223 or 22Mag Bolt Action

[Wrangler John]

You made a good choice. If you buy reloadable brass cased ammo, save your cases and eventually you can buy an inexpensive reloading setup. Reloading can save you some money, but better still you'll learn a tremendous amount about ammunition and accuracy. When I met my wife she was loading her own .45 ACP ammo for target shooting. It's a separate hobby that teaches us discipline and precision, while producing ammo custom tailored to a particular firearm. Have fun!

[eqlzr]

I have been enjoying the hello out of a Mossberg MVP Patrol .223 rifle. It has a 16.25 inch barrel (as I recall), a flash-hider, open sights, and uses AR-15 magazines. By reloading, I can produce rounds ranging from pellet rifle velocities up through .22LR and .22 Mag all the way up to full-house .223 loads. For the low-power stuff, I've been using Trail Boss powder, and it works great. A .223 case cut to about half length makes a powder measure that throws about a 4.4 grain charge of Trail Boss and yields velocities in the 1300-1400 fps range pushing 55 gr Hornady SP bullets. This load is based on data from the Hodgdon website. These rounds shoot about an inch and a half lower than full-house loads at 50 yards and produce 1 inch groups routinely.

[Euphoria526]

I was going to suggest the MVP. I LOVE mine, more accurate then the proce suggest

[vincewarde]

This. May be only .223 you're ALLOWED to own soon.

ARs will survive even if semi-autos are banned. They survive in the UK - as straight pull bolt guns. The same would happen here, if God forbid, semi-autos are ever banned.

The advantage of the bolt guns is primarily cost.

As for the OPs question:

1) .22 LR is available in a wide variety of loads, some of which approach 1500fps with a 40 grain bullet.

2) .17 HMR is at least effective as the .22 WMR and shoots a lot flatter. IMHO, it is a better choice than a .22 WMR

3) If, like me, you reload, you can produce .223 for about the same price as .22 WMR. Loaded with 40 grain bullets, it can reach 3700fps - nearly twice the velocity of the .22 WMR. You can load the .223 to duplicate .22 WMR. You can even load it with cast bullets. Cheap brass is widely available.

Today, with the .17 rimfires available, the appeal of the .22 WMR is much less than it used to be - and it has never been an extremely popular round. I own one .22 WMR firearm - a Single-Six. Even in this application, it has limited usefulness. If it is the only handgun you own, there are some actual defensive loads available. Other than this, I don't see a lot of use for the cartridge.

[florsh]

[Sardine]

I think you did good. I have 223 Savage varminter and it's accurate too sighted in at 100 yards for now. Got a Henry 22 mag and it is not accurate at all. I should have got it in 22lr instead or maybe tried it in Marlins 22 mag. But they don't have any to sell. I'll never buy another Henry. It sure looks good though over the mantle though.