Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Rimfires Whats the most bullet proof rimfire action?

IMHO the 77/22 is dead nuts reliable BUT it costs too much for a rifle that is merely "usually adequate" in the accuracy department and leaves a lot to be desired so far as trigger pull. I'm on my 4th or 5th, tried a bunch of different aftermarket triggers, done some home gunsmithing when those were still unsatisfactory. Have not been really happy with one yet.

10/22 triggers can be fixed up NICE for about $200. I have a Jard 1 lb aftermarket unit which you cannot pry even from my cold dead fingers. It's vastly superior to anything i've found in 77/xx rifles including Jard's 77/22 trigger which I would not recommend to anyone on a dare ... it sucks.

Tom

TOM,

My second m77/22 was a blued iron sighted mode gun with a walnut stock.

It was chambered in 22 mag. Even with the reciver bedded well and the barrel free floated, it was tough to get it to shoot under 1" at 50 yerds with anything other than the 50g federal loads. Is would shoot into a dime at that distance.

One thing I did to to that rifle was a trigger job. As I remember, I very carefull ground out most of the sear engagement to get out most of the creep out and then took about a coil off the return spring to get the weight down to around 2lbs.

Then I guilded the lilly by drilling and tapping the front of the trigger housing for an over travel adjustment screw. The Ruger recivers ae so hard that I broke two ^%$$# taps getting it theaded..LOL

BUT- when I was done I had a trigger than truly broke like glass.

I later sold the rifle to a buddy in WV who hunted turkeys with a rifle. He loved it and the 50g Federal loads for such work.

I think a lot of the problems stem from the poor quality of bulk .22 ammo these days.
That being said, I have had very good experiences with the CZ rifles and Ruger 22/77s.

Winchester 94-22? Marlin 39-A?

I bought a Winchester Mod 52B when Winchester cataloged them again around 1994, to this day that rifle is the most accurate 22lr I have ever owned and as I remember it had no function issues to speak of, the only issue I had with the rifle was it's rather heavy weight, I got tired of lugging it around the squirrel woods pretty fast so I sold it, then thought what a fool I was for selling such an accurate shooter so a year or so later I ran across another NIB mod 52B and promptly bought it, sadly I could never get the new rifle to duplicate near the accuracy of the first one so I sold it too. I think accuracy in any given (quality) make or model rifle has largely to do with the luck of the draw, some real shooters are out there and there's also some real dogs, I wonder if it would help if I sent up a small prayer the next time I choose a new rimfire ..............VaHillbilly.

Jim62 -

I appreciate your input. I'm sorry, I wasn't real clear. Most of my centerfire shooting involves Jewell HVR -equipped Remington 700s with triggers set in single digit ounces. I've got my 77/17 at about 1.5 pounds, same as I had my last 77/22s, but its real disheartening to shift from the 4 ounce trigger on my .204 over to a 1.5 pound trigger on the rimfire. I don't believe it is possible to SAFELY get a 77/xx trigger where I, personally, need it to be ... in the half pound range.

Tom

I have a Stevens Buckhorn 66-B and have never had an ounce of trouble out of it. I just can't figure out how to put a scope on it....

Only fooled with a couple of Coopers, but both were as nice a rifle as I've ever seen and could shoot better than I could. Not much of a sample, though.

The Anschutz' 64's produced in the 80's were terrific, but needed to be shot a bunch before they would reliably feed. The one I have now was like this, but I wouldn't part with it for love nor money. It will shoot nearly anything into a 1/2" at 50 yards and RWS under 0.4".

I would have to say single shot bolt actions are the most "bullet proof actions". That said, I have a ruger 10-22 that I bought new about 30 yrs ago that is "bullet proof". It lives on a JD Gator and is my farm gun.

I have 4 rimfires: a 1950s era bolt action JC Higgins (got it when I was 10 years old), a 1960s era Beretta semi-auto pistol, a new 10-22 & a new Henry 22 mag. I've never had a misfire or failure to eject on any of them except the 10-22 & that was because of the ammo I had. I'm convinced most failures are either cheap ammo or poor gun maintenance. Keep your gun clean and use the ammo that it likes.

I went through the same thoughts recently and ordered a single shot NULA. Reliable and accurate.

ddj

I like my old Remington Bolt action, love tubular magazines, and think the old Steven's Single shot bolt guns would survive a Nuclear war.

They just might at that siskiyous..............Hillbilly.

I have a Mauser 210 22 Mag bolt gun with a one piece bolt with front locking lugs, it never has had a feeding issue.

Actually Keith.. I beg to differ on the "one peice bolt" of the Mauser 201s..

Actually, the bolt design of the Mauser m201 is the SAME two peice design as any other rimfire rifle. Basically they just extended the rear bolt section that rotates with the bolt handle foward with the locking lugs. It is a sleeve which is wrapped it around the non rotating center section of the breech bolt. Examine it closely and you will see.

The m201s are accurate ,nicely made guns and feed pretty well. I have owned two .22lr m201s in the last 20 years. One a deluxe walnut stocked version and the other plain beech.

I sold both as they do have a design flaw in them that is ,IMHO, the reason they were discontinued. When you work the bolt, notice the floating spring loaded case ejector arm that rides underneath the bolt.

That part is a hardened ,stamped sheet metal part. Many of them are brittle and DO break in use I have seen several do it.. No more case ejection. Try finding a replacement part..

Iv got 7 22s & iv never ever had a feed problem ever,sorry for your bad luck.

I like old remington scoremasters.iv got 2, one was made in 1940,[80 bucks]the other in 67[150 bucks].They work every time
& shoot very well.I love old 22 rifles

Like the others say--
Bolt gun-Rem. 581 (same gun as 541, but cheaper (the poormans 541)--every ammo always goes 'bang'
Therefore, the Rem 541 as well
Also very accurate and with adj. trigger.

Any Savage bolt 22--very accurate too
Semi;
Ruger 10/22--not very accurate, you'll get maybe 1 1/4" at 50 yards, but eats every ammo I've ever fed mine-an International model from 1998.

The old Remington 521-T that Dad bought new for $48 in 1948 has never burped and is dead nuts accurate. The Anschutz 141 I got in the '60s, likewise. Two of my boys have had 77/22's (one stainless/boatpaddle, one blue/walnut) since the mid 80's with no problems. My Nylon 66 just keeps chugging them out, but probably not a precision rifle by most standards. My Sako Quad is extremely accurate and has given me no problems beyond the fact that the .22lr barrel has a tight chamber and if you chamber a round (with some ammo) you should be prepared to shoot it.

I have a Browning A-Bolt 22 purchased new in 1986 and it is a great rifle. No functioning issues and very accurate for a rifle in it's price class.

Also, me and my wife have Kimber 22s...hers is a Classic model and mine is the Hunter/Silhouette. I can't say that they've been a promblem either...no ejection issues with ours. More accurate than the A-Bolt, but more expensive too.