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I’m pretty sure my LGS has had it for a while. I haven’t bought it because I just don’t care about shooting .22 right now.
I used to compete with it. My anschütz has only ever fired eley. And, really, if I’m not competing at a high level, it’s just not worth the trouble.
Maybe if I mange to retire young, I’ll break it back out and see about competing in prone again. But, really, I just don’t see the appeal.
Then again, I’ve never been into plinking. Because of how I got into shooting, I feel like anything other than serious training, competition, or self defense is a waste of time and money. You can count on your fingers the number of times I’ve gone out to just shoot without a goal or a plan…4 days on sporting clays fields, one bachelor party (pistols and an AR), 3 “let’s take the pinko lefty to the range” days, one day at an ex-girlfriend’s farm (we were all competitors and got bored in about 15 minutes), and the first time I went with friends to shoot anything other than an air rifle (which did include sporting clays, plus some pistols and some long range rifles).
And I’ve considered myself a serious shooter for over half my life (vast majority of it being Olympic/precision rifle). So, 9 days of plinking in 17 years or so. I can afford real ammo.
Now, apart from a burn-out period from like 2010-2014, there haven’t been too many weeks gone by that weren’t at least half dry fire…and if my round count hasn’t hit 6 figures, I’d be shocked (I actually wore out my first anschütz).
So…unless you’re in it for something specific (and plinking is specific), I say don’t buy the .22 just to take up space. I technically own one, but it’s been a $3000 brick since the day I decided college was more important than spending 30 hours a week training.
moostapha said: ↑
I’m pretty sure my LGS has had it for a while. I haven’t bought it because I just don’t care about shooting .22 right now.
Now, please don’t take this the wrong way, but I feel rather sad for you. I’m all for serious training and whatnot, but I find that there’s a simple pleasure in taking out my .22 rifle into the woods or to the range and just shooting it for the fun of it, trying to punch the tiniest groups, or trying to pick off .22 casings from 50m or whatever. There’s something really beautiful and awesome about shooting a nice, accurate rifle, and a .22 lets me do it cheaper and more often than any other sort of firearm. The first shot I ever fired was from my dad’s old Mossberg 152 Semi-auto .22, and from that shot onward, I fell in love with shooting. That experience was probably a significant part of what led me into my 8 years as an army reservist and my current law enforcement career.I have a deep and abiding love of the .22, which mostly stems from my deep and abiding love of shooting and guns, and it seems unfortunate to me that someone should miss out on the simple pleasure of just shooting for the pure enjoyment of it because they’re so intensely focused on training.
LongarmoftheLaw, I hear you. I really do.
It’s not like I go long periods without enjoying it. I dry fire all the time. I have a SiRT that I enjoy. Hell, I have a $3000 bolt-action single-shot .22. It and another expensive .177 airgun got me into shooting.
That smallbore rifle with its sub-quarter-inch groups at 50M and 74 gram single stage trigger is probably the finest firearm I’ll ever own in terms of pure precise performance.
A .22lr AR pattern rifle is probably in my future…eventually.
But…it feels a lot like a serious musician forced to pawn his instrument to pay rent who then goes to a jam bar and can’t participate.
I had experiences like that. Nothing smells as good as burnt eley powder. Very little I’ve found in the shooting world is as cool as focusing your spotting scope just in front of the target and watching the mirrage of the morning dew tell you what the wind is doing.
And I have done it once…borrow a 10/22 or a .22 henry or something like it and watch the little yellow circles show up on a shoot-n-see…watch cans jump away from you or milk cartons start spewing water…or seeing clays burst…that’s what we did that day at the farm.
But, for some reason, I associate .22lr with precision, not plinking. And it just overwhelms me with a sense of “I could do so much better”…except that I can’t…not without a much better rifle and training a lot more than I have time for.
Barely a week goes by that I don’t think about pulling out all my gear and my several years old cases of eley tenex ultimate eps and heading to my local range to lay there on my ’96 Olympics prone mat for a couple hours. But, I don’t have the time to get back to where I was…that’s not the direction my life took.
It’s just one of those things I can’t do half way. So, for now, I just don’t.
I learned to shoot pistol with a colt Woodman. It was a rural thing growing up really ,every body had a 22. On sunday after noon a lot of people shot . A 22 pistol was my favorite woods companion . Today with ammo the way it is priced you would have a hard time finding enough to shoot much .
But I still think everyone should have a 22 around . I don’t think the ammo will ever be plentyful again .Jake
I still haven’t seen a bulk box of .22 on the store shelfs in my area and only seen small boxes of 50 twice.
Im convinced that it will only be readily available if or when the political climent changes. There is still too much fear that is supporting the second-hand market which soaks up what manufactures can put out. If the US gets a pro-gun president in 2016 (or at least perceived as one) then I foresee bulk packs back on the shelf for anyone who wants them within a year. If not, I sure won’t be buying any more .22 firearms.
Before my wife bought me my first .22 a few years ago for Christmas(10/22 carbine) I had only shot pistol other than occasional bird hunting with my 12ga. I still mostly shoot .45 but love that little gun for a change of pace. I’ve since bought my son a Savage bolt action and picked up an SR22 last Christmas. Not much better than shooting with my 5 year old boy, and I couldn’t do that with a 1911 or a heavy center fire rifle. When he’s outgrown the Savage, I plan to pick up a 10/22 takedown. Someday I’ll add a Bearcat and a more precise pistol. I’ve been pretty lucky the last couple years finding ammo and have a few thousand rounds. I’d feel better with another 10;)
The panic buying of .22 ammo has lasted longer than I thought it would. Some got convinced that they were Armaggedon Gold. But I do notice it returning to the shelves and the price gouging starting to subside. All good news. I have a lot of respect for the .22 though lots of people knock it because it’s a small caliber. I just remind them to watch the attempted assassination of President Reagan. Hinckley had a .22 pistol and look at the carnage he created. No, the .22 is a deadly weapon and excellent for target practice. There will be one in my BOB for certain.
I’ve been wanting a .22 for a long time but since I couldn’t find ammunition there was no point in buying one. But I found two of these at Walmart the other day so I bought them
So for sheer bass aakwards-ness I now need to find a gun to shoot it. I was going to build a .22 upper for my AR but I think I need something not picky like a .22 snub or a lever gun but we’ll see.
I’m surprised you guys are having so much trouble getting .22. It’s definitely been somewhat scarce up in Canada, but I’ve seen plenty of 500rnd cases around. I just bought a Winchester 555 box not long ago for about 30 bucks or so, which isn’t bad.
22lr should be a staple in every gun owner’s collection rifle and pistol. I’m partial to the ruger 10/22 for the ability to mod it easily and Ruger 22/45 for the same. Granted I have one of the original 22/45 Lites (ugly gold one) but for it being completely stock it’s fun to shoot and easy to train others on.
I’m gonna go against the grain here. And say no I honestly wouldn’t mess with it. What’s the point in owning a gun you can’t shoot and you can’t shoot without rounds. If it were me I would put the money towards something you’ll actually be able to shoot without camping out gun stores on truck days. To me it’s not worth it. Your mileage may vary
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