Looking for a Good 22 Rifle

[mrozowjj]

If a magazine tube is a deal breaker, it it hard to beat the 10/22 magazine. I have 10/22 (actually Tactical Solutions) rifles set up for small game (Leupold M8-4X on one rifle and M8-8X on the other) as well as an American Rimfire bolt action. I prefer the lighter 10/22-pattern rifles in the field, but they come in above the $500 limit. I added a Winchester 75 Sporting with a Lyman receiver sight just over the $500 limit. If you like older rifles, it is hard to beat the old Winchester and Remington bolt actions.

This. There is a reason the 10/22 has 12 sub-forums on rimfirecentral.com; they are reliable, accurate and endlessly configurable. The standard 10 round magazine is flushfit which makes for a very compact package if you want to hunt with it. You can swap every single part on there with something else if you don't like what comes from the factory. If you want to go used there are 50+ years of examples on the market. I know some people complain about the accuracy with the 10/22 but the 2 I have are using factory barrels and have impressive accuracy once I found the match grade ammo the rifle really liked but if you don't like how your factory barrel performs you can go after market.

[momano]

Okie John, it might be worth your while to cruise the rimfire forum on snipers hide. CZ, Bergara, Tikka, Ruger 10/22 proshop, are all discussed. I love my 10/22 and my TC clone- the TC has an integral peep sight and is very light. An amazing amount of good choices now. Thanks for all the good stuff you post.

[JRB]

I thought owning a 10/22 was a requirement to move out of your parent's house in this country. There are people who own guns that don't own a 10/22?
2020 keeps getting weirder and weirder.

[oregon45]

I don't currently have one, but my previous .22 rifle that I used for practice and informal target competition was a Savage/Anschutz M54, which was an Anschutz M54 sporter imported by Savage in the 1960s. They're out there, and not particularly expensive. Mine spoiled me on any American rimfire other than original Winchester M52's.

[okie john]

Thanks to everyone for all of the great information.

This. There is a reason the 10/22 has 12 sub-forums on rimfirecentral.com; they are reliable, accurate and endlessly configurable. The standard 10 round magazine is flushfit which makes for a very compact package if you want to hunt with it. You can swap every single part on there with something else if you don't like what comes from the factory. If you want to go used there are 50+ years of examples on the market. I know some people complain about the accuracy with the 10/22 but the 2 I have are using factory barrels and have impressive accuracy once I found the match grade ammo the rifle really liked but if you don't like how your factory barrel performs you can go after market.

I agree that there’s a lot to like about the 10/22. I may have to reconsider my aversion(s) to them.

Okie John, it might be worth your while to cruise the rimfire forum on snipers hide. CZ, Bergara, Tikka, Ruger 10/22 proshop, are all discussed. I love my 10/22 and my TC clone- the TC has an integral peep sight and is very light. An amazing amount of good choices now. Thanks for all the good stuff you post.

Thanks for the kind words. I need to beware the financial rabbit hole that regular visits to RimfireCentral could become—it’s got the potential to be even worse than here.

I thought owning a 10/22 was a requirement to move out of your parent's house in this country. There are people who own guns that don't own a 10/22?
2020 keeps getting weirder and weirder.

I’ve let a few slip away over the years. I could rectify that but I’m the kind of guy who will wake up one morning and realize that I’ve invested the price of a Tikka in making one group well.

I don't currently have one, but my previous .22 rifle that I used for practice and informal target competition was a Savage/Anschutz M54, which was an Anschutz M54 sporter imported by Savage in the 1960s. They're out there, and not particularly expensive. Mine spoiled me on any American rimfire other than original Winchester M52's.

Definitely keeping an eye peeled for one of these.

Thanks again,


Okie John

[Irelander]

I highly recommend CZ. I have had 2 of their 452 .22LR rifles and both were more accurate than myself. I still have one and it is the most enjoyable gun I have.

[Borderland]

CZ.

You might spent a little more than $500 though. Not sure where they are on prices these days as mine (455) is about 6 years old.

I used to shoot jack rabbits for a farmer when I was a kid. I wish I had a CZ with a good scope back in those days. I could have made a lot more money.

Three jackrabbits could eat as much as a cow, or so I was told.

[JimLob65]

I just paid $475 for my CZ 457 American. It has a fully adjustable trigger which was outstanding right out of the box, a beautiful stock and is extremely accurate. I don't think you would be disappointed.

[gkieser92]

I am a RSO with my son's Boy Scout troop, and we are chartered through my shooting range, so we shoot a lot. On range days, especially at summer camp, our rifles can easily see 2-3k rounds a day, being used by everyone from an overenthusiastic 11 year old who has never shot before to highly experienced dads vying for competitive shooting awards. When we used Marlins, we had all kinds of problems. When we got new Ruger American Rimfires, not only did all the mechanical issues go away, all of the kids scores went up. We had kids getting hits on 10" gongs at 130 yards pretty regularly, and that was with cheap Remington golden bullets. For a general-purpose, hard-use .22 bolt gun, they are holding up very well.

[peterb]

How accurate is your XT-22 with that load at 50 yards?

It’s been a long time since I shot at 50. I was at 25 yards recently and 5-round groups were all shots touching. Cheap 4x Simmons scope.