10/22 v. 77/.22

[davemata]

I was reading this month's field and stream, and one of the articles was about a wolf hunt in no. canada where the author took a caribou as well. (Must be nice...) Well, one aspect of the article confused me a little, and my google fu isn't coming up with a lot of info for me...

The author took a caribou with a Ruger 77/22 Hornet. I was under the impression that caribou = big, .22 = small. I saw some pictures of the cartridge, and talk of it being 45 grain, but I still don't see how it's a good choice for something that big. (He used it instead of the .243 he brought for wolf)

How is the 77/22 functionally different from the 10/22 aside from the difference between rimfire and centerfire? Is it a decent crossover hunting/ target shooting rifle as compared to the 10/22?

 

[Steve_P]

77/22 is a bolt gun as are the rest of the model 77's. I am not sure if they make a rimfire version of the 77.

 

[cekim]

22 hornet is a very different beast than 22LR... '

IIRC, muzzle velocity 2-3X a 22LR

Hey, look at that... Wikipedia can fill in the blanks...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.22_Hornet

Not saying it looks like an ideal big game load, but put a hole in the right spot and you are good to go...

 

[Titan]

The pic shown on Wikipedia (thanks for the link) shows a bullet that looks a lot like a .223 (no slouch).

 

[Plural of Mongoose]

Even though they are a large animal, caribou are not very tenacious.

 

[PatMcD]

The 77/22 is a rimfire-sized bolt rifle. It is chambered in .22LR, .17HMR, .22MAG, and 22 Hornet (maybe another?). The 10/22 is a well known semi-auto. .22 LR, .22MAG, and 17HMR. No way it could handle the .22 Hornet.

The .22 Hornet is thought of a small game round, but Eskimos have been using it for decades on caribou, seals, walrus, and even polar bears. Not ideal, but will work.

 

[gerrycaruso]

I have a 77/22 .22 Hornet with heavy barrel. It's far more powerful than the .22lr or the .22 magnun (the rimfire magnum). It's also reloadable and much quieter than the .223. I have full auto and heavy barrel bolt guns in .223 and the Hornet is more accurate. The Hornet can be a fussy round and brass is very thin and easily distroyed during reloading. It's a great round for hunting in areas where louder calibers irritate the neighbors or for letting shooters go to something bigger than the .22lr without kicking their brains out.

 

[davemata]

Thanks for the run down, the .22 always struck me as a plinking/ target/ small game round. Squirrel, rabbits, taking a large animal with that seems crazy.

cekim - yeah, I read through that and came away a little confused. I get the increased muzzle velocity though.

Maybe this is apparent, but why couldn't the 10/22 handle a hornet round? (assuming it could fire center fire of course.)

 

[PatMcD]

The 10/22 is a simple blow-back design. The pressure from the round going off cycles the action. The Hornet has way too much pressure for that dinky action.

 

[davemata]

ah ha. Got it.

 

[gerrycaruso]

In addition to being a blowback action which isn't strong enough, it's also too short. Most of my subguns are blowback in 9mm and .45acp so I suppose it's possible, but they all rely on very large heavy bolts and large strong recoil springs to keep the action closed long enough for the gun to function. I think a blowback .22 Hornet semi auto would not be the slim trim gun that the 10/22 is.

 

[atmay]

Given the problems with .17HMR in blowback semi-autos, I doubt you'll ever see .22 Hornet in one. .22WMR seems to be about the limit for those guns.