Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Rimfires Looking for a Good 22 Rifle

Okie John,

Many excellent suggestions - I always suggest the Norinco JW-15 as a cheaper alternative to the CZ. It's a BRNO (father of the modern CZ) Chinese copy that in my experience is just as accurate. They are rough but beyond functional when accuracy is taken into account and I don't sweat it if caught in the rain/snow.

PennDog

Find you a Winchester 320.

Bolt action is hard to beat a CZ if you want a nice wood rifle. If looking for Stainless there are several nice models by Savage that would serve you well.

I bought a Tikka back in April, and all I can say is wow. It is a great shooter, ragged hole 5 shot groups are the norm at 50yds. I have tried about 6 different brands of ammo, from federal blue box, american eagle to eley and Laupa and they all shot very well. You can change out the grip and forend for a different feel if you like, and there is a trigger spring available from yo dave that will take the trigger as low as 8oz I believe.

How's the trigger on the 10 22T?

Have had 10/22s for a long time, still favorites. Sold the CZ452 I'd owned for several years, after I bought a Ruger American.

The CZ was prettier, but the Ruger is more accurate with a wider variety of ammo and has the better trigger. Since I already had a mess of 10/22 magazines and they also work in the American, I'm all set for magazines. Liked that the American has both a dovetail scope mounting system and a scope base option, which I went with.

If you want new, CZ is the way forward in that price range. Close behind is my Ruger American in 22LR but I think they discontinued them in that caliber? But I might have gotten a good one and have a sample size of one.

For value, I've had several Marlin/Glenfield 25s were every bit as accurate as the CZ but one of them needed bedding first. They were good for 1/2" at 50 yards with ammo they liked. Maybe 5/8" on a bad day. Every bit as accurate as the CZ. Way under 1" at 50 yards, anyway.

So if you want the pawnshop special find a Marlin 25.

Ruger 10/22's are so far out of the running for that sort of accuracy it's not even funny. Great for what they are, though.

okie john;
Good afternoon sir, I trust that other than election anxiety that all else is as it needs to be in your part of the world.

While I'm not certain of prices on your side of the medicine line, the Tikka T1X in my experience is a good choice. I've got a 16" model and two friends have the 20", all three rifles proving to be very accurate.

Here's a quick shot of some of the ammo I've tried in the Tikka, please note however that day was 25yd shooting, with 10 shot groups.



Please note I'd rate myself about "middle of the road" in terms of rimfire rifle addiction, as in I know a few worse than me, but quite a few that don't have it as bad either....

Here's the last rimfire range day lineup back at home.



Of that lineup, the '58 Brno No. 5 on the left gives the Tikka the most consistent run for top spot and ties with it for least picky regarding favorite ammo. Of course they have different favorite ammo, but that's part of the fun isn't it?

Hopefully that was useful for you or someone out there. Good luck on your rimfire purchase whichever way you decide.

Dwayne

Nice accuracy

For what you want to do, I would consider a vintage Winchester rifle like a 69A, 75 Sporter, 72A, or something along that line. I like the Remington's also, but the triggers are crap on them and are very difficult to adjust. My 69A's, and 75 Sporters have easily adjustable triggers, are very well built and have very nice walnut on them. And they are very accurate with ammo they like. Most of mine really dote on SK Standard Plus, Federal Gold Medal, and Eley Contact....

Check LGS, Pawn Shops, Gunbroker, and the classifieds here and on rimfirecentral.com and you should be able to find any of these in your budget...

Bob

savage rimfire rifles on sale, fwiw:

https://blackfriday.kygunco.com/week2/

77/22

Since you like the Ruger magazines and the $189 special, buy a 10/22. If it doesn’t shoot tight enough, send it to Connecticut Precision Chambering for a work over and you’ll still be under budget.

I made good use long ago with a Deluxe model.......got bored, did a trigger job, new barrel....just never was happy, slow locktime.

CPC re-worked my Butler Creek barrel to go on my 77/22, chopped to 17" - shoots LITTLE BITTY groups at 50 yds. The 10 shot flush mag is great for hunting or range. Much better trigger and locktime, changed the trigger spring from a ballpoint pen. VERY Crisp and light.

If me - take a look at the Ruger American bolt, do a trigger spring mod, they turn out well. Only complaint is that little tab they use on the trigger like Savage. More annoying than anything else. I think Bigstick used copper wire to shut his. Some remove the blade. Good shooters, good value.

Trigger on my American is pretty good, just adjusted it "down" as far as it went.. Got used to that trigger blade, no longer even notice it. That rifle quickly became my favorite 22 in no time.

One of the few 22s I've ever had, that wasn't all that fussy about what it's fed. Anything from Fed. Valu Pack stuff, to Mini Mags does the job. Favorite seems to be CCI Standard Velocity, but not by much?

Haven't had it on the bench in some time, but have a life size steel crow hanging 40 yards from the cabin porch. Can load up some Valu Pack ammo, walk out on the porch and "ring" that crow, shot after shot, offhand.

Find a Zastava 99/Remington Model 5.

Can't get them for $200 new anymore, but can sometimes find a sleeper on Gun Broker.

They often have outstanding wood if you care to strip them down and redo the stock.

My Model 5 shoots neck and neck with my 69A Winchester and the Yonkers Kimber.

GE

^^^Yup, what he said. Fortunately Remington had very little to do with the Model 5...and they shoot with rifles priced much higher.

my model 5 with pencil barrel is a good backyard gun. use it with super colibri by aquila. very accurate, surprisingly so. i've about given up using my mdl 572 fieldmaster.

the magazine on the mdl 5 is a bit stiff, but works good.

Hard to beat deal for OP’s budget.

DF

The Thompson Center tcr22 I have shoots well beyond my expectations.