Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Rimfires 22lr options for under 5 bills

looking for a good bolt action 22 for under 500 bucks main use will be target shooting and sum hunting thanks for any input...

Ruger American Rimfire if you are talking informal target shooting.

CZ 455 or the Ruger 77/22.




Dave

Or a CZ 452. They're excellent rifles.

Can you get 452 new anymore? I thought they stopped building them.

Can you get 452 new anymore? I thought they stopped building them.

Just walk across the freaking road and try out my nasty old Model 5 you clown ...

GE

You can still buy CZ 452's sometimes when you find old stock. You can't get a more accurate 22 for under $500 than a 452. You might pay about $600 for a 453 but I prefer them if you can find one.

Go to www.rimfirecentral.com and check the classifieds and ask in the CZ forum. Those CZ guys know when anyone has 452's.

Just picked up a Savage from Bud's.....cute little sucker..

and shoots great....Savage has a good selection...or......

CZ of course...bought a LNIB CZ 452 17M2 recently...well made !!

Wouldn't pass up a nice 77/22 either.......

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

The CZs are great shooters, but the safety and magazine hanging out the bottom make them less handy in the field. 77/22s are my favorite, but you will not likely find one for $500, even used, without a lot of luck or persistence. I'd look at the Ruger Americans. They're nicely finished for the price, have iron sights, and according to reports here, shoot pretty well. 10 shot flush magazine too.

Personally, I'd also look at a tube-fed Marlin. They have been made in stainless and will feed shorts, I believe. They may be a bit harder to find.

A few days ago there was a Remington 504 in the classifieds for $500. I know that some of them had accuracy issues but on the other hand some of them shoot exceedingly well. IIRC the seller said this one whot quite well. You might check out the ad to see if it is something of interest to you.

drover

Keep a close eye on Whittaker's facebook page. They have had CZ build them NEW 452s. I bought a 2015 production 452 American in August. Whittaker's buys about 1000 a year, and they are delivered in batches of 250-350 three or four times a year (at least, that's been the case for the last couple of years.)

The new 452s sell out very fast, they sold 300+ in about THREE DAYS last summer. I missed one from that batch, but I was able to get one in the next batch.

Keep a sharp eye on that Facebook page, if you want a 452, they can be had, new, for under $400. I paid $369 or $379 for mine in August.

Same answer I give to this question almost every time. I'm kind of old school and I like steel and walnut the way it used to be made- not to cast aspersions on the present crop of rimfires in any way.
If it were me (and it isn't), I would be looking for a well cared for Winchester 75 sporter, or 69A or one of the Remington "teen" rifles- 511, 512,513, 514, or a 541T or 504. Well built rifles like these never go out of style, never get any less accurate, retain value fairly well, and are just a joy to shoot and carry in the field. Most of them are close to full sized rifle dimensions so there is the carryover effect to muscle memory when hunting big game with other rifles, IMHO.

Better buy at least two as you will be hooked like the rest of us.

Bob

I like the "teens" too, but have yet to find a really nice one for sale. For nice walnut and blued steel, CZs are hard to beat. The milled steel trigger guards from DIP really class them up, and the total price would still be very close to $500.

Yeah, the Remington teens and the Win 69A, 75 Sporter and the like are getting harder to find in good shape. Luckily, I find a few of them in "fair" shape and then I have no qualms picking them up cheap and refinishing them. I have a couple 69A's that look like they are close to factory original, though they were made in the 50's and a 75 Sporter that is in great shape (except for a non factory D&T receiver) that I picked up for cheap money at Cabela's.
They are out there, but you have to spend the time to find the good ones.
I now have enough .22's to give each of my 3 kids one and each of my 3 grandkids one and still have one in the safe for grand dad when we all go shooting some day.

Bob

The CZ 452 and 455 are the best value for the money. Most will shoot less than an inch, 5 shot groups at 50 yds. with plinker ammo. They will do MUCH better with higher priced ammo.
If you are shooting iron sights, the lux and trainer models will fit the bill.
Want to scope it, the American and Silhouette models have no iron sights. They are set up for scopes only. Though you can mount a scope on the other models.
Check Gun Broker for a 452.
If you do buy a CZ, open your wallet. You CANNOT have just one of them. They multiply in your safe.

I have 4 of them.

ratsmacker gives some great advice. Whittakers is awesome and they do a great job moving the 452s.

For the money, they're almost impossible to beat.

I had 3 different Rem 504s and if someone gave me another I would throw it at them. Accuracy all over the place, bolt handle broke off on 2, a real shame because they're beautiful guns.

If you want to go a little older, find a Marlin Model 60. The older models I have shot, all shot pretty well.

My Savage 22 mag is a shooter. I have a Mark 11 that is pretty good and a CZ 452 that is a real shooter.

would a cz 452 out shoot a 77/22 laminate SS target barrel?

I have the 77/22, but long for a basic walnut / blue gun...

Picked up my CZ 452 American from Whittakers early last year. Heck of a nice rifle for the money. DIP sells certain replacement parts that helped fine tune the rifle. I would note that the 452 has a pretty high bolt throw that is not an issue but needs to be considered when selecting rings and bases.