Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Rimfires Best .22 Semi

Since getting back into rifles this year, I've had the hankering to have some .22s to play with while my center fire's barrels are cooling. I have a nice CZ bolt, but would like a semi for no other reason than...I want one. I'm not looking for a target gun that shoots itty bitty groups, just something that goes bang when I pull the trigger. What do you guys think the most reliable .22 semi is that's being produced today?

Ruger 10-22

What bea said..

+2

10-22

yep, taint none better

Ditto #5 and I'll add a reason.

They go bang and are accurate out of the box, at least the few I've had were. And if the mood ever strikes that you want to upgrade it with a better trigger or barrel or whatnot, you won't find another .22 rifle with as many drop in accessories as a 10/22.

Nice to see real young kids asking questions like this. Who says the fire isn't a family site...

10-22 it is- thanks for the recommendation, guys!

I'm kind of surprised that no one said the Marlin 60 yet. It usually gets mentioned in these threads. It was my first .22, not because that's what I really wanted, but because I could afford it. (I really wanted a Remington 541-S, but could have settled for a Ruger 10/22 Deluxe.)

I ended up selling the Marlin and getting a 10/22 later. Main reasons were that when you have a jam- and you will sooner or later with rimfire ammo- sometimes you end up reaching up by the muzzle (with a loaded gun), to loosen the magazine tube to dump the ammo to clear the jam.

The 10/22, simple push of the button, drop the magazine, and you're good to work on it. And if throwing a lot of rounds down range is your thing, you can preload extra magazines.

Finally, like everyone says, you have so many modifications available to you with a 10/22, so it's easy to build one to your liking.

Okay, I'll be a bit different. Consider the S&W M&P 15-22 .

We've got three of them in our clan as the grandkids think they are way fun. When I have a line-up of .22's to shoot they select the M&P 15-22's every time. My oldest son is in career military and to him the AR platform is quite normal. The collapsible stock adjusts for 8-year-olds and then out for adults. Comes threaded so (with an adapter) can easily put a can on them. Accuracy and reliability are well within acceptable modern planker standards. I very much enjoy shooting it.

The 10-22 comes in a similar version if the 'AR' look does anything for you. And like everybody has said the 10-22 has more accessories/upgrades available to it than any other model. I have the Take-Down version with a lot of upgrades and am very pleased with it.

10-22 for sure

S&W AR. Accurate, always works, lots of magazine choices, suppressor ready, AR trainer as well.

Next, the no longer made TC. A real wood and blue man sized rifle. Unlike the 10-22, does not need add ons to work well.

If you don't mind spending a bit more, Browning SA22s can be had online for under $600 all day, and are very classy, high quality rifles.

Hard to argue against the 10/22 for a plinker. That being said I have a couple of the Remington 597s that I'm satisfied with. The older of the two took a VQ extractor to cure some feed issues, but for what they are and cost, I'm satisfied. The new heavy barrel version has been good to go out of the box. I prefer the factory ergos of the 597 to the 10/22 but customization of the 10/22 is unlimited.

There are several top performers that have been around for a while (Marlin 60, Ruger 10-22, etc..) but my favorite is the Browning Buckmark rifle.

my .02,
dave

Dollar for dollar you can not beat the value of a Ruger 10-22

No personal experience, but every time I see one of those Weatherby Mark XXII's with great wood at the gun show - I want one.

Best value today? 10.22.

Classiest, most fun to carry, and best looking? Winchester 63.

JustinL1: The answer to your question is the Ruger 10/22 in what ever "configuration" (model?) fits you and your needs best.
Don't expect "perfection" from any semi-auto in 22 L.R. caliber as the ammunition is often not up to the that standard to begin with.
I have been shooting 22 semi-autos for going on 60 years now and I think I have shot just about every American factory model over that time - I contend, go with the Ruger 10/22!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy