Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Rimfires .22 Mag

Huh! I have a mod 783 Marlin but can't tell you how well other than I simply shoot at stuff and it falls down. Been a good rifle. Best 22 mag I ever owned was an anschutz but don't remember the model number. ad an adjustable trigger and boy was it light! Incredably accuate too but again, long ago. Never was one for wasting ammo in a 22 mag on targets to see if it shot well. If I didn't hit what I was aiming at it was obviously the rifle!

Maybe the scope you want will dictate which rifle you get with left over money.

Retiredmech: A couple years ago I found a great deal on a used but as new Browning T-Bolt Varmint model in 22 Magnum.
It shoots great (reliably and accurately) has a rather good trigger and the beavertail forearm walnut stock is very pleasing.
I love the heavy barreled rimfires anymore.
Give one of these a look see.
Best of luck with whichever you choose.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

CZ, lots of aftermarket barrels. My first 22 mag rifle was a 77/22 and was quite accurate. Lots of coyotes. Now it’s harder to like the 22mag. 17hmr shines

I have a .22 Mag Annie, but my favorite walk around .22 Magnum is the 9422M. It has a faster twist than others. Better if you want to shoot 50gr bullets.

But, your going to spend more than $1000

CZ’s a great guns. Older Marlins or great shooters and some models are very good looking. If not considering wood and blue, I would easily recommend stainless Savage. Again, great shooters

I also have a 94-22mag. as my walking varmint rifle, and have heavy barrel Ruger American W/SWFA 10X scope for sill hunting small stuff.

Very happy with both! Virgil B.

I had a CZ that shot very well. I sold it to fund a Cooper as I have them in 22 LR, 17HMR and now the 22 Mag. Browning makes a great T-Bolt in 17 HMR but I don't remember if it comes in 22 Mag as well. I have one in the 17 and it shoots right up there with the Cooper and has a 10 shot rotary magazine.

I have several rifles chambered in .22 MAG, in bolt, combination, pump, and semi-auto. If I could only keep one, it would be the Marlin 983S. My "adopted brother" is a subsistence hunter/fisher/farmer whose everyday carry is a well work 883. He shoots everything that is legal to take with a rifle with that rifle and whatever 40 grain factory ammo he has at the time. I've given him other rifles and shotguns over the past 40 years, but he prefers the Marlin .22 MAGs in the 783/883/983 series. I even gave him a 883S with a Nikon Prostaff 2-7x32 shotgun scope a few years back, but he would rather use his well worn older blued CM and walnut rifle, 'cause he says that it fits him better.

I'm covered.........CZ457, 9422M and Contender 14"

I have a Charles Daly Zastava that is comparatively inexpensive but more accurate than my CZ 455 American 22WMR, CZ 512 22WMR and CZ 457 Lux with American 22WMR barrel installed. It is the only 22WMR I've been able to shoot sub 1" groups with at 100 yards consistently.

Have had a number .22 Magnum rifles, including some already mentioned by others such as a Winchester 9422, CZ, Marlin and my present one, a Ruger American sporter, not Predator.

My experience is that finding a .22 Magnum that shoots a wide variety of ammo tends to be the luck of the draw. Most are very specific in what brands/types of ammo group well--party because .22 Magnum ammo, unlike .22 LR or .17 HMR,is made in a wide variety of bullets, from the original 40-grain Winchester load that essentially uses Long Rifle-type bullets to plastic-tips.

This tendency for many .22 Magnum to have specific preference in ammo not only limits choices, but when the Great Obama Rimfire Shortage occurred, .22 Magnum ammo was one of the early casualties because every rimfire manufacturer started cranking out .22 Long Rifles as fast as they could. Unless you were stocked up with the ammo your rifle "liked" you were pretty much SOL.

I bought my Ruger American during that shortage--which why I got such a good deal: It was brand-new at half price, because .22 Magnum ammo was unobtanium. I had a wide variety of .22 Magnum ammo on hand, and it grouped every kind just about the same, five rounds into around and inch or less at 100 yards. It shot so well, in fact, that a local friend I went gopher shooting with was so impressed he bought one just like it--and it shot the same way.

But I think that was somewhat lucky, because not all Ruger American .22 Magnums shoot as well. In fact I e-mailed Ruger's head of product development, asking if they used a different chamber reamer for their rifles, or if there was some other factor that might explain it. His answer: "Luck?"

John

Being a 22 mag. lover, I have several and I've sent several down the road. The 3 that have stood out from all the rest is a Sako Quad, A Savage Anschutz 164M, and a Ruger American that is not the Predator model. Accuracy is outstanding in any of those 3 with the Sako holding a slight edge. The Ruger using Hornady 30gr. blows my mind as to how accurate it is.
Two that I sent down the road was a Browning A-Bolt that had terrible accuracy and a CZ bolt that was mediocre in accuracy but wouldn't feed worth crap.

Was out shooting gophers (Richardson's ground squirrels) with my wife 3 weeks ago, and decided to use my Ruger American sporter, since I had a lot of the 30-grain ammo on hand. That time of year they're mostly the little ones born this year, which aren't very big targets, but when one was occasionally missed at ranges out to around 120 yards it was my fault, not the rifle's.

H&R 700 listed in the classifieds.
Not mine.

It might be possible to find one of these within your price range.

That looks pretty slick…

That ZKM is the ultimate in my mind. I sadly recall the only one I ever saw, gently used in an LGS for $450, at a time when I was heavily invested in getting children through school. Tom Knapp had a fancy gilded presentation version IIRC.

There is a SS/walnut special run RAR out there that looks promising, given some of that luck Mule Deer mentioned.

The 22 inch .22 mag MGM barrel for my Encore is very accurate. Great practice barrel for my .50 muzzleloader.

I went Bergara BMR with an on sale SWFA 6x MQ, with the trigger hack. No complaints yet but haven’t shot it a lot