Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Rimfires Budget small boreish rifle

Hey there I need some recommendations for a new indoor 22 league rifle. I guess to make it more accessible and get folks interested “gopher gun” leagues have been popping up round here and I’ve been using an old 10/22 stainless carbine with cheek riser and 3-9 vx1 and been doing fair well but want to upgrade to something nicer. Rules have been fairly vague just that they can’t be small bore competition rifles and should be in the spirit of “gopher” or varmint rifles. I’m looking to be $500ish on the rifle.

So far my short list is
Ruger LVT 10/22
Bergara BXR
Ruger American predator 22

I have a pile of 10/22 mags and like the platform but would be open to cz or tikka if it’s that much of an upgrade over the Rugers. Threaded would also be nice as there’s also a rimfire suppressor in my near future too.

Don't take offense to this, but I'd just put a Kidd barrel on your 10-22..


Nuff said. That's how I'd roll. You already have the perfect platform. Spruce it up a bit.. I know you want a new rifle yada yada yada....




That is the "easy button" man..

That's how I'd roll..

Yep. Nuff said.

Oh no no offense taken I’d thought about tricking out my 10/22 but it was a gift from an old family friend so I prefer to leave it relatively how he gave it to me. I local gun show had a littermate to it that I almost picked up for a build platform but talked myself out of it.

Ok, that makes sense. So, a rifle on a budget then and a $500 limit.. Dang, I thought I had the easy solution, ha ha.. For an off the shelf semi auto that is fairly accurate, I'd look at the Savage A22.. Get one with the nicer laminate wood stock, vs the cheap plastic one. The Bergara BXR is also a nice rifle, however I do not know how well they shoot. Also, don't overlook the Savage MK2 bolt action. They tend to shoot lights out. If you can find a Thompson center TCR/10-22 clone, they shoot surprisingly well. The Tikka's are known shooters too. The old guys at my club tend to shoot older rifles, so I'm not much help. I know the old Mossbergs shoot lights out, as do the Savage/Anschutz, and the Kimber 82 targets, older winchester 69's and sometimes 75's can be had for around your price point. Sounds like you are wanting to buy new though. For a very lightweight rifle that uses the 10-22 magazine, the Christensen Arms Ranger is a great shooter. They have had their issues though. Good luck with your search..

Oh no worries I knew it was a semi loaded question. There’s not enough money on the line or budget to go too wild on a rifle. But I was hoping to be all in on rifle and scope for 700-800ish. Any reason to avoid the new Ruger rifles either bolt or auto? I had a newer m1 carbine clone 10/22 a while back that was a jamomatic but figured I just got a lemon. Also did not like the plastic trigger group I swear that’s where half its problems stemmed from. I was also thinking Ruger based from upgradeability down the road. I’ve got an eye out locally for a classic older rimfire too that fits more the varmint/ target style without getting too close to small bore competition rifle. I thought about a Ruger precision rimfire as I have one in 17 that’s a tack driver but the chassis system suits me better for shooting off a mirror and not as much shooting freehand or kneeling.

Believe me the Tikka T1x is a huge leap forward over the Rugers. Not only that but for about $15 you can get a vertical handgrip, a trigger spring for making weight of pull lighter can be had for $10 and you are ready to go. Oh yeah, it is threaded from the factory.

I have had three of the Ruger American Rimfires and they varied a bit in accuracy but even the best one was only a 3/4" rifle for 5 shots at 50 yds , even match ammo did not make a noticable difference. I have owned two Tikka T1x, both in 22 LR and they are consistently sub 1/2" for 5 shot groups at 50 yards with practically any ammo. For practice I just use CCI S/V and it shoots well at only $3.99 per box.

You did not mention the distance you are shooting at but since it is an indoor league I am guessing it is a fairly short range. If so perhaps you are likely dealing with a lot of parallax issues with your scope since the VX-1 is usually adjusted to be parallax free at 125 yds or so. Try finding a position that your head position is repeatable to mitigate parallax movement.

Sounds fun -

drover

Ya were at a max of 50’ indoors. I know the old vx1 wasn’t ideal but it’s was what I had and the little 4x Burris that was originally on it wasn’t quite enough shooting mini silhouettes at that range for my eyes. Surprised the hell out of me how well the little combo has held up for me though. Any recommendations for an upgrade for short range parallax scopes? I’ll have to check out the tikka. I’ve seen them in stores a few times and went down to buy one in 17 when I got the RPR for a screaming deal instead.

Savage 93R or MK2 gets my vote. Cheap, already has a fantastic trigger, and very accurate with a bull barrel.

The Bergara would be a good pick. CZ and Tikka are both big improvements over the Ruger Americans in my experience. I've owned two LVT's and both were accurate rifles, but not quite in the CZ accuracy and the stock trigger were far behind the CZ 457's making them hard to squeeze out their true accuracy potential.

A good trigger and a proper scope for shooting at short range might make all the difference for your present rifle. The trigger would just drop in (and out if you want to restore the rifle to its original form). A SWFA 6x will focus down to 10yards. $300. Would work equally well on a new Tikka, CZ etc.

For what you are doing it does not require an expensive scope just one that will get rid of the parallax and a reasonably good image should work just fine.

Seafire has mentioned an inexpensive Bushnell with AO a few times, perhaps he will chime in on this.

Check with camerland to see if they have any recommendations for scopes that will adjust down to 50 ft at a reasonable price point, also take a look at some air rifle specific scopes since they usually focus down to meters which should work for you.

drover

Lots of scopes that focus down to short distances- Hawke, Athlon, EFR Leupolds, and a bunch of others. Doug and Jeff at Cameraland can help you out and give you a great deal in the process...

9 times out of 10, factory Ruger 10-22's (like what the op has) only shoot mediocre. At best. Every once in a while you'll get a tack driver, but that is not the norm. I'm talking about competition style shooting. For plinking cans and shooting jackrabbits, they are good enough. There is an awful lot of internet "hype" on them. I've had enough, that I know. Even their target models with the "cold hammer forged" barrels don't shoot all too well. Definitely not in the realm of the Kidd barrel I posted pics of earlier. The last guy I had an argument about this at the range was a blow hard that didn't know wtf he was talking about. He said, just about every 10-22 he's ever had was "1/2" right out of the box".. I told him, we shoot 10 shots per target and shoot for score. Group size isn't really the concern, as long as you can keep them in the x-ring. I told him to prove it with his customized heavy barreled Ruger 10-22. Just like I thought. Way off the x-ring and about a 1 1/2" group at 50 yards... Some guys are slow learners.. I told him, a lot of us shoot 10-22's here. We know what they can and can't do.

The new 10/22 LVT has better accuracy than the old 10/22 target. Drop in the $25 Volquartsen kit for a gopher trigger. Athlon Neos 4-12x40 with adjustment down to 10yd or Talos 3-12x40 with adjustment down to 15yd and better glass/eye relief. Both scopes can be had with the clean centerX reticle. This should put you in the $500 range.

You could call CPC about working your old 10/22 into a shooter.

Which is why I mentioned the Tikka and CZ. He doesn’t want to do anything extreme to his present one it seems, so the trigger and scope would help him get the most out of it .

If he really likes what he’s doing, he’ll go all-out eventually anyway, even if he has to sell the baby’s shoes…..

I second the barrel swap on your 10-22, mine is a Green Mountain, and a VQ target hammer. Just five shot fifty yard groups on its first outing.

T/C’s Benchmark is an option just be aware of the chamber/extractor issues prior to purchase - if this is accounted for these rifles are exceptional shooters and can still be had for reasonable $$. The other options suggested here are excellent though!!

PennDog

So this is also kind of a loaded question but if I wanted to stay in a semi auto whats my best option? I’m pretty partial to getting into a solid stance and not breaking it down after each shot. Seems to remove a bit of repeatability errors in form. Would I be better off finding an old pawn shop 10/22 and sending it off to someone like cpc?

Shop for magazines before buying the rifle.