Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters .22RF question

If you want a new one, and wood, CZ 457s are the easy button. They have a nitride finish, so the lack of SS isn’t a big deal for me. They offer multiple styles, and you can swap stocks and barrels around, assuming you can find the parts and turn say, a heavy target style into a sporter, which is what I ended up doing.

If synthetic is your thing, the Tikkas are really good shooters by all accounts.

Lots of great old guns out there if you enjoy the chase……..

Bolt guns bore me too, but so do pretty much any rapid fire .22 rifles anymore. I mostly treat .22 rifles as I do centerfire rifles - measured unhurried slow fire for score & accuracy. Where a lot of people get their jollies by ding-ding-dinging steel and expend a brick of ammo in an afternoon, I get the same jollies by expending one box for ten 5-shot groups in an afternoon. (.22 pistols are another story, and I'm as bad as anyone else.)

Ballards, a Stevens Walnut Hill, and a Martini International:







What I did with the Martini last weekend, 100 yards, Eley Tenex:

Bench shooting doesn't interest me in the least. I practice for hunting and there are no bench rests where I hunt. My practice is almost all done off hand since that's how most of my game is shot.. As long as I can ding a 2" diameter spinner consistently from 65 yards I'm happy. My record is 78 hits in a row. If you can shoot off hand, everything else is easy.

Bench shooting doesn't interest me in the least. I practice for hunting and there are no bench rests where I hunt. My practice is almost all done off hand since that's how most of my game is shot.. As long as I can ding a 2" diameter spinner consistently from 65 yards I'm happy. My record is 78 hits in a row. If you can shoot off hand, everything else is easy.[/quote]

Yep, I have to agree, and through most of my life I shot a helluva lot of offhand. But now my back and neck are bolloxed up with scoliosis and I can't assume even a halfway decent offhand stance. So the bench it is, and I don't mind it a bit - just a different form of burning powder and slinging lead. When squirrel/deer hunting I'll sneak around and take periodic sitdowns where I can wield a rifle effectively, hopefully with a tree trunk or branch to steady my aim. An animal that's skittering around while I'm standing on my hind legs gets a bye.

I bought a CZ MTR 22LR recently.Along with having super nice wood I was able to get the factory trigger down to 14 ounces with out the CZ after market trigger pull spring. They are pillar bedded from the factory and have a match chamber.I have gotten 1/4" groups at 50 using inexpensive sub sonic ammo.I can`t wait to see what it does with some of the good stuff.I also have a CZ 457 Varmint in 22WMR but have not fired it yet. Just had my knee replaced last Tuesday and it is holding up my shooting. I have also picked up a Tikka T1x in 22 LR.That sucker is also a shooter. The trigger went down to 1.5 pounds of pull no problem.Another winter purchase is a Steyr Mannlicker Zepher II. I have not shot that one either but is is very cool with outstanding wood and a fine adjustable trigger.My only fault with that rifle is a long LOP.14.5 inches. I am hoping to be shooting by this weekend.Huntz

Dead nuts accurate 22 s are a lot of fun. I've won my share of 22BR matches with my M54 Anschutz.

gnoahhh;
Top of the morning to you sir - well it's still morning out here in the BC mountains - regardless I trust all is going according to plan for you.

Thanks so much for sharing the photos of your single shot rimfires. My goodness those are "just right" to my way of thinking!

While I love the look of the hammer guns and would be hard pressed to say which one stirs my heart more - that Martini reminds me of a BSA that I really and truly should have made a greater effort to buy.

It had no scope mounts as I recall, just a fairly sophisticated set of aperture sights and it belonged to a buddy's son in law. Although it was decades ago now and I might be wrong, I recall it being quite heavy with either a full diameter bull barrel or one with not much taper.

I've no clue how well it shot either, but it's one of a few that I didn't get and once in awhile think about.

Thanks again and good shooting too by the way!

All the best.

Dwayne

Dwayne, if you get a chance to snag a BSA International do it. I don't know of one that won't hold its own with M52's and Anschutzes, and often surpass them. They are 70+ year old technology now but were always built to very high standards with magnificent barrels - qualities which stand the test of time no matter the gun.

Those groups I posted a pic of were shot in a twitchy 5-6mph head wind. I doped the wind fairly well but I got the fliers that you see when my brain said "don't shoot", but my trigger finger disobeyed.

Sorry to hear of your physical limitations gnoahhh but happy to hear you're keepin' on and are still able to enjoy the sport. May you have many more years.

Have an Anschutz, Ruger 77/22, and CZ457. All great shooters, but each is ammo dependent. Neighbor's Tika seems to do well to. Presently, I'd go with CZ or Tika and work the trigger.

gnoahhh has some cool rifles. I also appreciate him posting pics of them and the groups he's shooting. While I will admit, shooting 22lr really bores the heck out of me, it's also nice to have some nice shooting ones in the stable. I pulled out a couple in the last couple months, just to keep from getting too rusty and to check my weak side shooting. To me, it sounds like the OP is looking for a really nice rifle, so I stand by my suggestion of the CZ 457 with a beautiful wood stock. Not the weird looking european hump back stock either.

Also, what I think is funny is blackheart gets so irritated with guys shooting off the bench, but that is really the only way you are going to know the rifle's full potential. Just how the cookie crumbles. I'm sure there are many of us that have slayed truckloads of vermin, but we don't brag about it. That's just not in my nature. Others mileage may vary.

Take a look at a Steyr Zephyr II.

That’s rich.

Yet you’re always trying convince everyone how great you are.

I guess the truckloads of vermin pics are with the truckloads of big game pics?

541-S or 541-T.

Zeroing and load work up/testing is the only time I'll shoot from a bench. Often not even zeroing as I can easily shoot sub MOA groups off a rolled up jacket on the hood of my Jeep. Poking endless holes in paper targets from the bench holds no fascination and precious little practical value for me.

I have a 457 Sporter and Bergara BMR Steel. Both shoot very well with the edge going to Bergara. I also have a 17HMR barrel for the .17HMR which is excellent. I have also owned a couple of Savage Anschutz 22's that were nice but no more accurate than the CZ or Bergara for me.

CZ 457 has scratched the 22lr bolt itch that my 39A just could not. I went with a good scope and have used the sand bags to send rounds out waaaay farther than I have in the past. My friend has a few of the classics mentioned in above posts. He shoots them well and I do my best to keep up. We each have our days. Which ever route you take your going to like 22lr, and the change of pace sub sonic ammo provides on range days.

Paid almost a grand for a Cooper 22LR 10 yrs ago. Worth every penny and I would do it again.

That was a USED Cooper!

oldcuss-

Go look at that Jackson Squirrel Rifle on Rimfire Central for sale. Too purty to shoot for me!