Silly Competition Caliber

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mikept

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My local range membership requires a mandatory membership with CSSA, and it looks like all or most of their shooting competitions use 22lr. It seems kind of silly to use a caliber that no one would use in real life for anything other than target shooting, but I don't really have experience so I'd like to know:

1. What applications, other than target shooting, is the 22lr used for?
2. Are there Canadian competitions other than CSSA ones that use a "real" caliber like 9mm or another caliber that I might actually use someday in the military or police service?
3. If the 22lr will only serve as a target shooter, which competition/category/division is best to spend the least amount of money i.e. fewest upgrades and extra spending, closest to out of the box.
4. Since it's such a small caliber, can I do target shooting on private property outside of city limits, assuming there's a lot of space and a proper, legal, safe setup for it?
5. It looks like target competitions shoot from 25 or 50m. At that range, how does the 22lr accuracy compare with 9mm, 40, 45, etc. Since it's so small, does it arc more and/or get carried by wind more?
 
with a target pistol and decent .22 ammunition, I'd bet you could stand against most other target pistol shooters. It shoots nice if your gun isn't picky or you buy good ammo.

if you are talking about rifles, everyone needs to own a few .22's.. Should have a scoped bolt action... they can usually hit beer cans at 100 yards with practice... and everyone should own something like a 10-22 for when you want to burn bricks of shells and have a great time pretty cheaply..
 
Yup Rimfire is cheap to shoot, great for beginners and great practice for the experienced as well.

If they're non restricted everything from a coyote and smaller has been shot with my .22's. For resticted you're still stuck to only using them at the range. I know there are alot of rimfire competions out there, but I don't personally compete in them to give you any info on them. I do know that lots of 3gun matchs have a rimfre division you could shoot in.

Basically a .22 is a great starter gun for anyone I still have the 1st little marlin singleshot I got for christmas when I was 8 and the bolt action savage I got for my 12th birthday along with a few others that have followed me home for various other reasons.
 
Looks like I'll end up going the IPSC/IDPA route. I don't want to buy a 22 just so I can do the CSSA competitions. Also, I feel like practicing with 22 when I'll never use it ouside of target practice seems kind of pointless; I'd rather get used to the recoil and muzzle flip of a tool I might actually use someday.
 
you are better off starting with a .22, lets you practice the fundamentals without developing a flinch and its also cheap to shoot.

ive got a .22 conversion for all my competition guns and it makes practice easier on the pocket book. plus .22 is still my fav caliber, i own more guns in it than the rest of them put together
 
Are they merely asking you be member of CSSA for the insurance reasons, or ?
why you asking about 22lr for ? most clubs require you to merely be member of CSSA in order to be member at their club, but it has nothing to do with 22lr shooting..
Not sure if I understood your dilema ?
 
I think that what he is talking about when he says "CSSA Competitions" is actually Bullseye competitions.

CSSA is the arbiter of some of the match series in Ontario for Bullseye.
 
there is an article poking around somewhere on the site about how valuable .22 ammo is. They did a talk on .22 ammo on the Survival Podcast, it was a real eye opener on exactly how powerful .22 ammo can be.

I compete in tac rifle and pistol and we are required to have a CSSA membership as well
 
mikept said:
Looks like I'll end up going the IPSC/IDPA route. I don't want to buy a 22 just so I can do the CSSA competitions. Also, I feel like practicing with 22 when I'll never use it ouside of target practice seems kind of pointless; I'd rather get used to the recoil and muzzle flip of a tool I might actually use someday.
Click to expand...

I thought the same way, but a .22 will let you feel your gun and learn what you need to be looking for as far as "feeling". First time I heard someone tell me that I laughed my ass off at them. And I was shooting all over the paper, than I slowed down and took everything very slowly and just learned the feel of my gun.

I'm no marksman by any means but I am a lot better shot and not having to deal with recoil and such it make getting the fundmentals down quick.
 
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You have to really gotta wanna to have any kind of success with this thing.
BTW it's not my one and only.......I have several larger calibre S&W revolvers and a few Colts also.
 
no matter what caliber you shoot, or if its pistol/rifle, having a .22 to do cheap practice with is pretty much a given.

unless you are rich enough to put 1000 rounds a month down your 9mm/.45/223
.22 is the best way to practice stance, grip, trigger control, ect
 
I was the same way when I was first deciding on my first purchase. I didn't want no wimpy .22. We have 4 guns now that see regular use (5th is a camping 12 gauge so not counting it), and 3 of those 4 guns are .22s.
 
As a competitive shooter, I can tell you this.
'Nothing will improve your shooting, be it rifle or handgun than a .22 will'

It teaches solid fundamentals in an almost recoil free environment. And especially telling are the folks who consider a .22 wimpy.

There is NO substitute for trigger time and hand pressure. Regardless of caliber. And a .22 allows this proficiency without flinch, or wasting money, and developing bad habits.
 
@ colt45gunner: They make you pay for ($45/yr) CSSA membership to be a member of their shooting range. I have no idea if it's for insurance reasons, but I thought since I have to join CSSA anyway, I may as well compete. But most of their bullseye competitions (with one exception, centre fire pistol; http://www.cdnshootingsports.org/handgun.html) are 22lr, and I don't want to pay for a pistol I'll only use for bullseye competitions. That's why I was wondering if it had other purposes, so it wouldn't be a waste of $1k+ for a S&W 41, just for that one purpose.

That's also why I wanted to know about other organizations whose competitions are with 9mm, .40 S&W, .45acp, so the skills I gain from those competitions, with real-world ammo, are transferable to real-world shooting e.g. military, police. Basically, I want to practice/compete with what I'll use, and it seems like I'll never really use a 22lr pistol.

Andrew771 solved my dilemna. I'll go with IPSC and/or IDPA to compete/practice with 9mm, .40, and .45
 
mikept said:
r: They make you pay for ($45/yr) CSSA membership to be a member of their shooting range. I have no idea if it's for insurance reasons,
Click to expand...

It would be for insurance purposes.................

And they should do a better job of explaining that fact to you when you join.

that said everyone should join them for the simple fact that they are fighting for your gun rights and need the funds to keep it up.
 
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