When you need a step up from the .22 long rifle cartridge the .22 Magnum has been there for you since 1960.
Lets take a look at this little hard hitting classic cartridge.
While I am a huge fan of the .22 Long Rifle cartridge there are times when you need a step up in range and power. Centerfire cartridges like the now almost obsolete .22 Hornet are ridiculously expensive to buy and the more available and larger .223 cartridges are overkill for hunting and pest control in many of the more populated areas. What is needed is an in between cartridge that fills specific needs. This is where the .22 WMR cartridge, otherwise known as the .22 Magnum, comes into play.
My first real use of this very useful cartridge came when I was hunting a farmer friend’s fields for groundhogs. Most shots were generally within 100 yards and in an apple orchard. Right away I noticed my old Ruger 10/22 rifle in .22 Long Rifle cartridge was not dropping the pests quick enough and they were getting down their burrows before I could count them as dispatched. I needed a “walking varmint rifle”. This would have more power than the .22 LR cartridge, be even more accurate, and be light enough to carry and shoot without any supports like bipods, etc.
A Savage Arms bolt action rifle in .22 Magnum with a heavy weight barrel and a black, synthetic stock was certainly perfect for this application. Paired with Remington Premier .22 Magnum cartridges it would shoot under and inch groups at 100 yards and was well balanced. Soon the groundhog population thinned out and my farmer friend was quite happy about that.
That earlier success certainly gave me more interest in the “little cartridge that could”. I tried out the Taurus Model 72 in .22 Magnum, which is a handy takedown pump action rifle, and found it only preferred the cheapest priced Winchester 40 grain .22 Magnum ammo. Expensive ammunition in that cartridge grouped poorly. Well, it was the cheapest so my thought then was it is a big win!
I tried a Ruger Single Six that had a .22 Long Rifle and a .22 Magnum cylinders and found that the magnum cartridges were the most accurate. While the .22 Long Rifle cylinder offered cheaper priced plinking, the undersized .22 Long Rifle projectiles bouncing down a wider .22 Magnum barrel made it a bit of a waste.
Enter a gun show purchase, an AMT .22 Magnum Automag II pistol. This quick shooting pistol could belch some fire and the noise was quite sharp without earplugs as any .22 Magnum pistol is. It had a bad habit that even my seasoned gunsmith friend could not fix. It would have light firing pin hits. Once again she returned to the gun show to be traded off.
In the last decade I have tried out many .22 Magnum caliber rifles. I have reviewed 3 different Henry Arms Lever Action .22 Magnum rifles that all functioned flawlessly and would be great friends to any serious hunter or plinker.
I reviewed a few months back the all new Bear Creek Arsenal BC-202 .22 Magnum rifle that is an upgrade over the long discontinued Ruger 10/22 .22 Magnum rifles.
The below group proves it is quite a keeper!
Have you checked out the new generation of .22 Magnum rifles and even handguns? You might just find you have a new favorite caliber. It truly is a quite useful cartridge!
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