on his receiver. I read that every day to see if there was some advanced method to make a good job of that. This forum is big on those guns. Bump stocks and all. Looking for more than magic marker. Well one red neck after another telling him how this damage was a badge of honor. What a compete waste of time! Thank god for Google.

[FrankenMauser]

fourbore...
If you don't like the people here, and you think you're "better" than the majority, why do you keep coming back?

[Buzzcook]

There are lots of threads covering .22 firearms. Search on the revolver forum for 617 or on the rifle forum Model 60 for example and you get lots of hits.

Or conversely the op can start a thread on the subject in any relevant forum.

[fourbore]

Franken.

I come back for all the good discussions. I dont buy into the bump stock mentality, but; I think that is a vocal minority. And even if not, I want to hear those opinions. There is a lot of good technical information and experiences. And, I enjoy the chance to share my views and experience. I am not so much interested in a yes-man forum where everyone thinks the same.

There are a lot of young enthusiast who may benefit from a variety of views. And to repeat myself, I want to read all views. The shooting community is a big tent. My interests cover a large area as well. I have had quite a few spirited debates at my club as well as here. I even had my point of vies changed on occasion. I am not a politician, I can do that.

[RETG]

I do not carry .22LR for self-defense; therefore, I do not shoot one. Not wanting to shoot a .22 is not cause I don't believe a .22 as being manly (I have personally met people who have done serious damage with a .22LR). It is just simple, shooting a .22LR is just a waste of my time.

When I practice it is with 9mm, .40, .44 mag or rifle cals.

[johnwilliamson062]

I sold off almost all my centerfires for 22lr.
much more fun in my opinion.
Of course I goton a piece of heavy equipment at work a week or two ago and someone said "don't you love the power of that thing," and I said, "It's not an Abrams or anything." I didn't feel any more powerful than if riding a Vespa.

It is really convenient for all my range toys to shoot the same ammo.

I have as much fun with 22lr as anything I can shoulder.

[zukiphile]

Centerfire rifle
$200 NFA stamp + $500 + 1 year wait + 30 cents per round = a rifle that sounds like a 22lr.

Rimfire rifle
Five cents per round = a rifle that sounds like a 22lr because it is.

[Cosmodragoon]

I don't know about "macho" or "tactical" but I like .22 rimfire just fine. However, I like it for the same reasons that I like a good pellet gun. It is reasonably fun and relatively inexpensive for target-shooting, plinking, or small game. It's just that there are so many other cartridges that can overlap with those activities and also better handle bigger animals, including for defensive purposes. I think those purposes generate a lot of interest and have a lot of different topics attached to them.

[riffraff]

I'm on a lot of forums - a boat related forum is gonna have it's tone with certain boats, a fishing forum will have it's tone with certain types of fishing (even within a ballpark of something like powerboats or salt water fishing)..

This place favors other things maybe. I'm not sure though a .22 really teaches you a whole lot. If anything I pickup bad habits from very light weapons that have no recoil, then when I change back over it takes me a bit to adjust again. I learn more the other way - run a heavier weapon of larger caliber then step down and you control the smaller weapon with ease.

Myself if I own anything though I'll own a .22, if the zombies came tomorrow and I had to leave my home and I could only pack 1 gun it'd probably be a .22 - I can carry 1000 rounds of that for the weight of something like 200 rounds of 5.56. And self defense-wise, sure you aren't going to knock an opponent out of the way with a .22 but they can certainly take down a human, small game that makes for good eats, and are more than a capable hooligan deterrent if need be.

[riffraff]

Originally Posted by Cosmodragoon

I don't know about "macho" or "tactical" but I like .22 rimfire just fine. However, I like it for the same reasons that I like a good pellet gun. It is reasonably fun and relatively inexpensive for target-shooting, plinking, or small game. It's just that there are so many other cartridges that can overlap with those activities and also better handle bigger animals, including for defensive purposes. I think those purposes generate a lot of interest and have a lot of different topics attached to them.

Just saw your post - yep like a pellet gun on steroids. I have a .22 springer actually, which I regularly shoot off my deck - can take down a racoon in my driveway at midnight if I want, all without spooking the neighbors or breaking any laws.

[Spats McGee]

I think the .22 Drought of '08 to Whenever had a lot to do with it. I know that I basically quit shooting .22 during that time. I bought .22 ammo here and there for years. To be honest, I'd almost forgotten how much fun .22s are.Just recently, .22 has been back on the shelves here in quantity, and I was able to buy a case of it at a decent price. I've taken a .22 of some kind on three of my last three range trips, and it puts a smile on my face every time.