Ah, To Be .22 Again…
Pretty much all my guns are 9mm. I love my nines and I love shooting them. They’ve helped get me past my ligyrophobia and I have introduced many a shooter to this wonderful hobby using them. They’re not too loud. They’re not too jumpy. They’re not too expensive.
They’re still loud, jumpy and not cheap. When I was starting out, they still scared the heck out of me. So what is a Noob to do when even a 9mm is too much?
Simple: Get a .22!
Now, a .22 has almost no recoil at all. The sound isn’t any worse than a firecracker, although it’s still loud enough to destroy your hearing so wear your ear protection (or get a silencer). This makes a .22 gun very comfortable to use and great for new shooters.
That’s not the best part about a .22, though. The best thing is that the bullets are cheap. I mean really cheap! We’re talking “how the heck do the manufacturers make any money because surely the metal costs are more than what they’re selling these things for” kind of cheap. What does that mean for you, the shooter? Well, I don’t know what the ammo costs are where you live but here in my hometown, the cheapest box of 50 9mm rounds that I can find (not online) is about $30. Now, if I take that same thirty bucks and buy some .22 with it, I can get around a thousand rounds! That’s 20 times as much ammo for the same price!
So basically you can put a lot of lead down range for next to nothing. What does this ultimately mean though?
On a fundamental level, all guns work the same: Grip, Stance, Sight Picture and Trigger Control. No matter what gun you shoot, those 4 things are going to be there. The only difference between a .22 and a Desert Eagle .50 pistol is weight and the amount of recoil (and that .50AE rounds average about $1.50 apiece). Why not work on those fundamentals for less than $0.03 a round?
For the longest time, many .22LR pistols were considered nothing more than toys. These days, companies are starting to finally put some serious effort into their .22 models. Ruger has always had what are considered to be the best .22 pistols and there are lots of upgrades for them that make them beyond amazing. There’s piles of .22 revolvers out there as well. On top of that, there are tons of 1911 conversion kits that will turn standard 1911s into .22LR lead slingers. Most major manufacturers, such as Sig-Sauer and Walther among others, are now making some pretty decent polymer .22 pistols. Between those 1911 conversions and the polymer models, you can now work with a .22 pistol that looks and feels like your big gun and that makes for better practice. As a bonus, there’s even .22 conversion kits for AR-15 rifles! The best part about .22 chambered guns themselves though is that they pretty much max out at $400 and average between $250 and $300. For the most part, only the super tricked out competition .22s get above that range.
For added fun, slap a silencer on to a .22 and you’ll have one of the quietest guns there is (provided silencers are legal in your state). The .22LR is a relatively quiet round to begin with so the supressors are amazingly effective in this area. Outside of the 9mm, the .22 is one of the most popular silencer sizes sold. Last time I was at the range the person next to me had a silenced .22 and, having experienced a silencer first hand, I really really want one.
There are a couple of downsides, however. For one, .22 ammo isn’t exactly the most reliable ammo in the world. For every 500 rounds, I wind up with about 3-5 that were problems. It’s kind of the nature of .22LR ammo. I should note that the higher end stuff is much more reliable.
The other thing? They’re dirty. I hope you like cleaning your guns because you will spend a lot of time cleaning your .22 pistol. It’s a combination of the lead, low quality powder (at least in the cheaper ammo) and large quantity of bullets fired that adds up to some serious residue on your gun. Personally, I love cleaning my guns so I don’t mind it. Especially when I consider how many bullets I put through that gun in order to get it that dirty.
Pro tip: invest in a .22LR sized boresnake for your gun. After every hundred rounds or so at the range, run the boresnake through it a couple of times and that will keep things running smoothly.
Whenever someone asks me “what gun should I get for my first gun?” I tell them that if they want to do it right, get a .22 pistol to start out with. Anyone who wants to call themselves a “serious shooter” or “gun nut” needs to have a .22 in their collection.
Images used under Creative Commons License from tuchodi, Drab Makyo and DanDeChiaro.
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