.22LR fascination? Please explain.

[Ezra]

all reasons mentioned above, plus:

at my my local club, outdoor centerfire shooting is limited from 8AM to sunset(residential area). No such time restrictions for rimfire. The sun's out early in the summer, and I can shoot before work.

 

[atilla]

People think that some day when society collapses they'll need 50K rounds of it to ensure the survival of their family.

if the end of the world is due to a chipmunk and/or squirrel uprising... they'll actually be in a pretty good spot.

 

[saltydude]

if shtf, .22 will also double as currency

Why more than any other cartridge though? Depending on the area I was in I'd prefer 9mm or 12G over it.

Perhaps fascination was the wrong word to use cause there's been some really good responses.

I guess it's the random exuberant posts I often see about the hoarding and comments like "one day I hope to have one million rounds". Mu ha ha ha ha.

 

[Sweeney]

Because my 45-110 cartridges won't fit in my Springfield 1922-M2.

 

[jibbr71]

I just love to shoot it, and with a 6 year old, and getting new shooters into the sport, it doesn't break the bank. Would I like to have 20k stacked up? sure, but that's just insurance against the next time it goes full retard, which it's just getting back from now.

 

[dwarven1]

Girl Scouts up to the age of 7 LOVE it. Anything beyond that, go to .223. Grown men should get their man card revoked for shooting that stuff.

Like I would ever worry about what a Frenchman thinks about my manhood.

Lets see....some uses for .22 of the top of my head: Steel Challenge, Bullseye pistol, Appleseed, Small game hunting

Been there, done all that... except for the small game hunting. May have to look into that!

I don't do any of those things except SC, and I can shoot that with a normal handgun, one that doesn't make me want to throw it downrange when it jams every 5 minutes.

What the heck .22 do you own, an Erma Luger? I shoot bullseye with a 45 year old Mark 1 and a slightly newer Mark II. Once a year or so I remember to clean them. I think I've had one misfeed in the last year. Seriously, get a better .22 than whatever you've got.

Why do I shoot .22LR?
Because it's the only caliber my Anschutz 54, Kimber 82G, S&W 41, and High Standard Victor will chamber.

Ooo, that one hit right in the center of the X-ring. Don't worry, Pat, I'm sure someone will be along to tell you that only pansies shoot Olympic sports. (not me, mind you, but someone will.)

if the end of the world is due to a chipmunk and/or squirrel uprising... they'll actually be in a pretty good spot.

Think about it. Alvin, Secret Squirrel, Rocket J. Squirrel (and he's got a moose sidekick!) - those things are DANGEROUS!

• .22 is a great gun to use to introduce new shooters to shooting.
• It's great to practice with because the recoil and muzzle blast are so minimal, you can concentrate on getting the basics down without worrying about an induced flinch.
• I run a turkey shoot that's open to the public every year, and we use .22s so we don't have inexperienced shooters freaking out over recoil and muzzle blast, and because I donate the ammo every year, it's a damned sight cheaper using .22s than, say, 38 Specials.
• And lastly, because it's FUN.
  

 

[pupchow]

Skinflint round. Suppressed its pretty cool. Overrated for anything beyond these two. Really overrated for training.

Agree.

 

[PaulR]

500 rounds = ~$30

/Thread


but.....x3 on the golf balls. That's been my target of choice for years now. real fun for two shooters to try to keep it bouncing.

 

[Sweeney]

Skinflint round. Suppressed its pretty cool. Overrated for anything beyond these two. Really overrated for training.

Skinflint? My guess is that a lot of people who like to shoot 22 also shoot more expensive rounds. I like shooting 22 but shoot more 7.62x51 and 30-06 than anything else.

 

[Lank]

++Fun, that's why.

 

[Varmint]

Zombies, mostly.

Yeah, I get annoyed at Walking Dead that no one goes up on a roof with a CZ 455 with scope and silencer and a stack of 22LR bricks. A dozen people so equipped could clean up a whole city.

 

[dwarven1]

Yeah, I get annoyed at Walking Dead that no one goes up on a roof with a CZ 455 with scope and silencer and a stack of 22LR bricks. A dozen people so equipped could clean up a whole city.

Because the TV show would be over too fast and be too boring to sell advertising. But yeah, I think that's the way to go, too.

 

[Varmint]

in the book One Second After, 22LR became the most valued round, cause people used it for hunting.

But I agree with previous posters that that's a fantasy - the small game will disappear in a couple days with millions of starving people suddenly hunting them.

 

[LuvDog]

Because I like it.

 

[strangenh]

Because I can shoot it on 100m ranges with similar drop and wind to .308 at 300m.

 

[teaser452]

in the book One Second After, 22LR became the most valued round, cause people used it for hunting.

But I agree with previous posters that that's a fantasy - the small game will disappear in a couple days with millions of starving people suddenly hunting them.

I wonder about that. The vast majority of people have no idea how to do so many things that used to be common. Even here, how many people know how to set a snare? How many people know how to skin a squirrel? Or any animal for that matter. I think most people will head for the FEMA camps because of the promise of a cot, water, and some crackers.

A guy on my facebook feed, 29 years old, bought a house a couple of years ago. He was asking the other night how to fix his toilet. He's afraid to touch it. So, two things, 1) he's unable to fix a basic mechanism that has been around for over 100 years, and 2) he outs himself on facebook and feels no shame about it. As another friend wrote on his post, "YOUTUBE it dude, and shut up about it, you're embarrassing yourself"

22 is great fun, useful, still deadly, light, and cheap. Everyone should have some. Or a lot, YMMV.

 

[SHOCKNAWE]

in the book One Second After, 22LR became the most valued round, cause people used it for hunting.

But I agree with previous posters that that's a fantasy - the small game will disappear in a couple days with millions of starving people suddenly hunting them.

In an apocyliptic scenario the ones who will survive will not be the people hunting small game, it will be the ones who can act the most brutal by indiscrimanetly killing other people and taking their supplies.

 

[jasons]

Really overrated for training.

Could not disagree more. There's a reason that good small bore shooters tend to be excellent highpower shooters. You don't "get away" with much shooting small bore.

 

[drgrant]

Could not disagree more. There's a reason that good small bore shooters tend to be excellent highpower shooters. You don't "get away" with much shooting small bore.

I should have been more specific. I just think .22 LR is overrated when trying to teach a newb how to fire a handgun for the first time. If I had a gun/ammo combo that was even 95% reliable it might be a little different, but its easier for me to just move the person to centerfire as soon as I know they're not going to be recoil sensitive. Jams and other BS with .22s are a major distraction on the line. (In saying this, I should have kept my SW617 as a newb gun, no jams at all, just works... all the time).

I agree with a rifle it has its advantages, all the fundamentals translate pretty well into normal guns. I also find that .22LR rifles, even the semis, don't **** up nearly as much as the pistols do.

-Mike

 

[exo]

Because my other rifles are .308 and that sh*t gets expensive quick, for what I spend on one cheap 200 round Prvi battle pack I got 2000 rounds of .22lr.

That and my mother is jonesing to get another day of Guns and Grub. I take her to the range and we go for lunch afterwards, problem is she just had back surgery 5 weeks ago and I told her she's not taking her pistol but she can use my MkIII and 597.

Your mom has back problems and you're gonna hand her a MkIII? Why not hand her a brick instead, it'd be lighter

 

[Beansie]

It's fun for me...

Yeah, that's pretty much all there is to it.

 

[Wrench75]

Ah shit ZOMBIES!! I totally forgot



Yes very good but why? To look at?

I look at it this way. If I could have bought all the gas I would ever use in my vehicles, back when I started driving and it cost .86/gal, I would have. It is a very useful round in a SHTF scenario. But most of all, once Hitlery gets elected, I'll only have to sell one maybe two bulkpacks to put my kids through college. As long as I can keep getting it for .05/rd you best believe that I'm gonna suck that tit dry...

 

[Fattman]

I don't give up my Bim Jean that easily. Unless you point the 22 at me. Then maybe we can negotiate.

Bim Jean reminded me of this.. Classic Lahey

https://youtu.be/nf_w9MI77DM

 

[SIG-owner]

I have never shot .22, only because I never bought one, so I have no background. Started with a .9mm and worked my way to a .556. I like shooting my .45 or .556 because I just enjoy that great sound! But the difference in ammo price may convince me to buy a plinker and stay at the range longer. (Always an excuse for a purchase).

 

[Varmint]

I wonder about that. The vast majority of people have no idea how to do so many things that used to be common. Even here, how many people know how to set a snare? How many people know how to skin a squirrel? Or any animal for that matter. I think most people will head for the FEMA camps because of the promise of a cot, water, and some crackers.

A guy on my facebook feed, 29 years old, bought a house a couple of years ago. He was asking the other night how to fix his toilet. He's afraid to touch it. So, two things, 1) he's unable to fix a basic mechanism that has been around for over 100 years, and 2) he outs himself on facebook and feels no shame about it. As another friend wrote on his post, "YOUTUBE it dude, and shut up about it, you're embarrassing yourself"

22 is great fun, useful, still deadly, light, and cheap. Everyone should have some. Or a lot, YMMV.

Humans are resilient, I think a lot of people will learn really quick when it becomes necessary. And people will have a lot of time on their hands to learn new skills.

 

[dwarven1]

I should have been more specific. I just think .22 LR is overrated when trying to teach a newb how to fire a handgun for the first time. If I had a gun/ammo combo that was even 95% reliable it might be a little different, but its easier for me to just move the person to centerfire as soon as I know they're not going to be recoil sensitive. Jams and other BS with .22s are a major distraction on the line. (In saying this, I should have kept my SW617 as a newb gun, no jams at all, just works... all the time).

OK, Mike, seriously now - WHAT KIND OF CRAPPY 22 HANDGUN DO YOU HAVE???

Even the NRA recommends .22 to start out with in their Basic Pistol courses.

 

[drgrant]

OK, Mike, seriously now - WHAT KIND OF CRAPPY 22 HANDGUN DO YOU HAVE???

Even the NRA recommends .22 to start out with in their Basic Pistol courses.

I've had several, a MKII, a SW617, and now a SW 22A. The 22A usually works... if you clean it enough. I generally ****ing loathe/hate cleaning guns. So whenever I go to use the 22A, it really needs to be cleaned before every outing. Even then it's not perfect. The mags get scunked up too and those need to be cleaned periodically as well. .22 semis don't jibe with my cleaning intervals. Some of it also is just ammo. If I fed it mini mags or SV all the time it works more reliably than the bulk shit does. Problem is 90% of the ammo floating around is bulk garbage. Even if the gun is clean, you get that occasional weak round or whatever that promotes a stoppage. Same thing basically happened with my MKII, at least until I found out it liked CCI Blazer. In hindsight I should have just kept the 617. That thing worked even if it was covered with soot, it just didn't care.

I had pondered getting an SR22 or something like that, people don't bitch about them much.... probably be easier to clean than most, too.

-Mike

 

[saltydude]

Yeah even my little Beretta 21A functions quite well on just about anything including the Remington stuff everyone seems to dislike.

 

[Kevin_NH]

Nothing else suppresses quiet like a .22

For all the people with feed problems in their 22 pistols, have you considered a revolver?

I was thinking about this.Between a .22lr, and a .22 pellet air rifle. I wonder which is cheaper to stock up for. One of those nice .22 gamo whispers sound nice..

Good pellets are half the price of 22 ammo, cheap pellets are maybe 2 cents each. Or you could reclaim lead and make your own (e.g. Nomad).

 

[Katie-B]

Perhaps I'm out of touch. Personally I always got bored quick with the round. Can someone explain the fascination and hoarding I've seen and read about over the last few years?

Reasons I can see and understand.
Ok obviously it's a cheap round.
You just simply never get tired of sending rounds down range.
You have kids you want to introduce to shooting.
Preppers- ok you can carry a thousand rounds across country and survive a post apocalyptic scenerio. ( I think that's kind of silly but hey it's a prerogative I wouldn't fault anyone for).

So what's your reason?

I use 1/4 inch washers for targets and I can't get the 45 to fit through the hole!