Ironically, after owning guns for more than 30 years, I finally bought myself a 10/22 last year, and it’s now one of my favorite guns to bring to the range. I outfitted it with a set of tech sights, and it’s a blast picking off cans at 50 yards or pinging the steel at 100. It’s not a bench rifle, I use it purely for offhand plinking, and it brings me joy every time I shoot it. Like a .22 M1 carbine.
I also have a .22 bench rifle, a Savage Mark II in a heavy bench stock with a 10oz trigger. I shoot that rifle for sub moa groups at 100 yards, and lollipops at 50, know your limits at 50.
The most fun .22 I ever owned was an MP5 in .22. Should have never sold that one. My son nicknamed her “Yippee Kai Yay”. I have my M&P 15-22 set up just like her big brother, for cheap training. It’s great for moving and shooting exercises, where I am working quick sight acquisition and trigger control. I can shoot hundreds of rounds of .22 for the price of a standard mag of 5.56. When I am focusing on putting accurate hits on a target while walking towards it, or moving from cover to cover, I don't care how big the boom is.
On the pistol front, a .22 is great for focusing on the fundamentals. Get your groups tighter and tighter…work out the flinch…focus on the front sight. Over and over again, because the ammo is almost free! .22 pistols are also fun to compete with. Find a club that shoots bowling pin top matches, and tell me you hate .22. Trying to clear all those tops off the board is fun as heck, and more challenging than you’d think.
I guess I said all that to say, shoot any caliber enough, standing still at static targets, and it becomes boring. Adding a little challenge and/or competition into the mix brings in the fun!