Which 22lr For Me? Info For the NEWBY & Real Rifle Reviews by Real Rifle Users

[Gwion]

Basically, the one that YOU like.

Everyone has a different budget, size, shape, intended purpose. All these things go into choosing the right rifle for you; be it a 22lr or a custom built long range precision rifle.

While it’s not a question that can be answered definitively, there are some basic considerations that can point you in the right direction when choosing your first 22lr.

Purpose:

First and foremost, what do you intend to use it for?
Generally speaking, a hunting rifle will be of lighter build than a target rifle, although there are target disciplines that also require lighter rifles and not everyone likes a light rifle for hunting. A heavier barrel will be stiffer and generally have a more consistent POI (point of impact) with it’s ideal ammunition (ok, that’s and ENTIRLEY different subject!).

Your body type:

Strange as it may sound, this can have quite an influence on how well you shoot the rifle or how much you enjoy shooting the rifle. Some might make you feel cramped. Some might make you feel too stretched. Some stocks may be too big for your hand or some may feel like you are holding a twig. Basically, some rifles you just might find difficult to get comfortable behind and shooting well requires that you don’t have to think about holding or shouldering the rifle (after some practice) but to be able to just concentrate on the shot. Part of choosing any firearm needs to be HANDS ON. Sure, you can listen to a bunch of fan-boys online all yammering about what THEIR idea of the perfect rifle is, or you can get some ideas of what’s available in your price range and get out to you local gun dealers and get them in your hands to see how they feel or, make some friends at your local range and see if people will let you have a few shots (if you are friendly, polite and not full of yourself, you will probably find quite a few people willing to do this).

Budget:

This bit is pretty self explanatory. Either:
a/ what can you afford to spend on the rifle, or
b/ what you are willing to spend on the rifle.
You can buy perfectly serviceable and fairly accurate 22lr for as little as $300, new, or even $50 for an old trooper that has seen better days. On the other end of the scale, top hunting 22lr can be $1500-2000 or more and an elite target rifle can cost many thousands of dollars.
No one can really answer the question of how much to spend but you. However, generally speaking, a more expensive rifle will be prettier (you will hear the term ‘fit & finish’ a lot) but that doesn’t necessarily make it better for YOU.

Below you will find real reviews of real rifles by real users.
If you want to add a review of a rifle that you own or have used enough to know it well, here are a few things to include to make it useful to other forum users, especially newbies:

Brand, model, date (year) bought
Purpose bought
What is the build quality like
how does it shoot and with what ammo

If anyone can think of other considerations in choosing a 22lr, jump on in & add to the thread.

[Gwion]

Sportco 62A Review

This was the first 22lr I bought. It is officially my wife’s rifle. It is great little bit of Australian engineering: simple and effective: but this one is a little worse for wear after years of abuse and some farm yard gunsmithing by previous owners. Still, it is accurate enough to make a 90m clean kill on pest species if you know what you are doing.

This rifle was going cheap from a neighbour. From memory I paid about $80 for it but I have spent money fixing bits a pieces on it and will probably throw a little more cash at it to keep it serviceable for years to come. It is rough and ready in the condition it is in but it feels great in my hands and others agree. It is a fantastic little walk about hunting rifle. I have seen good examples of these rifle selling for about $350 and if you could pick one up for that in original condition it would be worth the money.

Previous to us moving onto acreage, I hadn’t shot a rifle since the full licensing requirements came in (1996 NFA). I grew up shooting slug guns (air rifles) and 22s in country NE Victoria but had never owned a rifle or been licensed so I was after a cheap rifle to re-learn old skills and ‘get my eye in’. We also needed a rifle ASAP incase of suffering stock; this doesn’t happen often but it has been used for euthanasia a few times over the years; we didn’t need a fancy gun for this. It was also a cheap rifle that I didn’t mind playing with so I did a LOT of reading on improving rimfire accuracy and played around with it. I eventually got it shooting reliably under an inch at 50m and capable of 1/2” if all the stars lined up. That’s pretty good for an old clunker in my book.

Like most ‘old clunker’ rifles that are going cheap, it had some issues. Some things to look out for on these particular rifles, from my experience and the advice of other owners are:
Weak strike causing mis-fires or FTF (failure to fire). This was remedied by having the firing pin re-profiled from a round (and worn) striking end to a vertical rectangle profile. The bolt internals were also cleaned up of probably 40 years of crap, so that likely helped as well. Never missed a beat since.
Worn bolt stop. I haven’t fixed this yet and it is getting worse. Cycle the bolt too vigorously and you can accidentally pull it out of the receiver on the reward stroke. This probably wasn’t helped by the fact I put 2000+ rounds through it in the first 2 weeks I had it……
Damaged crown. This has been re-crowned by my gun smith. He fixed the striker, re-crowned the barrel and replaced a missing part from the trigger assembly all for about $120.

All in all I would recommend getting one of these or any other old Sportco if you can find one in good nick at a reasonable price. Would I buy another farmyard clunker and spend money fixing it up again? No. But I will keep this one so I will probably spend the cash to fix the bolt stop.

Maybe someone owns one of these in original condition and can add something to this?

Non-original iron sights as both front and rear sights were missing when I got the rifle. I got them put back on because my wife complained about using a scope and I also wanted a rifle with open sights to practice with. I have a cheap 6x40 set in the original steel scope mounts so I can just fit it to the dove tails anytime I want the rifle scoped again. Action has been bedded. I tried floating the barrel but it really didn’t like that so I re-installed pressure points under the barrel: with a little experimentation for positioning, it ended up working very well. I also gave the stock a good feed with my home concoction of stock polish.

You can really see how simple this action is. The bolt lug is what secures the bolt into battery. The bolt release is just a little catch that is activated by the trigger

Looking from the receiver, you can see the old girl has been around a few blocks in her time…

[Gwion]

Browning T-Bolt Review

I bought this rifle in early 2015 because I was after a quality built new gun in left handed action and there aren’t many that fit that description. I had also shot a friend’s T-bolt and it felt very comfortable. This rifle is no different, even though my mates gun was a synthetic sporter and mine is a timber varmint/target. The gun “points” very well for me and it is a very light rifle for a varmint/target rifle. It cost about $1050 or $1100 but i have seen them online for $950 new.

Build quality is good with a quality feel and nice fit and finish although some plastic parts do let it down for me from an aesthetic point of view. Functionally, they work fine and are durable. The only thing that lets this rifle down is the trigger. It is adjustable but just feels terrible and takes some getting used to. Even with such a crappy trigger feel, my best groups with this rifle have been under 1/2” at 50m with CCI Velocitor and it is a very capable pest control/hunting rifle. There is a trigger job that can be done to it so I plan on sending the trigger off and hopefully it will be an even better rifle for it.
EDIT: more on the crappy trigger: i just spent some time adjusting the trigger as light as i could get it. It started at almost 6lb and only adjusted down to 4lb/ish. I say “ish” because of the half dozen tests i did, the pull varied between 3.7ish and 4.2ish pounds! Definitely going to bite the bullet and get the issue fixed. While looking online for a DIY fix i saw mention of a full steel replacement unit. First time I’ve seen it in many searches. Think i will take my first spare dollars and go this option. Not a cheap route to take but i think it will make it a rifle i am happy to keep in the safe 'til i shuffle off and also make it a viable target rig for casual comps. Link to the Jard trigger below:
http://www.jardinc.com/browning-1/

I did have plans to use it in club comps to build my shooting skills but because the trigger is so shyte, I have yet to take it to a rimfire club comp and in that time I have been tied up with full-bore target anyway. My club has plans to start a rimfire f-class division so it may still get some use in that regard after the trigger has been worked but, funds allowing, I will probably just keep it for a paddock rifle and maybe the occasional silhouette shoot and get myself a dedicated f-class training rimfire: maybe a Lithgow CrossOver, which I was planning to get in the first place but they took too long to release the left hand version of the LA101CO.

I would definitely recommend one as it is overall a good comfortable rifle that is very reliable. The action is good and easy to cycle. Never had a mis-feed or FTF in quite a few thousand rounds let go but I would suggest getting the trigger job done straight up if tight groups and quick shooting is what you want. I find I slow down with it because I am concentrating on not “pulling” the shot due to the trigger. The chamber is listed as a match chamber, so it is quite tight and some rounds do leave some shavings of lead &/or brass behind but it doesn’t affect feeding and the tight camber is supposed to help accuracy &/or precision of the rifle. Rounds are fed by a proprietary “helix” 10 round magazine that i quite like. It is easy to load and unload and feeds very well indeed.

Really quite a handsome and comfortable rifle to use. She has had a few knocks going in and out of my crowded undersized safe but all in all still in very good nick. Can’t wait to see how it shoots when get around to getting the trigger worked.

These rifles are made under contract by Miroku in Japan. The quality of Japanese attention to detail shows.

Close up of the straight-pull action. You can also see the plastic trigger and trigger guard: the only real disappointment about this rifle in my view. I’ve even considered asking my gunsmith to manufacture a steel trigger for it…

[darwindingo]

@Gwion

You can also see the plastic trigger and trigger guard: the only real disappointment about this rifle in my view. I’ve even considered asking my gunsmith to manufacture a steel trigger for it…

Nice reviews mate Question. Would a Al or Ti or some blend, trigger be a suitable option as apposed to steel ? You have a forge, should be able to get it hot enough to melt either for an atempt at casting one. Wouldn’t matter if it didn’t work, just melt again and try V2.0 etc… Be worth having a yarn to Noisy if ya decide to give it a crack mate.

Just a thought

[Gwion]

Ooh… cast brass made from lost wax and old 22lr casings!
Nice idea… why didn’t i think of that! I’ll look at the parts diagram and see if it is feasible.

I hope all you guys can put up a review of your favourite 22lr.

[darwindingo]

Cast brass, an even better idea Glad I made you think of it Last 22lr I had was prior to the big bad buy back, it was a Remington nylon 66. I loved it and the only time it ever jammed up on me was if I used rem ammo… Not sure why but it just didn’t agree with it…

[GUN-DMC]

Review: Anschutz Mod.1450

I bought this rifle second hand for $350 with a nice little scope on it.
The fit and finish are excellent as you’d expect from an Anschultz. The gun is a tack driver using Highland Sub-sonics and easily capable of head shooting bunny’s all day long.
the only problem I’ve had with the gun is that the mag is a bit loose and sometimes doesn’t want to feed, I have no idea if the problem is due to the mag being worn or not the correct mag, but I’ve figured out if I rest the gun on my hand while I work the bolt its pretty good.
I have mostly used this gun when sitting on a warren, but It is also a good walk around gun, easy to point and comfortable to shoot.
All in all a great little gun for the money it cost.

[darwindingo]

@GUN-DMC

The only problem I’ve had with the gun is that the mag is a bit loose and sometimes doesn’t want to feed, I have no idea if the problem is due to the mag being worn or not the correct mag, but I’ve figured out if I rest the gun on my hand while I work the bolt its pretty good.

A mate had a similar issue. It’s difficult to say if its the same, but I tweaked his mag a bit and it was all good… It had me puzzled for a bit but I marked a few rounds with a marker and a line to indicate top and left etc… and found what I believe to have been the mag feeding low and that’s my guess for yours if that makes any sense to you mate… With very slight adjustment of the bit’s that set the angle of the presented round, his was all good… I’m far from an expert but it worked for his issue… Hopefully this solves the issue for you also mate…

At the very least worth examining imo… best of luck mate

Just a guess really without having the offending gun in my hands for a proper look…

[GUN-DMC]

Thanks for that mate, I’ll get around to fiddling with it sooner or latter.

[GUN-DMC]

.22 Review: Mossberg 802 Plinkster

I have had one of these rifles for a few years now, I bought it as a scoped package for $350 but I think they go for about $450 now.
It is a budget rifle as the price would suggest but its intended purpose was just as a plinker to teach the kids with and it has seen many thousands of rounds through it, the only problems we have ever had with it is maybe 10 times the extractor has jumped the case rim and I’ve had to tap the case out with a cleaning rod, but like I said thats only 10 or so times out of many thousands of shots.
the scope (a no named Chinese thing ) it came with was a 4-9 x 40 I think and worked just fine for a spot of plinking but I have upgraded it to cheap 4-12x50 that came off something else, mostly just because I had one to put on there.
I can’t really say much about the accuracy of the rifle as I never did do any testing to see what ammo it likes, but we have shot plenty of what ever was cheap at the time, Whinchester 555, Remington Bucket-o-bullets, Highland Subs and what ever else was on hand at the time and they all shoot roughly minute of tin can. I’m sure knowing how fussy some '22’s are that if you did the correct testing you would find a bullet that it shoots well I just never bothered.
The fit and finish on this rifle was as you’d expect from an entry level gun, the plastic stock is pretty flimsy and the QD stud I fitted to the stock to put a sling on it tore out pretty quickly. The plastic rail on the fore end has held a bipod on as its meant too.
The plinkster is certainly an entry level gun. Am I sorry I bought it? definitely not it has provided many, many hours of fun for everyone and worked almost flawlessly and I would recommend won as a first gun, a knock around you don’t have to worry about scratching Etc.

[sungazer]

I have an Anschutz 1710 and with factory mags it feeds pretty flawlessly but they are $125. I bought a couple of Savage mags for $30 each as they were meant to be the same or with a little filing. Anyway they look the same but they arnt even with a fair bit of adjustment filing here and there the curve is sharper and they dont fit properly. I can get them to work sometimes if you adjust them just right but I regret buying those mags and should have put the money towards a factory one.

[GUN-DMC]

.22 Review: Savage Mod. 24 .22/20ga combo

These guns are unfortunately not made anymore, but they come up on the second hand market quite often. The quality of these guns is much better in my opinion than the POS model they make these days and the 20 ga is a better gauge than the .410 too.
I paid $300 for mine a few years ago, but I have seen then go anywhere up to about $700 on the used gun sites.
It has a dovetail so a scope can be mounted but I’ve never mounted one, I’m guessing a red dot would probably work ok with both barrels, but I haven’t tried it.
this run is quite fond of Remington Yellow Jackets but shoots ok with highland subs too.
I originally bought this gun for the kids but I fell in love with it and like it as a duel purpose bunny / fox gun with a .22 in the top and a few BB’s in the bottom barrel.

[GUN-DMC]

maybe mine has a savage mag too?

[GUN-DMC]

@tayz this would be a good thread for you to read, knowing your in the market for a .22!

[Oldbloke]

They are grouse. My bastard brother in law sold his to someone else after promising to sell it to me. Never forgiven him for that. But don’t really need one now.

[tayz]

Awesome, thanks I’ll have a look through, should help me decide
Only problem is I’m going to need a bigger safe

[GUN-DMC]

We all need a bigger safe, got bolt another one in next to the one you have!