School me on .22 ammunition.

[Tayls]

It is illegal to hunt with a ,22 nation wide. I understand that that has been suspended in the East Cape for vermin animals and all birds.
.................or ???? - clarify !!!

My understanding is some what different.... I understand that you cannot hunt antelope with a .22LR, but that game birds, dassies, rabbits etc are ok.


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[DaavG]

In KZN as per the KZN ordnance, no person, other than the farmer or any of his bona fide nominated employee may use a rifle of .22 or smaller, using rimfire calibres, to hunt game.

BUT the definition of game is important as the following animals are not scheduled as game:
birds - rock pigeon, cape turtle dove, black & pied crow, red-knobbed coot
mammals - bushpig, rock rabbit, hares, chacma baboon, vervet monkey, black backed jackal.

[mac 13]

I bought some hollow points initially for guineas. Never got round to shoot any. What I do know is the hollow points did not feed well in my straight magazine. I could only load 4 in the mag to get them to feed and even that gave issues sometimes.

Have you tried some hv .22s with a small hollow point like CCI stingers , mini mags , remington or fiocchi ? These worked well for me while winchester XXX'S and other larger hollow points tended to give problems.

[Adoons]

I use my .22 LR's a lot. Living on a farm "necessitates" it. I have killed some large animals with it (cattle for slaughtering being the biggest) and in a pinch when driving around and only having the .22 with me and one of those elusive warthogs stand still and head on or fully broadside and really close some of them also. Bushpig a few (think of about 2). BUT, with all this said : It is not a hunting caliber.

Around the house I mainly use Subsonic HP with a silencer from my 10/22. They work perfectly for Indian Mynahs and other pest birds in the orchards out to max 60 meter about. Rodents also not a problem to get killed and have also taken stray cats that get a pest in packhouses with Subsonics.

Regarding Guinea Fowl, I don't like the .22 for them. Don't shoot a lot of them though. They are not pest animals around here and I don't eat them so I don't shoot them. Have no reason to. Once in a while one or two will be shot for lunch for other folks. With the .22 then I also use Subsonic HP, but mac range is 25 m and the shot selection is crucial. Head shots work the best.

HV I use from my Brno as it does not have a silencer fitted, so the extra range and knock down power is utilized then. But I rarely use the Brno. It is nowadays used for all the "laaities" visiting on the farm to learn shooting a bolt action. If I need a .22, I take the 10/22 with HP Subsonics and it serve me well for my need.

If I must take dassies or guinea fowl etc with a .22 I will do it with HV Round nose

[Adoons]

And the rest of my post was once again deleted.... "first log in blah blah blah" but I have logged in. Don't know why this is starting again and then all the typing is lost. It was:

I don't like the poor penetration of HV HP.

Sellier and Bellot are working to perfection for me from both rifles. The Subsonics are wax coated, so they "gunk" up the 10/22 faster than the HV that are plated, but have never had a misfire with any S&B ammo and also the 10/22 is cleaned when really dirty only and everything always cycle. Cleaning maybe after every 500 shots I guess. I don't really count.

CCI Stingers I don't use. Accuracy is bad from my Brno and they cannot chamber in a 10/22 Tactical as the tactical's chamber is too short for inproved accuracy. (And that worked from Ruger by the way. My 10/22 tactical is like extremely accurate.)

[treeman]

Adoons - interesting post from a field application person. I find your view of the hollow point not having enough penetration a bit "iffy" care to elaborate how you came to this and what you call enough penetration on things like dassie hare and other .22 class animals.
A side shot on any of the above and 15 cm is enough penetration - you will get about 15 at least all the way out to 50/60 m . Would like to understand your reasoning.
Another thing I would like to know more of, other than head shots how many DRT do you get with the round nose bullets, I found them very much like the hand gun hunting, lots a shots cause death, but only CNS and head shots kill "right now".
The round nose bullets pass through pushing tissue aside and unless a real vital is hit death can be very delayed.

[Adoons]

Treeman, mmmm interesting question. As things go on a farm with that elusive 1 or 2 warthogs that keep on digging open new holes and cause crop losses, I have once found one of them with only the .22 in hand with HV HP. I stalked him in the maize and finally shot him frontal brain shot from 12 m as he was grazing in the rows slowly towards me. He did not drop. The same type of shot have been taken numerous times with "solids" (Round nose), and them piggys dropped right there. (Shot placement must be correct.) The wounded warthog ran out of the land with myself in pursuit. He ran into the fence around the land and must have been confused a he milled around and could not decide where the hole under the fence was. I then followed up with a heart shot that made him turn around and ran along the fence in my direction and as he passed me at lets say 4-5 meter I put him down with the Glock 19. I cut his head open. Placement was perfect, but the hollow point did not penetrate. It just flattened.

Next time when slaughtering a cow (shot with .22 HV Round nose) I took the head afterwards and shoot a few places with HV HP and used a piece of wire in the holes to check penetration. Not good. Even at the softer parts (from the side) the hollow points could not reliably penetrate the skull. (Please note: I don't use the .22 for slaughtering purposes anymore. Not even with Round Nose HV. It is just not reliable enough. The .44 Magnum Lever Gun just kill a lot better.)

So, yes, agreed, on soft skinned and boned animals the Hollow should be fine, but I have not checked but just maybe, a Guinea Fowl breast muscle and bone might also flatten it? I rather go for more certain penetration and make sure to hit vitals.

Only CNS shots with a .22 kill instantly. I know, the hydrostatic shock and whatever theories have believers and non-believers. A .22 certainly don't create any of that.

I have taken stray Impala and a Blesbuck with a .22 and have never lost one. Same goes. Only a perfect heart or brain shot at close range might work. Lung shots don't. This said, please note to all readers, I AM NOT STATING THAT A .22 CAN BE USED FOR HUNTING. I AM STRONGLY AGAINST IT. IF GOING HUNTING OR AFTER LARGER THAN MYNAH QUARRY, DO NOT USE A .22 LR. IT IS NOT A HUNTING CALIBER!!! Just answering the question. I have seen too much wounding in my life from various people with .22's to allow anyone to shoot anything larger than pest birds.

[Ds J]

I have experienced unreliable penetration from .22 HV on cattle. We used to slaughter cattle for the congregation and the old .22 rifle always did its job neatly.

One day the farmer used HV's and after the fourth or fifth shot the cow ran off. He shot her shortly thereafter with the 270. We skinned the patch from the skull and found the flattened bullets beneath the skin.

I have heard similar reports from different sources.

[Adoons]

I have experienced unreliable penetration from .22 HV on cattle. We used to slaughter cattle for the congregation and the old .22 rifle always did its job neatly.

One day the farmer used HV's and after the fourth or fifth shot the cow ran off. He shot her shortly thereafter with the 270. We skinned the patch from the skull and found the flattened bullets beneath the skin.

I have heard similar reports from different sources.

This^^^^ is why I don't use the .22 for that job. And Hollow Points are worse. That is why the .44 Mag with 240 gr Hornady XTP at Muzzle Velocity of 1600 fps is just right. No over penetration on frontal shots. No meat damage. One seriously dead bovine. If the shot is a bit off, also no problems than experienced with .22. They (.44) penetrate to the 1 st or second vertebrae, depending on the angle the shot is taken. Big Bullets make big holes. Big holes make deader than dead Bwa ha ha.

[Carbine]

If you have 90 min to kill this guy is very interesting.

At some stage he says that a .22LR HV round is only accurate out to around 70 yards or so. It fishtails when the velocity drops below the sound barrier.
I stick to standard velocity ammo for rifles and use the HV ammo in pistols.