What You Didn’t Know About the .22

opsspec1991

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By: Wayne van Zwoll

Far from the most powerful, the .22 Long Rifle is arguably the most useful cartridge of all time.

It dates to 1857, when Horace Smith and Daniel Wesson came up with a rimfire round while working on a lever-action rifle. That primitive Volcanic rifle would evolve into the Henry, the foundation of Winchester’s 19th century dynasty.

Meanwhile, Smith and Wesson would turn to another firearms venture. Their rimfire cartridge endured 30 years of development. Its progeny, the .22 Long Rifle, arrived in 1887, courtesy the J. Stevens Arms & Tool Company. A black-powder cartridge with 5 grains driving a 40-grain bullet, it evolved later to take smokeless powder in a case with a crimp clutching the heeled bullet.

Remington claimed the first modern high-speed load in l930. Current .22 ammo includes friskier offerings, but they’re all sinfully pleasant to shoot. Feeding a .22 costs so much less than stoking a centerfire; you can almost keep Junior in college with the difference.

My love affair with .22 started on a fence rail, where I shot barn rats with a Remington 121 and .22 Shorts. Squinting into that J4 Weaver was like looking through dishwater.

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Great article. I have a Henry lever action .22lr (that I purchased to teach my sons how to shoot) and a bolt action scoped .22 magnum. I prefer the magnum round for varmints. Bagged two coyotes a few years ago at 150 yards.
 
The old Sears & Roebuck 22 bolt action help bring hone the Squirrels for supper when I was growing up.
The Winchester Model 77 did it for us when in Turkey. Military pay back then was not what it is today so local squirrels were often the meat of need at the end of the month.
 
My Marlin Mod 60 is a pain free, jam free squirrel killing machine. I have dropped over 150 tree rats in the last year in my back yard. (NC) Heck, my German Shepherd actually retrieves the drop rodents. My ears are bad so she hears them, whips her head towards me, than back at the place where the squirrel is sitting, than back at me. Great team, good fun and less bird feeder damage. Hell, less bird seed.
My only regret was that I didn't at least save (freeze) the hind quarters. Probably at least 10 Lbs of meat.
 

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