Why Does the Military Use .22 Rimfire Rifles for Training?
A lot of shooters look down on the .22lr cartridge because it is small, weak, and doesn't make as big of a noise as other centerfire cartridges. While that is true, .22lr and other small rimfire cartridges make for excellent training firearms.
A lot of shooters look down on the .22lr cartridge because it is small, weak, and doesn’t make as big of a noise as other centerfire cartridges. While that is true, .22lr and other small rimfire cartridges make for excellent training firearms.
Ian of Forgotten Weapons provides some great details as to why the military uses .22 rimfire rifles as training rifles.
The low recoil helps prevent and correct bad habits, and the low cost of .22lr ammo as well as reduced wear and tear on firearms make rimfire rounds excellent trainers for shooters of all skill sets.
Every serious shooter should own some .22lr firearms. They allow for more rounds down range, which is critical for training the fundamentals of marksmanship.
Curious as to what a .22lr military training rifle is like? Here’s example of a .22lr Springfield training rifle from John Garand – yes, that John Garand, the creator of the famous M1 Garand.
What’s your favorite .22lr?
Written by Brian Purkiss - always a student, sometimes a teacher.
I don't consider myself a competition shooter - I think of myself as a performance pistol shooter. I am all about performing at as high of a level as possible. Towards that end, I am obsessive about learning how to perform. I spend a lot of my life learning from the best across the entire firearms world and even into other areas of performance and other sports. I am a USPSA Carry Optics Grandmaster, currently working towards my second GM title in the Open division.
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