I want to see a track record before I jump in on a new chambering. Too many new and improved cartidges have fallen short of expectations. Meanwhile, .22 LR is still king of the rimfires IMO.

there have been all kinds of orphans created in the firearms world with the latest and greatest caliber that never panned out.

The 22LR will be around for a long time, probably as long as there are firearms just because it is so versatile.

The various .17 rimfire cartridges have not really caught on much outside of a few niches, and the various recalls and warnings have just about killed them. My fear about this .17 cartridge is that the residual worry over other .17 rimfire cartridges would spill over to this one.

To me, the .22 magnum has a lot of potential and there are a number of companies making decent rifles in that caliber. In the right gun it has MOA accuracy and has proven to be reliable. I never quite understood why it never picked up a following for people hunting smaller critters that a .22LR is not appropriate for.

I am the opposite of many folks in that I usually don't seek out the highest velocity / smallest projectile cartridges.

I'm more likely to get excited about something like .22 Hornet or .300 Blackout or .45 Colt. Very slow compared to other cartridges using the same diameter projectile.

We are in agreement. .22 Mag is potentially accurate, fairly affordable, and also you don't normally have to deal with the supply/demand problems we're currently seeing with the .22LR. It's a good cartridge overall.

This ammo situation is starting to remind me of WW2 rationing here in the USA.

A used car would be purchased because it had good tires. The newly purchased car was immediately parked and the tires would be moved to the car that the owner actually drove.

Now people are thinking about buying a rifle or pistol in which ammo is still available.....

The ammo thing is a consideration for us too. It would suck finally buy a gun and not be able to get bullets for it. So many things to consider!

The ammo shortage will be over. We're going through a cycle. Just stock up when prices return to normal. When things are normal, .22LR ammo is really cheap, and you can easily buy thousands of rounds just by investing a few hundred dollars.

While you might luck out with unusual ammo. I've heard stories of people going out for hunting season and all of the 30-06 ammo being gone because its popular, but 8mm for his rifle luckily being in stock because he was the only one shooting it. However, in general, ammunition for common calibers will be commonly available. 22lr may not be sexy, but its common as dirt and almost as cheap. The same goes for 12 gauge, 30-06, 9mm parabellum, 45 ACP, 38 special, to a lesser extent 20 gauge, 357 and possibly 30-30. I'm sure there are others, but these I can think of off the top of my head. Other rounds may work better, perhaps much better, but these will work well enough, and you can almost always find them. When ammo isn't short, you can find them cheap and stock up. A few hundred rounds is enough, you don't need to prepare for a siege. If you shoot enough you need more, well you'll know better than I will and you can always learn as you go.

When it comes to teaching marksmanship fundamentals and hunting small game, 50 to 100 yards is plenty of range, and 22lr can easily handle it. I hunted rabbits at something less than 10 yards with a 22 pistol. I could have taken quail or squirrel just as easily.

This isn't to dissuade you from a less common caliber weapon, but its nice to be able to find ammo, magazines, repair parts and in the case of pistols holsters. If I ever bought another pistol it would be a Glock just because you can get anything you want for them anywhere that sells firearms.

Any weapon is good if you know how to use it. Practice and training are key. Enough ammunition to practice is a good thing.

Not sure if it's what you are looking for, but a company here in Canada sells SKS for $75 if you buy a case of ammo for $285, 1440 rounds so you are good for a while.

Personally I'm tempted to get a Marlin model 39a, lever action just have certain awesomeness to it, but from what I hear the newer ones aren't as high quality anymore.