Thread: What’s your go to rimfire cartridge?

And why?

I’m looking into the lovely world of rimfire cartridges after unorthodoxly going straight to a centrefire for my first rifle. It probably won’t get loads of use but will be used for the odd possum, rabbit & hare and maybe even the odd goat or deer given the right chances and my confidence is up to it!

Tossing up between 17hmr, 22lr & 22wmr.

I recently picked what I thought was a bargain Stirling 1500 22wmr & scope bundle on trademe which I hoped to on sell for more before I realised I’d been sold a fake leupy!

So now I’m left with a rifle I didn’t really want that I got an average deal on. Yet to sight it in and give it a go, I’m considering keeping it and perhaps finding an appropriate scope for it if the fakey’s no good.

While I like the idea of a bit more oomph from the 22wmr, I’m a tightass and like the price of 22lr more for if I ever wanna do a bit of plinking. I’ve also heard mixed opinions about 22wmr accuracy in general. 17hmr is also up for consideration but I’ve had more experience with the other 2.

At the end of the day I’m an average joe putting way too much thought into this than I need to, but why not? It’s fun.

What’s your two cents worth?

I’d love to hear your thought/recommendations/advice on rimfires.

And if someone happens to be in the market for a stainless Stirling 1500 in 22wmr with a stainless threaded barrel and wooden stock with 2X 5rd mags and a fake Leupold - I may have what you’re after!

44 Ballard Long Rimfire circa 1866

either .22LR or 17 HMR.

Theres lots of variations in 22LR - short , standard velocity , target ammo, all sorts of high velocity , up to Stingers for hyper velocity.

Magnum is ok but very expensive

17 HMR is a great round for small game . There is also a shorter 17 - the 17 Mach11

22lr then step up to 22hornet if I need more

22LR subsonic for quietness. You could sit there all day and fire a thousands rounds and no one would know. Not for anything bigger than a hare though. Yes, you can get lucky and take down a larger animal, but why risk it? None of the options listed are great for large game.

.22lr with subsonic ammo

Find yourself a pest control job that pays for your gear, and all the new gear in your future. The .22 has an ammo type for most pests that need controlling.

Suppressed 22 with CCI subsonics. Anything rabbit sized gets hammered by a 22 so all a 22 mag does extra is make a racket

Ha I'm a fan of all 3 but ultimately its a .22lr subsonic for me as a do all.
I love the 22 mag for hares and goats, and the 17hmr is pure lightning on rabbits, possums and as I found out recently, wild geese

22 for price and subsonic quietness - get a Ruger 10/22 they are the Toyota Corolla of the firearm world
The low speed tends to make them more short range ie rainbow trajectory
17 HMR and variants for longer reach - much more of a CRACK noise but flat shooting although wind will chuck them around a bit more
I've spoken to lots of guys who have left their 22s on the shelf since getting a 17 but 22s are still cheaper ammo wise

22 Hornet / WMR etc I have little experience of but I'd say that given the price of ammo, how about looking at a 223 for your longer range varmint rig?
Not rimfire I know but thinking about cost of ammo 223 is cheap as chips..

22LR. The best way to improve shooting is practise and $10 for 50 rounds is a whole lot eaier to practise than $60 for 20 rounds... There are not many people who dont use 22LR. Cheaper ammo, plenty of choice,

As for the WMR or the 17HMR...for the price of the ammo you can step up to 223, and they do more than the rinfire...I used to have a couple of CZ as a pair - one in 22WMR and the other in 223 and if I was hunting I grabbed the 223 every time. One had a 45gr bullet doing 1800fps the other had a 50gr one doing 3000.....

Originally Posted by akaroa1

44 Ballard Long Rimfire circa 1866

My 22 cents worth:

I would also be factoring in your hunting typography.
Bush shooting for possums - .22LR
Scrubby country or country with lots of short gullies and opportunity to stalk your game to 75m - .22LR
More open country out to 120m - .22WMR
More open country out to 160m - .17HMR
If there is a possibility of running into a goat or deer while hunting small game - .22WMR

.22LR - cheap ammo [but high quality, high accuracy ammo jumps significantly in price], huge ammo variety, rainbow trajectory, limited hitting power beyond 75m for 100% humane kills on rabbits
.22WMR - big jump in ammo price, less variety, way more hitting power and killing efficiency than .22LR, more accurate than .22LR at 100m if you are trying to push your .22LR that far, not has inherently accurate as the .17HMR [1 1/2 - 3" groups at 100m versus <1 1/2" for the HMR, ammo dependent and provided the wind is not blowing]
.17HMR - similar price to .22WMR, laser trajectory, max practical range in my experience is 160m, inherently more accurate than the others, less hitting power and real world killing efficency than the .22WMR inside the WMR practical range

Personally, due to my hunting being in wide open country, I use .22LR for possums, .22WMR for walk around rabbits due to distance to target and the reasonable likelihood of running into a deer, and .17HMR set up with thermal for night hunting rabbits becasue it shoots so flat I don't have to worry about trajectory.

Don't be too quick to quit the WMR. Buy a box of each different ammo you can get at your local shooting store and test it for accuracy. Set up some life size rabbit targets at your typical hunting distances based on where you hunt and test for practical groups [offhand, knealing, sitting, prone].

Shoot what youv'e got; don't fall into the trap of chasing brands and high priced rifles/optics if you can't afford the money.

22 long rifle. relatively cheap ammo, quiet, good choice of both sub sonic and supersonic ammos, versatile.

17hmr is basically $1 a shot, So if you want to shoot a few extra rounds go 22. if you think you are wanting to shoot goats and deer 17hmr/22 mag go 223 ammo half the price of a 17hmr

Originally Posted by akaroa1

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From the days when there was a rimfire in pretty much every calibre and people knew how to use open sights