No purpose at all? I respectfully disagree.

I'm in the "20-50 rifles" ownership group and yet I have found .22LR rifles of approximately the same size, weight, mechanical function and with approx. the same sights as my actual hunting rifles to be useful. They don't have to be exact copies, just more or less similar in terms of mechanical function, size and sights. You can shoot .22s all year round at paper, tin cans and gophers, etc. and shoot them a lot.. for not much money. They helped me particularly with developing quick and accurate offhand snapshooting. I know some fellows prefer to practice off season with only their actual hunting rifles but that can become expensive and in some cases, particularly with lightweight carrying rifles, can also lead to the development of a flinch.

(That being said, all my rifles are more or less the same in that they are all bolt action rifles in various calibers between .22LR and .375 H&H.)