By Ron Dan
Sitting alone in a treestand by myself is not my favorite style of hunting. If you ask JV, it’s rare for me to sit in silence for too long without striking up some sort of conversation or telling a joke. I am a social guy who loves shooting and enjoys social hunting where I can talk to my buddies and pull the trigger a bunch. For this style of hunting, it’s hard to beat going after prairie dogs out west. On my first ever prairie dog hunt, I remember sitting on a bench next to my buddy Wes as we paired up on little towns that were popping up ahead of us. Wes was shooting an old Bushmaster Predator .223 and I was shooting a Remington 597 Magnum. That was the trip where I fell in love with .22 WMR for almost any application, but especially for prairie dog hunting.
The .22 WMR (or .22 Mag) is an interesting subject in our industry. It’s not necessarily a love/hate topic, but understanding the versatility and effectiveness of .22 Mag is not as widespread as you would think for a round that’s been around for almost 70 years. Despite being underappreciated, varmint hunters, the self-defense crowd, poachers, trappers, and plinkers universally love it.
The Versatile 22 Mag
The use-case for .22 Mag is as versatile as the platforms you can find it in: single-shot rifles and pistols, semi-auto rifles and pistols, revolvers, mini-revolvers, bolt-actions. All of them have a purpose and all can be a ton of fun in the right situation. If you read my article on the S&W 351C, you’ll know .22 Mag is a caliber that’s regularly in my carry rotation.
For manufacturers, one of the most challenging designs has been the .22 Mag semi-auto rifle. It’s hard to execute one that runs reliably. As much as I loved that Remington 597 Mag, I quickly became an expert at clearing malfunctions. I never made it through a full magazine without having an issue and was lucky to get more than 5 rounds off in a row when working through a group of prairie dogs.
Since that prairie dog trip, I’ve been searching for the perfect .22 Mag semi-auto rifle. I wanted to find something with speed, accuracy, and reliability. With very few exceptions, I always want my rifles to be as lightweight and nimble as possible. I’ve found one rifle that checks every box for me: the Volquartsen Superlite 22 WMR.
Volquartsen Superlite 22 WMR
The Volquartsen Superlite 22 WMR is the rifle you would build if you were given a blank canvas. It comes in a Grey Birch La Chassis. It’s lightweight and rugged while still giving you a lot of configurability. The folding stock design still gives you an adjustable cheekpiece. The ultra-lightweight tension barrel is threaded and includes a Forward Blow Comp but it’s best with a suppressor. The chassis allows you to swap the grip for many types of AR grips. I prefer the Magpul MOE grip that comes on it because of its weight and compact size. The nine-round magazine gives you enough capacity to throw effective rounds at a target before you need to reload.
So, if you ever find yourself in a position where you get to sit at a bench with some of your buddies and take a few shots at prairie dogs, grab yourself any of the Volquartsen 22 WMR rifles along with a case of Montucky Cold Snacks and have a blast.
Price: Superlites start at $1,903, and the Grey Birch version goes for $2,291.
Pros: You won’t find a more reliable and versatile semi-auto .22 WMR out there.
Cons: Nine-round mags are what you can count on. Any higher capacity mags might give you an issue.
