Is .22 worth it?

[Ruster]

I have got an hmr already and as far as I can see all the .22 would offer is silence and cheaper ammo.

 

I have no worries about needing a silent shot and the ammo price is not a problem anyway so am I missing any positives to having a .22 as well?

 

Just got it in my head I want a .22 the same make and model as my hmr to have a matching pair lol

[Scully]

Is .22 worth it? Yes. If I was only allowed one rifle it would be the .22rf.

[colin lad]

+1 as above

[remmy1100]

ive hmr and .22 and the .22 gets more use and takes more rabbits per year but the 17 takes a few foxes and all long range rabbits that are impossible to approach stealthly so both have plus point but as above if it had to be one it would be the .22.

[Zetter]

I also have both but to be honest always reach for the .22. The sound of silence is nice some of my perms are small and the .17 crack can be awfully loud when shooting with Night vision.

Also if you are out slightly when head shottting bunnies you don't smash them up like with the HMR.

[kent]

Is the world's most popular hunting rifle worth getting?

Let me think.about that a while it's a hard one

[Ruster]

The hmr does everything the .22 does but better just the noise is louder can't see why .22 is more popular

[browning123]

I've also got both and tend to use the .22 more........I had 8 squirrels and a magpie with it this afternoon.

[69chris]

i ditched my hmr but kept my .22 - cant imagine not having at least one !!!!!

[Scully]

The hmr does everything the .22 does but better just the noise is louder can't see why .22 is more popular

Define 'better'.

[Houseplant]

I have no worries about needing a silent shot and the ammo price is not a problem anyway so am I missing any positives to having a .22 as well?

 

I think you have highlighted the reasons for owning a .22, so if they aren't important to you, then why bother? Personally, I love the quietness of it. Subsonic rounds and a suppressor make it quieter than an air rifle!

[malkiserow]

I find both are useful in different ways.

[welshwarrior]

I find both are useful in different ways.

+1 but any gun cabinet is empty that doesn't have a 22 lr IMHO.

[Harnser]

The most important tool in any shooters draw .

 

Harnser

[margun]

Some here have forgotten the benefit of .22lr over .17hmr on rabbits for consumption. Unless you want pre processed mince.

 

HMR is too noisy for its worth and in my opinion it's a fad. Even worse when someone puts a night scope on one, it defeats the idea of stealth. If you want to take rabbits for consumption it's long rifle. If you want to kill rabbits and close foxes it's WMR . I should declare favouritism here, .17hmr gone due to lack of use. I now only use .22wmr for long rabbits and close fox (underrated calibre) and .22lr for near rabbit work (orchards etc). 22lr is the staple and remains so for a reason.

Edited February 26, 2016 by margun

[foosa]

Got rid of the hmr soon after getting it, to me it was just a loud, expensive to run rabbit gun compared to the .22rf, which got me 30 rabbits last night, costing £2.70 in Winchester sub sonic, And no one knew I was about as there were no super sonic cracks going about which was good as I was next to a caravan park. I've never had much need to shoot rabbits at 100 yards plus either, the furthest last night would have been 50 yards maybe. So, as I get through around a 1000 .22 rounds a year and like the quiet, easy shooting nature of the .22 rf it is certainly worth it to me.

[margun]

Got rid of the hmr soon after getting it, to me it was just a loud, expensive to run rabbit gun compared to the .22rf, which got me 30 rabbits last night, costing £2.70 in Winchester sub sonic, And no one knew I was about as there were no super sonic cracks going about which was good as I was next to a caravan park. I've never had much need to shoot rabbits at 100 yards plus either, the furthest last night would have been 50 yards maybe. So, as I get through around a 1000 .22 rounds a year and like the quiet, easy shooting nature of the .22 rf it is certainly worth it to me.

+1

Edited February 26, 2016 by margun

[malkiserow]

Got rid of the hmr soon after getting it, to me it was just a loud, expensive to run rabbit gun compared to the .22rf, which got me 30 rabbits last night, costing £2.70 in Winchester sub sonic, And no one knew I was about as there were no super sonic cracks going about which was good as I was next to a caravan park. I've never had much need to shoot rabbits at 100 yards plus either, the furthest last night would have been 50 yards maybe. So, as I get through around a 1000 .22 rounds a year and like the quiet, easy shooting nature of the .22 rf it is certainly worth it to me.

 

Hard ground can change that though...... times like now it's good but sometimes it's bad for ricochets

[margun]

 

Hard ground can change that though...... times like now it's good but sometimes it's bad for ricochets

That's a fair comment. Nothing a WMR can't overcome though ;-)

[team tractor]

I have both but after using my hmr for 3 years now I find I like the change and challenge of using my lr.

I think the hmr gets less runners and the noise confuses the bunnys so you get a second shot.

 

I'll be keeping both guns permanently .

 

They have different jobs / uses in my eyes

[foosa]

 

Hard ground can change that though...... times like now it's good but sometimes it's bad for ricochets

that's why I pick my back stops carefully, decent sloping bank and angle of shot, wether hard ground or not will stop a 22rf. Anyone who relies on a bullet being frangible to stop it's onward travel is heading for disaster, cos they don't always break up, that goes for centre fire rounds too.

[margun]

that's why I pick my back stops carefully, decent sloping bank and angle of shot, wether hard ground or not will stop a 22rf. Anyone who relies on a bullet being frangible to stop it's onward travel is heading for disaster, cos they don't always break up, that goes for centre fire rounds too.

I'd be interested (genuinely, not a dig) to see some ricochet profiles of .22lr. We've all done it- sometimes it sounds like it goes for miles. Is that slow and close or long and far?

 

Where I shoot (east Kent) usually has houses and roads within a few hundred metres. It's chalky ground, not Flint but ricochets happen occasionally. The risk of a mishap is very low when shots are taken with a backstop or from a steep angle (off a Defender roof). Still gives me the chills every time I hear it though, hence my preference for the faster WMR.

Edited February 26, 2016 by margun

[foosa]

I'd be interested (genuinely, not a dig) to see some ricochet profiles of .22lr. We've all done it- sometimes it sounds like it goes for miles. Is that slow and close or long and far?

 

Where I shoot (east Kent) usually has houses and roads within a few hundred metres. It's chalky ground, not Flint but ricochets happen occasionally. The risk of a mishap is very low when shots are taken with a backstop or from a steep angle (off a Defender roof). Still gives me the chills every time I hear it though, hence my preference for the faster WMR.

yep,it isn't a nice sound that's for sure, where I shoot is mostly hills and soft earth, rarely flat ground.

[fortune]

I use the 22rf because there is so much meat damage with the hmr, noise and cost of ammo in relation to the 22rf. In all the years that I have been using the 22rf I have only had a couple of ricochets and although it might sound a bit. The remnants of the bullet aren't going to go a long way because it is tumbling and loosing energy very rapidly. In comparison a 7.62x51 >> 308 tracer round out of a gpmg is very impressive at night when it ricochets off of the butts upwards. it goes a long long way.

Edited February 27, 2016 by fortune

[Bazooka Joe]

The hmr does everything the .22 does but better just the noise is louder can't see why .22 is more popular

 

 

22 has got to be the most popular round, been around donkeys years unlike the HMR, when it first came out it was the new kid on the block, now you hear less & less..