Which .22 ammo for surviving in the woods?

billym said:
So we pretty much agree as far as guns go that a .22 rifle or handgun would be most useful for getting some meat in the wilderness.
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No, not all of us do. :grumpy:

At least not 'round here. I've said many times in the past I think we have more deer than small game here in southern Illinois. Our first firearm deer season was this past weekend, and I got to spend a little time in the woods, and help walk a couple miles of ditchlines, etc. The whole weekend, I saw one squirrel, and one coon. No rabbits, quail, or other tasty morsels.

I saw blackbirds by the millions, but they all disappear after the first shot. The only other small critters I saw were assorted woodpeckers & chipping sparrows, etc. And if you shot 50 sparrows & dried the meat, it would weigh a heck of a lot less than the .22 rifle & box of ammo you brought in the first place.

I did see about 30 or 40 deer throughout the weekend though! Most were within easy rifle range. Deer rifle, that is.

If you brought a .22 along here with the intention of filling your belly with rabbits and squirrels, you'd go hungry. The coyotes, bobcats, hawks, feral cats, etc., have beat you to them. Bring something that would enable you to easily harvest a larger critter, and you can eat for a week. And if you happen across a cottontail, the deer gun should obviously have no trouble killing it. Certainly better than the other way around.
 
OK, then, Possum, you lug around your 8-pound rifle and what - probably 20 rounds of ammo, tops; I'll keep my .22 and a brick of ammo, most likely weighing in lighter.

We don't have any of your tiny little whitetail around here, so we pretty much need a real rifle if you want to take down a mulie, an elk or a moose. Sure, a kill will feed 10 people until the meat goes bad, but it's a lot of weight to carry around.

We've got plenty of bunnies, squirrels, rattlesnakes, marmots, badgers, skunks, beaver, mountain lions, coyotes and prairie dogs too, though. So for me, the double-deuce is the smart choice.
 
BTW, the .22 is the recommended round for mountain lions - things with more punch just tend to make them mad. They tend to not notice a lung shot with a .22, and just quietly bleed out.
 
Samael said:
OK, then, Possum, you lug around your 8-pound rifle and what - probably 20 rounds of ammo, tops; I'll keep my .22 and a brick of ammo, most likely weighing in lighter.
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Where did I say anything about an 8 pound rifle, or that it has to be a heavy caliber? Heck, I can get a cheap BB pistol and carry 2000 BB's, and "most likely weigh in lighter" than you! Ha! Doesn't mean it's the smartest choice. There's already 2 full pages of opinions from folks who seem to pretty much consider this case closed. Doesn't hurt to get a dissenting opinion from someone in a different situation. If you guys got lotsa bunnies, more power to ya. Go right ahead & eat those skunks, too. I'm just pointing out that not everyone does, and it don't make much sense to be carrying a gun meant for game you'll never see.

We don't have any of your tiny little whitetail around here, so we pretty much need a real rifle if you want to take down a mulie, an elk or a moose. Sure, a kill will feed 10 people until the meat goes bad, but it's a lot of weight to carry around.
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Deer in the 200-250# range are pretty common around here; a local got one over 300 pounds this past weekend. A couple counties away somebody got one that field dressed at 350#- meaning it was probably over 400 pounds (:eek:) on the hoof. Tiny? Smoke or dry the meat to preserve it.


Guy shot a mountain lion with a 12 gauge deer slug nearby; found blood but no carcass. A month ago some older guy shot a cougar & was driving it around in the back of his pickup showing it off. A coworker who saw it said it took up most of the bed. I have no plans to go after 'em with a .22.
 
Possum,
Why the :grumpy:?
Yes you are totally allowed to dissent.
The .22 is generally considered to be the best all around option based on effectiveness, a broad range of ammo types, low cost of ammo, weight of ammo, availability etc.
If one factors out weight of ammo and maybe cost one would probably grab a 12GA.
In your case having a lack of small game then yes maybe you require another option. But deer rifles require heavier, more expensive ammo and it would obliterate the per chance rabbit or squirrel. anyway you know once you start hunting deer all you will see are rabbits and squirrels; always happens to me.

Plenty of small game here but a lot of it is in no hunting zones. So subsonic and CB .22lr rounds would be a very good choice in an emergency.

We have a pretty good Mtn lion population here but why would I worry? There are also a ton of great whites in the ocean here too. "Sharks and lightning" IMO.
Bill
 
Samael said:
OK, then, Possum, you lug around your 8-pound rifle and what - probably 20 rounds of ammo, tops; I'll keep my .22 and a brick of ammo, most likely weighing in lighter.
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'Course 8 pounds is 2 pounds more than my Marlin 983. . .
If 2 pounds will kill you, then. . .well, LOL.

IMO the possum has it right, you prioritize for what your environment demands. One and only one gun is kind of a non-starter to begin with. Most people carry a combination, usually a big handgun-small rifle or big rifle-small handgun combo.

If my intent is to fart around in the woods or intentionally hunt small game, I'll take the 983 and a large handgun.
If I intentionally go out to survive int he woods, I'll carry a big rifle and my Ruger Single Six will be my .22.

To answer the original question, depending on if I'm shooting LRs or Magnums, I like CCI MiniMags, or MaxiMags.
 
carry a combi. I've hit beavers and coons with .22 and 30-30win JHP handloads, both are pretty damage resistant animals, and the 30-30 preforms only marginally better at times. Punched a coon with a .22 and had it give up right there, and another took three 30-30s before it decided that it didn't want to eat me (that was scary) so on the average, while the 30-30 gives me more punch, and tends to make them stop moving a bit faster, if I had to carry it all day, .22 would put food in the soup pot. if I had to carry all of the ammo that I had, .22 would win, because I could afford a few more oopses. My uncle finished a beaver with a .300 savage, and when they skinned it out there were the scars of at least 6 .22 sized holes. some critters are tougher than others. plus .22 is cheap enough to practice lots, so that when ammo becomes limited those otherwise low margin shots become easy, every animal can be dropped my a shot to the brain, and most big animals have big eyes. .22 has probably dropped more deer than 30-30 win, and it is almost as old, and is the "better" deer caliber. not to argue with either side, because I'm on both sides, I'd love to carry a 12gua in bear country, but it is a bit less practical at times. but the .243 and smaller calibers may be an option, balancing size, small game ability and deer potential, especially if you hand load, just don't bring up .223, if I had to, .22 has it beat all the way around, same bullet size and twice the velocity, does not add up to twice the damage potential.
 
Snares, of course, will hunt for you all night and you don't need to fire a shot of any caliber.
 
I'm not advocating poaching and I'm not really proud of this but......... I've killed Whitetail deer with a .22. I used hollow point high velocity LR cartridges and killed them with one shot in the lungs. They bolt off after the hit, but I just quietly eased away from the spot. When I came back later, say 1/2 hour later, I would find the reddish/pink frothy/bubbled blood on vegetation inline with the lung hit. The deer never usually went all that far away, they find dense brush or a low brush covered depression to lay down in. Just follow the blood and tracks. They essentialy drowned in their own blood filled lungs. Like I said, I'm not proud of it, but I did it and it works. I was much younger then and I am far more ethical in my hunting practices today.

Rabbits and small game birds are easily killed with .22 shorts. Don't use hollow points because they rip everything up quite a bit. Body shots for birds. Head shots for rabbits. A poorly hit rabbit will give a piercing squeal over and over until dead. I had to grab one by the back legs once and swing/smash its head against a tree a few times to stop the noise. After that I had a hell of a time finding rabbits and it was a high numbers year. The shorts go pop were the high velocities go crack. The shorts are much quieter in the woods.
 
Samael said:
BTW, the .22 is the recommended round for mountain lions - things with more punch just tend to make them mad. They tend to not notice a lung shot with a .22, and just quietly bleed out.
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Recommended by who?
 
The one that shoots best in your rifle, hunting with a 22 is all about shot placement and accuracy. Chris
 
Scottman said:
any gun for that matter
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With a shotgun close is usually good enough, a centerfire will anchor small game with any body hit, not so with a 22 lr. Most of the time anything but a vital shot with a 22 on small game and there is a good possibility of lost game, not to mention a grey squirrels vitals are much smaller than a whitetails. Pie plate accuracy at the range large game will be shot will get the job done more times than not, pie plate accuracy with a squirrel rifle and the dumplings will be mighty thin on meat. Chris
 
I agree. But when you said shot placement, I mean, you still want to hit a deer in the vitals. I don't shoot small game with a centerfire, I use a .22 or a pellet to the head/neck or on the shoulder, and using centerfire to do small game hunting is a little too expensive for my tastes. :). With a shotgun you mean with shotshells, still have to aim with slugs and for that matter point when using scattershot. But I agree with you, when using a .22 on small game you have to hit the vitals.
 
mkhop said:
One of the subsonic rounds has a 60gr bullet solid nose whick should give a harder hit with tearing up much meat plus a litle more lead for slightly biger than small game.
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That's the Aguila SSS. The problem with the longer bullet is that it isn't stabilized in most slow twist .22 LR barrels. OUt of some of the faster twist AR barrels, some folks get good results when used with the conversion kits.
 
k_estela said:
I prefer CCI Velocitors but I love CCI in general. I used to carry the Stingers but like the Velocitor performance better in my rifles/handgungs. Minimags are amazing in both solid and hollow point.

Just an FYI, some guys on one of the most popular rimfire forums have said the CCI Stingers have a longer case than standard rounds and can cause assorted problems for the user. The problems are probabaly from really tight precision chambers, I don't know. I've used Stingers and have never had a problem but for the sake of full disclosure I thought I'd point it out.
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The stingers do have a longer case, I wouldn't shoot these in a target rifle because of the chambering of the rifle usualy won't accept these longer cases & the stinger is super fast for a .22LR but not as accurate as you would think;) I like the CCI Velocitors & mini mags.
 
If true survival I would go velocitors or winchester powerpoints or subsonic hollow points if thery were accurate in my rifle. My actions can just close on velocitors but not stingers and the rifle than can close on them shoots awfully. Tried shorts and they were awful - inaccurate with no knockdwon power at 50m - which is the sort of range needed for rabbits often.

In a survival situation though Itw ould probably be shooting birds at 20m or the opportunitstic rabbit, or sitting on a burrow quietly and waiting for rabbits to come out - probably 20m again. In all cases any round would work well.

I have heard that somone accidently killed an elephant with a .22lr pistol.Apparently at Treetops at Lake Victoria (akak Queen Elizabeth !II fame) an elephant was rubbing up against the bottom of a particular tree cabin and a guest pulled a pistol and fired down through the thin floor/viewing area the story is that it flukishly penetrated a fontinel equivalent and killed the elephant. The guest got whloe loads of grief

I rate it as possibly true. Certainaly .22lrs have killed loads of things in th old days (goats, deer, kangaroos, sharks, police comissioners) . I have heard of wild buffalos being shot with them by aboriginals here - have not heard if they ever brought one down though from .22lr alone though.
 
I think that any good long rifle hollow point or solid would be sufficient. Most people are not satisfied with "pie-plate" accuracy with a 22. I think you need to think in terms of one-inch groups at 50 yds as the minimum accuracy requirement. Most any load will do that with the right rifle. The difference between ammo is primarily in the consistancy between individual shots and ignition. If someone asked which 22 ammo to shoot and not knowing what would shoot best, I'd start with CCI high velocity.

I also believe a 22 rifle is the best survival fiream and ammunition combo. You can kill whitetails with 22 rimfires, poachers do it all the time. I wouldn't want to fight a war with 22rf's, but if that is all I had, I'd do okay with a rifle or two and someone to reload for me.
 
can we talk about the 17HMR!:D

Long live the .22!!!!

If SHTF...I want my family armed with .22's (if they can with other calibers great but .22.......a must)
 
it's best used in a 1-9 twist barrel and the up-side to that barrel is that it shoots regular ammo real well also.That gives you a rifle that will shoot the 60 grain ammo well enough for "big game"and with a 10-22 and the bolt locked(I sell a bolt lock kit for the 10-22:D)it's quiet and hits hard.:thumbup:
 
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