Which do you find more all around useful, a 22 pistol or a 22 rifle?

B

breakingcontact

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Like them both, but which one is more useful in practical ways.

I'm leaning towards rifle, but the compact nature of the pistol is nice too and it still retains some of the function of the rifle.
 
My .22 rifles typically take care of backyard varmints and get shot for general fun purposes, my .22 pistol really only gets shot for fun at the range.
 
I find a 22 rifle more useful overall than a revolver.

I do like 22 handguns quite a lot however. I went through a phase of mostly buying 22 handguns. Had a couple 22 rifles. Then I started getting more interested in punching paper and groups, and I shoot the rifles much more often now.
 
I have to say a 22 rifle. The only thing I ever use my 22 pistol for is targets. A 22 rifle can do that as well as being great for varmints and hunting some small game.
 
Rifle. Pests, squirrels and rabbits. Also punching paper targets or cans in the woods. I do however shoot my .22 pistol a lot. Loaded with CCI mini mags, it is a nice small backup gun. If I could only have one, bye bye pistol. Rifle stays.
 
Another rifle guy here... Actually, the .22 pistols I have owned were bought for "fun"... Fun was not really ever a consideration when deciding I "need" a .22 rifle...

I couldn't so easily get one shot kills with the pistol as I do with the rifle...

Brent
 
Easy choice for usefulness = Rifle

Easier to shoot well, better range and accuracy, more options for sights/optics
 
My Ruger Single Six .22lr gets shot the most of all my handguns (used by every member of the family except the baby boy on almost a daily basis).

That said its almost always used to dispatch cans, plastic bottles filled with water, swinging targets and/or paper. I DO use it to dispatch varmints that end up in my traps when they come after my garbage cans but that's fairly rare.

My 10/22 (rifle) though has taken more animals than ALL my other firearms combined. Its my varmint rifle and I've killed everything from squirrels and rabbits to possums and coons to yotes with it. Basically if its in my back yard and its a varmint its getting at least one bullet from my 10/22. In fact my 10/22 hangs on a hanger I put by the back door specifically for that purpose.

So which is more useful? It depends on what you consider useful. For me I'd say it was a toss up - I taught my kids how to shoot handguns with the Single Six and we still shoot a lot out of it every day. I think that's darned useful. Of course my 10/22 has kept rabbits out of the garden, coons and yotes away from the chicken and feral cats and possums out of everything else. That's pretty darned useful too. Were I to lose either one of those I'd be very deeply saddened at their loss and would move to either recover or replace them ASAP.
 
No brainer, rifle hands down. I have gotten by with nothing more than a 12ga. Then it was a 12ga and a .22 rifle. I went on from there but if if I had to I could go back to the 12ga/.22lr rifle combo again. .22 handguns are fun and a pleasure to shoot but far from a must have.
 
Pistol.
No question about it.
It's not even close.

In fairness though,,,,,I'm not all that hot with a rifle.
 
Rifle...Winchester model 190 with 4x scope and a red laser is my daytime and night time varmit gun. I live on a ranch and all skunks, porcupines, feral cats, raccoons, etc that are found near the house are dispatched with it almost exclusively.
 
The rifle is more useful. But in my younger days, carrying around a rifle would have been just plain stupid in my vehicle for occasional plinking. So the choice is situational.
 
Rifle.

my .17 HMR rifle sees more use than my .22LR. Both have taken a lot of squirrels.

I also have a Taurus Tracker .17 HMR revolver. It is fun, but it isn't the most practical revolver.
 
I never realized what Pops meant when he harped on how much fun it was to shoot a .22 caliber rifle until I went off to college and had to supply my own ammo.

For what it cost to run four mags out of my Glock, my lady friend could push around Diet Coke and RC cans all afternoon with my 10/22.

My 10/22 has dispatched more wayward critters than any other gun I own, even the 77/22 I bought for that exact purpose.

Not to say my 22/45 doesn't get a lot of range time too, but that 10/22 I got for Christmas in the sixth grade is by and large my most used and useful firearm.
 
Tough call but I'm going with the pistol. Easy to tote while working, woods loafing or riding horse. Sees plenty of small game time too.
 
Not possible to answer.
They are two different critters designed for different uses.
My Ruger 10/22, like so many others here, is my backyard rifle. It gets shot a lot more than my Single Six. Previously, when I had a farm, it was my truck gun.
But, while working on the farm, hunting and hiking the Single Six was with me. Shot less but it's value was in being with me when needed. Three times, over the years, it was pulled for defensive purposes. Never shot as such, just the presence made the agressors change their minds and leave. I had it when I would not have had a rifle.
Get both, you won't regret it. Except for the prices of the SSs today. :eek:
 
More useful? Rifle. More portable? Pistol.

I had an uncle who used to carry a 22 pistol on his farm. He shot a lot of rabbits, because he had it with him.

Short answer is buy both. A Savage 22 is $120 at Wal-mart. And buy a pistol, too.
 
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