Haven't played with my 22mag much since 2008, when I was using my 22mag to test the damage potential the FN fiveseven pistol could inflict since the 22mag in a rifle and 5.7x28 fired from a pistol are pretty close to each other. Now selected it to by my test gun for ballistic concrete. So I went and found the oldest 22mag ammo I could find in my stash, which is between 15 and 17 years old and use that first you know to rotate stock. Then realized virtually all my 22mag ammo is from 2008 or earlier. So I go to Walmart and they're sold out I go back again and their sold out. Talk to the sporting goods guy and says the 22mag sells juat as fast as the 22LR. I remember occasionally Walmart would run low on 22LR but always had tons of 22mag back in 2006 to 2008. Now the 22mag is sold out just as much as 22LR. But 22mag was never super popular and as far as I know virtually all the "center fire to 22 conversations" use LR, not Mag. Do people just not understand the difference between 22LR and 22mag? That's the only thing I can think of for a reason as to why it would be sold out all the time.
LR got too popular and hard to get, and I would say that by necessity the Mag got rediscovered. Also, I lot more people seem to be shooting pests, and MAg is more recommended for self defense in these troubled times.
Since 22 long rifle went thru the roof price wise, not as much price difference in 22 mag and it is a much better hunting cartridge for some game and about equal for most others.
.22 Mag around here tends to move fairly well. but at 15.00 for 50 rounds of armscor .. not really fast and seem to reorder it when they get down to a box or two. I've a few boxes of 30gr maxi-mag+v from probably around the turn of the century and an old Mossberg magazine feed bolt action. Only take it out when mr/mrs. woodchuck decides to take a trip into the garden for a meal.
The above is one reason-at least around here. 30 rn mags will eat a box in a hurry. Currently there is a 6 month wait for these at a local gun shop. I found one and sold it to my uncle and he loves it.
They are...but mine is green Goes along nicely with a scoped bolt action .22 mag...not quite a tack driver, but not bad.
You are going to the wrong Wally Worlds. The local ones are sold out of .22 LR almost as soon as it comes in.(OK, that 1000 rd box of Win M-22 did sit there for two or three days) but .22 Mag? That is available all over the place here!
Maybe it has more to do with wide open spaces here in new mexico. When I lived on the east coast, a total of 25 years I only remember 2 other people owning a 22mag. One had a revolver and the other had a Derringer.
I have owned a .22wmr in the dim dark past...it had a bit more oomph than a .22lr, but I wouldn't buy one again...I think I'd prefer a .22Hornet for its reloading capability, and slightly better reach than the .22wmr. In Australia, .22lr is pretty universally available; .22wmr is also fairly readily available if somewhat more expensive. .22wmr is cheaper per round, factory loaded than .22Hornet....but reloading the Hornet brass reduces the unit cost of keeping the Hornet gat fed in comparison to a one shot per cartridge deal with the .22wmr.
Ben through a few .22 mags through the years , not a accurate as I might have imagined ,gave up on it except my Ruger convertible single 6. I don't even shoot much magnum through it . It's a nice little plinker for 22 LR and snake-shot gun but that's about it. When the .17 HMR came out I was very happily surprised at it's accuracy ,and the price for ammo has pretty much remained the same; $12-$14. a box of 50. Of all the guns I own ,this one my sons wants the most, all the 22s even the 10/22, are dinosaurs .
For accuracy my 22mag rifle is great it will put bullets through the same hole at 25 yards and almost touching at 75 yards. By comparison any 22lr I have ever used, most but not all were well with in 1 minute of bunny at 100 yards, I was expecting the same thing with 22mag just with a little more punch on the other end. I went through most of my stash and found almost no 22mag ammo. The little bit of old ammo I found was it. Me thinks I burned it up before I bought my FN 5.7x28 pistol. I took the 22mag out and shot the crap out of everything. Water bottles, cinder blocks, the abandoned cars up on the mountain for windshield and car door tests, spoiled deli meat, wood planks, metal targets, squirrels, a ground hog. My conclusion was it would really suck to get shot with one. And then I just never replaced the ammo I shot off.
the brass filled with FFFF and a fuse crimped in makes a decent substitute for a #6 cap, not that I would ever do that.
Actually, NO.... There is no amount of ffffg Black Powder, that can substitute for a #6 Blasting Cap... when used with modern Energetic Materials.... The Shock Energy required to initiate Nitroglycerine based Energetics is significantly less than ANY of the Modern Commercial, and .MIL Energetic Materials, and that is EXACTLY why those Nitro Based Energetics are almost extinct these days, and only available by Special Order... A Standard Blasting Cap will NOT initiate ANFO based Energetics, without a PETN Booster, 10Grain DetCord & Booster, or a 1/3 Stick of Tovex type Energetic... If you want to make your own Blasting Caps with equivelent Impact Energy as a Commercial Caps, you should look at Mercury Fulminate, Lead Azide, or DDNP.... The first two are easy to make yourself, with a bit of smarts, the later is a bit more complicated... When I was a young Apprentice Blaster, one of my jobs was melting down surplus .MIL M1 Demolition Chain Blocks, in a Double Boiler, and the reCasting the Tetrol, in Cardboard Toilet Paper Tubes, and Paper Towel Tubes, and using 3/8" Wooden Dowels to create the Cap & DetCord Pockets... These homemade Boosters were used to detonate the ANFO Main Borehole Charges... My sponcering Master Blaster bought the .MIL Energetics, by the LOT, at a US Army Base, when it came up surplus... He mixed his own ANFO, and made his own Caps... DetCord came from the M1 Demolition Chain Satchels, as it connected the Blocks in the satchel, together... Back in those days, anyone could go the the local Feed & Seed Outfit, and buy what they needed for single Day Job, No Magazine required... Certainly not so today...
.....Goddaughter just inherited a .22Mag from my Godson (he just bought himself a new Tikka .223 and already had a Remington .270), it is a great shooting little rifle and thus far she has taken a good number of critters with it. The Hornet is an interesting little round but unless you are already set up for reloading the cost saving of reloading for it will take a great deal of shooting to recover. Out here the Hornet has however maintained somewhat of a cult following. I loaded for one (actually a K Hornet) for a friend and found it a PITA. What I do want is one of the old Brno Foxs in .222 or .223 (they were more common in Hornet) I should have grabbed one when I was in the trade..!! Just a lovley little walking rifle..!!!
True, if one already reloads, then its just the cost of dies and some other bits and b0bs...if new to reloading the capital cost for setup is greater, but the attraction is not simply cost but the ability to keep the gun fed, when factory loads might dry up. As to the relative advantages of the .22Hornet and the .222 and .223, I guess it depends on what you're hunting...if its rabbits, hares (and comparable sized game) the Hornet won't cause as much tissue damage... The .223 / 5.56mm being a service round is likely to be more readily available than some of the other wildcat calibres. I guess there would be some wriggle room to hand roll reduced power loads for the .223 Low Velocity .223 Loads - The Firing Line Forums 223 Reduced Loads