I have a 1976 Ruger 10/22 that my dad bought new. It's some special Bicentennial edition.

Anyway, long story short, this is a workhorse for our family. I don't even want to imagine how many rounds I've personally put through it, much less him. It's a NICE shooting little rifle. Earlier this year while taking practice I hit a sparrow at around 50 yards on the first shot, using a scope of course, and maybe this is a testimonial for the scope but it hasn't been adjusted in the 10 or so years I've been using it and probably even longer than that. It's relatively quiet, too. It's more of a crack than a gunshot. This keeps the neighbors happy when I do some backyard critter gettin.

As far as varmint hunting, I think it's a very effective gun. With a scope you can easily get a headshot on a rabbit or squirrel and not ruin any meat at all. I personally wouldn't use one for coyote hunting if you plan to do any of that unless you expect to get relatively close shots, and even then I'd go for the head.

And you said you can't find any? They seem to practically give them out here. They must just be sold out for the moment. I know both walmarts in my town have several models of .22 lr (Marlin, Savage, Ruger, etc. Semi-auto, lever action, bolt action, use your imagination) with probably 5 of each model in the back and the private shops usually have 3 or 4. I know that at walmart if you don't see it you can ask and probably 9 times outta 10 they have it in the back, somebody just sold the display. Plus what's on the rack isn't necessarily the only kind they have. For example, they keep a Savage model 110 in .243 on the shelf in my store but they keep that gun .243, .270 win, and 30-06 in the "gun room" as they call it.

But the best part about .22lr?

I can shoot .22lr all weekend long both in my Ruger 10/22 and my Browning Buckmark pistol (which is what I actually use for rabbit/squirrel lately. I like the challenge) for less than 8 bucks if I get a box of Federals. I don't even want to know what 500+ rounds of magnums would cost.