The opposite happens when I shoot my .44 mag. They all get mad and leave. It's a 'shooting' range, where am I supposed to shoot it? I paid my money too. You can't make everyone happy

I shoot 10x the number of 22 bullets versus centerfire its the way people kept up their markmanship skills without busting the wallet.I have seen plenty of pics of jeff cooper and skeeter skelton both enjoying the little bitty 22 and I would dare say they are the 20th centurie premier pistoleros.

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The Lord cometh and right soon

While I am usually the only one shooting .22's at a public indoor range, I've never been laughed at. Typically have the 17-3 or the KMKII 512. I can't see the top of any gun so I run a sheet of paper with a 1 1/2" orange dot pasted on. Usually as many holes in the paper as I have fired. I have watched folks blast away with 9's .40's .45's (not too many revolvers ever) and miss the lifesize "Osama" target from 10 ft. Joe

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Wisdom chases me; I'm faster

I got back into shooting 22s a few years ago. First with a couple 10/22s then an 18 and pre 18. I finally spent the money on a 41 and love them all for the cheap shooting and probally shoot them more than anything now.
Yesterday I built a DPMS AR-15 lower and put a CMMG M-4 style 22 lr rifle upper one it. I later test fired it and it's going to be a fun one and much cheaper to shoot than my 5.56 ARs.
I shoot alone at my own range but would take my 22s to any range regardless of what they might think.

I just started to shoot .22 again after many years, didn't like doing it because the only .22 was my Ruger and I simply dispise taking that down for cleaning!
I had purchased a Browning Buckmark a number of years ago and I recently found it burried in my safe.
Took it to the range and had a great day and it was cheap and the Browning is easy to clean.
Now the only time I shoot the big guns is when I want to practice with them.
Nobody laughs at me!

Never have I seen a shooter give another shooter grief for shooting .22 or have I even heard about it until this thread.

What shooter has not pulled the trigger on a .22??

Guess I don't worry about what other people think. We have all made a few comments without the knowledge to back it up. I had no idea why anyone would own a j frame revolver and have since assigned mine to be my primary carry weapon. I thought you had to carry the highest capacity semi known to man. I was sure it had to be carried IWB and needed to be two tone, for the cool factor. Love my semis but find the wheel gun to be a ton of fun to learn and reliable as heck. Knowledge is gained slowly in time, if at all. I'm sure I'm still pretty stupid on a lot of subjects too.

I almost peed when the guy down from me pulled the trigger on his. Wow was that thing loud. I moved to the other end of the range and continued shooting with my little guy. The only thing that bothers me is the black powder pistols because my son has asthma. Now to clarify "my little guy" it is bigger than some and smaller than others.

A 22 is probley one of the greatest guns ever made. First the ammo is ridiculously cheap compared to anything else, they are the best gun to learn with, they are accurate, they dont recoil, they are quiet, and they can and will kill. I seldom clean mine! I dont carry one for SD, but would if thats all I had. They are NOT toys!

I always take a 22 to the range with me, usually a Ruger but every now and then a long rifle. When I pull this one out I always have people asking about it, and shooting it. I always let the kids shoot it.



bob

The two old-timers who used to work the shop and range in town, where I was growing up, would look for any opportunity to criticize customers and their choice of firearm / ammunition. Woe is the shooter that came in with any "toy gun" not chambered in something starting with a .4 or higher. On the flipside, a lady could single-hand fire a .600 Nitro Express revolver, and they'd still be calling her "buttercup." It was like having hillbilly versions of Statler and Waldorf, from The Muppet Show, running the place. Even as a kid, I generally don't sweat the opinions of others, but they were a real detriment to the business. I'm fairly sure nobody was sad to see them moved from the storefront, to the back.

I'm noticing that you didn't say how far away you were when shooting those groups......just thinking out loud........................

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Forum consigliere

Aloha,

I usually bring a Beretta M-87 (in 22) to the basic firearms class that I

assist teaching. Women and a lot of guys like the look and feel of it.

I wanted to get a "full size" 22 but the Wife wasn't too keen on one.

Well, Beretta had a sale on their 22 cal Kits for their 9mm and 40 SW

semi autos. I didn't tell the Wife and bought one. Set it up on my 96

Centurion and let her shoot it. She liked it enough to tell me to get

Another 90 series Beretta and make a Dedicated full size 22. As a result

a retired ex police 92 got new life as a training 22.

FWIW, Beretta Can Not keep the 22 kits in stock. As soon as they come

in, they're Sold out immediately.

And you keep missing those coins....sheesh!

I don't like getting laughed at. That's why I only fire live hand grenades at the range. Nothing more manly than some hand grenades.



I love plinking with a .22, nothing like some good cheap (and easy on the wrist) fun.

I kind of mix it in with other handguns so it's not like it's a constant barrage but man, people still flinch on the first couple of rounds. Honestly, it's not even like a macho thing either. I enjoy shooting .22's as well and have only recently come to love the .44 mag. It's kind of like driving a car w/ a big block. Definitely cool and different from the other stuff

I could care less what stupid people think. I shoot what I want to.

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too TOO young!!

If I cared about what people thought of me,
I'd have killed myself many years ago.

This reminded me of shooting at the open town dump. Shot lots of wharf rats and GLASS bottles........no better targets.......anywhere.

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S&W Accumulator

Mostly shoot alone at my personal range too...........And the .22 hulls are ankle deep under my bench.

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S&W Accumulator

I always take my 17 8-3/8" to the range, warm up with it and generally finish the day with it after I have shot whatever else I took for the day.
Love to toss some golf balls down range and make them dance with the .22, when they get out to the 50 yard mark it is a bit of a challenge but that's whats fun..somehow the black plastic and springs whatever mm they are shooting crowd won't put their money where their mouth is on a friendly wager...

What a great idea those golf balls. Thanks, my brother has buckets of 'em too.....


Staying on topic: I don't think I would laugh at anyone holding any loaded gun within 100 feet or so ....

Be careful out there.

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Dave Th.

Those groups were shot at 50 yards from a concrete bench using a bone stock Kimber .22 Hunter and a CZ 452 trainer that has been bedded and had trigger work.



Here are some 100 yard groups, from my .22 Hunter with cheap $20 a brick Federal Target ammo.

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Regards,
Guy-Harold Smith II

I start the range session with .22 and end the range session with .22 caliber. What I shoot in between is whatever I need practice on or just get a whim to shoot.
Many of the Range-Rambos show up with a major power pistol....shoot one box...then leave. Either they are tired or out of $. Or both! Experienced shooters know that a .22 provides excellent practice for little $.

I always shoot .22 when I go out. Nothing harder than trying to keep 'em in the 10 ring at 50 yards! There aren't many guys at my range that shoot bullseye and every once in a while I let on of the Range-Rambos (neat name... ) try shooting my wad gun or Model 41 at 50 yards. They quickly figure out it's a lot harder than it looks!

me and a friend of mine were deer hunting years ago when we were kids, and older guy drove up to where we were and asked my friend how far did he think he could kill a deer with the sawed off 12 ga he was carrying and laughing ,my friend told him he wasnt sure but if he wanted to walk out there about 40 yards we could find out how it shot! he didnt say anything else about the shotgun!

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WILL WORK FOR AMMO!

Fun is right!! Only ever had one guy chide me for 22 shooting, and that in front of the whole range while a break was in order for the repair of a target frame. I just looked at him and said, 'well, if you can't it with a 22, how in the hell you going to hit it with a wonder nine??' He had been spraying all over the place with his, and his buddy with a 45.

Well, EDC is a .45acp, but EDS (every day shooter) is one or another .22LR. I used to hang out at an indoor pistol range, and it was always full of wounder nines with owners of doubtful experience/training. Often there was a girlfriend, who tired of poor instruction, noise, etc. Given a few minuets of instruction, and a loaned .22, they would be making smilly faces, or initals on their targets. (at 7yds) while the bf's weretrying to find all 15+ holes on a B25 target. (also at 7yds)
Anyway, my newest is a S&W 17-4 8 3/8", let them laugh!

At 4 cents a shot, what's not to like about a .22? My favorite caliber for the range and plinking. I have a Smith .357 magnum which is mostly a dust collector.

Used to be a magazine ad for piano lessons years ago. It showed a guy saying, "They all laughed when I sat down to the piano". Somehow this thread title reminded me of that.

ms. tork'd loves to shoot her 357, but really gets a kick out of her .22s.
mid summer while at the range a range rambo would quick fire his 45 about 6 times and announce "5 dollars". she listened to that about 4 times and while he reloaded, quick fired her m/p 15/22 25rd mag. and announce "a dollar!".
he shut up, she grinned and continued to have fun.

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is it just me?

They laugh every time I go to the range. I shoot a Terrier in 38S&W or a Colt Official Police Special in 32-20 pretty often. Not a week goes by that I fail to put at least 100 rounds through my 5 screw K22 or my 22LR model 651. I shoot at 50 yards and I manage to keep most of my shots in the black. I'm 80 years old now and I love my twenty twos most of all.

Another thread with quite a life-span. I guess we're all sympathetic with this one. Probably like many of the members here, I started pistol shooting with my Dad's K22 and I still enjoy shooting .22s as much as anyone - especially S&W .22 revolvers. I like autoloaders, but they just don't have the same thrill for me.

Let them say what they want...then ask if they'd want to test the effects of a surgically precise injection of 40gr of lead to the base of their skull....

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Rick, W0FG
CTR2 68-72

i dont get hassled for my 22s, i catch more flack for shooting 38 spl at cowboy matches, the guys and gals with 45s and 44-40s will often have comments about "girl's guns" one guy said straight faced, "the hole's too small for me" i told him if .45" hole fits he's got smaller problems
the funny thing is im shooting near full strength 38s 158gr. over 3.8-4.2 gr. 231 and they are shooting low powered 45 slugs slow enough that you could probably catch them with a good pair of gloves (probably better not to try) some people just need to feel "better", and they need to reassure themselves that they made the right choices.

Actually some were pissed!
The gun club I am a member of has some kind of match every month. The winner gets bragging rights and a small trophy.

The match was called "robbery at the gas pumps". Set up was a spray painted island with two bales of hay being the pumps.
The rules were must fire 12 rounds only. Must hit 6 bad guys twice each, and not shoot any of the good guys. Bad guys were 8x11" white paper with a red X marked on it. Good guys were 8 x 11" paper with black circles. Targets were from 7 to 12 yards. Must carry concealed, and draw from holtster.
Gun: Anything you would carry. Must do a reload during the shoot.
Person who draws, reloads, and hits all targets in the fastest time wins.

After practicing with a compact 9mm (Ruger LC9) I found I could do this ~ 30 secs. When trying to go faster I missed on some secound shoots.
So for more practice I ran the exercise using my GSG 1911. I have a Galco belt holster with no strap for it. My plan was to load 2 rounds in one mag, and ten in the other. Get the draw and reload out of the way as fast as possible. Easy to practice also. Draw double tap, drop mag, and slam home another mag, hit slide release, and shoot two more times. Repeat about a hundred times.
I found that with the .22lr I was double tapping much faster than with the 9MM. Also always hitting the targets. One run I did in practice was 14.8 sec.
If you don't know the GSG it is the same size as a Gov.1911. Five inch barrel, heavy gun. Almost no recoil.
So long story short I decided to use the GSG. I was one of the last shooters, and followed the rules. Time to beat was 20.21 sec.

I won! With 15.98 sec. I was the only one to shoot a .22lr.
Thats when I started hearing hearing the bitching and moaning. That I had some how cheated.
Nobody carriers a .22lr, etc.

I kept my mouth shut. But I was thinking that I had drawn from holster, reloaded and double tapped 6 targets, 4 sec. faster then the other 18 shooters.
I then opened my mouth and said " my other gun is big enough that I don' have to make up for in caliber."
(note to self) Keep mouth shut.
I got the trophy, but maybe not the bragging rights. Next time they run this, they say they are going to limit the Gun to centerfire.

Whatever. Notice I practiced. Most guys loaded 6x6. The reload screwed them. Low recoil equals fast 2 shot. Full sixe gun means lower recoil and better sight picture.
Would I really carry a .22lr. If that was all I had, yes!!!

Sorry for any spelling etc. Wrote fast.
Guy22

Every gun owner should have at least one 22, and I'm sure most do. When it's just punching holes in paper, who cares how big it is...

I love shooting both my 22 pistol and rifle, and dont feel weak at all when I bring them to the range. If it came down to it, a well placed shot from a 22 will get the job done. If someone doesn't like my gun, fine by me. That's why I bought it and not them

The best thing about shooting any .22 is that you don't have to reload the empty brass.

I have a couple older bolt .22 rifles. One's a Ranger that belonged to a great uncle, the other's a Mossberg from the '50s I picked up at the gun show.

I put a 4X scope on the Mossberg and it's fun to shoot. It's got a 16 inch barrel and a folding fore end. I remember looking at them in the Sears wish book as a youngster.

Then there's my Model 17 with a 4" barrel. I find myself shooting these 3 guns more to save money and it's true that shooting the .22 rifles is a great way to work on any flinch you get from shooting a .30-06 or some such.

Nice and relaxing to just squeeze the trigger and then look at the results.

Now I find myself with a hankering for a smaller .22 revolver but them things cost an arm and a leg (I'm thinking Model 34s and 63s, maybe in 2 inch)

But I guess I could justify it by telling myself I'd save the $ in ammo over the years!

After reading this thread, I no longer have concern about picking up a S&W M&P 15-22 and taking it to the range. I want to work on markmanship and want my wife to participate. We both qulaified SDA on a S&W 22LR semi-auto pistol. But in the back of my mind, I have been thinking, "what if I need personal defense... will the 22LR stop a bad guy?"
Looking at some of the tight patterns in this thread, I think those results, placed in the head or center mass, would stop any threat!
Besides that, I have a .357 mag and my wife has a 380 semi-auto for CC and personal defense.
And finally, I can actually find a 15-22 to purchase, while the .223/5.56 are impossible!

LL

Funny that you like shooting soda cans, too.

A friend has one of those CMP Kimber 22s (used to be mine. I NEVER should have sold it). He hangs a big scope on it. On our range, at 200 yds there's a square metal plate about one foot square. He can hit it every time off a rest. In the middle of the plate, there's about a 3 inch square hole. He can put his rounds through that hole every time at 200 yds, if the wind isn't blowing too hard. Wind is hard on a 22 at 20 yds. I wouldn't want him shoooting at me at 200 yds with that rifle.