I'm thinking it has to be the Marlin Model 60, as it has been in production since 1960...I know that is 4 years more than either the Ruger 10/22 or the Winchester/Cooey/Lakefield/Stevens/Savage Model 64....

Am I forgetting one? Let's keep it to regular production rifles.

If you count the Remington 24 to be the same as the Browning, then the Browning SA-22 most likely.





edit: According to wiki, the Browning SA-22 has been in production since 1914.

Browning SA-22 would be my guess, too

This may seem a stretch, but John Browning's first semi-auto rifle was made using a Winchester 1873. This is an 1873 22 long and has to be about the earliest...

I suspect that if someone were to dig deep enough in your stuff they'd find David's slingshot and Samson's jawbone.

I'm thinking Winchester '03, the forerunner to the Winchester 63

Not longer in production by Winchester, but copied by Norinco.

Virgil B.

Well, the OP's question was, "..has been in production longest..." So I would guess that eliminates something that's not still in production (or that never was in production.) My guess is that, of currently produced models, the Browning .22 Auto would take that honor.

I think the Browning design takes the biscuit, but if you want to play the "is based on" game, the current Japanese-manufactured Weatherby XXII .22 autos are based on a Beretta design (the earliest ones were made by Beretta), which was based on a Walther design, which I believe came out right before WWI, although most of them are post-WWI.

But I don't have any specific dates, so the Browning still seems the surest winner. Interesting question.