.22LR vs .22WMR Rifle

CarloNord

CarloNord

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So I've stumbled into a bit of disposable income, and I'm looking to add a rimfire to my list of truck accessories. Thing is, I'm not sure what I should go for. I'm looking at the Chiappa Little Badger because it's cheap, reliable, and I've heard has a great trigger pull. My uncle actually owns one, and was really excited to show it to me, it's a nice little gun and it feels good in my hands.

So I want one, but I can't for the life of me figure out if I want to grab one in magnum or not. I won't be shooting squirrels or anything that small. I expect it to be a grouse gun, with the odd rabbit, with the possibility of a survival rifle in case I end up stranded or something.

I've been told that the magnum is only good for killing, it ruins meat, use it on pests for pest control unless you're good with headshots. I've also been told that it's quite inaccurate as .22 goes. I've been told by others it's a tack driver, that it's fine and even if I'm worried about wrecking my dinner I can use underpowered rounds, but in that case why not just go with a .22LR? Heck, they're cheaper and every store has them, availability is not a concern unlike the magnum.

My uncle swears up and down by the magnum, he loves the things, and basically holds them as superior to .22LR in every way, but I want some more opinions. It's only really on the table because I like versatility, and I think that's important for a gun I expect to be lugging with me often and might be needed in an emergency, like the time my uncle was at his property and a wolf came around. What do you guys think?
 
Ya, I've looked at prices and it's usually hovering around 4 22LR for every magnum, some going even so far as to be 10 LR for every WMR, which is a pretty big difference. I don't expect to go shooting too much, not till I get more settled into a job and have stable income, till then I usually do my plinking with my LR anyway, or the SKS for some big fun.
 
22mag is a jacketed bullet vs the .22lr being lead or copper coating. I only own one .22mag rifle. A savage 93 bvss. Anyhow, it is at best FOR ME a 1 moa gun at best. In its window of usefulness for me it is just fine. I use it for big jackrabbits, and occasional grouse.
My .22lr guns are just as accurate and with 3 of them, 3x as accurate. As effective and fun as the 22lr is on small game, I occasionally appreciate the extra reach the magnum has for long shots on Arctic hares.
 
Little Badger comes in 17hmr as well, if that works for you.

I had a little badger in 22wmr and couldn't get much precision out of it, but I think I only found two brands of ammo to try. I ended up trading that for a 22LR version and I get a lot more precision out of that one. Never tried the badger in 17hmr, but love my Savage A17.
 
The Badger is a survival rifle, and not very fun to shoot.The sights are useless and poor quality.22wmr is a hard hitting, accurate round, that has twice the energy of a 22lr.I don't know where the reports of poor accuracy came from, as my 22 wmr Anschutz is very accurate rifle, from my experience.It reaches much farther than a 22lr and has twice the effective range, and is more fun to plink with as well.The folks that complain about this round are just whining, and it has nothing to do with the effectiveness of the 22wrm.They probably like their ancient Cooey single shot, and won't venture past that, or pay more than a few cents, for ammo.The ammunition for this round has improved greatly over the years, but it isn't a target round, and has no overpriced target ammunition available for it yet.There is a lot more 22wmr varieties, than in the past,, that will allow us to find a good and accurate, round for our particular rifles.
 
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CarloNord said:
So I've stumbled into a bit of disposable income, and I'm looking to add a rimfire to my list of truck accessories. Thing is, I'm not sure what I should go for. I'm looking at the Chiappa Little Badger because it's cheap, reliable, and I've heard has a great trigger pull. My uncle actually owns one, and was really excited to show it to me, it's a nice little gun and it feels good in my hands.

So I want one, but I can't for the life of me figure out if I want to grab one in magnum or not. I won't be shooting squirrels or anything that small. I expect it to be a grouse gun, with the odd rabbit, with the possibility of a survival rifle in case I end up stranded or something.

I've been told that the magnum is only good for killing, it ruins meat, use it on pests for pest control unless you're good with headshots. I've also been told that it's quite inaccurate as .22 goes. I've been told by others it's a tack driver, that it's fine and even if I'm worried about wrecking my dinner I can use underpowered rounds, but in that case why not just go with a .22LR? Heck, they're cheaper and every store has them, availability is not a concern unlike the magnum.

My uncle swears up and down by the magnum, he loves the things, and basically holds them as superior to .22LR in every way, but I want some more opinions. It's only really on the table because I like versatility, and I think that's important for a gun I expect to be lugging with me often and might be needed in an emergency, like the time my uncle was at his property and a wolf came around. What do you guys think?
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While I'm trying to resist the temptation to steer people towards, OR away from a given gun...I found almost nothing redeeming about the Badger unless your situation requires a very small, cheap, light, almost-fully-folding pack rifle. The one I bought (new) decided to auto-fire about 30-40 rounds in. The ergonomics are very poor and in cold weather, that wire stock is very unpleasant to shoot with. My only day out with it was below zero, between that and the serious malfunction=no thanks. Dealer replaced it with a new one, sold the replacement NIB/unfired. I think they're a rifle meant for occasions where you just might "need" a gun, but don't really plan on doing any recreational shooting with it. Almost every 22 I've ever owned/shot was a nicer experience than the Badger.

22LR vs 22WMR-unlike galdalfe's experience with 22WMR, I've never shot an accurate rifle in that caliber. Admittedly, I've only owned one myself (Savage) but I've shot at least 2 others, off a bench, @ 100 yards. 2"+ groups were not that uncommon, some ammo types like Winchester were actually 2-3X that size. If you're getting 1"-1-1/4" @ 100 yards, count yourself lucky. I know there are exceptions, but that seems to be the consensus. I'm keeping an eye open for a particular rifle that is supposed to shoot 22WMR accurately, and I may take one more crack at the caliber if I manage to find one. When I actually SEE a 22WMR shooting accurately, my opinion might change. Until then, I'll suppose I'll just sound like I'm whining. :)

For the record, I really like 22WMR, and spent my second summer groundhog hunting using that Savage. Accuracy was about 1-1/2" consistently @ 100 with that gun, so I limited the shots to -125 yards (most were less) and only took body shots. FAR FAR more effective on groundhogs than my experience using 17HMR on them.

So, my opinion is this-if you're seldom going to shoot it, and it's primarily for hunting..22WMR is your answer.

If you're going to shoot it a fair bit/seldom hunt, accuracy is a priority, cost-per-shot a concern=22LR all the way. There is plenty of 22LR ammo out there that rivals the cost 22WMR, but you should have no trouble finding an accurate option for the 22LR for $12-$13/50 on the high end. Ammo in the $6/50=lots out there, and likely one your 22LR will shoot well.
 
It really comes down to how often you are going to be shooting it . If it is going to be used sparingly as an emergency/hunting gun , then get the mag as it has more power . If you are going to be blasting away with it as a fun gun , get a 22lr as the ammo is cheaper ..
 
I have had several 22 mags and never had one that would shoot really well. If you are using it for survival I wouldn’t get the mag as unless you head shoot small game you will be left with nothing to eat. In a survival situation you need to take the highest percentage shot and that isn’t the head.

With the chiappa you get what you pay for and that ain’t much.

Good luck.
 
wkp774 said:
22 Wmr 50 grain if you are trying to kill something, 40 plus beavers so far this year. .17 for target shooting.
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Awesome on the 40 plus beavers...hard to argue against that kind of success...:)

I'd bet you'd have the same 40+ beavers using a 17HMR though

I do plan on getting a 22WMR barrel kit for my CZ 455, just so I have both options available :)
 
If you're looking for a gun to depend on, drop the badger from your mind. Of all the crappy guns I've ever had, it is the worst. The steel is soft as butter (I guarantee it was the cheapest they could find), the pic rails are plastic crap held on by tiny screws. With a scope, those rails will change the point of impact when you tighten the mounts. The rear sight is only a suggestion, because you can slide it wherever you like just by looking at it. If you want to use that rear sight anyway, you'll have to bend the wire stock so you can get a sight picture.

The worst part is, as 22LRGUY mentioned, is the hammer that decides it won't stay cocked on some guns. If you shoot much, I'd be surprised if it doesn't get you too. I've got one like that. The other still works. The 22 mag I have is very accurate, so that's not an issue.

As far as accuracy between 22LR and 22Mag, there isn't much difference. I've shot many 22's that can't do better than 1" 5 shot groups at 50 yards with 10 different kinds of ammo. Same as .22 mag. So don't worry about it for plinking/hunting, you won't notice much difference unless you are shooting for target scores and such.
To me a bolt action 22 mag is a fine alternative for an everything rifle, but for simple plinking, the .22 LR is a better choice, due to lower noise, shorter range and cheaper ammo.
For shooting rabbits and squirrels, I only used the 22 LR and it did reasonably well for that. If you want to hunt that kind of game, you would be better served with a 17 hm2, which is not as explosive as the 17hmr.
Ammo is cheaper too. A 17 hm2 will generally group around 1/2 at 50 yards with any ammo you can get, and you can shoot out to over 100 yards while hunting with minimal drop.
 
I have owned a Sako Quad for over 15 years now, it comes with 4 barrels in the more common rimfire calibres.

I purchased a additional heavy profile .22LR barrel for target shooting, and out of the 5 barrels, the .22 Mag is the least used. And by some margin too. I cannot find any particular use for it and it is really surplus to requirement.

The two .22LR barrels are heavily used, for the range and hunting and plinking. The .17Mach2 is also heavily used, mainly for hunting of grouse on the island. I'm looking for a heavy profile barrel in that calibre for targets and plinking. The .17HMR is another awesome round with the ability to be accurate at longer ranges.

I would not ever contemplate buying another rifle in .22Mag. I cannot think of any advantage it holds over the .17HMR, and even some of the hot .22LR's give it a run for the money (pardon the pun). I'd avoid it personally and stick with .22LR and if you need to reach out further go .17HMR.

Candocad.
 
The 22 mag is a great cartridge imo.
For Coyotes in the 100 yd range no pelt damage.
Have also killed many Beaver and even a Wolf.
Always have one in the skimmer on the trapline.
 
hawk-i said:
Awesome on the 40 plus beavers...hard to argue against that kind of success...:)

I'd bet you'd have the same 40+ beavers using a 17HMR though

I do plan on getting a 22WMR barrel kit for my CZ 455, just so I have both options available :)
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.17 dont got the lead behind it for killing kind of damage on something solid like a beaver. Had a chiappa 22wmr biggest joke you could waste money on.
 
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