Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Rimfires Wood/blue 22

Wondering if someone makes a nice wood/blue bold action .22 lr these days?

For some reason I seem to think Kimber did back in the day - maybe it was Cooper.

Does anyone still anymore?

Something like a Kimber Super America type of wood/rig?

Anschutz, Styer, Cooper. All pretty high dollar. Maybe keep an eye out for something like this Savage/Anschutz 164.

I believe Remington is still making the 547 model through their new custom shop at Kimber in Montana IIRC... beautiful rifles and quite accurate but there is a wait on them when you order....

Get a CZ 557 or Tikka T1x and then buy a nice wood stock from Boyd's, or have a local stockmaker make one for you.
Or pay for the nice wood upfront and get a Cooper.

Gunbroker and Gunsamerica are your friend when it comes to finding a rifle like you are wanting, decide how much you want to spend then be patient. I expect that in the near future there will be some real deals on firearms because of so many folks having lost funds in the stock market and wanting to turn something into cash rather than gathering dust in the safe.

drover

There are some special run CZ 452s out there that might fill the bill. I’m impressed with their rimfires. Mine are very accurate and trouble free.

This ^^^

https://www.anschutznorthamerica.com/store/p349/1712_AV_Euro_Monte_Carlo_.html

There ya go!

CZ s are extremely well built and accurate for the price. And very nice looking too.

The CZ 452 Americans are Walnut with blued barreled actions. Very nice rimfires for the money.

HA HA!! Apparently few of you fellas have ever seen a Kimber Super America, or a nice Cooper. This is what I love about the campfire. Somebody is looking for a Ferrari, and the usual response is get a Camry and put fancy wheels on it! Just as good! Ha Ha!

Another vote for a CZ452 if you can find one. I’ve had this one almost 10 years now. It’s got multiple dings and scratches from traipsing around the squirrel woods, but it still shoots much better than its <500$ price tag suggests

Hell yes! You ever tried to find someone to service your Bentley?

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/863073593

This is what I’m referring to.

A browning reproduction 52 isn’t too hard to find and fits the bill perfectly

You are correct, the one I pictured above is what they called a 452 Special, made after the introduction of the 455, it has a beech stock and is matt blued
My daughter has a left handed 452 with an exquisite walnut stock, I will try to find a picture of it

The new CZ 457 Royal and 457 Premium's are pretty nice.

Just took delivery of a CZ M457.. Bolt action, quite good Turkish walnut and blued nicely... I recommend trying one.. Under $500 retail...

Thst would be my choice as well.

Considering the furniture (and features) on the CZs ,they are a deal.

And, they cost less than the T1x Plastikka.

When I decided I wanted a really nice walnut stocked rimfire, I bought a delux grade Cooper.

Mine is a 17HMR instead of a 22 and has a stainless fluted barrel, but has an AAA Claro walnut stock.

Virgil B.

I gave my granddaughters each a 22 when they were born, and just gave them each another, last year. #1 got a BL-22 and a CZ 455FS. #2 got a Winchester 55 semi auto single shot, and a Remington 572 BDL, with the best wood I've ever seen on one (it's a 1977). They hunt and shoot a lot, and appreciate them.

The Cz is a average gun for the price.Blueing is avg.Wood is hit or miss.With more misses.The bluing on a Coop or Kimber is the likes of a Colt or a Smith wheel gun.Deep and lustrious.

For the price, it SHOULD be....

As always, it would be helpful if you would provide a price range or cap, and indicate whether you only want something new, or are willing to buy used.

It helps keep the boys from getting snippy with each other over apples and oranges.

Assuming new rifles in the moderate price range, the CZ 457 offers multiple styles and also cartridge flexibility just like the earlier 455. Personally, I wouldn't buy one sight-unseen because wood quality and also the wood finish can be quite variable. The new action addresses the stuff people complained about on earlier models: crappy trigger guard, trigger pull, backwards safety, and scope mounting height.

Going used and upping the ante opens up a whole world of possibilities. My only experience with higher-end stuff was with my late brother's Kimber of Oregon 82, which was a peach in every way.

Spot on all around.. Kudos..

Yup. Both my CZ 452 American and my Remington 581 (both lefties), shoot better than I can. Occasionally, they put 4 of 5 in one hole, at 50. The flier isn't the rifle...I don't have a scope on my Mossy 340BA, just the peep. I imagine it would be nearly as good.

I haven't been able to fire this one yet but hope it's accurate enough... THE most accurate .22 rifle I have is the Rem 541T - and it can easily shoot better than I can hold it. My son won nine turkeys at a local meat shoot about 10 years ago.. The range host wasn't happy.. Next year they added some rules to basically prevent any one shooter from cleaning up... We thought it was hilarious..

Yep. Out shoots my Anschutz.

And ( big bonus) they actually came with a dang good trigger, hard to believe from a Remington. I think mine's at something just over 8 oz...

No price range because I have no idea what the market is. Besides - I like snippy.

I need to adjust mine. I haven't even looked at the trigger yet. Easy to adjust?

Another CZ vote here

I have CZ and Anschutz 22 rifles, if you want nice get the Anschutz. Also Cooper seems to make very nice 22 rifles but do not own one. May have to look at one next time at a Cooper dealer.

Well, if you want a sleeper I'd try to find a Remington 581 (plastic magazines) or a 582 (tube mag). I'm actually partial to the 582s.

The Remington 511 and 512 sporters have dual lugs and the ones I've had shot very well FWIW.

I like the plain Jane Marlin 81s, but they all need trigger work IMO. Need it, but worth it. And they are a bargain these days.

Winchester 75 sporters are said to be fine shooting rifles. I've never had one so I'm just repeating what I've heard.

Everyone will point to the different CZ's, and with good reason. I only own a 455 but it is definitely "a shooter".

Obviously, something like a 54 or 64 actions Anschutz, a Cooper, etc is dynamite if you have the money. I like the looks and feel of the old Kimber Cascade if you decide to shop for scarce old guns.

And there are plenty more.

The only thing I can add is that I see a lot of poor muzzle crowns on modern products. Savage seems to be the leader in this but they are definitely not the only ones.
I really don't see poorly machined crowns on the older guns.
By poor I mean bad geometry, usually seen as an off center chamfer. When I see that one side is heavier than the other its "back on the rack" and on to the next one.

If they don't care enough about their barrels (barrels!) to properly execute this one easy and obvious to the buyer step, then its pretty clear that they aren't putting any quality work into the parts that I can't see for myself.

Depends on your budget.

Over $1K? That would screams Cooper to me. I generally don't care for expensive factory rifles 'cause I am driven to tinker with my rifles, but I have never seen a Cooper that didn't tempt me.

$500 to $1K? Can't go too far wrong with anything stamped "Anschutz".

Less than $500? The Winchester 320 is a nice wood/blue bolt action .22 that can be regularly found for under $500.

There are deals to be found if you have the patience to look. Several European companies sold the same basic .22 rifle under different names; Kleinguenther K22, Krico 302, Mauser 201, Voere ??, etc. Tradewinds imported a variation of this rifle as their Model 311A, but like many Tradewinds imports, they appear to be few and far between.

I got a modified 511 steel magazine for my 581. Got each of my boys a John Reed stainless steel magazine, for theirs. I hate the damn plastic one .

I have a Ruger M77/22lr, beautiful wood stock and very nice bluing.
I don't know what year they stopped production on them.
Mine shoots accurate enough for me.
I know they can be bought in online auctions but normally bring a high price.

Winchester 52 sporter. Shoots extremely well with Winchester T22 ammo which I was fortunate to buy a case several years ago. Even threw in my K22 Smith.

Dakota Arms Model 22.

My son in law has a CZ 452 American in left hand. He put a Yodave trigger kit in it, and it shoots very nicely.

I have a CZ 453 American. Comes with a set trigger which I rarely use because the normal trigger is so sweet. It will cut staples out of a target at 25 yards.

Really depends on what you want to spend. CZ's are very good for the money. I have had several Remington 541's, T's and S. They were pretty and accurate. Except for the first cold bore shot. Never did figure that out. Have a BSA MKIII finally, It will shoot much better than I can, but it is a match rifle. Not really a field rifle, but dang it's fun putting them in the same hole at 50 yards.

Yes...

Put another vote in the CZ 452 column for me! Among what others have stated, they are superb little rifles that came in multiple configurations. They are hard to pass on when they pop up!

Current production Remington 547 with some custom touches by the Dakota / Remington Custom shop.



Shoots pretty much one-hole groups with Eley Match with a scope, bug that’s boring. Open sights are a lot more fun!

nice!!

Joelkdouglas, how long did it take you to get your 547 after ordering? or was this an in stock rifle? I've heard the wait times can be pretty long on these.... glad to hear they shoot like they are supposed to- the predecessor 504 was a big disappointment by all accounts...

Bob

There have been a lot of good suggestions so far but to a degree you need to decide its intended usage and go from there. As mentioned the CZ 452 is very good for the money, although they usually require a trigger kit to make the trigger acceptable. Moving up the price ladder the Rem 541 T or S are generally good shooters although one needs to exercise a little care when buying one because some of the final production 541T's did not have an adjustable trigger. After that it is Anschutz, many different models so there needs to be a lot of homework done before purchasing, then Kimber and Cooper which fall in the same price range as the 54 actioned Anschutz sporter.

When choosing a sporter rifles to me handling quality is the major factor in my decision - the best thing of course is to handle the various ones and you will have a better idea of handling quality. A rifle that groups well from a bench does not necessarily have the right attributes for a hunting or plinking rifle.

I have really had good luck with the CZ 452 American as far as accuracy but the pistol grip on it does not work for me at all and they are ill balanced with too much weight to the rear of the stock .

The Rem 541 T & S models have one of the best feeling stock designs and they balance extremely well and most are very accurate, but are becoming quite expensive for what they are and the magazines can be problematic.

Anschutz - there are so many different sporter models and stock configurations that it is almost imperative to handle one to see if it will work for you - generally speaking they all shoot good but the 64 based sporters have a stock design that just doesn't work well for me and they are generally light enough that they handle "feathery". The 54 based sporters handle much better and the stock design works better for me.

Kimber and Cooper - both work extremely well for me - a good combination of grip geometry, weight, and balance.

drover

Very pretty rifle.

How much?

$3k?

$4k?

I ordered it. Maybe a year? Two? Eh, I don’t remember, and I moved states in the middle of it so that could account for 6 months of time that I would have been distracted anyway.

It did take a while though.

I don’t remember that either!

This one would be a great rifle at $1900 if a 17 HMR would be acceptable. Or you could put in a call to First Stop Guns and get a lead on their next 22lr coming out of Sturgis. That would be a darned good way to get one.

https://www.gunsamerica.com/998640228/Remington-Custom-Shop-547-C-Grade-Sporter-17HMR-NIB.htm

But, start at $1900 and add more cost for different checkering, steel grip and butt, iron sights. Probably $3-$4K would be a good guess.

Based on.the options on that gun and what I knew of the Remington Custom shop pricing, that is what I figured..

This is one I put together for my son years ago. I went to the Kimber bankruptcy auction and bought a bunch of stocks and stock hardware. So I took some of that and paired it with a Remington 581 action. Can't remember what the barrel was from, but it shoots well, and doesn't look half bad.

The 581S, 541S and T, and the 540 series all share the same action. I've seen guys take 541T barrels and put them on their 581's and it looks great. Hard to improve on the 581 accuracy, but I think they balance better with the 541 barrels on them.

Have you looked into doing the second action screw conversion on your rifle? It is pretty easy to do and goes right where the hole in front of the trigger guard is...

Bob

That’s a cool stock!

Never thought about it. I would have to pull the bottom metal and see if there is wood in the stock right there sufficient to provide the resistance that a second screw would need in order to be useful. I suspect that I don't have a screw in that hole because there is nothing but air behind it.

I agree..........................

This one shoots pretty decent. That was 45 rounds of SK Standard at 50yds.

Jim, that group might be a little better than minute of beer can. Hasbeen

Utah74,

That was a great job of adapting the Kimber stock to the 581. You literally made a silk purse out of a sows ear with that one.

drover

Thanks for the kind words. The 581/541 action has solid reputation for accuracy, so it was not too huge a stretch.

My beers come in really small cans Mike. LOL

Lest I leave my other son out, this is the gun I got him for HS graduation.



CZ American with pretty nice wood

Cooper, New York Kimber or Anschutz, buy once, cry once, and shoot and enjoy.