L Ross
Well-Known Member
With only anecdotal evidence to back me up, I think the .22 mag does have its uses and further more I think it is noticeably more powerful than a .22 lr. It is also quite expensive but a couple of bricks should last a guy a lifetime of dispatching critters.When I hired on those HIgh Standard 2 shot 22 mag derringers were popular with some of the guys. They were LOUD and none of them could hit anything with them at more than about 5'. They had just awful triggers. At night they would blind everyone in the room with the muzzle flash.
None of them ever actually had to use one. I guess they served the intended purpose, making them feel better. I carried an OMC Backup in 380 for a while for the same purpose. It was actually smaller in overall dimensions and only weighed a bit more than the derringer. I never needed mine either. Carried a boot knife too, at least I used that to cut folks out of seatbelts and such.
I own a 22 mag rifle, only because of some arcane rules for night time coyote hunting in my state. I think the 22 mag is an answer searching for a problem to solve.
I have been known to run after a bunch of coons prowling my sweet corn patch, in the dark, barking like a hound. All three ran up a tall but skinny Elm tree. I had a Ruger Stainless Single Six convertible on my belt with the mag cylinder in it. I had a mini mag flashlight. I aint good enough with a handgun to hold a flashlight in one hand and shoot those coons between the eyes with the other. Body shooting a raccoon with a .22 lr. loaded handgun is likely to have a pissed off raccoon falling out of a tree and causing mayhem around your ankles. I had some kind of 40 grain hollow points in the mag and holding toward the front third of each coon I started with the bottom one and dropped all three with three shots. None of them did more than kick a little on the ground. My ears rang a little but not painfully.
Next mag adventure was with a 9422M and these new fangled plastic tipped 30 grain Hornady bullets. A running, notoriously tough to kill critter, went ass over tea kettle at the shot at about 40 yards. Lastly a couple of green bean munching wood chucks got that same gun and ammo combo and they simple collapsed at the shot at that 35 to 50 yard range, much like they do with the .222 when shot in the chest.
A good buddy was just telling me that another two of his friends come over to shoot at his private range and plink with .22 mags. I don't understand that but, different strokes. I have odds and ends of 50 round boxes that I save for the Ruger and after I saw how accurate and effective the Hornady ammo was, I bought a brick for the Winchester. That 9422M is so accurate I reluctantly put a Redfield 1x4 scope on it, dialed it in for exactly 50 yards and it shares yard guard duty with a S&W MP 15-22 with a red dot, a short barrel Remington 11-87 with 3" mag steel T shot or triple B's, and the 788 in .222. Oh, there's also that odd ball Remington 510 smooth bore with bird shot for the chippies in Sue's flower beds. Gosh, my property sounds like a rough place, but it's really quite peaceful if the rules are followed.