The joy of 22 long rifle

Me and my brother made a day of it today, brought picnic

bought a new scope so I had an excuse to go to the range. not that I needed a excuse. Sighted it in then we started challanging each other, speed shooting, one shot at a self marking target then one at the regular targetboard. first one to clear bottles, calling out different stances and hitting the self marking target. etc etc

close to 400 rounds together
 
I agree with you people as well. The often scorned .22 rimfire is the most often selected to go out and just have fun round for me as well. It is also the round that can cause me the most frustration as a shooter as well in that it is also the caliber I shoot bullseye match with. It amazes me how I can pop cans all day between 50 and 75 yard with my friends but getting that same size bullet to stay inside the black rings at 50 feet during a timed match can be so difficult.
 
Sounds like I have came to the right place. I started bringing several .22's on my shooting trips. My friends don't get it. But I love them.
(I feel like I just introduced myself at an A.A. meeting)
 
I'm just a retired gentleman living out in the country on social security and .22 caliber rimfire is all I can afford but I love plinking in the front yard with my two Henrys and one Savage Mark II at sundown.
 
I have a wide collection of calibers ranging from .22-50BMG. While I am old school and my favorite is probably one of my .308's, but the ones that get the most action are my .22's. From .22 match pistols, to my CMMG AR .22 these definitely earn their keep. I teach people to shoot and basic fundamentals on these. I always tell people that a good .22 is one of the best investments as far as keeping proficient and even protection if needed. Ammo is cheap and plentiful.
 
I have an old Savage/Anschutz 64 with a 26-inch barrel and the sweetest trigger you can imagine. Picked it up very-well used for $350. A competition target shooter used it a lot before I got it.

The long 26-inch barrel makes the gun quieter than some of my pellet rifles when using subsonic 22 ammo. The combination of that wonderful trigger, great feeling palm swell, incredible accuracy, just the right weight (not too heavy) and quiet shooting make it the most fun rifle to shoot that I own, and I own a lot.
 
The long 26-inch barrel makes the gun quieter than some of my pellet rifles when using subsonic 22 ammo
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Try using CB caps. Very quiet! Good for shooting squirrels or pests when you don't want to disturb anybody.
 
i currently have a ruger 10-22 that i have had for 10 years and it is my work horse. Never had a jam, but i use good clean ammo and always clean thouroughly after use. im looking forward to purchasing my next ruger 10/22 with composite stock and scope package.
 
The .22 is probably the most fun and cheapest way to get into shooting and also keep up good shooting habits. In my youth I had a 10/22 that I could not tell how many thousands and thousands of

rounds I shot through. During that time you could get Winchester Wildcat .22 for $0.79 a box/$7.90 a brick from Roses Stores (anybody remember those stores). Many, many fun filled afternoons and

weekends was spent shooting with family and friends for a little of nothing, but I guess priceless memories today. Unfortunately, someone wanted that .22 worse than me and it was stolen some years

ago. I have replaced it with another 10/22 and picked up a henry lever .22 and I still enjoy shooting with the family and teaching my young girls (9yo and 4yo) to have fun and be safe with firearms.

The .22 line of rimfire was probably one of the best cartridges ever invented!
 
Yet more .22 fun today!

Today I had my first day of .22 plinking on metal targets. Ranges don't have them, so it is only on private land that you do this and my urban backyard hardly qualifies, but our club head has open land and so today, in rain (but blissfully no wind), I had a punt!

Great fun with my CZ 452: six targets: one at about 96m, then 107m, 149m, 167m, 210 and 244m!! Five shots at each was the only rule.

Considering I was not using clik adjustments from my 25m zero, only hold-over, and I'd forgotten all my Nikon "Spot-on" print outs, I was amazed when I got consistent hits on several targets. Howver, I did miss the 210 and 167 plates completely.

Oh well... live and learn, but it was great fun to get the "dong" half a second after the trigger was squeezed!!
 
I absolutely love the .22 LR. It can be a mind numbing challenge to the point of OBSESSION for those Really small groups!!

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Great gun and great group! I've just been outside going "pop--ding" with a Henry rifle and Super Colibris in the front yard. A small fawn was grazing just a few feet away. Fun stuff.
 
I have an old JC Higgins single shot that I got when I was a kid, a Marlin semi auto with the micro groove barrel and a remington 541 custom sporter.
I love shooting 22 lr.
 
Noise reduction

Try using CB caps. Very quiet! Good for shooting squirrels or pests when you don't want to disturb anybody.
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I experimented with all brands of CB caps, but the accuracy is not there, and they are only good to about 35 yards. At 50 yards, I found a lot of vertical stringing of groups with CB caps. I can get one-hole groups with sub-sonic LR ammo at that distance. With the 26-inch barrel on my Anschutz, the .22 LR sub-sonics are as quiet as the CB caps are in shorter barrels, with way more power and way flatter trajectory. I don't need anything quieter. There is no muzzle blast noise using sub-sonics with that barrel. If using super-sonic ammo, you get the "crack" noise of the bullet breaking the sound barrier. With sub-sonics that is gone. In shorter-barreled 22's, I don't notice much difference in noise between sub-sonic 22 LR ammo and high-velocity ammo. The long barrel is the key.

I wish more companies would make long-barreled 22 rimfires for the noise reduction alone. Very few people know about this noise reduction because very few people have shot sub-sonic ammo in a 26-inch barreled 22 rimfire.
 
Yes the subsonic stuff is great. I just use CB caps when range is 25 yrds or less, and I don't want to alert a neighboring tree hugger that I shot a red squirrel. I use the CB long.
 
All that for a price hardly worth mentioning.
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Couple that with extremely slow fire and it appears the rifle is paying you to shoot.

I have 7 .22s, 6 semi-autos and 1 bolt. Guess which one gets shot the most. Yup, the bolt. Nothing more relaxing than shooting for groups at 100 yards, and firing less than a box in an hour.

It has been and always will be my favorite caliber.
 
I have to agree with the OP.
I have 4 bolt action 22LRs and 2 10-22 conversions and one Kidd 10-22.
Bolts -------------------- Semis
Cooper 57M ---------------- Kidd 20 inch match barrel
Winchester 52C ------------ Ruger with 20 inch Butler Creek match barrel
Sako Quad ----------------- Ruger with 20 inch Butler Creek Combo barrel
Kimber SVT

They are listed in the order of accuracy measured over 25,000 rounds of ammo sent down range. All fun to shoot but the bolt actions are great training aids for my other bolt rifles.
Interestingly, the Kidd just about holds it own with the Cooper and the Winchester. The three all average well under 0.4 inches for their 5 favorite ammos - Cooper 0.336, Winchester 0.352, and the Kidd 0.372.
The Sako averages 0.380, the Ruger BC Match averages 0.428, the Ruger BC Combo 0.456 and the Kimber trails with 0.488.

The best part of the 22LRs is that they are great for teaching novice shooters the joy of shooting. My grandson and granddaughter learned on their 22LRs and my granddaughter is now an accomplished and dedicated shooter who now can out shoot me easily.

That's the best part of shooting 22LRs - they are easy to learn on and aren't loud enough and don't recoil enough to scare off a new shooter. Those two characteristics also make them great tools for refining one's shooting technique. There aren't many other rifles that allow you to see the bullet hit the target as you are evaluating your technique.
 
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