Being laughed at shooting a .22 at the range?????

[silentflyer]

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...

 

[davegarage]

golf balls

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.

 

[Smith357]

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

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.

 

[yeti]

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 $.

 

[ChuckS1]

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!

 

[michael thornton]

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!

 

[J. R. WEEMS]

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

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.

 

[a505gibbs]

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!

 

[Joewisc]

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.

 

[feralmerril]

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.

 

[tork'd]

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.

 

[big brother]

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.

 

[M29since14]

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.

 

[CW Spook]

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....

 

[kamloops67]

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.

 

[guy22]

Not laughing

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

 

[kisportolt]

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

 

[DWalt]

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

 

[smithman 10]

.22s

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!

 

[lightsluvr]

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