Ruger American, My .22 Killer

Hey All,

I have only posted a few other times before now but I thought this would be worth posting about. This past weekend my local funshop had a "Ruger Days" event where rugers were on sale, on display and all around talked about. My dad and I went together and looked a bunch of new toys that we wanted and discussed (as we often do) the lethalality of the .22lr and the ability to turn it into a defense weapon. It was during this discussion that I voiced my intention to buy a 10/22. My dad being a fan of rugers said that it would be a nice purchase, but knows that I tend to prefer bolt action rifles and brought me over to a beauty.

The Ruger American Rimfire!

Im not sure if anybody here has had the chance to fire one but they are absolutely amazing. I went back this morning and traded in a rusted deer rifle (my state doesn't allow any rifle hunting for deer around where I am) and a little extra for it. They take the 10/22 magazine (which is good for when I get one) and they adjust for all size shooters. It cycles easily and has an adjustable trigger weight. I am sure that the .22 lethalality topic has come up a multitude of times but it is a constant discussion for my family. My father and I own many firearms but we favor the .22. My dad has downed all manner of small game across the us and on one fateful occassion a mountain lion. He swears that the only reason he survived the encounter was because he had his savage .22 and a 20 yard distance.


So this morning after I picked mine up I ran about 100 rounds through it and maintained a dime size grouping (groups of 10) at 50 yards. My dad and I go between hyper velocity rounds that are stock and some high velocity ones that we file the tip to make flat topped for more punch. I hope to grab a coyote on a night hunt with this later on this year.

So for the discussion: Does anybody else have this rifle? Any ammuntion your favors? Does anybody have any tips for increasing the stopping power of a .22lr? Any fun stories about a .22?

a reply to: Divin3F3nrus
I had a great uncle that hunted exclusively with a .22 LR bolt action with peep sights. He shot rabbits running and ruffed grouse on the wing. He took deer with it nearly every year.
I killed a 1500 lb steer running away from me with a .22 WMR when I was 17 years old. I hit the second vertabra behind his skull and he dropped like a ton of bricks.

You should look into making your own rounds. Its the only real way to get a .22 to have more velocity that and some kind of hollow point so that the energy dumps into the target rather than through it. Idk though I honestly wouldn't shoot anything much bigger than about 60-70lbs with one. Also due to its limited mass it can sometimes have difficulty with bone so shot placement becomes more important.

a reply to: Divin3F3nrus

Ruger makes fine firearms, I've owned a few and never had problems with them.

My favorite are the 10/22, Mini 14 and a blast from the past,

The Ruger Mark 1 T512, bull barrel automatic pistol with adjustable sights (the T stands for Target).

Image

The most precise and fun gun to shoot at the range. I owned several, put 20,000 rounds through one before the ejector finally broke. they were easily disassembled, solid and reliable. It never jammed.

Good luck picking one up. They were amazing before most of you were born. Tin can accuracy at 50 yards off hand, every pull of the trigger.

I know you are talking rifles here, sorry I got all teary eyed.

More to the thread question… what kind of ammo?

CCI .22LR copper coated . Its not a copper jacket, just a thin plating of copper to cover the lead. Lead coats barrels, eat the price diff and your barrel will last a lot longer.

Whetevr ammo you choose, stick with it. Buy a lot of it all at once from the same date and lot. The accuracy is more consistent with one lot number and your confidence will build as you practice with one brand as opposed to jumping around.

After all, hitting somewthig with a .22 must be more accurate to achieve the desired result. People report taking deer with .22 lR because they were good enough and close enough to hit one in the head.

Thats skill and patience… squared.

Any Ruger is a work of art. Makes anything else feel like crap. Congrats.

a reply to: RickyD

It's really difficult to reload .22 lr, and getting set up to do so would be too expensive for most people.

There are plenty of high velocity, match grade rounds available.

.22 Can and will take down medium game with good round placement - for the sake of being humane it shouldn't be attempted by people who aren't crack shots.


On point, I killed a pregnant squirrel with a Marlin Model 60 when I was probably 9-10 years old. I knew it was pregnant because the poor thing's belly split open and revealed it's unborn cargo. I felt horrible, and this provided a lesson that I've never forgotten: Don't shoot living things for fun - only do so if there is a need or use for the kill.

But I'm a huge softy. =

I have a Ruger 10/22 and have been highly considering purchasing a 45/22 lately. I just have to convince the missus that another gun is what we really need.

a reply to: Divin3F3nrus

Did he down the mountain lion, or run it off with the .22?

Sorry to be skeptic, but I could see the sound scaring it off and maybe the sting of a shot, but I would not want to be caught by a cougar with only my .22.

That's just me.

22 is definitely lethal to humans. I saw a video of a police officer that was in a shoot out with a drug dealer that he pulled over and one despite him hitting the guy multiple times with his 9mm the guy survived and a shot from the 22 hit the officers arm, followed the bone up and entered his heart. It was a disturbing video as he died slowly and screamed for a long portion of it.

The thing is.. .22 isn't going to be very effective if the person is armed and has any body armor.

a reply to: Divin3F3nrus

First, let's start with the term "stopping power". There is no such thing.

You hear crap from super macho guys with their 1911s saying things like "I carry a .45 because it's silly to shoot twice".

Anyone who believes that nonsense has never been in or seen a real gun fight. I have personally seen people taking multiple rounds of larger calibers before finally stopping their attack.

Stopping power is a myth and I wish so much that it would be wiped from the shooters lexicon as it lends itself to a false sense of security, among many other gun myths, that put people at risk...because the good guy doesn't always win the gun fight...and believing BS will get you killed or seriously injured.

Secondly, the 22 LR is lethal out to 400 yards in the right hands. If you want hard hitting .22LR rounds I suggest CCI Velocitors, and other high velocity ammo. If you want a .22 that will pack even more of a punch, look into firearms that are chambered in .22TCM. There are several in the works right now starting with the Rock Island Armory 1911 TCM which is the only one being sold right now. Rifles that fire the TCM are currently in the works. The 22TCM was created by Armscor and they perform remarkably well and are extremely fast.

I also recommend .22 magnum. Many rifles are chambered in 22 mag and some of the higher end ammo makers, like Hornady, make some seriously deadly and well performing rounds.

We have one we take shooting with us sometimes. They are firearms, and they will kill or seriously wound a person. I personally have this stigma about .22's in general for defense purposes, but this is unwarranted considering that I shoot hollow points, and I've seen what they do to whatever they hit. Hopefully nobody will ever be in the position to have to use any weapon, especially a .22, to shoot another human being...but if they do, the purpose is not necessarily to kill the enemy, but to take them out of the fight. A .22 will definitely accomplish this goal. A gunshot is a gunshot, and most people will be taken out of the fight regardless of where they are hit. A gunshot would likely hurt a great deal, but with the adrenaline and given the history of firefights, I suppose it would not be that uncommon for someone to fight through a non-lethal wound. So better shoot center of mass. I would stick with hollow points for such purposes.

And as far as accuracy I've found what you described. You can get a really tight group at about 50 yards. The longest shot I've ever made with a .22 was 200 yards, but this was after missing quite a few times. But even that is doable, and I'm not that great of a shot. I think you could get about 100 yards consistently with practice. I think that generally speaking a .22 LR's effective range is around 150 yards. HV rounds would likely extend your range as well. Anyway, I think that for defense purposes a .22 would be sufficient. I would prefer something that could reach out and touch someone much further away however, as this is just a better overall strategy. If you have a single target then it doesn't matter so much, but if you had to engage a group of enemies and could only start shooting at 50 to 100 yards, they can close that distance relatively quickly. Just depends on the situation, but as I said, even a .22 will cause damage.

I, personally, respect and regard the lethality of the .22 cal. as a near if not first choice.

small. relatively 'quiet, accurate, etc'

in close, up front and in person, perhaps, not so much... as you'd want more 'knockdown' force/power... as opposed to fragmentation of a significantly smaller projectile.


but I still rely on the same in a ruger 1 in-&-10 behind semi. [thanks, G!]

backed up, of course by a .410 with either 3" mag slugs or ought buck

10/22 are nice guns and there are many mods you can do- some expensive, some not to bad.

Search for 'Kidd innovative design' for some reasonable mods, one that I do to every 10/22 is the Auto-bolt Release, which will release the bolt without having to push the bolt release button.

Congrats on your new gun!

Congrats on your new "baby", pass out some cigars!

I love ruger's guns, owned a mini 14 for a while before hard times made me sell it. Still miss that gun. Of all the material things life makes you part ways with seems old cars and guns leave the biggest holes.


As for a 22lr story, back in the youngster days a few friends of mine were messing around with a 22 cartridge in the lot behind school, one of them threw it on the ground, hard, and it went off and managed to shoot him in the back. His mom was able to pull it out with tweezers so he was ok.

Haven't seen that dude in years, wonder if he manage to kill himself yet?...

a reply to: GogoVicMorrow

Oh he killed it. He still has a claw or two as trophies. He got it stuffed at one point but ended up selling it when he moved. I can see them getting a little scared by a .22 but not running off. Maybe the ones by me are just really ballsy.

a reply to: projectvxn

I was looking around today and from what I am reading the .22 mag rounds are nasty and definitely packing a punch. I can understand your disdain for the term stopping power. My friend Dan served in Iraq and Afghanistan and he said that he had guys come at him after being hit with his MG, but had guys drop from his 9mm. You never really know. My dad was saying that shot placement is key. He can handle .45 and rounds like it but carries a 380 because it is easily concealed and he can place a shot in your carotid if he feels like it. Ill take a look at those rounds and see how I like them. Not that I ever "intend" to take a deer with a .22, but having something that makes that more likely if I need to would be nice.

a reply to: Divin3F3nrus

More people are shot with a 22 than any other cal of ammo. On another note I had a 22 ten shot back when I was a young teenager very nice rifle.

I've heard someone say, it's a myth that .22s can't kill. He then recounts stories of people getting killed with .22s, as described above. I also recall reading that one of the victims of the Manson family was done in by a .22.