Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Rimfires Why did Remington and Winchester stop making bolt action rimfire rifles?

Both Remington and Winchester used to make quite a wide selection of bolt action rimfire rifles, but both companies stopped cataloging them, Winchester in the 1970s with the 310/320 and Remington in 2000 with the 580/581/582.

Any idea why?

‘Cause they’re idiots these days?

Not enough demand?

Because Ruger started making 10/22's ! ! !

Maybe, but Ruger started cataloging the 10/22 in 1964. Winchester didn't stop cataloging the 310/320 until 1975 and Remington didn't stop cataloging the 580/581/582 until 2000.

In the modern age of firearms mass marketing, rapid fire and magazine capacity are supreme, trumping marksmanship. Apparently forgotten is the old saying that, “You can’t miss fast enough to win.”

Even .22LR revolvers are now ten shooters.

We probably have to thank action movies, video games and the elimination of rifle clubs from schools and universities. Don’t even know if riflery is still offered as an activity at youth summer camps.

Wasn't being terribly serious. Would be interesting to see the sales of those others compared to the Ruger for that time period though.

I always tell people who ask about buying a first rifle for a kid to buy a manually operated rifle so that their kid won't get into the habit of "spray and pray" marksmanship. The grandson of a guy who I used to hunt with went through around 60 rounds the first year that he hunted deer with us. My FIL told the guy that he and his family were no longer invited to hunt on his ground unless the grandson learned to shoot and got a manually operated rifle. I traded a Remington 788 to the guy for the grandson's Winchester 100 and everybody was happier to not have bullets flying everywhere come next deer season.

JOC once wrote that an Indian guide told him something like "one shot, dead deer, two shots, maybe, three shots, never" which seems like a pretty accurate assesment for most people under most situations.

Yes, it would be interesting to graph the sales trends of the .22 rifles sold by the major manufacturers since 1960.

And Marlin made their Model 60, which we sold gazillions of back in the day for $37
In the 70's people thought you were certifiably insane if you spent more than about $60 on anything in a .22

Nowadays CZ is building truly nice .22 bolt actions but at a price that chokes most .22 shooters...

My two favorite 22s are a 455 CZ and an original 52 Win. Over my tack driving custom 10-22 and my Frankenstein 10-22

I always wanted a good wood stocked bolt action .22. I have been promised a Kimber (that I have shot) that is very accurate, but the guy has to die first. Not looking forward to that. The Remington was another I liked but not made anymore. I had a 10/22 but sold it after a year. Never could warm up to it. My uncles Browning M52 was fun to hunt small game with. It was nice to collect a bag of rabbits or gopher hunt but not use a ton of ammo.

I have three wood stocked .22's: a CZ 455 and 457 and a 10/22 with a laminated stock set up for steel challenge. The CZ's are very nice rifles but not cheap. I have three 10/22's and like them too. One of the 10/22's will shoot 5 shot groups in the .3's at 50 yards so it doesn't give up much in the way of accuracy.

I think they got out of it for much the same reasons listed here. Many other manufacturers started making rimfire rifles that were maybe a hundred less than them. The current gun culture doesn’t respect rimfire bolts the way we did long ago. If they do want one, they are happy with a savage or Ruger throw away type that will only run them a few bills.

I love rimfire bolts. I have an anschutz, model 52 and Cooper 57m.

What if YOU die first?

My point being- life is uncertain. If you have always wanted one, go and buy a decent wood stocked 22 bolt gun...

Tic-Toc, Tic- Toc.

Of the newly made guns, my first choice is the CZ 457 American at $550 to $600.

If you want to look around for a good used CZ 452 and can live with the trigger and the safety- it is a great gun as well. Both of those rifles will go up in value over time because they are quality.

I own both models and they function and shoot great.

This..

Times 1,000

$$$$$$

Like others have said, I just don't think the market will support them. And that doesn't count me as I have a Kimbers, Remingtons, Rugers, and a Cooper. I have had Anshcutzs, Browning A-Bolts and 52, an ULA, a Kleinguenther, and way too many others to remember (and should have kept some of those too). But in general, small game hunting has waned and even things like turkey shoots, and much marksmanship training just aren't what they were.

In theory one should be willing to spend two to three times the price of a centerfire for a good rimfire bolt action as the cost to shoot is much less and a whole lot of fun and practice. JMO though.

I believe most here represent a tiny minority of today’s firearms consumers. Most potential firearms consumers tend to be younger, lacking in proper marksmanship training, and simply want to be able to keep on shooting till they get a lucky hit.

I certainly see mass quantities of bullets going down range in very short order at public shooting facilities, with targets looking more like patterning boards.

Not long after I learned a grandson was coming (1st grandchild) I found this youth single shot Winchester at the LGS. A lot of bargain Rem's out there that shoot well.