22 rimfire lr or wmr

New Avon Arms
I don't consider that in 2019 the .22WMR offers such a great advantage over whatever else is left to choose from as it did back in 1989 given that it is a non-reloadable case.

Ultra high velocity .22LR has developed in leaps and bounds in the last few decades starting with CCI Stinger and all the smaller calibre rimfires too. And FEOs more open to granting certificates for centrefire smallbore rifles such as .223 Remington and before that .222 Remington.

I suppose the next question is what is your intended use? The .22LR has flexibility and low cost in its favour. Also a good make, regardless of age, will always find a buyer. A .22WMR will struggle. That may mean you might get one cheap, yet, at the same time any saving will soon be burned up in cost of ammunition.

My advice? Unless there is a specific niche that only a .22WMR will fill that there are nowadays better choices and that used within its limitations an accurate .22LR if you can read distance or know the distances to your target is better.
 
If you don't have a .22 Long Rifle then get one! Everybody should have one, and there is a vast range of loadings available.
Then depending on what you intend to shoot at, and how many rounds a year, think about a .222 or .223. There are lots of secondhand .222s out there.
HB
 
Tbh I’ve 243 and 308 that will Cover anything I need bar small vermin just thinking a handy little gun for a little walk about with plenty of crows and rabbits at home the old crows are hard work with the shotgun but was thinking 22 I can sit in stable and drop a few fairly easy about the buildings without disturbing any livestock
 
Crows and rabbits. To eat the rabbits or to kill dead and throw the carcass away? Or to not eat but sell on to a game dealer or food outlet such as a restaurant? And, last, what sort of shooting distance? And, finally, will you be going after young rooks in May? If this latter then CB Long by CCI or RWS Zimmer Lang aka Z-Lang are your very very best friend! Silent but deadly, no meat damage, and no need for a moderator as they are quiet enough in an 18" barrel or longer.
 
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Hudson12 said:
Tbh I’ve 243 and 308 that will Cover anything I need bar small vermin just thinking a handy little gun for a little walk about with plenty of crows and rabbits at home the old crows are hard work with the shotgun but was thinking 22 I can sit in stable and drop a few fairly easy about the buildings without disturbing any livestock
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If that's your goal then id recommend a 22LR with a nice mod and some Eley subsonics. Livestock wont even know your there
 
The only thing I can think of is that if you want a semi-auto with a bit more oomph for foxes but that's about it.

Scrummy
 
Hudson12 said:
I can sit in stable and drop a few fairly easy about the buildings without disturbing any livestock
Click to expand...
Just a thought but, depending on ranges, might an air rifle be a better bet for that suggested use? I know they have their limitations (mainly range) but I've been pretty gobsmacked by the accuracy of a mate's Weihrauch PCP that I've had on loan. The only thing that's thrown me with it is the 'loopiness' of the .22 trajectory (as my own air rifle is .177). An air rifle should also substantially reduce any ricochet/damage risks around buildings.
 
I wouldn't recommend shooting crows out of trees with a 22lr though. But around buildings your usually fine. Position yourself in the right sport where you wont hit any properties and your golden. I have 22lr and 22 air rifle and the air rifle rarely sees the light of day. you're probably gonna get an FAC air rifle anyway so may as well go for the long rifle.

LR sub sonics are pumping out around 80ftLlbs of energy. air rifle is nowhere near that.
 
I disagree JACK0106. The evidence doesn't support the concerns about falling bullets fired vertically to shoot sitting birds in trees causing injury or fatality. Before WWI and after WWI rook shooting was very popular if you couldn't find a small boy to climb trees. Yet the countryside wasn't littered with dead cattle, wounded sheep or shot farm workers. Indeed the ONLY reference I can find to anyone being supposedly wounded by a rook rifle in those years is as a defence in the Leicestershire "Green Bicycle Murder" case. If there had been such fatalities or even woundings from these things there would be contemporary records of it. There aren't. It didn't happen.
 
enfieldspares said:
I disagree JACK0106. The evidence doesn't support the concerns about falling bullets fired vertically to shoot sitting birds in trees causing injury or fatality. Before WWI and after WWI rook shooting was very popular if you couldn't find a small boy to climb trees. Yet the countryside wasn't littered with dead cattle, wounded sheep or shot farm workers. Indeed the ONLY reference I can find to anyone being supposedly wounded by a rook rifle in those years is as a defence in the Leicestershire "Green Bicycle Murder" case. If there had been such fatalities or even woundings from these things there would be contemporary records of it. There aren't. It didn't happen.
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Yeah I don't know, I've done it with an air rifle.

Its well and dandy if you hit the bird. I suppose the LR bullet wouldn't have a lot of energy after a passthrough. But what if you miss? You don't really know where that bullet will end up. Might not have the energy to kill somebody would probably crack a window 500 yards away. it just doesn't seem like a responsible shot IMO

Each to their own
 
Of course the population of Britain, and England in particular, was maybe half of what it is now...
I have been looking for a Rook shoot for the past few years to try out my old rifles. There is a huge rookery 50 yards from my front door, but it is surrounded by houses! Those rooks are not stupid!

HB
 
.22 LR for sub sonic work is IMHO A must have rifle

.22WMR? for me id rather go .17HMR (Which I did ) as the ammo is cheeper and easier to source. Good argument on semi auto .22 WMR though. Cant think why anyone would need it, but sounds like fun
 
There is a huge rookery 50 yards from my front door, but it is surrounded by houses!
Click to expand...

LOL! To be candid a good non-FAC air rifle, preferably a PCP with a multi-shot magazine will be a better choice. And with next to no noise and no FAC moderator issues. That's a whole new thread I gues? .22 or .177? They used to say .22 for fur and .177 for feather and I'd agree. I have a BSA Scorpion T-10 in .177" that was regulate at Ratworks in Leicestershire. Phil Crampton. It has a bog standard Hogan Decimeator fitted. I fire the accurate .177" Bisley Magnum. Go for chest shots on the young branchers as we always did with our .22LR rifles not head shots. Twenty yards away and I doubt you'd hear it.
 
I would t dream of taking a shot at anything up a tree with anything but an air rifle tbh if I can see a decent back stop I would never even think about a shot air rifles are brilliant and I’ve had them but I’m wanting a bit of distance plus I’ve plenty of hares about that need thinning as we have the curse of the lurcher boys come winter
 
I have a 22mag on farm. I only use 50grn federals in it. It would have easily accounted for many more than a 1000 pigs, deer, dogs, foxs, etc, over the last couple of decades. No way could a 22lr have done the same service it has provided.
 
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