Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Rimfires Vote for your most underrated 22 rifles and tell us why...

There are so many good 22 rifles out there, both old and new. Its tough to even keep track of them all, nevermind know which ones are the standouts.

We all know about the famous ones (Marlin 39, Winchester 52, etc) but I got to wondering which ones are the uncommonly good ones that never get the credit they deserve.

I'm going to throw out a vote for the Remington 582. Its the little brother of the 788 centerfire and shares a well designed rear lug action and the same real trigger group with the 788. The tube magazine holds plenty of ammo (14 long rifles IIRC) and keeps the rifle easy to carry. Factory stock is adult length though slender and while usually birch, were also made in walnut and cherry. Its very scopeable with a low rotation bolt handle and 3/8" groove. And the steel receiver has plenty of thickness to be D&T.

Yeah, I wish the barrel wasn't so long (24" I think) and that the rear sight wasn't held on with that hokey plastic sleeve, but mine is a REALLY good rifle, so its getting my vote over a few others that are also really good.

So, which not-so-mainstream 22 rifles are diamonds in the rough to you?


Kragman

One that is underrated IMO is the Marlin 60, especially with the laminated stock. $167 at Wally World and you walk out with the gun and the mags??? Tubular mag and that means no mags to misplace/lose.

If you want add a bargain priced scope and a sling and for around $200 you are out in the great outdoors with a great value that shoots darn good.

Not as good as a teched out 10/22 but still a meatgetter.

Marlin 60s and 795s are as tough as woodpecker lips, but don't get anywhere near the respect that Remington 66s and Ruger 10/22s get.

PS - I was a Brownell's in Grinnell, IA, yesterday and they had at least a doze Remington 580, 581, and 582 rifles in stock. I haven't seen so many of them in one place since the early 1970s.

Mossberg 40 series

I've got a Rem 581 and it is way more accurate than it has a right to be. Bought it for my son may years ago and it is still one of his favorite rifles.

However, the most underrated rifles I see are my Winchester 69A's and my Winchester 75 sporter. Built on the same actions, they are man sized rifles that shoot almost as well as my 52's, are much lighter even with a scope, and are just a joy to carry in the sage rat fields and squirrel woods. With a scope mounted the accuracy of these rifles is phenomenal. I don't shoot as well as I used to with aperture sights, but my 69's are a kick to shoot with the peeps. I can easily hit clay pigeons to 75 yards with apertures with them, much farther with the scope. The wood they put on these early Winchesters is also very nice walnut. I refinished a couple of them already after removing a number of layers of brushed on varnish and they look great.

You can usually pick the 69A's up at a LGS or Cabela's for $200-$300 or so in good shape.

Bob

I have found the over rated are generally over rated for good reason. To stay on topic- There are some excellent savage-anschutz rifles that sometimes go for short money. Probably not so much on the web, but out in the boonies.

Most Mossbergs. But specifically the military trainers. My 44US while I had it would hold its own.

The original Remington 514 would be my choice.

My vote goes to the Zastava 99. Remington sold them for awhile as the Model 5 and Charles Daly had them for awhile. I saw some at Cabelas for around $180.00 a year or so ago. The one I have is scary accurate and my only complaint is the magazine is a little hard to remove occasinally.

No flies on those Remington Model 5's

Remington 521 T.

Beat me to it.. Inexpensive, but they work and work well. I've had one for 20+ years and other than cleaning it occasionally, it's never failed to function properly..

Western Auto Revelation...

It eats every bullet I fed it, short and LR, and accurately.

I've had no misfires either. Wide striker hits hard.







(yeah I know its a Palamino. Revelation sounds cooler)

Word must have got out on those. My LGS has a NIB .17HMR online- for $525!

Rossi mdl 62 pump.

Light, handy, accurate, fun, fast, shoots short/long/lr.

Remington 581, Marlin Model 60, I agree. However, I think THE most underrated, is ANY older Mossberg. They perform a LOT better than you would expect.

All the Akro-Groove Mossbergs I have owned shot really well. But all the triggers have been lousy too

The Remington 550 should be more revered than it is.

And the Remington 581 has already been mentioned, and it is the accuracy sleeper of all time.

The Model 1903 Savage pump and a Winchester Model 57.

Maybe the wrong cz99, the Zastava rimfire rifles are $200

http://www.jgsales.com/zastava-cz99-bolt-action-rifle,-22lr,-22-barrel,-yugo-import-by-cai,-new.-p-62934.html

The magnums run an extra $10. I let anyone interested to do their own follow up googles. I heard these will benefit from a good stock refinish. Good winter project.

Marlin model 60. Very accurate and reliable. The 10/22 gets all the glamour.

I'd say the Mossbergs as well. They're ugly and normally cheap, but the few I've owned were surprisingly accurate.

I picked up a first year production Savage 1919NRA at an auction for $165. The first 5 shot group, from 25 yards, with open sights, was under half an inch. I was tickled. I just bought a 10X Fecker to see if I can squeeze that hole closed a little, Joe.

That's a nice shooter Joe. And nice shootin' too.

+1 on the Savage but that Fecker must have set ya back some. I love my early 19!

Its amazing to me just how many 22s that were produced when barrel manufacturing shouldn't have been that great are excellent shooters by any standard.

Browning FN T-Bolt is often overlooked. My T2 shoots lights out.

Unquestionably the MAS 45. Built as a military trainer by the French on captured Mauser factory equipment.

Back in the 80's, even into the 90's, you could buy one unfired, still in the crate and covered in cosmoline for less than a hundred bucks. Today I think people are more aware of just how good they are.

I've had four or five of them throughout my life and every one has been a shooter. Like the dumbass I am I sold them. Wish I had kept at least one. Next time I find one at a decent price you can bet I'll hold on to it...

On an unrelated note, anyone else having trouble posting on this site? I find I have to correct my posts multiple times because it never comes out the way I type them. It's like it can't keep up or auto spells words that I don't want. Sometimes when I backspace it wipes out the entire message. Weird, this the only site that it happens on.

The Savage Anschutz 141M in 22 Magnum doesn't get enough attention. But the Remington 550-1 really needs to be appreciated. I bought mine from a friend when he was discharged from the Air Force and leaving Little Rock AFB. The amount of ammo (22 short, long and long rifle) that went through that gun would fill a full size pick up truck. Thanks to the internet I found and downloaded a manual for it a couple of years ago and learned that it hadn't been properly cleaned for at least as long as I owned it (around 1979ish) and it never stopped working. The trigger is certainly not match grade, kind of crunchy actually but I can live with that.

Gotta be a tie between the Marlin Model 60 and the Rem. Nylon 66

Svelte, fun, accurate, fun and fun.

Marlin 881, full size bolt action, tube fed .22lr, long, or short.

Simply very accurate.

Ed

Marlin model 25. The most accurate 22 I have ever owned. Shorts. Long's. And long rifle. Sweet shooting gun and easy carrying.

Yep. Those are hard to beat for the money Ed.

Back in the late 80's my gunsmith bought one of those cheap Norinco .22 bolt actions that looked like a BRNO.

They were rough but it was rumored to be very accurate.

He spent some time smoothing the trigger and action and mounted match sights on it and then shot bug holes with it.

Dan

My vote goes to the 581 or 582 Remington. I have both and both are extremely accurate. I owned a 541 but cannot see where it shot any better than its cheaper cousins....

My little G2 Contender with a match .22 rifle barrel is very accurate as well and for me is a lot of fun to shoot. I don't go through shells quite as fast with it as when shooting my 582....

FYI - I have an old Sears model 42-103-2840 that would have to be made by marlin that I bought for $50 at a hobby gun store around 15 years ago. It was painted in BBQ black and topped with a Tasco 4-16 AO scope. The scope turned out to be real good, the trigger real bad. I stripped the paint and found out that it was a shooter. And with some old unknown Federal round nose it will shoot jaw dropping groups.

A little off topic, but its another noteworthy old Marlin bolt, basically a Model 80.

I have a western fields bolt action single shot that is really an ugly mossberg...

It outshoots most tricked out 10/22's
I have $25 of repairs into it.

It makes me look closely at any old mossbergs I see on the used racks. Especially those 144's.

My vote for underrated would be the H&R Sportster. I bought the little singleshot back in the early spring of 2012. In the 4 yrs. I've had it, I've shot over 100 squirrels with it. While I've got 2 10/22s and a Marlin 39a, this little girl goes with me quite often!











I was so happy with the rifle that I had it camo'd back in early 2014.

Yep, they are awesome. I like the 141 and 164 rimfires ...

Hey 30Gibbs -

What are the Anschutz models to keep an eye out for?
And how much of an accuracy difference should one generally expect from the three different actions they use?

One of my favorite rimfires is a Ruger 96/22 in 22LR. It was made and shipped to a friend's little mom and pop store in 1996. After sitting on his shelf for 12 years I took pity on it and brought it home in 2008.

Paid $200 for it. Wood's not much to look at, but it is short and handy and the accuracy was surprisingly great and I've never seen another at the gun range. Just a fun little knock about.

CZ455 - not sure why they are not more popular. I suppose the trend is toward plastic stocks and autoloaders. To me a match accurate rifle that functions perfectly for under $400 is 'underrated'.

Not underrated, but seldom mentioned is the excellent NULA .22 available single shot or repeater.

Maybe we should throw in a martini or two as well. Both kinds mind you, the firearm and the beverage. Cheers!

Mossberg 640 ka, .22 mag., mine groups well, as I have read most all shoot exceptional as well.Heavy/Walnut/Blued Steel mag. fed bolt action, feels like an adult center fire, what's not to like?

T/C classic 22lr. I purchased one when they first came out for my son. It'll hold its own against most other 22's.

+1 .... Fully agree about Marlin M25.

I'm with Dan. I hate to endorse any ChiCom product, but the Norinco .22s were hard to beat for the money. Below is a blurry pic of my JW-15 that I bought back in the 80's for less than $80 in a group buy.

I put a Williams target sight on the rear and jerry-rigged a 700 Rem front ramp sight to raise the front sight for the receiver peep. Accurate, reliable and nicely blued but the balsawood stock is nothing to brag about.

There were some more glamorous Norinco bolt guns and some outfit in Ga (I recall) offered a showy walnut stock.

My Marlin 25 was a Christmas present from Santa when I was 10. In the 35 years since then It has killed a couple of short bed pickups worth of small game and varmints. It shoots most anything accurately enough and feeds all the various lenth .22s well. I have worn out the extractor a couple of times and had to replace some worn or bent magazines, but otherwise it just keeps going. It is the only .22 rifle in my cabinet.

Anyone want to compare the Marlin 25 to the Marlin 80?
I've always been a little vague on the different Marlin rimfires. I know I love the MicroGroove barrels!

AMEN ! Snagged a Model 184 over a decade ago for $400. Have not seen one since.

OK go ahead and laugh but my vote is for the Chiappa Badger.
Accurate as hell, lightweight and super reliable.

I know it looks funky and eccentric but it is a true sleeper.

My vote is for my Springfield M1922M2. It is deadly accurate, with the original iron sights, even out past 100 yards. Heavy, yes, but no heavier than any big game rifle I tote into the woods.

Rem model 12's; am up to 2 A's and a C.

Have some "neat" older guns, and a passel of CZ's, but for walk about those little model 12's are it. Their accuracy is nothing special, but they're lightweights that shoot so naturally and consistently off-hand. Fun times.

Marlin 99 - model 60's dad. Beautiful walnut stocks and sweet trigger pull.

Good call.

I'd also vote for the Remington 580 series. I've got a 581 that I bought new in the 70's. It's funny how good a trigger can get with a few thousand rounds through the gun. I found a 541 stock a few years ago and now it looks as good as it shoots.

I have to say that the Win Model 69 (clip) and Model 72 (tube) are about as accurate as any. Beats my Model 75 Sporter and not that far behind my Model 52 and that ain't bad. Get one with the grooved receiver (or tapped if you don't mind the price drop) and scope it. Plain, classic but top of the line shooter. You won't regret it.

Remington 580 series. With a lighter trigger spring and nothing else my 582 shoots groups as good as I can hold.

Glenfield model 60. Depending upon which source you go by, between 12 and 13 million were sold, and several versions.
I have the 17 shot version. A cut down aluminum arrow shaft makes a dandy speed loader for a tubular magizine.

I have (had) a winchester M320 that I gave to my son. It's a wonderfully accurate little .22, that functions flawlessly, and the action was made by Kimber in the 70's. Cool little gun.

My old beater Rem 581 is still holding it's own pretty darn good.

Mossberg

I'll vote for the Rossi as well

Looks like a great shooter and it's not a bad looking rifle either.




^^^^^ This^^^^^^^ When I think "underrated", I always think Mossberg, even though they made some damn good accurate stuff back in the day. Sometimes quite ugly, but still great shooters. My chuckster is proof of that:

It seems like everyone has a 10/22, so I went right out and bought a Marlin Model 60. It is a great gun.

Older Remington 552s. An old school semiauto that's been in production since the mid 50s. Shoots Shorts, Longs or Long Rifles. They can be had in VG to EX condition for less than half the cost of the new high comb stock models. Unlike the newer ones the lower comb stock makes the open sights easy to use if you want to take the scope off. Mine with the right ammo is about as accurate as my heavy barrel 10-22.

My little Zatavas - Also known as Remington Model 5 Charles Daley, and a few others...

I bought 5 of them from J&G Sales for $169 each. Nice, accurate little shooters for the price.

I've had a plain version of the 552 for about 25 years now. I restored it (OK, I basically cleaned it up) after it got singed in a fire. Its rewarded my by cycling any mix of short, long or LR that you can pour into it including subsonic. It shoots everything well, and really loves a few loads like CCI SV and Federal HV Match. Out of all of my 22s its really the best squirrel rifle. Quick to my shoulder, fast and accurate, and an easy predictable field trigger that feels like a worn in 1100.
That one will never be for sale.

Had a couple Rem 552 and 572.........still have a plain walnut 572 for polite pest control (CB).

Liked my Anschutz 141....but the trigger I couldn't get used to. Rem 541T..........neat, had the HB.........hated the plastic mag. Had a 581 too. Proly would have kept it if a 582.

Ruger 10/22's.......two fingergrooves and maybe a half doz standards. The latter a classic in its own right (just got a '67 to refinish).

Finergroove stock the best looking/feeling. Getting silly on price, esp if factory checkered (Holy Grail of 10/22).

Killed a good number of squirrels and my biggest groundhog ever, with a sleeved 121 Rem. Whoever did the work did a great job, not easy to tell it'd been done.

Thing LOVED Win SuperX. Lay pop cans silver bottom toward.......at 100 yds and plink em with boring regularity.

They're far from old classics but a lot of people look down their noses at Henry offerings.....



I'm not one of em.

I changed the sear spring in the old 572 I got this yr.
Pre 68 gun. Helped a bunch.

Pops had walnut reg models of 552 and 572, plus BDL versions of high comb stock.

He loves those things LOL

Marlin 81DL bolt action, real walnut stock, tube magazine s,l,lr a bunch of each, factory peep with two aperatures, received for 13th birthday in 1947. Been rebuilt a couple of times. Thinned out the grey digger population on our farm in the Willamette Valley . Still shoots tight 50 yd groups. Has served well as as my pickup gun in Eastern Oregon, the sane part of the state, since 1972.

Roundup,

I bought one of those 2 weeks ago at my LGS for $125.
It needs a double cleaning, a new buttplate and a peep insert, but the wood is really remarkable. Loosing blue but the bore is excellent. I'm looking forward to reviving it this summer if I can take a decent vacation. Maybe ill remember to take before and after pics.

Marlin 56 levermatic, just because I like it.

I have 103 pistols or rifles in 22 ranging in cost from $25 to $1695.

I have only shot a small fraction of them, but I have handled them all.

I like the Winchester 61 pump 22 the best.

Marlin 880SS. Tupperware stock and stainless steel. Crap trigger on these but that is easily remedied and the damn thing can headshot a fly with that micro-groove rifling. Usually well south of $250 when you see them in a pawn shop.

I wondered if anyone was going to mention the Levermatics. I have model 57s in both 22 lr and 22 magum. Love them both.

I bought a T/C classic for my son when he was 5 or 6 from BassPro Shop fall hunting classic for $250.00, sure out shoots a Ruger 10/22. I liked the rifle so much I bought the heavy barrel stainless 22 Lynx for myself.

Doc

Glenfield Model 60- most accurate .22LR I ever owned. Not only accurate (1" groups @ 100 yds), but it would slay prairie dogs all day without a hiccup.

Yeah, that.......

Huntman22,

It appears you dropped the T/C Lynx into a T/C classic wood stock......looks great. Have you have any issues with chamber chipping by the extractor?

Doc

it started getting shiny so I did the RFC extractor mod. No problems since

The JC Higgins (a.k.a. Marlin Glenfield) 22 my father bought for my 9th birthday (61 years ago) has always been death to ground squirrels. I also own a TC Classic semi-auto. Mine shoots standard velocity LR's very well.

Remington 511
Remington 121
Remington 572