I used to shoot bigger centerfire rifles several times a week. .300 Winchesters, .243's, 30-30's and .303 followed me to the range quite often. I even cracked out the odd handgun or two and headed down. .22 rifles never really interested me, and I don't know why. The very first real gun I ever fired was a single shot Cooey .22 that I fired exactly twice at a jack rabbit. I missed both times, then my friend took it away from me and continued to miss until he was loooong gone. After that, I always wanted one. When the fall Canadian tire catalauge arrived the first thing I looked at were the guns. (Remember when they had real guns in there?) I still remember drooling over the Remington pump action .22 with "Real big game sights"
But I never got one. Then I had air rifles and really enjoyed them. It wasn't until several years later I got my license to both drink and buy guns. My first gun was a 2400 Winchester 12 gauge. Still got it, too. After that, a Marlin 30-30 was added to my collection. And then a .270 rifle. I was convinced I wouldn't need a new gun, ever. I had no intention on getting a sissy .22 rifle. I had real guns now. Then my friend suggestion coming with on a gopher shoot. I decided ok, and bought my first .22 rifle. A Marlin model 60 with a synthetic stock and iron sights. It was the cheapest gun on the rack. I figured I'd only use it this one weekend, so why bother?
Well we went on a long drive and finally got to the place. I loaded up the tube and as soon as we started to walk, my first gopher of the day appeared at a pretty good distance. About 100 yards if I remember correct. I fired 1 shot and hit it. A few more gophers and I was thinking this was way more fun than my air rifles. Not long after that day, I put a pretty nice scope on it, and found that it really liked Cyclones. Now I was hooked. That rifle started to come with me on my range trips. I found it was fun to shoot that while my bigger stuff cooled. Pretty soon, I aquired another couple .22's. A single shot Ithaca lever action, and a Savage MKII. Those rifles started to take the place in my gun cases, and I would only bring one or two centerfires.
Fast foward to now. I have car payments, a mortgage and a grown up life. I can't afford to blast off the big guns much. But I don't really miss it. I don't reload much either. In a year, I'm luccky if I shoot off half a dozen boxes of centerfire ammo. Now when I go to the range to play, more often than not it's a .22 rifle that comes for the ride. I've found that shooting groups at 200 or 300 yards is ok, but paper is paper. I much prefer trying to shoot little groups with my CZ rifle. Or maybe more reactive targets scattered about. I think that shooting a .22 still keeps me in shape and maintains my form for when I do shoot the bigger stuff. But in reality, if I even fire a shot in the Fall with a hunting rifle, it's a rare occasion. I like the experiance of the hunt. But there is somthing special about walking a fencerow with a .22 rifle. That's somthing I hope to never lose. And that's the thing that I willallow my children to someday enjoy. I stumbbled upon rimfires, and now I try to encourage everyone to enjoy them to their fullest. To me, it's one of the most satisfying things I can do.
