I have several .22BR's, including one that I put together myself on a Savage, using a barrel from Sharp Shooter Supply.
The .22BR is a pure joy to work with. Case forming is straightforward and easy. Neck turning may well be required, depending on the chamber of the specific rifle. All of my .22BR's do require neck turning, but the Savage with the SSS barrel needs just a light clean up cut. Chamber length varies a lot between various reamer designs too - one of mine requires minimal trimming after necking down, the other two have much shorter chamber necks.
Accuracy in all my .22BR's is superb. My Savage is still in the tupperware factory stock, and even with an inexpensive Cabela's 4.5-14 scope, it agg's in the high three's using 40 gr. Vmax at an honest 4000 fps. Case life loading at that level appears to be nearly indefinite - some of my Lapua cases have been loaded dozens of times at that level now, and still going strong. I've put a couple thousand rounds down that barrel, getting it plenty hot, plenty of times, and often 200 rounds between cleanings. It's still shooting lights out.
Easy to load for, low recoil, relatively mild report, superb accuracy, flat trajectory, good barrel life, excellent case life and extremely graphic terminal effect on p-dogs all add up to make the .22BR my hands down all time favorite cartridge for shooting prairie dogs. I've used it on many other varmints as well and it does great on 'chucks and coyotes too, but really shines most brightly in the prairie dog patch.
The .22BR is an awesome little round. And the Savage makes for a very economical way to get into a great shooting semi custom. I say go for it and you'll be glad you did!
- DAA
