Any .22 rimfire junkies on this board?

[JSmith]

I love to shoot, and one of my favorites is the . 22 rimfire. I like to plink, target shoot and hunt with the rimfire.

 

[QRTRHRS]

22-250 does it for me.

With 50-55 grain Hornady Varmit loads. Love shootin' them hogs.



Had a good sight last night. Seeing one sitting on his hole, I worked my around to a blind I have set up. Lo and behold there was a big one maybe 50' away that I have been trying to get for awhile. I popped him and waited. About that time an imature female redtail hawk that's been hanging around screaming for food dropped in. So, I sat and watched her pig out for maybe a half hour before I slipped quietly away. Nothing like good cheap country entertainment.

 

[lschultz]

Thats what I learned to shoot on. Back in the ole days my dad was in the Texas National Guard and when he got out they gave him boxes of 22 rim fire that they use to target practice with. He had a trunk(thats what we called it)that was just about full of shorts,longs,hollow points. Me and my brother learned to shoot with those. We use to have an ole Remington single shot bolt action long barrel and a Stevens bolt action tube feed repeater(thats what we called it). They ole single shot we just about had the inside of the barrel smooth.

 

[NETim]

Oldies but goodies

I like the old Winchester and Remington . 22's. No plastic or aluminum on 'em. Walnut and blued steel, the way they should be made.



My favorite is the Winchester 62a pump. Balances so nicely and is a joy to carry afield. But there are other greats out there, the Remington 121 Fieldmaster, the Marlin 39, the Winchester 61 and 63 and so on.



Maybe not as accurate as an Anschutz but they're just pretty darn handy.



They're all fun to shoot though.



Tim

 

[BarryG]

I also love the 22. It is fun, easy on the shoulder or hands depending on pistol or rifle and cheap. Not uncommon for me to go through a few hundred rounds in a days fun. I also like the 223. I have a thompson contender with the super 14 in 223 and was looking to get a ruger 77 223 varmiter but man they sure are proud of those. Recently inherited a 1937 winchester model 70 in the 257 roberts with the original k2. 5 scope on it. Took it out a couple weeks ago and the thing still shoots great and is still sighted in. Too bad that scope which may have been top notch in its day is pure crap by todays standard. At 150 yards the center dot covers about an 8" circle. Hard to know where its gonna hit when it obscures the entire target. My eyes aren't what they used to be. Not nearly as cheap to shoot that thing, may be time to invest in some reloading equipment.

 

[Todd G]

Good reading:



http://rimfirecentral.com/forums/

 

[Steve St.Laurent]

Love shooting my . 22! I have a Ruger MK II target model with a 6 7/8" tapered barrel that my parents gave me for my 16th birthday (imagine THAT happening today ). I later put target grips on it with a thumb rest and a red dot weaver scope with an adjustable moa dot. I've put at least 60,000 rounds through it over the years. Only thing I don't like about it is it's kind of a pita to clean but it's worth it.



#ad

 

[The patriot]

I still have the Marlin 39A that my Dad bought for me in 1977.

I've put a lotta lead down the barrel, but it's still in very good condition and I love shooting it as much as when I was 13.

I also have a Ruger stainless govt target model. It's a blast to shoot, and accurate as all hell.

Eric

 

[lschultz]

Steve I got one of those Rugers. But I think mine is the Mark IV(if I remember right) it has a thick barrel think they call it bull barrel and it is very accurate. Your right they are a pain in the *** to clean.

 

[ddesau]

A hot .22 cal bullet

If you like hot . 22 cal rounds, check out CCI Quik-Shot - on impact the bullet splits into 3 pieces - good stuff. also I shoot the 30. 06 accelerator - very fast !

 

[merryman]

I too love the little rimfire and have several, including the Mosburg single shot I got for my 12th birthday from an older brother-----lets see, I was born in 1934, so I got that rifle in 1946!

They are fun to shoot at running jack rabbits!!!



But then my favorite kick is to pop a coyote coming to a call thinking I am going to be his lunch------but then sometimes a rimfire seems a little light when they get about 10 feet away befor you pull the trigger. In those situations, the 22-250 or the . 45 is a little more comforting.



Vaughn

 

[Elite1]

I love my old Winchester model 74 (short) made in 1940. It's a semi-auto and still shoots straight and is alot of fun. I inherited it from my Grandfather. It will only shoot shorts, it is a great varmit gun, but has taken down it's share of Coyotes, and even a few deer!

A good story about that gun, My Grandfather who had emphazyma in his later years, tagged along with my Father and Uncles deer hunting in Colorado. They set up camp, and my Grandpa stayed in camp with the trucks while the younger men went off tromping through the mountains in search of Bucks. They came back to camp several hours later, empty handed and disapointed.

Grandpa had a 7 point buck gutted and strung up on a tree, guess the Buck strolled right into camp, Grandpa took him down with one shot from the 22 short, right through the eye!

 

[Mike Ellis]

I am a devout . 22 fan, I must have shot up a couple of tons of rimfire ammo over the years.



When I was a boy, I remember poring over the Field & Stream mag and sundry gun magazines I was able to squeeze out of the guys at the gun store, still remember vividly the picture of the guy sitting on top of that huge stack of wooden blocks he shot with the Remington Nylon 66, boy I wanted one of those rifles so bad I could taste it.



I had to make do with my old Winchester Model 72, a tube magazine bolt action that would handle shorts, longs, long rifle, or any mix you happened to have in your pocket. I like the older rifles made of good old steel and walnut, my taste in handguns runs the same. Give me a big pasture with my son and a couple of . 22 rifles, a K22 holstered on the hip, and I am a happy camper.



Fun plinking: take a package of saltine crackers to the pond, and sit up high enough on the rim to eliminate ricochets. The crackers float and make excellent targets, no clean up needed and the fish love the fragments. Lots more fun than poking holes in paper.

 

[NETim]

Stoeger

Bought a '52 Stoeger catalog off of ebay a few years back. Just like the one my Dad had and the one we boys basically wore out thumbing through it.



I just love the Remington 121 Fieldmaster ad. Shows a pic of a rat working on a bag of corn. Just makes ya grab the ol' Remmy and open fire!



Tim

 

[slo-ryde]

I started out with a daisy bb gun, moved up to a . 22 caliber Crossman pellet rifle, and finally talked my dad into letting me use his Remington . 22 semi-automatic when I was 11 years old. It would hold shorts, longs, and long rifles. It was a nice looking gun and the accuracy was awesome compared to my earlier wmd's. My allowance forced me to use shorts almost all the time but I had a lot of fun.



I don't know where the rifle ended up but I still have some great memories of shooting up the Florida countryside. I have a Winchester . 22 magnum lever action carbine upstairs but haven't shot it in 20 years. California isn't one of the best states for having guns. There's an indoor shooting range 10 minutes from the house but punching holes in paper gets old real fast.

 

[Mike Ellis]

slo-ryde,



I don't know if the rules have changed but until recently California was one of the few states that had a lot of places you could go shooting outdoors on public land - plinking so to speak. I know they were having problems at one point with people not cleaning up, but unless they have closed the BLM lands you should still be able to go out and shoot under the blue sky.



Here in the north part of Texas (DFW area) we no longer have any places on public land where we can shoot outdoors. Only options are public ranges or on your own land. Until a few years ago, we could go up to the LBJ National Grasslands up by Decatur and shoot outdoors there, but they closed that down.



Public ranges have gotten real persnickety in the last several years, several in this area (Alpine for instance) won't allow you to fire full metal jacket ammo on the range, some discourage "military looking" rifles, etc etc frickin' etc. Solution has been to belong to a private range. I belonged to the Fort Worth Rifle and Pistol Club, but it was shut down a few years ago by the city following increasing buildup of houses in the area. It was in the same spot since the 1950's.



I now belong to another gun club, but have to drive 65 miles one way to get to the range so I don't get to go as often as I'd like.

 

[JSmith]

I have a built up Ruger 10/22, custom bbl 6-24x40 scope. I got this gun at a great price from WW. It shoots great but I have not shot it for a while because of another gun that I purchased. I purchased a CZ Varmint . 22 lr. Talk about accurate. Well under 1/2" groups at 50 yards. This is tree squirrel medicine. I have a Ruger MkII that I have not shot in years? A Marlin tube feed with a 4x scope on it. I really like this gun. In all the . 22lr is inexpensive to shoot and virtually anyone can shoot them. Is there anothere . 22lr down the road?

 

[slo-ryde]

Originally posted by Mike Ellis

slo-ryde,



I don't know if the rules have changed but until recently California was one of the few states that had a lot of places you could go shooting outdoors on public land - plinking so to speak. I know they were having problems at one point with people not cleaning up, but unless they have closed the BLM lands you should still be able to go out and shoot under the blue sky.



Here in the north part of Texas (DFW area) we no longer have any places on public land where we can shoot outdoors. Only options are public ranges or on your own land. Until a few years ago, we could go up to the LBJ National Grasslands up by Decatur and shoot outdoors there, but they closed that down.



Public ranges have gotten real persnickety in the last several years, several in this area (Alpine for instance) won't allow you to fire full metal jacket ammo on the range, some discourage "military looking" rifles, etc etc frickin' etc. Solution has been to belong to a private range. I belonged to the Fort Worth Rifle and Pistol Club, but it was shut down a few years ago by the city following increasing buildup of houses in the area. It was in the same spot since the 1950's.



I now belong to another gun club, but have to drive 65 miles one way to get to the range so I don't get to go as often as I'd like.

I always assume the worst when it comes to California. As I spend time in the forums it's obvious there are other states that are just as bad, sometimes worse! We don't have smog inspections on diesel trucks yet like some other states. The grass always does seem greener on the other side...

 

[QRTRHRS]

I have a range about 1/2 mile away as the crow flies so someone is always shooting either there or all around me. It bothers visitors but not me. I hear shooting across the way towards my neighbors, I figure my friends 80 something year old mom just popped a hog. I guess we are lucky to have open space and plenty of backstop, I can shoot clearer than I can hit.



Question? Is anyone using that . 17 that's been coming on for a year or so?

 

[merryman]

slo-ride--

Move to Bishop, or Alturas, you will find a million acres to shoot on.

Or Oregon, especially Eastern Oregon where there are ga-zillion acres where you can shoot to your hearts content.



Vaughn