Spoke with a man in uniform today trying to buy ammo for his .45. Said he shot his nine mil because it was so hard to find ammo anymore. I asked him if he ever just practiced with a .22? He said they would laugh him off the range. Said he shot all the time.

I honestly cannot recall being laughed at when shooting a Model 17 of any type or variance at the range.....for obvious reasons. Anyone have that trouble? Maybe I am missing something or just have not been shooting enough lately.

Sounds like he had a case of bullet size envy

I spend about $120 a month on .22 ammo, shooting it from rifles and pistols, at least 350 rounds a week. Keeps your shooting eye and triggger finger sharp!

I shoot a Remington 40x that is very well "tuned" . Its my match gun & shoots very very well. I Shoot any thing from a 500 S&W mag on down. When I shoot the 40x 22 rimfire everyone including the "rambos" are amazed

Some people care too much what other folks think...

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Where's my dad's America?

I say let them laugh, they generally shut up when you real your target in from the furthest reaches of the range. Some days I like to draw smiley faces on the target with my 617, other days it's a big frowny.

Heck with that; I like shootin' 22's better than anything, though I prefer a soda can in the woods, the range is nice too. There's a reason 22 conversion kits are selling well too - shoot lots for less $$.
Shoot it proud!

Spent Tuesday shooting 300 rounds of .22 only.
No brass to pickup, no cases to reload, not much money spent.
Great low cost fun.

Bruce

If I had to chose one bullet to shoot for fun it would be the 22LR. Don

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"Don't worry be happy"

A short while back I was shooting my 1950 Marlin 39A. I turned around after finishing off the tube and there were several guys standing behind me. Seems they each had one in their younger days and still wished they had them.
Yes, I did let them take turns shooting mine.

A lot of fun to be had shooting a bunch of .22s. through a pump Winchester.Same can be said for a lot of .22 firearms.

D.G.

Yeah, laugh at a total stranger who is armed, that's a good idea! (o; I used to notice in the craziness of southern California, (San Diego), the one place people were always polite and patient was at the range...since everyone there is obviously armed. I love to shoot my 22A and my old Winchester 250 lever action. Dirt cheap and way too much fun and it definitely helps keep me sharp with all of the other guns. I would love to add a 617 and/or a Marlin to the Collection...I'll be smiling all the way to the range, not having to have to stop at the bank!

Young and old.... beginners and experts.... most everyone I know enjoys shooting the .22.

Practice is practice. Let them laugh!

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Get off my lawn.

A true gun lover with have at least one 22lr firearm in his collection.

I've got a .22 semi-auto pistol and last week I bought a 10/22. I could care less about what the range rambos might laugh at.
When I find myself getting a bit sloppy, or flinchy the .22 settles that down in a heart beat.
Besides which, I've got a grandson getting to be about shooting age. Don't want to start him off with my .45-70, or any of my centerfire pistols just yet.

Edit to add: Forgot to add, they are just a whole lot of fun to shoot, whether it's cans, rodents, or paper.

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Pete.

It does show how some of the big bore zealots feel. I bet he doesn't own a 22 and doesn't have a clue how great this round is. I just bought a 22 Ruger Hunter Stainless. I'll stand proud along side Mr 45 any time.

As ammo prices continue to rise my .22's get more range time.

had the K.22's out,, got told that I should get a "big-boy gun" by a bunch of younger "gentlemen" at the range....

I'm not sure, but I think the first shot out of the "big-boy gun' caused them to jump a little...

When I take my High Standard sport king to the range, I always take an extra brick or two as everyone wants to shoot it. Even the big bore boys

Judging from the piles of used 22 LR brass at the range, I'd say that there's lots of folks shooting more 22's than about anything else these days. -S2

Laugh ha, I don't hear any of that when I shoot the 10 ring out of the 25 yard targets with the 41. I get the "what is that" from everyone that dosen't know guns and when I see a 41 in another's hand---- I know they are a shooter.

Course, the 17, 10/22s, 780 Marlin, Rem 514, Win 1890 pump, Ruger old single sixes, and Browning meadalist are all fun to shoot too.

As you can tell, I hate 22s.

Macho Macho Man... I wanna be a Macho Man!

That's what the guys who laugh at you are really thinking when they comment on your .22

Let 'em laugh. He who enjoys what he is shooting gets the last laugh.

They may laugh at my shooting, on occasion, but I haven't had folks laugh at my .22s.

That feller must hang with some tacticool fellers.

Fortunately, I hang with a different crowd of crumdungeons.

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Lost it all in a boat accident

It's not the size of your weapon, it's what you can do with it!

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Misty

I like me some blasters.
I carry .44s and .45s, I have big magnum rifles, I like to yank both triggers on my 12 ga coach gun...
When I am packing for a day at the range, my Savage Mako .22 always tags along... Always.


Jim

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Big bullets leave big holes

I love .45 acp, but .22's are a blast. I think that guy just had a "problem".

I've shot at indoor ranges a total of 5 times in my life.

On one of those occasions, I was shooting my Ruger MKII. In the stall next to mine, a couple of the upper middle-class types who considered themselves to be, "experts" because they both shot 9mm Sigs (you know the type) looked at me and my pistol and actually SNEERED to each other. I mean like the same way those old pit viper-type ladies in church sneer and whisper to each other, "Girl, can you believe she's wearin' THAT hat with those shoes?"

I happened to notice that they were seriously revelling in their "HE-MAN" self-images as they remarked to each other how, "not just anybody could withstand the muzzle blast from the 9mm in an indoor range."

Ahhh, jeez...

So while these 2 guys were diligently occupied celebrating the imaginary 3 inches of extra growth to their male members courtesy of their ignorance and the cost of their pistols, I discreetly slipped my 629 Classic DX out of its rug and chambered a single round of a 240 gr. XTP over 23 gr. of H110. After touching it off, I put the Smith back in its rug and resumed with my MKII while these stud-boys dealt with the results of having spelled, "HELP" in their Dockers (figuratively, of course.)

If you need a gun to feel like a man...

I recall when at my local range I brought my k-22 rimfire pistol with me to shoot at my local insiderange.I started out shooting a few rounds and I could hear the report of a 38 special revolver to my right ,An older gent probably in his seventies comes over and says to me "Hey sonny what you got there", I told him a 22 revolver,he answered 'Why don't you get manly revolver like me an stop playing around with that pop gun." He returned to his point ,I carefully loaded my smith and wesson model 29 44 magnum and let a few rounds down the range.he suddenly came over visibilyshaking and said "what the hell was I shooting." I answered "my other pop gun" He hurriedly left the range,mumbling to himself.

I usually warm up with a few hundred round of 22 through my Taurus, then move on to what ever I really wanted to practice with that day. I wrap up with firing the magazine in my CCW pistol and loading up the spare magazine.

Laughed at? Quite the opposite. Most often I get people asking questions about my Buckmark, many times saying "I gotta get me one of them".

I never particularly noticed what others thought of what I was shooting.

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Dum vivimus Vivamas

Not often. But when I shoot smiley faces at 15 yards with. MkII and shotgun shells at 25 yards with my Kimber .22 they generally shut up. If that doesn't work I start plinking the hulls at 50 with a T/C Classic.

I love the Tacticool Guys that set up to shoot their Tacticool Max rifles off the bench, and I'm shooting the same distance offhand with a .22 pistol!

When someone shows respect and appreciation for a nice .22, I know they are really "gunny" people.

Excellent !!! + 1000

I shoot my SigSauer Mosquito .22 almost every weekend, nobody laughs when they see the target!

I think they laugh to keep from crying, because they don't have a .22... that's all I shoot these days.

Pete

.22lr's are the purest defenition of fun on the planet. I love to shoot them, and so do my kids. We went to the range on Memorial Day and had a great time. We were shooting long before and after many many folks. I also took with me one 357 Mag., and one 44 Mag. for added fun factor, but there are days I only need to take the S&W 8 3/8" 617...

If anything Ive been complimented on my 617..... hmm.

4, 1890 Winchesters
Remington Model 12
Winchester 52
Winchester 62A
Stevens Visable Loader
Marlin 782
Ruger Mark I
Remington 550-1

What happened to Beach Elvis happened to me. The guy on the right laughed at my Visable Loader. He was on my right at the range (outdoor). While he was trying to find something in his shooting bag I pulled out my 1886 in 45-90 and blew one off. Scared him --------! I thought about the Win 300 Mag first but decided he didn't deserve to be blown over.

He left.

Everybody who's shot my model 18 has since purchased a 22lr Smith and Wesson revolver. My wife and I even used it to qualify for CCW permits with it. I haven't heard any laughing.

If I could only have one gun, It would be a good .22LR. Perhaps the most useful cartridge ever invented.

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195th Session FBINA

Anyone that laughs at you for shooting a .22 is beyond ignorant. People like that are best ignored.

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too TOO young!!

Let them laugh.

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Regards,
Guy-Harold Smith II

I have found that "macho" types at the range have a hard time achieving shotgun patterns at 10 feet.

Some of you guys are a bad influence! Now I'm going to have to pack my 4" .500 in my bag every time I take a .22 to the range hoping for that one special day when I encounter a blow-hard.

No matter what else goes to the range with me, I always have either a K-22, a Woodsman or a 10" Bull Barrel Ruger MkII Target with me, sometimes 2 or all three of them. I usually end up each range session with a few hundred rounds of the .22(s). Never been laughed at, even when I lived in the city and would go out to the Black Canyon (now renamed Ben Avery) Shooting Range. Usually, a group would gather around to watch one small hole become a very slightly larger hole. On the rifle side, my Marlin 39A is quite accurate, and a pleasure to shoot, and my Winchester 52 is a very serious target rifle (1939 vintage, still capable of winning competitions). Not only are .22s serious fun, they will give you a lot of practice for very little ammo expense. Great for small game, too! I have several others, too, those are just some of my favorites.

I've noticed this as well. Couldn't hit the broad side of a barn, but they've got all the gizmos and contraptions that make them a tactical superman.

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Get off my lawn.

Do it... my wife has cleared an indoor range of black plastic shooting smirkers with one of our .44 magnums.
I honestly think the blast is more intimidating for most people than the actual recoil.
I need to put a few thru a 4" .500 before I buy one.


Jim

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Big bullets leave big holes