btnovotny

I have been thinking about this for a month trying to figure out what my next purchase should be. I'm on the fence between a .22 pistol or a .223 rifle. Either one will be a fun target shooter. 22 more so but maybe sneek in some small game shooting too. With the 223, looking for fun target shooting with the boys and maybe some yotes on the weekend.

Would love to get both but need to decide one or the other. What's your Fav 22 pistol or 223 rifle

Sheridan

First question anyone is going to ask is; What do you already own ?

........ and; What do you do, shoot, hunt mostly ?

salukipv1

I see little use for a .22 pistol ?? plinking only?
a .223 could be used to plink, hunt coyotes, etc...
so my vote would be for a .223 rifle.

Nomercy448

Don't make me choose....

My Ruger Mark II .22lr is probably my most prized firearm. I could part with almost any other weapon I own, but not that one. I've taken coyotes with it, rabbits, and hundreds of coons.

On the other hand, I'd be hard pressed to give up my M-4 style AR-15 .223rem. Absolutely my right hand for coyotes.

So personally, I'd recommend you ultimately purchase both. The order is less important than getting both "eventually". Personally, I'd get the .22lr pistol first, but I'd get the .223rem eventually.

But if you're more of a rifle shooter and have more opportunity to call coyotes than you'd have to plink with a .22lr, then obviously the .223rem makes more sense. You CAN call coyotes with a .22lr pistol (contrary to what 90% of the guys on here will tell you), but it's a very specialized hunting style and requires a highly skilled handgunner, a talented caller, an ideal close range calling set up, and a lot of luck.

HDMontana

.223 gets my vote. .22 pistol is really limited to what you can use it for, although when I was a kid, a .22 revolver with a 12 inch barrel was all I carried when out coon hunting at night.

HDMontana

That reminds me, if you get a .22 revolver with both a .22 LR and .22 mag cylinder, it would be a little more useful.

Nomercy448

I don't know that I'd necessarily agree. Yes, a .22mag revolver SEEMS to have more versatility than a .22lr revolver, but honestly not by much. Both will kill a rabbit or squirrel at pretty much any range you can hit it, and both will be extremely undersized for coyotes (50yrd weapon for either WMR or LR at best).

The difference in power in a revolver just isn't worth much. We're not talking about 100yrd performance here.

Also, the convertibles I've seen have been rather inaccurate with one or the other. Maybe you don't care about tack driving accuracy, but personally, I want my weapons to be able to shoot better than I can shoot them, and I've found at least two 22cal convertibles that I could outperform when shooting one load or the other. The unfortunate truth to that is that if it shoots better with 22lr than 22WMR, that means it's less accurate when I'm actually using it for hunting, and would want it MORE accurate for ethical shot placement. On the flip side, if it's more accurate with the 22WMR than the 22LR, then I know it'll be less accurate for the majority of my shooting, which would be plinking and practice. The downside is that you don't necessarily know which it will favor until you shoot it. No, I'm not talking about a difference of shooting dimes at 50yrds with one and shooting fridges at 15ft with the other, but I DID have a single six convertible that shot cloverleafs at 10yrds with .22lr, but was about 2" groups at 10yrds with .22mag.

Ultimately, the real reason I don't see any more "versatility" in the convertible than a standard revolver is that the power difference just doesn't mean much. A 9mm/.357mag convertible makes a big difference in price, and a huge difference in power and use. 9mm is great for plinking, but too small for deer. THAT makes sense. But the .22lr and the .22WMR are both small game rounds, and both are range limited in handguns by the shooters skill, not necessarily by the power of the round at range.

country1

When does your coyote season start and end? Do you already have a place to hunt coyotes?

Like Nomercy, I also have a Ruger Mk II handgun in .22LR. I really like handguns and rifles in .22LR. Great caliber for learning and maintaining the fundamentals of shooting a handgun, and the ammo is the least expensive you will find. If your local laws allow semi-auto handguns for hunting, you may also be able to use if for hunting rabbits, squirrels, gophers and even coyotes if you have the skills and they are close enough.

homers brother

If you expect to be serious about taking on coyotes, any rimfire is going to be too small unless you're calling them in and calling them in close. On the other hand, if the majority of your shooting will be targets and hunting small game and at short ranges, the .22 rimfire is ideal.

I own a Mark II target, as well as a variety of .223/5.56mm bolt and semi-autos. If you're going to "target shoot" with a centerfire, the .223 is hard to beat. HOWEVER - I don't often see many fundamentals reinforced with younger shooters when they show up with dad at the range with an AR and a pile of 30-round mags. My hearing protection gets a workout, but that's about it.

My recommendation would be a .223 bolt gun (Remington 700 SPS Varmint might be a good place to start looking at specs). Most manufacturers offer a .223, though. I would expect that you could find a new rifle, GOOD mounts (spend the money), and a decent, mid-level optic for about what you'd invest in a new AR with iron sights.

In the end, you'll have something perfectly capable of taking coyotes, as well as a platform from which to focus on the fundamentals at longer ranges, rather than a machine for turning propellant into noise.

RobertSubnet

Sheridan asks a very good question here. When I purchase a new firearm I always try to expand in to new options not overlap.

If you are looking to build on fundamentals by "target shooting" I would suggest the .223 this will also enable you to do the small game hunting. The rig Homers Brother suggests would be very good. If you are looking for more of a casual plinker I would go with the 22.

BTW as was mentioned earlier in the thread there is no reason why you cannot get both eventually. Purchasing new firearms has really taught me how to be disciplined in my gun savings. I put a sheet of paper in my "gun jar." Every week when I add a $10 or $20 I write down the date and total the new amount. In this way I see the money growing and can predict about when I will have the funds for the next piece. So far I have averaged 1 purchase a year...not too bad.

Good luck with your decision.