.22 LR or .22 magnum

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Chartermain

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I am considering buying a Henry Lever in .22. The question I have is what should I buy; the regular .22 or the magnum. Any suggestions / comments are appreciated
 
^^^What they said ^^^

.22 magnum is a great round, when you can find some for sale. Recent experiences with even a .22 LR shortage the .22 magnum was even more rare.
 
I much prefer the 22 mag, I have several Winchester levers in this cartridge and a standard 22 LR Henry, haven't shot the Henry in years but use my T-bolt Browning and Win lever 22 mags regularly.
 
22lr ftw. The next step would be the .223, which is close to the same price, but way more err, bang for your buck. 22 mag is almost as expensive as 223.
 
I'm stepping up to 22 mag from 22 LR as a fun plinker. I'm also dropping the 17 mach2 and staying with 17 HMR. Fun is fun, I'm not concerned with the cost of ammo.
 
If you are using the rifle for casual plinking, teaching youngsters to shoot, for shooting squirrels and game birds, or to dispatch animals in traps, the .22 LR is the correct answer. If you're a fox hunter who might use his rimfire to take a coyote of opportunity, the .22 Magnum is the correct answer. It nicely fills the gap between the .22 LR and the .22 Hornet, if you actually have a need to fill that gap, without handloading.
 
The .22 mag and .17 HMR are high velocity rounds with better range, impact and accuracy at range. Pricier but worth it if you hunt or shoot out to 100yds consistently.
I won't hunt with my .22LR past 50 yds as I don't trust myself to make hits with it past that. The .22 mag gives you a few more options.
If all you shoot is 50yds or less, then the LR makes sense but if your shooting is longer range than the magnum makes sense.
 
If you don't have any rimfire rifles, get the .22 LR... later consider the .22 WMR.

I have and use both regularly, but I could easily live without the WMR and use downloaded .22 centerfire rifles instead.
 
Quote' - "I call BS...I picked a 200 round box of CCI maxi mags (Troy Landry).. for $55.99 at Cabelas..
Lets see your price for 200 rounds of premium .223 ammo."


He said Almost- not long ago 1000rnds of .223 was $299 here & there. Ive seen some for under $400 @ 1000 recently. So yes, it can be Close-ish. Of course .22 Mag is cheaper, but not always buy Huge margins. I picked up 200 rounds, {re-loadable} for $80 at the gun show. Your 200 rnds was over $60. On avergae 50 rnds of 22Wmr will cost around $20+ for 50. I shoot both. Love .22 Magnum. More the merrier!
 
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We still need some peramiters, if you are going to shoot lots of gophers than LR is the way to go. Price out 3000 rds of each for a summer of gophers. More if lucky. I reload so a 22 mag is of little use, I love my hornets, 222, &223. If you don't reload and plan to shoot fox and beaver the mag is the way.
 
I have a Henry Frontier octagonal barrel 22 mag that I really like. I don't shoot the 22 mag quite as much since ammo prices jumped up but it's still not unreasonable as a plinker. My rifle really like the Win 45 gr dynapoint round which at ~1500 fps is a pretty good grouse/bunny load too. The Troy Landry CCI bulk stuff goes about 2.5" at 100 yards so not a benchrest gun by any means but decent for my purposes. I would like to get a Henry 22lr as a companion to it some day.
 
Thanks for the feedback guys. I have a Lakefield Mossberg semi auto in .22 which I bought in the '60's. Just looking for a companion lever. So I will likely go the magnum.
 
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