Semi-auto .22 rifle recommendations

[actionaj]

My vote is for the 10/22. I have four of them. One I have had ever since I was seven years old. I have one in stainless steel the other two I have modified, stock, barrels and triggers etc.. I like the stock stainless steel one the best. I also have a couple Remington's and a Marlin autos. But 10/22's I think are the best. As for bolt action 22's Savage MrkII with accu trigger. This is my favorite 22 rifle as of now. You won't go wrong buying a 10/22 and mods for them are endless.

 

[RobertN]

Another 2 cents...

I have had a 10/22 for a long time. It is nice. Basically stock.

I have found, that overall, Ruger triggers are medicocre at thier very best. Only Ruger triggers I have found acceptable out of the box is my Dad's early 1960's Single Six, and a friends newer M77 bolt rifle.

First thing for a Ruger is a new trigger, or a trip to a gunsmith to have the trigger worked over.

The 10/22 is nice otherwise, but I find the straight stock makes seeing the stock sights a pain. Part of this is my glasses, I know. I recently put a set of Williams peep sights on my 10/22. MUCH NICER! One, I like peep sights. Second though, they sit up higher and are easier for me to see.

I could(have in the past) mounted a scope. I just like to plink with irons sights though. Any of the 22 rifles are accurate enough with scopes, it kind of takes the fun out of plinking.

Every time me and my buddy Timmy go shooting, I put the 10/22 down and shoot his Rossi gallery pump 22. It is like the 1900's Winchester gallery guns. It is WAY more fun to plink with than the 10/22. It is accurate out of the box, and has a nice trigger out of the box.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdmALmtLO_Y

http://smith-wessonforum.com/lounge/99594-rossi-pump-22-seduced-me-today.html

I wish I had one of the 1940's Winchester or Marlin heavy barrel target 22's, with a Lyman or Unertl scope on top. Those could put the bullet thru the same hole every shot. They were nice with peep sights too.

 

[schmism]

remington 597 ive had it for 15+ years with a few thousand rounds through it. not a single problem over that time despite less than steller cleaning maintenance. I plink alot and mine is very accurate. i run iron sites on it and can still run my plinking target at 25yrds which means squirls, rats, rabbits, coons, possums etc dont stand a chance.

while the ruger 10/22 is ok, i dont know anyone that hasnt cussed the stupid rotary mag up and down over the life they have had the gun.

now that we are past the assault weapons ban you can readly find 25-30rd bannana clips for the 597.

 

[Sidwuffler]

The Ruger 10/22 with a reasonable scope on top will do most things around the place for the small stuff. I have one and a nice 308 to back it up.

 

[LMTC]

remington 597 ive had it for 15+ years with a few thousand rounds through it. not a single problem over that time despite less than steller cleaning maintenance. I plink alot and mine is very accurate. i run iron sites on it and can still run my plinking target at 25yrds which means squirls, rats, rabbits, coons, possums etc dont stand a chance.

while the ruger 10/22 is ok, i dont know anyone that hasnt cussed the stupid rotary mag up and down over the life they have had the gun.

now that we are past the assault weapons ban you can readly find 25-30rd bannana clips for the 597.

I can only speak for myself, but after (and I'm guessing at the numbers) probably two dozen factory rotary clips with literally thousands and thousands of rounds through them, I've never had a complaint about them. In fact, the only mags for a 10/22 I've ever had a problem with were two different 25 or 30 rounders from 25 years ago or so....the early Ramline, and another whose name I forget...maybe Eagle? But no problems with the factory magazines at all.

 

[Egon]

Another nice used semi auto would be a Winchester 77.

 

[studor]

i dont know anyone that hasnt cussed the stupid rotary mag up and down over the life they have had the gun.

I have never cursed any mags including factory and hot lips but I have cursed the bolt release --it can be a PITA and is probably the worst designed thing on the gun

 

[SPIKER]

I have my 10-22 for 10+ years, was 129.00 w. Bull S.S. barrel, Local special sale. They had shipment come in and the guy was very easy going, he let me pick through them to find the one I wanted. The place was a little hole in the wall gun shop & barber shop. I picked up a few accessories to go with. namely extra 25 & 50 round clips prior to the brady bill stuff coming into power. The extra clips though are too easy to shoot the ammo up, very fun though. I also picked up a pair of Browning Buck marks 22 semi-auto handguns, one in S.S. other blued. now those things will waste the ammo fast lol.,.. Nothing like having 20 rnds of ammo to bump a can across the yard for 30 feet... If you ever get chance to fire 2 semi-auto 22's like that one for each hand it is a blast.
anyhow back to the 10-22, very nice, it has an odd habit that I had to get used to. If I clean mine the first 3 shots are a guess where they will go, after that 50 yards is a 2" or under group for 10 rounds, 7 withing an inch, well withing my shooting ability. I have a 9x32 scope on there which works out well. The CLEAN barrel thing is simply odd but could be that I often take longer periods between shooting.

I oiled my wood stock and it looks great, other than the fact that I slipped and fell on it in the creek moss landing in the rocks the stock was dinged pretty good and so was my ribs that landed on the scope! I was sneaking up on a big smart Ground hog needless to say I missed him (THAT DAY )

Anyhow Have fun and stock up on ammo...

Mark

 

[Jarrett]

I'd suggest reading in the marlin 60 and 1022 forums on www.rimfirecentral.com.

I tried to register there, but they don't allow anyone with free email accounts to register. All I have is a free Gmail account, and my work email which I'm not allowed to use for that kind of stuff. It's sad, I think they're shutting out some good people by doing that.

The pawn shop next door to work has a Marlin Model 60 that has a serial number beginning with 11, so according to online sources it was made in 1989 (2000-11). It's really clean and in good shape. The buttstock has a large area that's kind of scratched, but there are no other scratches anywhere. The scratches are light and I think they could be sanded out and the stock refinished without too much trouble. There's no rust anywhere. They're asking $125 for it.

They also have a JC Higgins that shoots shorts, longs and long rifle. I like the ability to shoot all 3. It's in much more used condition. I've read online that JC Higgins was the brand name for Sears sporting goods from the 40's to 60's. They're asking $75.

I'm going to check a couple other local pawn/gun shops this weekend and see if they have any Ruger 10/22's & Marlin's and go from there.

 

[Jarrett]

So I went back to the same pawn shop today at lunch to look again and now they have a newer Marlin 60 (1994 I think) with a Simmons scope. I don't remember much about the scope, but it's a variable power. It pretty much looks like it hasn't been used much at all. They're asking $125 for it and they reduced the price of the older one to $120.

My boss has a Winchester 190 that he may be interested in selling.

I think I'm going to buy the Marlin with the scope and stay on the lookout for a 10/22. If I run across a good one at a good price I'll buy it too and have one of each. If my boss decides to sell the Winchester for the right price I may get that one.