I am looking at purchasing a .22 mag but I do not know which one to get. .22 hornet, .22 mag, .22 wsm, etc. Does anybody have any experience with these rounds and care to share some advice? I mainly want it for varmint hunting. Thanks in advance for the advice!

I have the Henry GB in .22 mag. Love it. Very accurate rifle with open sights.

I have a Marlin 981T bolt action tube feed .22 mag that is a tack driver. LOTS of fun.

your choices are all more expensive to shoot, harder to find and less powerful than .223/5.56

I bought a Savage with the heavy barrel and accu-trigger and it is death it's own self. With CCI TNT hollow points it has taken from coon up to coyote with very little tracking after the shot. Don't skimp on the scope if you go that route, mine wears a Nikon Prostaff 3-9x40. Keep your shots inside 100-150 yds. and you'll be good.

That's what I was wondering. I am going back and forth between .22 mag and a .223.

I have a savage 93 22mag with a heavy stainless barrel on it and love. Have shot the henry golden boy 22 mag and it a sweet shooting rifle as well. The one down fall to the lower end blued henrys is that the finish on the receivers with scratch off very easy. Had this happen with my 22lr henry and have seen it on others to.

IMO, out to 125 yards, a 22 mag is an outstanding varmint round. And, even in this ammo crunch, 22 mag CCI has been readily available around here.

Thanks for the advice. Anybody have experience with 22 hornet?

I bought a low dollar, used marlin .22 mag and hung a 3x9 scope on it. It ain't pretty but I have busted 9 skunks and 2 racoons around our house with it this summer. The ammo has always been available, it is cheap, and it dropped everything I've shot at.

The .223 has it's uses. For pest control around the house it is a little more than I want to throw.

Dad used to deer hunt with a .22 hornet. It's alot more stout than a 22 mag as its a center fire. If you don't reload, idk what kind of ammo availability there is for it.

I've dropped coyotes with my .22 mag and all other smaller critters. My bolt .22 mag is a tack driver.

Cheap plentiful ammo.

If the choice was 22 hornet or .223, I'd take the .223 because ammo is going to be a whole lot less expensive.

How does the .22 mag ammo compare to the .223?

.223 is probably about twice the price of .22wsm. Gunbot.net shows good price for .22wsm at .15 and .223 at .45/rd just steel case runs about $7 for 20 so about .35/ rd

Thanks, Savage, for the info. Thanks to all for the input!

I have a Savage 93f 22wmr. One of my favorite guns to shoot. Ammo is cheap and it has plenty of knock down. Got mine for only $199 about two years ago so its reasonably priced!

By the way, does someone have a picture of this 22 WSM?

I know the 22 Win mag = 22WMR = 22 mag but what is the 22 wsm?

The .22 Magnum can be effective out to maybe 150 yards, but it's utility is fairly limited. The ammo is a little expensive and it is not reloadable. The .223 Remington, on the other hand, can be effective out to 300+ yards on varmints and can be used for deer if the correct ammo is used. Another plus is that it is reloadable. For larger varmints it will be quite a bit more effective than the .22 Magnum also. I'd say the .223 has a lot more to offer and that's what I'd recommend to a friend.

i like a 22 magnum, for general pest control purposes in Texas it should do whatever you need..i have killed allot of animals with mine..including some bigger pigs..

Don't know of any .22 WSM but there is a .223 WSSM. It's a little hot dog and the cartridge resembles the .22 PPC in shape.

Winchester has just introduced the 17 WSM (Winchester Super Mag). It has more juice than the 22Mag or the 17 Hummer. don't know about the price or availability, however.

17 WSM is 13.99$ a box on MidwayUSA

Sorry for the confusion. I was mistaken when I typed .22 wsm. Thanks for the info to all.

If you reload, you can shoot a 22 hornet or the .223 cheaper than you can buy 22 mag shells (nowadays). I shoot ALOT of 22 mag and .223. There is a big difference in performance. 22 mag is impressive when compared to 22LR but doesn't hold a candle to the .223. You don't have to join the AR craze to shoot the .223. There are many bolt guns and single shots out there that shoot great. Watch the twist rates though if you want to shoot heavier rounds. Some rifles have a 1 in 12 rate and won't stabilize anything over 55 grains (I use 45 and 50 gr bullets for those rifles). But I have to admit, I love my 22 mags! They are addictive!