I agree with Benjamin, not being prepared opens the door and invites failure to come right in and while failure brings the opportunity to learn, develop and grow - positives - but it can also have negative effects depending on the situation. Preparation doesn't mean success is assured of course, but it can move a person much closer to it or at least help to minimise the damage done when failure occurs.
I like to be prepared, it's a habit and part of my nature - somewhat of a hobby - and I have an ethos of preparedness in all things.
In conversation with a friend recently, we were talking about our firearms; specifically about the suitability of what each of us possesses to situations such as civil unrest, home invasion, SHTF situations, hunting and recreational shooting and other such things; both of us, while extremely focused on such matters, felt we were inadequately equipped for one specific reason; the lack of a .22LR rifle.
.22LR
Both of us have been long-term shooters with a background in long range rifle shooting and marksmanship; we own and operate large centre-fire calibre rifles starting at the .308 moving through to the 300WM, 338 Lapua and so on. We both also shoot centre-fire semi-automatic handguns in various situations and have many years shooting experience (60+) between us. The much smaller rimfire .22LR calibre has never been something we've needed to shoot due to it being ineffective at long range and having almost zero knock-down at much past 50-70 metres; it's not going to stop much at all besides a rabbit or other small game - although, a well placed shot by a trained marksman will do the job on larger things. It's just not a firearm either of us has ever needed...but we both agree it's a firearm that is a valuable addition to a preppers' armoury.
You can see one pictured, a .22LR CZ 515 I had the opportunity to possess for a time and which I spent a lot of time shooting. It was fast, fun, reliable and accurate and .22LR ammunition is cheap, some $6-$10 per 50 rounds as opposed to the $2.50+ per round for the larger calibres we generally shoot.
I was shooting it out to 100 metres and grouping adequately and ended up using it in a little practical/run-and-gun rifle competition I was asked to enter. Nope, I didn't win but top ten out of over a hundred entrants was acceptable. I gave it back to the organisation that had loaned it to me and, despite enjoying it and having all good intentions of buying one I never did.
Use case
Big calibre rifles and handguns are loud, super loud, and that's not always a good thing.
The .22LR is a quiet rifle (in comparison) and that means one can maintain a lower profile in situations where noise-discipline is required or desired such as a SHTF scenario where drawing attention to oneself could be inviting trouble best avoided; also in small-game hunting situations where the game will bugger off when loud noises occur.
60 decibels is about the equivalent to the volume of normal conversation and 150 decibels is the sound of fireworks.
The popping sound (around 60-100 decibels or so compared to over 160db for a .308) which a .22LR makes can help a person avoid attention and the calibre, whilst only good at short range, can still be effective...shooting a rabbit for instance...or something else with a well-aimed shot. The .22LR rifle is also very light making it more mobile than a heavy long range rifle which weighs much more and ammunition is readily available and (usually) easily found considering there's so many .22LR rifles out there.
I've been thinking about picking up a .22LR to add to my armoury for a while and despite enjoying the CZ 515 I'd end up getting a manual bolt action as there's less that can go wrong in the field compared to the bolt action lever release the CZ 515 uses; I like reliable firearms, Sure, the 515 is super-fast to fire and that can have some use but I'd be after reliability over speed and the better accuracy that comes with it. I'm not sure what I'll get just yet however I like the Ruger 77/22 and Sako P94 S and have fired both in the past, but there's other options. What I know for sure is that a .22LR is on the radar and it will round out my armoury nicely which is currently very large-calibre oriented.
situation arose that you were inadequately prepared for?I know most of you have no clue about firearms and no interest either, maybe just @ksteem will know what I'm going on about in this post (and I'd love to hear his thoughts) but being prepared isn't only about firearms, there's so many other ways to be prepared for adversity or difficult situations that may arise...I wonder if you think about being more prepared and if so what do you do to move towards it? If you do nothing, what do you think will happen if a
Design and create your ideal life, tomorrow isn't promised - galenkp
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I remember your review of that rifle pictured. It is certainly an interesting model.
Here in the midwest or southern U.S. where I grew up, nearly every child was given a .22 as their first rifle (after the red ryder BB gun of course). No kick, cheap to run, and fairly accurate to a certain distance.
The only drawback is that the ammo tends to have failure's to fire more often than centerfire ammunition, just part of the rimfire design or manufacturing process. Good to practice failure to feed, and bad round ejection cycles. Not used as much for self-defense for that reason.
There are so many good rifle choices. For semi-auto, I'm definitely a solid Ruger 10-22 fan. There's just so many options to customize and upgrade, and generally super reliable out of the box. I won't go into that as much here since this is about a bolt action.
I also prefer bolt actions for most of my rifles. Of ones I owned personally, my most accurate was an old Remington I got when I was 9 years old.
For Bolt actions, there are many excellent choices and models even multiple models per manufacturer. Any of these are top picks depending on minor personal preferences for style and feel. On any given day and shooter one could out-perform the other.
CZ - Bolt and semi very popular and accurate
Ruger - most popular semi, bolts also accurate
Savage - Often underrated but great performer. If you like their accu-trigger it adjusts and performs well.
Remington - still popular with many custom options
Sako/Tikka - Solid and accurate, I wonder if the single set trigger is available for .22? I just love that trigger on my 22-250. If so, this would get my vote hands down. It's one of only two rifles I own that I haven't replaced the trigger on.
Bergara - Has risen in popularity over the last 5 years or so, very solid with custom options.
Anshutz - I handled a friend's two decades ago, and I still remember it. Used to dominate the Olympics and still one of my favorites for a target gun, custom target guns may be heavier than desired for general field use.
Will be following to see what you choose, and looking forward to the review.
The ammunition is problematic for sure. I didn't want to get into it as most won't relate, probably just you I suppose; I've explained the difference between centrefire and rimfire before but wasn't inclined to do so in this post. But for sure one needs to practice working around feed and ejection issues. Interestingly though, I can't recall having either with theis CZ 515.
There's a lot of choices and I want to get it right; I only want to do this once. I'm not really into rimfire rifles so it won't be something I'd shoot a lot but I want to be happy that I made the right choice. Thanks for weighing in with some thoughts, I was hoping you would.
Don't know if you've seen it yet, but CCI came out with some new subsonic Hollow Point ammo called "Uppercut" 32 grains hollow point at 950fps. Designed for 2-4 inch barrel Pistol length use, but could also be great subsonic round for rifles (esp. suppressed).
I picked up a few boxes and will be doing a write up soon if I ever get some range time. Also will be testing through the new LabRadar (mini version) Chrony. Stay tuned.
I hadn't heard, sounds interesting and I'll be looking for your review. I find that stuff super I retesting obviously.
What the hell am I, Chopped Liver..?
Mmmmm... Mee Luvs Liver.!
Great Post. I just had some interesting events happen this last week involving the discharge of several firearms.
How bout a WE topic like have you ever shot a gun or been shot at..?
Interested. Hopefully was a positive experience. I think many/most people vastly underestimate how often firearms are used legitimately. Whether it be in self-defense against person, animal, other or just as a deterrent. A couple of the magazines I read report on this, but strange how that side of it isn't making the media. Maybe as some things shift right that will change a bit.
This was animal related, in defense of pets. Let's see if a WE topic is on target for more info...
See what I did there? 🎯
😁
Hi there chopped liver.
I didn't mention you as you're more a handgun guy than rifle, or so I figured, so...yeah, anyway sorry for not tagging you (something I don't really like to do much anyway).
So, a topic huh? Maybe, it's not a bad idea although few would be able to answer I think. I'm interested to hear what that situation was you mention though.
I said a few words about it to @ksteem
Running thru Friday. I just finished a 12 hour shift. In SC now. Stopped for a ten hour break and destroyed 5 pieces of phenomenal fried chicken breast at this little mom and pop truck stop I like to stop at. My Brains fried too. Sammi Jo is a happy cat. I came out to the Prime with a pocket full of chicken.
I would like to tell this shooters story. Might hurt a few readers feelings. I am sure you know what that is like with the cull posts.
We will see...
I have only toy guns but otherwise I consider myself pretty well prepared for a small apocalypse. We have at least a year's food in storage and we're heading back into growing season, our own well, 3 years supply of gas, endless fuel for our stove and of course a room full of toilet rolls. But if the wind whips our roof off I won't be so smug!
It sounds like you're well oreppedtand that'll place you in good stead down the track when...well, when things go worse than they are. Well done on taking the initiative.
Cool gun ... and every man must have right to have gun , when are state leaders are crazy and try tell as that we have no right even to own income this days , and at any moment someone can rush through the door of your house at the moment and demand everything ... but when you have gun you have a chance to protect yourself😅👌 .... i hope one day I have slso 1 or 3 guns 🤭👌👌
I'm pretty prepared with enough guns to
invade a countrydo what's required and the skills to use them. I agree with you, one never knows when something may happen or when one is in a difficult situation and it's at those times when a good level of preparedness is going to make a big difference. Most don't care though and seem content to rely on others.True 👌👌🍺 ... also this or problem is built by the banking cartels so that people depend on the government and bank loans, thinking that then their lives are safe, but that's where all our problems come from where we don't have any rights to live. Just right to use VISA cart and we must be silent if we want it still works 😅😅😆 ... crazy times , I still wait to see when world wake up and take out all this privet familys on top, it be the best day we have then 🙏🙏🙏👌🍺
The world is upside down and back to front, it'll get worse too.
Lols. As you mentioned in your post, I am among those who know nothing about firearms. However, the message about preparedness is worth to be taken away.
We never know for sure what the future holds and preparing for the challenges during the time of abundance is wise. We should work to acquire mental and physical resources when we have the opportunity to attain them
Being a little more prepared is something that applies to pretty much all aspects of life but seems to be one of the most neglected; the sad thing is that it doesn't even take much to increase one's preparedness and ther a so many things one can do easily and cheaply, but so many just don't bother. It makes no sense to me.
Thanks for commenting.
Perhaps people deny the possibility of adversity in their lives. Or may be it's their laziness that stops them from being prepared 🤷♀️
I think both.
😄
It's frustrating how difficult it is to own a firearm in the Philippines. I'd love to have a .22 long rifle, but the licensing and cost are major obstacles.
Cost is often a factor, it's the same here because Australia is also a costly place to live.
I have no clue about firearms 😅, but in the medical field, preparation is one of the fundamentals
In fact, I have a professor who told us that when fishermen couldn't go out to sea, they would stay on land fixing their nets and fishing gear. So, it's always important to prepare, for us be unprepared is good at all. In my case, I try to prepare a little bit every day to always add a bit more
A little effort each day will make a difference when things go wrong later. Well done.
That one is much cooler than mine. I have a Remington Speedmaster 552. It's actually the only non shotgun rifle that I own now. I used to have that 30/30 I told you about but I sold it to my friend for his daughter to hunt with. I also used to have a .22 Romanian that had a four or five round clip. That gun was a hoot to shoot. It was really fun for plinking, but I left it at a girlfriends house and forgot about it. We broke up and it wasn't until years later I remembered it. Now when I talk about it I just say I "lost it in the divorce".
Haha, I wonder how many blokes have lost their firearms in the "divorce" over the years. You could always track her down I guess but she might confuse you wanting your rifle back to you wanting her back. Best to let it go I think. 😀
It didn't end well, so most likely I would end up on the barrel end of the rifle instead of the butt end!
Haha, yes that's a risk not worth taking.
As you mention, this topic is just one example of how necessary it is to be prepared for different situations in life, work, economic, and even personal. It gives us a better chance of success in any field. Professionally I am always learning things that I need, I do a lot of research. Economically, I am looking for more profitability and diversification. Personally I am looking at myself improving my not so good aspects for myself and for my relationship with others.
Continual improvement is a good thing to seek, well done.
Well done you too, keep on improving! Always on the move.
It is a true beauty, I would like to be able to use it one day, it should be easy to be precise because it is 22 caliber
It's an accurate shooter, but only at fairly close range. It does what it's supposed to though.
Sexy rifle! I keep saying that I should cut off my 'to-try' list shooting with a real weapon one day, but nope, not yet!
It's just a little plinker but was a lot of fun to shoot while I had it. Maybe you'll get to shoot a firearm sometime, have you looked into a come and try day at your local gun range?
We don't really have that kind of event. But there are polygons (I hope this is the right word for it) where you can rent a gun and shoot while being accompanied by a professional. However, they cost a little fortune so no thank you for now, lol!
Maybe someday though, I hope you get to try.
I am dreaming of owning at least .22 long rifle. However, owning a gun in the Philippines is hard. Need a lot of license and gun itself is so expensive.
Yep, licensing and the cost of firearms is one of the reasons many do not have them; it's also a big responsibility and there's some who should never have access to firearms.
I don’t know much about firearms, but the way you explained the .22LR actually made a lot of sense. And yeah, being prepared for anything is always a must!
Thanks I tried to make sense so I'm happy to know it did.
Nice rifle! but what?? u mean u need more than just a pump shotgun?!?! :P but of course.. a 22 for all the zombies.. 💪😎👊
Nope, it's .556 for the zombies, unless it's at long range and then .308 or 338 Lapua, or 7mm Saum or 6.5mm Creedmoor or, .243...well, you get the idea. I have a lot of rifles and handguns and they all have a purpose. Bring on the zombies.
😉😁👊
nice pictures. i think i have this gun on Delta force new game :))
I'm not a gamer so don't know what you're talking about; I prefer to live (and shoot) in the real world.
$PIZZA slices delivered:
(5/10) @danzocal tipped @galenkp
I will definitely start using the shorthand I learned from you "SHTF situations" 😀
In any sphere of life, ever since I was a kid, I have been preparing for "What" tomorrow brings.
That's why they often called me a nerd, but it didn't bother me, because in some situations I had the opportunity to help the same people that called me a nerd (and that's because I was prepared).
But, fuck it, one cannot prepare for everything in life. He has to learn something the hard way or from his mistakes...
Hice rifle🙂
This is not the smallest caliber for a hunting rifle?
An ethos and habit of being prepared (for all sorts of things and generally) will help a person get more from life and mitigate the risks that come with it. Like you say though, one cannot be prepared for everything but having the right attitude about it all means a person is probably much more equipped to handle things when they go pear shaped.
It depends what one is hunting. An air rifle (pellet gun) will kill an animal, but killing should be done humanely so the right calibre needs to be used. So, I'd not really use a .22LR for much other than rabbits I guess although it would kill a human with a well placed shot and the right range. A better all-round calibre might be .223 (556) although they're much louder which is why most preppers prefer to also have a .22LR. It can be a complicated discussion as it depends on where one is (available game) and other factors besides.
I saw that there is an even smaller .17 just right for killing rats in the field.
Yeah, the .17HMR. it's not my thing, I hit harder with my fist.
You say that because you are strong in your hands, as they say, you are in training 🙂