best .22 rifle

I've been using the same Marlin 39 for almost 40 years now. My kids learned to shoot on it, my grandkids learned to shoot on it, and I still shoot it once a week now that I'm retired.

In the thousands upon thousands of rounds fired over that time, it's never failed.

Yes, the 39's are a little pricy. But it's that last .22 rifle you will ever have to buy. I'm leaving mine to my grandson.
 
Marlin 60 for out of the box accuracy

Ruger 10/22 for "look at all this neat stuff I can put on it" fun

:)
 
The wife and I play around with a Smith & Wesson M&P 15-22.

This one in the picture is not mine, just borrowed picture to show.

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ive shot a mp 15 22 and it was alright, but for me an ar has to be 556. Im really looking into the cz 452. As for the savage it is accurate but it just seems cheap. And to me im someone who likes quality goods.
 
GingivitisKahn said:
As to .22s the 10/22 is a good, solid, reliable rifle that won't put you in the poor house.
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That depends on what you do with your 10/22. I have half a dozen of them and can tell you that the ones assembled by Ruger after 2008 are nowhere near the quality of those that came before them. The trigger of current productions is around 7#s and the barrel channel in the wooden stocks is not sealed. As a result the wood can swell and contact the barrel decreasing accuracy. This is easy to fix by floating the barrel but that's a hassle if you prefer to buy a fully serviceable rifle out of the box. There are a few other changes, like the deeper chamber dimension, that also add to the decrease of accuracy of post '08 10/22's. I have around $1100 in this build but the only original parts are the receiver, bolt assembly which needed to be trued, and the trigger guard. Did all of this need to be done? No, but now it feels and shoots like a quality rimfire should.

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MonkeyBomb said:
Most bang for the buck is a CZ 452.
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I agree. I don't mind dropping money on any of my guns and often spend as much on rimfire builds as on my big center-fires. I have two coopers that I paid around $900 for a piece. I have three CZ's that cost less than half as much and shoot Eley green tag target ammo just as well, producing regular .25 C-T-C groups at 50 yards off sandbags. I find the tolerances between the blot and action on the CZ to be as tight as on the Cooper and my bore scope shows that every one of my CZ's barrels have very sharp lands and tight corners in the grooves. I think it would be hard to beat A CZ452 in a bang for buck comparison. This is my favorite 452. It's set up for iron sight silhouette shooting.

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Md 25v said:
That depends on what you do with your 10/22. I have half a dozen of them and can tell you that the ones assembled by Ruger after 2008 are nowhere near the quality of those that came before them. The trigger of current productions is around 7#s and the barrel channel in the wooden stocks is not sealed. As a result the wood can swell and contact the barrel decreasing accuracy. This is easy to fix by floating the barrel but that's a hassle if you prefer to buy a fully serviceable rifle out of the box. There are a few other changes, like the deeper chamber dimension, that also add to the decrease of accuracy of post '08 10/22's. I have around $1100 in this build but the only original parts are the receiver, bolt assembly which needed to be trued, and the trigger guard. Did all of this need to be done? No, but now it feels and shoots like a quality rimfire should.

IMGP0494-1.jpg
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Yikes. Ok, that might just break the bank but I think you need a bigger scope. :-p Great looking 10/22 you have there.
 
Thanks. It's set up for practice at 200 meters. So the longer scope helps me read mirage. I shoot 1000 meter F class and log around 500 rounds a week for practice. Because the ballistic coefficient on 22lr bullets is so low shooting rimfire at long ranges is a great way to work on doping wind and making atmospheric, temperature and air pressure adjustments without spending all you money on handloading supplies. .
 
I would love to set up something like that but 1100 is a lot of money for me to spend on a gun right now. But its a very nice gun
 
338375 said:
Savage rifles are typical accurate. Look around, you may be able to find an after market trigger for it. The bolt can probably be cleaned good, polished up a little, and lubed.
As far as the scope, look around for a nice used Leupold 4 power scope. They can be had reasonably, and are great scopes.
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What he said +1. My Savage Varmint rig would outshoot just about any other high priced guns that some friends had. That said I have a Remington 541T that is highly accurate. Another top gun is Anschutz.

wackafew said:
I think he was looking for a bolt action 22 ?
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That is what I thought also:D
 
I like the Ruger 10/22 as well. My favorite is probably the Remington 597 which has good dependibility, good looks and excellent overall quality.
 
I know you said bolt action, but if you are willing to branch out the Henry .22lr is one heck of a fun rifle. It has the smoothest action I have tried right out of the box. You can also shoot .22l and .22 short, really fun for backyard plinking.:D
 
That savage Mk 2 isn't a bad action, but if you really want to go all out, you could spring for an Anschutz-though expect to pay a good 1500 bucks. If you want to get all elitist about rimfire that's the way to go. For plinking the CZ452 is ideal and CZ has a great tendency of shipping their rifles with beautiful tigerstriped walnut stocks from the factory...
I know of a .22 built up with a custom action, Lilja custom bored barrel and McMillan stock-that'll run you as much if not more than an Anschutz.
 
I've heard good things about the Sako Quad. Buy one rifle, get access to 4 calibers (with appropriate barrel and magazine switching.) Start off with the .22LR, and go from there.
 
I for one am a huge rimfire fan. I have several Ruger pistols and one Marlin .22 rifle, however I believe for the money right now you would be hard pressed to find a better bolt action rimfire rifle than the Savage Mark II. You can find it in so many configurations and the Accutrigger is very nice. Great buy for the money.
 
Have alook at rimfirecentral.come for more info than you can possibly want.

I have 3. .22lr bolts and money was not a consideration when looking

The one I most go for simple robust fun

Yes its another vote for the CZ452.

Bolt - CZ452 - and old ones are just as good as the new ones. Indeed the Model 1's are sought after becaust the barrel was made from such a high grade metal. Cheap accurate and robust.
Semi- Ruger - but accuracy out of the box can be variable. But there are a lot,lot of upgrades if you want to play that game. Cheap, Fun and can be upgraded.
 
if you want the best 22 you will need to delve into the collector market or go to Shotgun news. in the 70s remington brought out a bolt action with dual extractors called model 541 s. this gun would group 1 in. easiley at 100 yds. of course the drop in elevation was about 6 in. but the group was tight.i lent it to a friend to train his son with & he said if you really held tight it would hit a single strand of barbwire. came with 5 shot clip but optional 10 shot clip available. any decent shot could pop a dime at 50 yds. i topped mine with a leapold 3x9 & killed many a turtle with head shots.
 
The CZ's are very accurate. My buddy at the range shoots every wed. at a 22 cal. shooting match. He says his Cz will shoot right with kimbers and anschutz rifles or better. He swears by his. he has a shorter heavy barrell'd Cz not sure of the model but it does'nt have open sights.

Also it is'nt all that expensive. Put a Leupold 2x7 or compact 3x9 and you've got a rifle that you can shoot eyeballs out with. You just can't get the clarity and crispness out of cheap optics. Hope this helps, :thumbup:
 
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