New .22 mag levergun

[Walt]

One of the late, great gunwriter Bob Mikek's favorite pastimes was varmint hunting although he was a prolific writer in virtually all shooting sports. He once wrote that Guns and Ammo publisher Bob Peterson visited him frequently in Wyoming to share that pastime. Bob Peterson apparently loved hunting varmints with a .22 magnum, saying that it outperformed every expectation.

I brought home an octagon barreled Henry .22 WMR levergun today, joining my laminated stock m9422M as well as a Contender which was rechambered from a .22LR decades ago as my only .22 magnums.

My shooting partner has an identical gun which I've shot a number of times and I decided I just had to have one of my own. It's a handy little gun which shoots very well; I hope mine shoots as well as his. The fit and finish look very good and the dark walnut is quite attractive.

Cabela's has a program whereby they will ship any gun to a local store that you can locate at their other stores throughout the country with no shipping charge and no transfer fee. Guns International lists hundreds of firearms stocked by Cabela's at their various locations.

[Rimfire McNutjob]

Nice. While I'd love to have a 9422M, I'm settling for an HK-300. I like the 22 Magnum as well ... have a Smith 648 and an AMT Automag II.

[Walt]

Rimfire, I had an 8 3/8" Smith m48 for years but it seemed like the barrel was a bit too long for my tastes because it really amplified my shaking. It was in a presentation case so it must have been an early one but it, like too many others went by the wayside.

[Ray]

Deleted.

[Walt]

I didn't know that Dean Grennell did any sci-fi stories. Interesting.... I do know that he edited and wrote articles in Gun Digest and some of the specialty books, a few of which I still have. I do have Gun Digests going back into the 60s.

Yep, compilations of Bob Milek's stories, Ross Seyfried's stories and others would be very welcome.

[BobM]

In the late nineties I bought a 9422M and took it to Montana a few times and shot prairie dogs and maybe a few jackrabbits. I like the cartridge quite a bit.

[AJMD429]

.
I love my little Ruger 96/22M's - I swapped barrels (on the Ruger 96's it takes about 5 minutes and an Allen wrench) in one though to convert it to a 17 HMR... Now I have both of the 'magnum Rimfires''...

The 17 is a tack-driver despite the pencil-thin barrel I ordered for it, but I really haven't shot the 22 one enough to see if it is similar.

Prices on the ammo are coming down reasonably at least...

[BobM]

I always thought those 96/22s were pretty nifty looking but unfortunately haven’t had a chance to shoot one

[COSteve]

I'd love to have a .22 mag, however, the single thing that has stopped all these years is the high price of the ammo. Best I can find on Ammo Seek is Armscor 22 WMR Ammunition 40 Grain Jacketed Hollow Point @ 18.8¢ per rd ($9.40 a box of 50) from Fast Ammo and that doesn't include shipping or tax! That's more than it costs me to handload my 125 grn .357 mag loads as I've got tons of components I bought 10 years ago.

That's the thing about .22 mag. It's always punched my 'cheap button' in that it's cost is way out of line compared to it's performance when compared to other calibers to my reckoning. Many of you will disagree but it's the way I've felt about it from the first time I tried a .22 mag back in the early 1960's when a friend's dad bought a brand new Winchester Model 61 pump action rifle. It was fun to shoot but even back then it was expensive compared to the .22 lr and I didn't have the resources to afford ammo for it.

[rossim92]

i have one, reminds me of gallery guns, plus opie taylor was shooting one at the carnival, which im pretty sure was a .22 short https://blog.cheaperthandirt.com/video- ... re-22-mag/

[Grizz]

I'd love to have a .22 mag, however, the single thing that has stopped all these years is the high price of the ammo. Best I can find on Ammo Seek is Armscor 22 WMR Ammunition 40 Grain Jacketed Hollow Point @ 18.8¢ per rd ($9.40 a box of 50) from Fast Ammo and that doesn't include shipping or tax! That's more than it costs me to handload my 125 grn .357 mag loads as I've got tons of components I bought 10 years ago.

That's the thing about .22 mag. It's always punched my 'cheap button' in that it's cost is way out of line compared to it's performance when compared to other calibers to my reckoning. Many of you will disagree but it's the way I've felt about it from the first time I tried a .22 mag back in the early 1960's when a friend's dad bought a brand new Winchester Model 61 pump action rifle. It was fun to shoot but even back then it was expensive compared to the .22 lr and I didn't have the resources to afford ammo for it.

good points Steve. the wmr has 22 Lr velocities at a hundred yards, so there is that. and then the 556 had 22 Lr velocities at hundreds of yards, but is it the same thing? the form factor for the 556 keeps it out of the compact lever actions and pump guns. I've been looking at 22 mag pump guns, but they're expensive too. I bought some wmr ammo to shoot from my Mom's derringer, but it's not that great of a gun. Although at belly distances it'd do I suppose. At least the cacti thought so. But it seems that for a 22 range extender the 556 and other 22s cover that ground pretty well. It's kind of a quandary, Except that a pump action 22 wmr is considerably less attention getting, so there is that.

Happy New Year,
grizz

[Ray Newman]

COSteve: you are not alone when thinking about the cost factor. Back in the last century, the local gun shop had .22Magnum for about US $5.50 for a 100 round box. To me, too expensive for a round that could not be reloaded or reloaded easily. From talking to Fellow Shooters at the range and the now defunct Castro Valley Gun Shop Backroom members, it seems there is/was a number of us who felt the same.

I recall a dedicated woodchuck shooter who yearly hunted on my grandparents' farms hayfields in the late 1950's to mid/late 1960's. His "go-to" rifle was the "Triple Duece" (aka .222). When the .22Magnums came out, he bought one thinking it would be the cat's meow. After a while, he went back to the .222 and the .22LR as the .22Magnum "just didn't have" and was too expensive for target/plinking shooting he did.

Come to think of it, when I was a weekly/twice weekly shooter at the local rifle/pistol range (about 1800 - 2000 members), I cannot recall seeing a .22Magnum. Now maybe there were/are a few weekend shooters with that round.

[Pat C]

.22 WMR and .22 WRF are cheap to me , and I don't buy the cheap stuff. Ain't nothing but money. There are plenty of other ways to be cheap for me ammo isn't one of them. Most I buy is .40 per round . CCI and WRA .

[COSteve]

From talking to Fellow Shooters at the range and the now defunct Castro Valley Gun Shop Backroom members . . .

Is that the one in Castro Valley, CA? My FIL had a Liquor Store there, Tony and Gordy's on Castro Valley Blvd and I remember that there was a gun shop not far from there that I stopped in at in the early 70s.

[Rimfire McNutjob]

I'm still going through 22 WMR I bought in the 90's so the cost hasn't caught up to me yet. And my 648 is a 6" which seems optimal. I'm still amazed at how loud a 22 WMR is from a handgun though.

[rossim92]

I'm still going through 22 WMR I bought in the 90's so the cost hasn't caught up to me yet. And my 648 is a 6" which seems optimal. I'm still amazed at how loud a 22 WMR is from a handgun though.

heck, i still have .22lr from the seventies

[AJMD429]

.
I agree that the cost of ammunition is someone off-putting, however, it’s still cheaper than about anything I could reload, so in that sense it may be illogical to fret about the cost. Thinking about it, I think maybe there is a deeper issue that bugs me, which is that for ammunition I reload, I pretty much know I can create the same recipe over and over, and if need be, I could re-create the same velocity with a different powder, or even figure out an acceptable substitute if the weight of bullet I preferred were no longer available. But when it comes to the rimfires, we are at the mercy of the manufacturers, and, although the same thing can be said for 22 long rifle, it does seem like there is more variation among the various brands 22 WRM cartridges, and the versions that seem to come and go over the years, and the OCD part of me Isn’t happy about that. With 22 LR it seems like they’re wildcat brand shoots the same as it always did in the thunderbolt shoots, the same as it always dude, and so on and so on, but if there is a load I really like it’s generally been cheap enough that I could just buy 5000 rounds so I know that for the foreseeable future I have a load that will be the same. I think there’s where the cash factor comes in, because , I can’t see myself investing in 5000 rounds of 22 magnum because it isn’t the only option to bridge the gap between rimfire 22 LR and 223 Remington.

If I were going to invest that much money for something to fill the niche between 22 LR, and 223 Remington, there are a number of other interesting cartridges to choose from, such as the 22 Hornet, and 218 Bee, (which I believe, have both at one time or another, been offered in leverguns), and the 22 TCM, which is available in the very interesting Rock Island Armory 1911 pistol with a swap out barrel for 9 mm Luger. I think one could probably hand load those cartridges for not that much more than the 22 WRM, with the advantage being the ability to control and replicate preferred loads indefinitely.

Speaking of Rock Island Armory, and the 22 WRM cartridge, have any of you guys seen their 1911 chambered in 22 Magnum? I have one of the KelTec 22 Magnum pistols, and it’s pretty cool, especially with a high magazine capacity and low recoil, but a nice steel 1911 would certainly be very classy…!

I feel differently about the 17 HMR, because it does, indeed seem to do something unique, which is extremely high velocity in a relatively inexpensive cartridge. There is some with the same issue, trying to find the ideal road and get used to it, but it does seem worthwhile at least. Of course, the other cartridge that I just had to go out and get a barrel for (for a Contender Carbine) is the 17 Hornet. So far, I’ve only shot factory ammo, but once I accumulate enough brass, I plan to reload for it, which should be very interesting with such a small case, and so forth. But it seems like 17 Hornet could be a wonderful varmint round, and perhaps give the 17 HMR a run for it’s money the same way the 22 Hornet can the 22 WMR.

[Ray Newman]

CO Steve: BINGO! Yup, Castro Valley Gun Shop in Castro Valley CA. Always had a good stock of ammunition and firearms. If he didn't have it, John Teixeira (the owner) could get it quick! I think he had "an in" with Ruger, RCBS, and Browning. John and I are still good friends and I miss our yearly trips to the SHOT SHOW.

There also was another shop in town -- Moulton' Reloading Service. Bob would assemble the ammunition, test fire for accuracy, and sight it in at the Chanot Gun Club. He also sold custom cast bullets. Do believe he had well over 150 rifle an pistol molds. Sad to say but when the new owners took over the shop, I was told the molds were sold to a scrap metal dealer.

Do you recal where on Casro Valley Boulevard your father-in-law had the liquor store? Name sounds familiar, but I cannot recall the location.

[COSteve]

I haven't been to Castro Valley since 1997 when her dad passed, however, I believe the street on the east side of the building was Stanton Ave. The store faced Castro Valley Blvd and Stanton didn't go through the intersection as behind the buildings across Castro Valley Blvd was US 580 up the hill.

It seems that across Castro Valley Blvd from the store there was a gas station below the hill. I also believe the building was replaced years ago so it's not there anymore. As to that gun shop, yes, I remember it was a great place to browse. I lived in Campbell near San Jose at the time and I only went up there because my wife and I would go to visit him.

[Ray Newman]

CO Steve: Ok, I now recall the store location. I lived in the Eichler development in Castro Valley 1971-2001. When I moved in there was less 44,000 residents. Talked a friend last week and he said I would not recognize the area -- population is over 65,000; homes selllng for one million not unusual. Thanks for making me remember.

[Streetstar]

That's the thing about .22 mag. It's always punched my 'cheap button' in that it's cost is way out of line compared to it's performance when compared to other calibers to my reckoning. Many of you will disagree but it's the way I've felt about it from the first time I tried a .22 mag back in the early 1960's when a friend's dad bought a brand new Winchester Model 61 pump action rifle. It was fun to shoot but even back then it was expensive compared to the .22 lr and I didn't have the resources to afford ammo for it.

Kinda my thoughts on the .22 Mag too -- real noisy bugger out of my Single Six when i had it

[trooper joe]

……” Cabela's has a program whereby they will ship any gun to a local store that you can locate at their other stores throughout the country with no shipping charge and no transfer fee. Guns International lists hundreds of firearms stocked by Cabela's at their various locations.”….

I have bought several guns through this program. However, I have been disappointed a number of times when I see a Guns International listing about a gun at Cabela’s. When I contact that Cabela’s store I find out that the gun was sold from days to over a week ago. The Cabela’s gun library staff I talk to blames Guns International or Bass Pro management for the problem. Several Cabela’s staff members told me they do not monitor the messages you send them through the Guns International system.

I just bought a nice Marlin 32 Special from a Cabela’s in Delaware. I called them instead of depending on the Guns International message system. At first the guns library rep I contacted stated, “We don’t deal with Guns International”. He then calmed down and the transaction went smoothly. He too stated that their experience with Guns International and Bass Pro management has been a nightmare.

A side note is that when I picked up that Marlin that had been shipped into my local Cabela’s, it took over an hour to go through their process. I then went to my local dealer to pick up another rifle that had been shipped in. It took 15 minutes which included running Michigan’s new universal background check.

However, if you can get through Cabela’s system, I have picked up some great used guns at very nice prices.

Trooper Joe

[Bob Hatfield]

A friend recently bought a Henry 22 mag lever action that was misfiring. He asked me to look at it. I took it to the range and fired it about 50 times. It seems the problem was that if you chambered a round and fired it without squeezing the grip/lever just a little it would misfire. If you squeezed the grip, you could see the bolt barely closing a little bit more and it would fire perfectly.

The bolt will close and lock up but it won't fire unless you squeeze your grip just a little. I told him to fire a few hundred rounds through it and if it still bothers him to call Henry and they would send him a shipping slip.

Bob