Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Wildlife Management Varmint Rifle

Welcome to IL.

Suppressors were mentioned- No Go in IL, at least for now. Check back in a few years, that may be changed.
We just got SBR's (Short Barrel rifle's) approved, with a few extra hoops to jump through. Thank you NRA, ISRA (IL State Rifle Association) and all others involved.

FOID, enacted in 1968- needed to even buy/posses ammo and firearms, for residents. Even airguns over .18/700 fps. We even have some towns that prohibit air guns completely.
If you visit from out of state and plan to shoot here, bring lots of ammo or have a local buy it for you. Even if it is legal for an out of stater to buy ammo (limited exceptions to FOID act) most places won't mess with it. Or just cross back into a free state to re-supply.
And remember IL does NOT honor any other states CHL/CCW (Concealed Carry), except in your vehicle.
And most non-residents can not even pay for an IL CHL yet.
But it is getting better.

22 Mag ammo- Good luck, I don't think it has really come back into stock yet. But I haven't really looked for it lately.
A quick search of some ammo search engines turned up a few mail order options (like 2 or 3) 35-50 cents per round plus shipping and a walmart search turned up none local to me (Kankakee Co).
You can get any of the major handgun rounds for the same or less than that (9mm/40/38/45)

I would seriously rethink the rimfire option as I don't see ammo really coming back into NORMAL stocking for another few years. Too much pent up demand, too many people that haven't even shot any for a couple of years because of cost/availability. When it start becoming more available we will be buying it all up.
I love my .22's, but with only a few thousand rounds on hand I haven't shot it in a few years, I keep my stash for students and kids. And some of those I gladly paid $45 dollars per 500 for when things were really bad. I got caught with out a good stock on hand, and then we got CCW and I started teaching classes for it.
I can reload centerfire handgun for less than I can buy .22's for.
It's gotten a little better, but still is scarce or expensive.

If you are set on a lever action, a 357 would fit the bill nicely, but may be out of the budget.
The Rossi's get mixed reviews, still may be worth a look.

Please be careful with your shooting, We had a neighbor put a 40 cal round through our classroom right above one of my instructors head. He had just sat down a minute before. Round ricocheted off of frozen ground and traveled another 150 yds before punching through the wall.