Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Looking for a new .22 What would you buy?

Well my Dad is looking for a new .22LR. he is thinking along the lines of the Sako Finnfire. He like the .22 to feel like a hunting rifle in size. He had the Weatherby Mark XXII that is now mine and thats what he is replaceing. It has a full size stock and thats why he bought it. What other .22's would you consider? He will be using this for rabbit hunting and plinking. He has high tastes and accuracy is of the utmost imporatance to him.

winchester 9422

Personally I dig the 77/22. But for a man of true taste (& deeper wallet) I would recomend one of three rifles: Cooper, Kimber, or a Sisk rimfire hunter. I really want on of those Sisk 22's. The one on Charlie's website is just gorgeous.

I cannot remember which, but either Kimber or Cooper has a 0.3 or 0.4" gurantee at 50 yards. Come with the target to prove it.

Kimber offers a .4 inch guarantee. I have a 22 Hunter and it will shoot under .5 at 50 yards with several brands of ammo, even Rem. Thunderbolt. Sug. Ret. $ 678.00. Very nice rifle with nice wood and super checkering.

I fired three 22s from New Ultra Light Arms, 2 single shots and 1 repeater. All three would shoot under .5 at 50 with a variety of ammo.

Of course all of these are over $ 500.00. A CZ will offer great accuracy for allot less.

I have a CZ that was part of a limited run with 28.5" barrels. With a 10 oz. scope, the gun weighs about 7 3/4 lbs and balances like a good centerfire hunting rifle. It shoots well with about everything I put in it and will just about put 5 CCIs in one hole (.3") at 50 yards. Great gun for less than $250.

I've got a Sako finnfire and just love it. I mounted a Leupold 3X9 EFR on it.
At 30 yds. It will put 10 shots into 3/8" with W-W PowerPoints.
Tell Dad if he wants a quality bolt 22, the Sako is the one!
Virgil B.

Both the Kimber and Ultra Light are super-accurate. My Kimber will do under .4 at 50 yards with Winchester Power Points, one of the more effective hollow-point loads, and I have lit matches with target ammo at 50 with the Ultra Light.

There are no flies on the CZ either. They will generally REALLY shoot, with a decent trigger too.

But a real sleeper is the Thompson/Center autoloader. Right out of the box, mine has a good trigger and will shoot around .5-.6 with Power Points. A nice-looking rifle, too, with a real walnut stock and a centerfire feel. The sporter runs under $300.

The TC Autoloader .22LR is a beautiful gun and certainly worth the money---but "the real sleeper" among autoloaders is the Marlin Model 7000 Target rifle with a 20" heavy barrel. You can get it with the Target stock or order it with a regular synthetic (more of a sporter style) stock.

I paid $167 + tax and it will shoot Winchester Power-Point hollow-points 50 yard, 5-shot groups under 0.4 inch---consistently. If you have ever wondered what causes squirrel populations to take that drastic plunge as illustrated in population fluctuation graphs; well, the Marlin and I may have been in the area when the squirrel population fell drastically!

It also makes one-hole groups at 50 yards with Remington Golden hollow-points. And it shoots very well with the Remington Sub-Sonic hollow-points.

Well after reading your replies, I did some research and showed dad what I found. I think the rifles of choice are the Sako Finnfire still and the better priced Kimber .22 HS. We like the 24" bbl and Kimber generally always makes a very good looking gun.

Who would you guys recommend for a good place to go through to get these?

'STW

I am surprised that no one mentioned Anshuetz. They are a bit pricey, but hold their value well. If I not mistaken, the Mod 54 action has the fastest lock-time in the industry. Also, almost all of the world's leading Olympic shooter use Anschuetz. I can't think of a better recommendation. Good shooting...the9.3Guy

I would have Melvin Forbes build me a New Ultra Light Arms .22 repeater to match my Model 24 .338-06. I would scope it with a Leupold 2 X 7 compact rimfire which would be close to my 2.5 X 8 without the parallax problems.

I don't think you could ever go wrong with a Marlin 39A. They have been making this gun for over a 100 years. I have one that is over 50 years old still shoots rings around most others.

I'll second Avagadro - the 77/22 is a slick lil' rifle. It doesn't cost much to get into, and is accurate and functional right out of the box. The dovetail scope mounts and rings are also a bonus.

There are upgrade parts available for the rifle loonies. I dropped a Leupold 2x7 compact on mine and Presto - a done rifle. That doesn't happen often for this kinda money.

Also, ya can't beat a 10-round magazine for plinkin', and I'll confess using my son's 25-round 10/22 magazine. Nobody was watching and I'll deny it in public.

I would suggest a Ruger M77/22, I have one that I have installed a heavy barrel on and love it. If you are looking at a semi-auto I would go with the Ruger 10/22 hvy barrel, mine is extremely accurate. Just one Ruger lovers opinion. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

I bought a CZ 452 American this past summer, and I couldn't be happier with it... It routinely shoots sub .5" groups @ 50 yards with nearly everything I've fed it, and has never shot much more than 3/4" with anything - and for just under $300... These rifles can compete with ANY rimfires, for ALOT less $$$ - if you don't believe me, take a look at the results from Camp Perry this last year... Take a hard look at the CZ's - you'll be glad you did...


- georgestrings

Kimber 22 rifles
Sako Finfire
Anchutz
Winchester 52 (replica)
Remington 40xr

I am impressed with the Kimber Classic, it looks and feels like a fine quality rifle. For me, I justify the cost with high resale value, and more importantly it will make a great heirloom piece to pass on to a grandchild.

Nothing special done to get these groups at 50 yards. They are just the first 2 out of the box groups I got when I started trying different ammo. As you can see Federal Gold Medal is my choice.

Have a Leupold 3-9 Compact mounted on it. Sent the scope back to Leupold to have parallax re-adjusted to 60 yds and put in a fine reticle.

ruger 1022 all tricked out heavy brl the works. very accurate and reliable.

If he really wants a full-size rifle he need look no further than an Anschutz 1710 with the 54 action. These are large rifles.

I agree with Gunsmoke, the TC autoloader is a fantastic rifle. I have one and haven't shot it much yet, having just got it, but it shoots good and looks even better.
I also have a Marlin 7000 with the syn stock. That thing shoots almost anything very well and will even digest CCI CB longs thru the magazine, if you manually work the bolt. It just chugs thru anything you feed it. I know it's not fancy, but it balances great with the heavy barrel and shoots like nobody's business.