I personally haven’t owned one, but they look intresting until, they have appeared to have died.
Not for us. My son bought a single action revolver and a Golden Boy lever gun in the caliber.
He shoots a lot of it. Expensive to shoot though… relatively speaking. He was buying off the shelf at Bass Pro, for God’s sake. Ouch. I got him some bulk online choices to cut the price in like half.
Not one i have ever been interested in, but it does have a following.
A claim i have always heard is it is somewhat of a waste in a handgun versus .22lr and the ballistics by the inch site appears to mostly back that up.
I know guys who like it for pest-control with rifles against small animals they have no interest in eating.
I could also understand why a person might want it in a SD revolver. More rounds in the gun, low recoil, intimidating blast, more penetration than a .22lr.
Cons are a heavier trigger pull & the blast.
I would suggest to these users, though that .32 S&W Long / .32 Magnum would be a better choice. Better trigger, low blast, still mild recoil, more reliable ignition. But they might lose a round in the cylinder & the ammo is more expensive if they don’t reload. Depends how much they plan to actually practice.
Me? I’d like a 10/22 .22 magnum with a 16 in threaded barrel, 20 rd mags, and an M1-style saftey but that’s just another dream.
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Not around here, people still use it to deer hunt. I take a 22 mag when bird and deer seasons overlap. I took a 198 lbs 8 pointer with a 22 mag in 2024. Used one of those cheap heritage revolver rifles.
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It fills that niche when 22LR isn’t enough, but 223Rem/5.56x45 is too much. From a cost standpoint it also is about the same price as 9mm. Unfortunately, 9mm can often fill that niche too. I have a CZ 512 in 22 Magnum and love it.
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That is a good point, but even the too much part has a reduced chance of ricochets with legit .22 varmint bullets which i assume is a big plus with .17HMR.
I’d never messed with too much 22 WMR. It was a trip to see the quality bullets available… including gold dots.
Those gold dots will drop a deer VERY easy.
I have a Browning pump I bought new my last year in the AF in 79. Paid $180 bucks for it. Its been a great rifle,holds 11 in the tube +1. Worked awesome on desert ground squirrels jack rabbits while in and around Tucson and later blasted more prairie dogs and ground squirrels than I can count in Montana after the service. Still have it today,when I 1st bought it a box of 50 Winchester 40 grain were under $4 bucks,$3.44 to be exact at a local shop in Tucson. I don’t shoot it much now just waiting to give it to one of my grand-kids. 