22 Rifle Training

One thing I am seeing more an more of, and have recently begun doing more myself, is using .22 Long Rifle as training round for combat shooting. I have always considered it the ideal cartridge to introduce new shooters to the fundamentals of both rifle and pistol shooting (as well as cheap practice of those same fundamentals for experienced shooters.) However, in the realm of combat training it has its weaknesses. In this article I will discuss those weaknesses, suggest ways that they may be overcome and outline the plus side of the .22 in combat training. I will also discuss options in training .22 rifles.

First I’ll discuss the weakness. Sub calibers, such as .22 Long Rifle (“22” for the rest of this article)are NOT the same as shooting a full power cartridge. The recoil is different, and if you limit yourself to shooting ONLY 22 you will not be used to having to control a heavier recoil. The simple fix of this is to not shoot only 22, if you frequently compete or shoot drills with a standard caliber and use the 22 to practice tactics and other drills, especially at shorter ranges, this problem is virtually negated. Of course it would be ideal to have unlimited resources in range access and ammo, but most of us cannot achieve this. Many of the rifle options I will discuss have similar weight, sight picture, ergonomics and trigger pull as real battle rifles. So you are still getting real weapons handling practice.

Now for the advantages. The number one obvious advantage of 22 is the cost. Being able to shoot a 500 rounds of ammo in a day is a benefit no matter what caliber it is. This is especially true of you utilize the other advantages of 22. Second is range space. You can safely shoot 22 a lot of places you can’t shoot center-fire rifle rounds. My home range has a place dedicated to practice pistol shooting drills, a beautiful open area with a 180 degree berm, but we can only shoot full power rifle there during matches. I can set up barriers and shoot my 22 training rifle there any time I want. With a full power rifle I am stuck practicing linear drills, almost “benchrest” shooting, if there is anyone else at the range. The third advantage is target availability. If you are practicing with a full power rifle most people are stuck using paper targets, or having to reset reactive targets frequently. There are a plethora of 22 reactive steel targets available for low cost (an example is in the title picture above). They allow you to minimize reset time, and have more fun while getting instant feedback. An added bonus is that these targets are a good bit smaller than the half sized IPSC paper targets I usually shoot and I have seen my over all accuracy improve.

I am discussing rifles in this article, but a lot of the ideas apply to 22 pistols as well. There are simply to may options for me to discuss them here.

Next I will discuss various options available when getting into a 22 training rifle. You should do your own research and decide which is the best rout for you.

#1 The Dedicated 22 upper receiver: (Picture above) Of course this is only available for AR type rifles. I prefer it to conversion kits because it reduces the wear and tear and fouling of my primary uppers.

#2 Conversion kits: (First picture below) This is (to my knowledge) another AR only option. They cost considerably less than a dedicated upper receiver. Both dedicated uppers and conversion kits may take a bit of “tuning” to function properly.

#3 22 only clones: several manufacturers are making dedicated 22 ARs and I have seen dedicated 22 AKs. These have the same ergonomics and feel of a primary rifle. I have little direct experience with these.

#4 22 guns dressed to feel like your primary: There are various kits that make 22 rifles (especially the Ruger 10/22) look like other rifles. This gives you a similar feel but the ergonomics such as weight, safety and mag changes are different.

#5 22 guns that only have the sights of your primary: (Second picture below) There are a couple of companies, notably “Tech-Sights” that make AR style sights for a variety of 22 platforms. These are not useful at all for handling drills, but hard to beat for practicing or teaching the fundamentals of marksmanship.

In conclusion I will say that getting a 22 training rifle/clone of your primary platform is a good idea. If you understand and work within its limitations it can not help but improve your practical shooting.