Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Rimfires For a very very accurate 22 LR rifle.....

At $700 the only real options in a new rifle That come to My mind are a Ruger 77/22 or one of the many configurations from the CZ rimfire line, the CZ rifles give you the best bang for the buck IMO, but really nice bolt action sporters are very spendy and not getting any cheaper either, if you are also considering buying a used rifle it does open your options a little.........Good luck.....Hb

I would expect that a CZ would fill your requirements. Super accurate, nice styling and relatively inexpensive. I would hold out for a 453 American if going that route. That being said, don't rule out a built up 10/22. Don't need all the BS tacticool crap that everyone seems to put on em. I went with a Tony Kidd stainless barreled action with 20" tapered barrel in a cheapo Hogue stock. Looks very classy without looking like a damn transformer. I want to say I have $860 in everything not including optics. Accuracy is amazing. Not needing to come off target to cycle the action and a flush mounted 10 round magazine is huge plus IMO.

If I wanted a very, very accurate 22LR I'd buy an Anschutz 54 and a McMillan stock.





Travis

Me too,and all day long if I could find them for $700.

I missed the $700 part.



Travis

If I wanted a very, very accurate 22LR I'd buy an Anschutz 54 and a McMillan stock.





Travis

Flave that's crazy talk....

You're a dirty pirate hooker for buying that rifle.



Travis

Anschutz all the way, baby. I've had Coopers and Win 52's and still have a bunch of lower end rifles, which I really enjoy for plinking and ventilating various vermin. But the Annie's I have are an order of magnitude above the rest with regards to accuracy. $700 probably won't get you one, but save your money for awhile - it's worth the wait.

Winchester 52 Sporter, either an original New Haven Winchester or one of the Japanese reproductions. Remington 40x sporters are another expensive option, if you can even find one for sale.

Like the way you roll gristle.. I'm a fan of the predators as well..

Older or new manufacturer what would you suggest?

No match type rifles but I want a tackdriver!

Pugs, only 20? You're slackin' man.

I'm being conservative. You never know in these days of rimfire shortages who might target me for part of a box of Ecuadorian target rimfire that is only sold in export in lower Elbonia!

With modern rifles Ruger 10/22's with the factory heavy barrel are real tackdrivers. The 20" barrel version is way too muzzle heavy IMO but the 16" "Tactical" model balances very well - I have one of those and it feels very lively in the hands even with the heavy profile barrel.

Older or new manufacturer what would you suggest?

No match type rifles but I want a tackdriver!

Only one mention of the Savage Mark 2 series. I have two. Many of my buds have them. They are just silly accurate. Aesthetically they leave a good bit to be desired, but if it's punching ragged holes that tickles your fancy, then shell out the $225 and let the giggling begin.

http://www.savagearms.com/firearms/model/MARKIIFV

They are available in some serious target models too.

I own 2 1422 (54 action Anschutz sporters). Have owned a CZ 455 and two 541's. The 1422's grouped much better than the others with fancy ammo. Cheap ammo was a "crap shoot" with all of these rifles, including the Annies. Had opposite result with 17hmr's. My CZ 452 outshot 2 different Anschutz 17's that I have owned. I have never owned a Cooper but would expect them to shoot with the Annies.

For lower budget - CZ 452 but plan on doing some trigger work and a bedding job, it will group with many higher dollar rifles

For a mid-range budget - Remington 541S or 541T sporter, but be sure to get one with the adjustable trigger - not all of them had one. They too will more than likely need a bedding job to perform their best. Also magazines are becoming diffficult to find and a bit pricey.

For upper-end budget - Cooper 57M or Anschutz 1700 series. With some searching you can still stumble across them in $1200 - $1500 range.

I own or have owned a few of all mentioned but none have made me smile as much my Cooper 57m's do.

drover

You are right, the Coopers can be very accurate as they apparently really know how to install a barrel. However, their trigger design leaves much to be desired.

I prefer using one of the match Anschutz actions and installing a high quality custom barrel, but I am curious about the custom actions. Does anyone here shoot a Stiller or Hall actioned rifle? I understand that there are a few custom triggers available now that rival the Anschutz 5018.

I have a Stiller 2500X actioned bench rifle and a couple Turbo actioned bench rifles. All have Jewell 2 oz triggers. The Jewell triggers as well as the Bix'n Andy triggers are used at the highest level of benchrest competition. They certainly are as good as the Anschutz triggers. I also have a first year production Cooper 57M and while it's trigger can't be safely brought down to 2 oz., mine is adjusted down to 2 lb. and is crisp with no creep or over-travel and is very controllable. While it can't shoot with my custom benchrest sporter, it shoots extremely well. For a non-target sporter, I think the Cooper trigger is pretty damn good. I also have a Remington 541THB and the Cooper trigger is far superior.

For anyone interested in what the top rimfire shooters are using for equipment, click on the link below and click on the equipment tab in the right upper corner.

http://www.americanrimfire.com/index.php/user/match_results/2143

Agreed about the Cooper triggers, they are much better than they get credit for. Nice shooting by the way.

Cooper clearly states that they build hunting rifles - not benchrest rifles and so for their intended purpose the triggers are more than adequate. On my Cooper sporters I set them at 1# 8 oz.by doing nothing more than backing out the weight of pull adjustment spring.

By respringing and carefully adjusting sear engagement I have had my LVT down to a safe 6 ounces, and currently have it set at 11. It is not a benchrest trigger nor was it even intended to be.
(I do not recommend setting one this low unless you are proficient in trigger adjustment - if you must have one this low Jard sells a replacement trigger.)

I will add this caveat - On Cooper triggers, due to the design of the safety, if the sear engagement is changed the safety MUST be readjusted. It is not rocket science for someone who understands mechanical interaction but SHOULD NOT be attempted by someone who does not because the safety can be rendered disabled and create a hazardous situation. There is plenty of info on the board about how to do.

drover

This is interesting. I had two Classics and one JSR but I sold them because of the mechanical action of the safety and the fact that for the trigger to work reliably there had to be movement(creep and over-travel). It was admittedly not a great deal of movement and would likely have worked fine in some applications, but it certainly was not in the league of the 5018 Anschutz. Yours may of course be different, but the three samples I had did not have the consistent feel that is necessary for silhouette no matter what I did or who I sent them off to. This seems to be a common feeling as custom Anschutz rifles are by far the norm in that discipline.

But you say this can be remedied? I'd like to know more. Thanks!

Also, I understand that good two stage triggers can be fitted to the Melvin Forbes receiver, does anyone have experience with this? I have felt the excellent Jewell triggered version, but I am more interested in match grade two stage triggers that are highly adjustable for weight distribution. Thanks again!

All you guys,,,,,,,, suck...

I do not know what I can add to my statement except to say that if you have creep it means you have excessive sear engagement. It is simple to adjust the sear for a minimum engagement with no creep. I am a bit confused by your statement concerning overtravel - it is necessary to have overtravel or the trigger cannot move enough to release the sear. The overtravel is easily set by the overtravel adjustment screw, you can set it to a minimum by turning the screw in until the trigger no longer releases, then start backing it out a bit at a time until you get the desired overtravel. Jewel's and 5018 both have overtravel and they are adjusted in the same manner as the Cooper trigger.
But I will qualify my post again by saying that the safety must be readjusted anytime the sear engagement has been changed.

If you go to rimfirecentral.com and go to the Cooper forum one of the first things you will see is a sticky concerning Cooper trigger adjustment. The person who posted it recommends moly powder to "slick" them up but I have never had to do that, instead I replace the weight of pull spring with a "softer" spring and then set the weight of pull to what weight I want. As I said - I have had them as low as a safe and reliable 6 ounces but I that was only on one of my LVT's that I was uisng for bench work, so I cannot say that they will all go that low.

I too am a bit of a trigger snob because I am now in my 36th year of shooting rifle silhouette (first match in 1979). I am Master in smallbore Std and Hunter and AAA in high-power Std and Hunter. I have been fortunate enough to win a few State championships and a National championship, I have spent a lot of years pulling triggers and am firm believer that it is more about "trigger time" than the trigger itself, if it has reasonable quality and repeatability.
But in reading your posts and the triggers you are using I suspect that you are using a dedicated Std rifle wheras I began using my Hunter rifle for bot Std and Hunter class a great many years ago so I only have need for a consistent 2# trigger on my 57M, I have my trigger set at 2 lb, 2 oz (2 extra oz to allow for ham-handed certifiers who do not know how to properly lift a trigger weight), and on my Lyman electronic gauge the largest variance I have seen on my Cooper trigger is 3/10 of an ounce over an average of 5 pulls.

Too me the Jewel and 5018 are both the wrong trigger for a Hunter class rifle where the weight must be in lbs, not ounces. The reason IMO is that the thinner trigger shoe on both of them increase the "felt" pull weight because you are pulling on such a small surface area. Wheras with a wider trigger shoe, such as found on Coopers, Timney's, Rem 700 triggers spreads the "felt" weight over the larger area and creates the sensation of a lighter trigger than it actually is.
(Hopefully I have been able to paint a word picture so that you can visualize what I am saying.)

I tried Jewel's and 5018's both throughout the years on Hunter rifles and they just never worked as well for me a clean crisp single stage trigger with the wider shoe, but then I do not like 2-stage triggers either. IMO they are fine for Std rifle or benchrest but just not the right trigger for Hunter class rifles.



But we have drifted a long ways from the OP's question which was
" For a very very accurate 22 LR rifle.....
Older or new manufacturer what would you suggest?"

No match type rifles but I want a tackdriver!"

Not to start a war of words, or taking anything away form Anschutz engineering and mechanics, but fulfilling that statement IMO is where the Cooper shines -

(I am talking base grade rifles with no upgrades for both manufacturers, and I also realize that there exceptions but as a general rule this is what I have encountered throughout my years having owned quite a number of both of them,)

The better Anschutz wood is generally very plain compared to the average Cooper wood.

The Anschutz wood fit and finish is not generally in the same ballpark as the Cooper.

The best Anschutz checkering looks like it was done with a dull fork wheras the Cooper checkering is hand-done and is usually flawless.

Accuracy wise there is little to no difference between them, there is probably more difference between individual guns than there is between the manufacturers.

And finally the fact that Coopers are totally made in the U.S. by American workers.


Sorry that this has gotten so long winded but I wanted to post my credentials as far as triggers and just could not find any way to shorten it up and still be somewhat understandable.

drover