inexpensive 22LR that is accurate?

[Petrol & Powder]

The secrets to a good .22 rimfire rifle really aren’t all that “secret”.

A good barrel, with the correct dimensions, correctly finished and reasonably straight. A properly cut chamber, preferably on the low end of the tolerances (tight and centered), a well fitted bolt with a breach face square to the chamber that closes for the correct headspace, a short lock time, and a good trigger.

The trigger doesn’t need to be ridiculously light. It needs to break clean, with zero or nearly zero over-travel, and little or no creep before breaking.

Put all that together in a package that’s fairly secure (action well fitted to the stock and sights/optics that stay put) and you’ll have a good rimfire rifle. Find the ammo your rifle likes and then stay with that ammo. Don’t go looking for that “new” scope, new trigger or new whatever and you will reach rimfire Nirvana.

 

[JWinAZ]

I hear good things about the Savage Mark 11's in 22 LR.

I won a Savage Mark II at a CMP Rimfire Sporter Match a decade ago. The winner was the one with the closest shot to the center on the last standing position target. So not a measure of marksmanship for sure. I got the version that was factory outfitted with a Williams Foolproof and aperture front sight. The Accu Trigger is pretty good. I replaced the plastic stock with a laminated wood stock. Quite accurate.

 

[todd]

The secrets to a good .22 rimfire rifle really aren’t all that “secret”.

A good barrel, with the correct dimensions, correctly finished and reasonably straight. A properly cut chamber, preferably on the low end of the tolerances (tight and centered), a well fitted bolt with a breach face square to the chamber that closes for the correct headspace, a short lock time, and a good trigger.

The trigger doesn’t need to be ridiculously light. It needs to break clean, with zero or nearly zero over-travel, and little or no creep before breaking.

Put all that together in a package that’s fairly secure (action well fitted to the stock and sights/optics that stay put) and you’ll have a good rimfire rifle. Find the ammo your rifle likes and then stay with that ammo. Don’t go looking for that “new” scope, new trigger or new whatever and you will reach rimfire Nirvana.

the trigger on my m25 was terrible, i got a custom trigger spring way back then. it is light, maybe around 3lbs. i can't remember who i had bought it from, its been about 30ish years now. my chamber may be tight tolerance wise, but not my barrel. when i clean it, i have to shoot it about 100-125 times to settle it down. i should bore slug it, but i never do.

another thing is premium target bullet prices. i never shot a Eley or Aguilera target ammo. the best ammo is CCI Mini Mags with a 36gr truncated HP. mostly its Remington, Winchester or Federal 22lr ammo.

I won a Savage Mark II at a CMP Rimfire Sporter Match a decade ago. The winner was the one with the closest shot to the center on the last standing position target. So not a measure of marksmanship for sure. I got the version that was factory outfitted with a Williams Foolproof and aperture front sight. The Accu Trigger is pretty good. I replaced the plastic stock with a laminated wood stock. Quite accurate.

try as i might, i can't get into Accu Triggers. when i use the accu trigger the first thing i feel should be trigger, not the the thing before the trigger that tells you "wait a minute, you have to squeeze some more to make it go bang".

 

[JWinAZ]

My formative years were spent pulling military two stage triggers (Mausers & Springfields), so the Accu Trigger doesn't seem so odd to me.

 

[todd]

i have alot of Mausers, the accu trigger just doesn't feel right.

 

[Bazoo]

I had a Remington 41 Targetmaster that would shoot Federal bulk into 1 hole at 25 yards. I used to shoot limbs off the tree with it we had at the distance, both horizontal and verticle. I also could hit an empty 22 casing, when I could see it. I just would flat shoot, especially with that Federal bulk. Well... it had a splinter on the cheekrest; it used to pull my whiskers; It pulled one on the wrong day and I swapped it to the gunsmith in fever. I've regretted it ever since.

I even found another some years later, and it wouldn't shoot nearly as good. Lost that one when my house burnt, but didn't lose much cause it'd only shoot about 1" at 25 yards.

 

[Reloader762]

I have a couple of older Savage 22 rifles, one is a Mark 1G in 22 LR and the other is a 93G in 22 Mag. the Magnum has the camo sling on it. I gave at the time around $125 for each rifle, scope and sling for each cost me another $75 each. So I basically had $200 for each setup.




22 LR



22 Mag. I have a couple of my bad's from being a little jumpy on the AccuTrigger.

 

[Petrol & Powder]

I had a standard barrel 541T that was perfect.
Then I saw a heavy barrel 541T and had to have it. Certainly that heavy barrel would shoot better.....
Nope, shot just as well as the standard barrel, just weighted twice as much.

 

[richhodg66]

Þwo ranges within an hour of me do monthly rimfire benchrest matches, I have learned. Been meaning to put an old Weaver target scope I have on my 540X high school target rifle and go see what I can do. Haven't shot it in decades.

 

[todd]

i think it was Ferndale Shooting Club (don't know, i only went once) that they did rimfire benchrest matches. there was a guy who had deep pockets to build a custom built rimfire benchrest rifle. whatever it was made Anschutz benchrest rimfire rifle like a cheap lady of the night on a 2 boinks for a nickel. nice rifle, but he could not shoot!!! a 3" group at 50 yards he considered it a great group. but he knows everything. if you had a dog, he'll have 2. he was "one of them" guys. whatever you did, he would say he done it better and faster. i was glad to leave, but my friend was a member and he to put up with that crap, i mean that guy.

 

[richhodg66]

I have not been to one, but the one at Fancy Creek uses an older target, it's 50 rounds in an hour, I think on 50 targets. All at 50 yards. The little talking I did with the guys who set it up, it sounds like fun.

I suspect, there will be a very small number who take it very seriously and have a great deal invetsed in equipment and will likely be the winners, and most of the shooters will be guys like me who want to have some fun. I'm not even sure a 540X from the late '70s/early '80s could hang against modern stuff even if I was a good enough shooter to do so, but it seems to be the best thing I have going for the task.

 

[RicinYakima]

When I was shooting BR-50 (50 targets at 50 yards in 30 minutes) it was amazing what some rifle/ammo combinations would do. One that I remember well is an older guy with a Winchester Model 75 with a 1960's Weaver scope. I believe he shot Ely Pistol Match and won or was in the top three most matches.

 

[Ian]

I have a Glenfield 25 that will run with my Oregon Kimber 82 and Winchester 72, the only problem was the nickel-plated trigger with soft base metal. After 35 years or so I finally searched out and bought a replacement trigger, Rifle Basix as I recall. I still need to make an aluminum trigger guard for it since the plastic one has long ago cracked through both screw holes. It's fun to play with various cheap to expensive ammunition brands but unless you have a tight chamber the full effect of good ammunition is hard to realize.

 

[richhodg66]

My workhorse .22 rufle around the property is a Winchester 72A I rescued about 15 years ago, wears a Denver Redfield 4x. Good squirrel rifle, but not as accurate as a good .22 rifle shoukd be. I have since picked up a 69A (same rifle with detachable mags rather than a tube) which I think will eventually take its place as the go to rifle.

One day, I really need to put the Markin 39A to a serious accuracy test. I've almost never shot it from a bench, just plinked with it offhand but that rifle is a pure joy to hold and shoot.

 

[Gary]

Ah yes, the Glenfield rifles; mechanically the same as Marlin rifles (Marlin made Glenfield). Excellent rifles as were some of the Mossberg offerings. I started with Rem 514 and it was a tack driver; had a lot to do with 12 y.o. eyes and an eagerness to learn to shoot correctly. To this day I have a fondness for older rimfire rifles; I have a Rem 514; Rem 552A; Springfield 84C. Hardly ever shoot them but they get periodically wiped down with a lightly oiled cloth. ALL just to relive, in my mind, the truly "good ole days" of my youth; so cathartic .

 

[JWinAZ]

Back in the '70s a local gunsmith gave me a well worn Stevens Buckhorn bolt action, complete with a 5 shot magazine. Turned out it was a pretty decent rifle. The cylindrical firing pin had broken in half. A worn chainsaw file and a few minutes on the bench grinder fixed that. I used it as the "ready" rifle for several summers after that.

 

[4060MAY]

I have a Stevens Model 15, single shot , single action, my Father bought 2 in 1958, 15.00 ea, I still have my Brothers, I have the original bill of sale
we use to buy 22 shorts for 5.00/brick, shoot the stems of cat tails all day, my BIL had a Winchester pump 22long only, model 06?, we ragged on him , his ammo was 7.00/brick

 

[Petrol & Powder]

A friend and I would go in half each for a brick of 22LR from Kmart and that would be a weekend’s worth of informal competition.
I don’t recall the cost but it couldn’t have been much because we were both poor.
Good times.

 

[CZ93X62]

I have more 22 LR handguns than rifles these days. 3 long ones--a Winchester bolter Model 67 single-shot that has factory irons and shoots decently, about 7/8" at 50 yards. Another iron-sighter is my 1965-vintage Winchester 290; it's one of my Steak & Lobster Cotillion Debutante 22 LRs, along with the SIG Mosquito. Only CCI will do in either arm, but both do good things when fed what they want. Last but not least is a well-used Ruger 10/22 that came home with me in the late 1990s from a large Westminster gun store (it's name escapes me) for the princely sum of $65. It looked a little rough, but once cleaned up was actually still tight and decent, with a mirror bore.

My original plan was to Barbie-Doll the receiver into a Volquartsen truck-axle barrel iron-sighter for the long-departed Burrito Shoot 22 LR days, but on a Burrito Shoot day I ran some of the 290's Mini-Mags through it--DANG, this little thing can SHOOT. It shot the humbler grades of cheep 22 LR reliably, it eats anything. Scrap the Barbie-Doll project, I mounted a 4X scope on it and so it has stayed for 25 years--ugly enough to repel kids and grandkids from doing to it what they've done with about a half-dozen other 10/22s over the years--TAKE THEM HOME WITH THEM--and accurate enough to make Dad/Grandpa happy.

25 years ago, discount 22 LR ammo used to be decent and reasonably accurate. These days, not so much--it doesn't feed, it shoots dirty, it throws fliers when it does feed and fire. Since about 2005 it has been 'All CCI all the time' at my place. Even their bargain-basement Blazer 22 LR feeds and fires in The Debutantes. CCI Mini-Mag and SGB are my go-to fodder for 22 LR on varmints these days.

 

[RicinYakima]

Unlike most of you here, 22's were not in my childhood. Dad had a single shot Remington that was used to head shoot chickens for Sunday dinner. But there was never a shortage of 410 bore shotguns for quail and rabbits. Only got to take the 22 for squirrels in November when the leaves were off the trees in the woods.