.22 shopping. Need suggestions.

[Guest twpayne75]

Here are my wants:

medium to heavy barrel - no pencil / lightweight barrel

prefer target style stock but not set on it

nothing light, feeling more like a centerfire

$450 +/- for rifle, can be used

prefer bolt but semi is alright

What I have come up with so far:

Ruger 10/22T

Savage Mark II TR

CZ 455

I found a Thompson Center R55 Sporter today and thought I had found what I was looking for. I had never heard of one. Fits my parameters perfectly. After doing a lot of reading, I am kind of scared to try one. VERY accurate, but apparently have some chamber, extractor issues along with being discontinued.

I am not looking for a project. I don't want to build or have to modify whatever I get. I want to be able to put a decent scope on it and get reasonable accuracy without rebuilding it.

I know this can't be it. What else am I missing?

[frankmako]

ruger 10/22 is one of the best going. unless if you can find a old remington 22 auto.

[Guest twpayne75]

ruger 10/22 is one of the best going. unless if you can find a old remington 22 auto.

The Target model I may be able to deal with. The standard and other models, I don't feel like I'm holding anything.

[Caster]

Henry lever action. Very accurate.

[Guest twpayne75]

Henry lever action. Very accurate.

Most if not all shooting will be from a bench. Another reason I want to stay with bolt or automatic.

[RWF]

i know you said, you waanted a out of the box gun, but the ruger 10-22 is the easiest to make changes to and there is a ton of after market Target gun stuff for it.

i have shot the CZ in 17 HMR and was super surprised my the trigger and accuracy.

Kimber also makes or made target style 22 RF.

[Tempest455]

I have the TRR-SR and it's extremely accurate. With good ammo (and little wind), you will shoot sub MOA groups at 100 yards.

[Jonnin]

If used is on the table, consider some older guns and hit up a gun show? Two of my best are some old mossberg .22s from the 70s with a bull barrel --- we had deer rilfe scopes on them (7 or 9 or something power) and used to shoot the caps off 2 liters at 50 & 100 yards, and the only gun I have that is heavier is my mauser. That bull barrel is *heavy* --- modern ones are all lightened but this is just solid steel. Typical 5 round mag bolt action guns, simple, rugged, and accurate. I see similar stuff (60's - 80's era guns) at shows all the time, and most of it is not too expensive. Modern stuff is all lightened with aluminum, plastic, etc so if you like a heavy bench gun, a new one is harder to find, most folks do not want a 10 pound .22 anymore!

[Guest twpayne75]

If used is on the table, consider some older guns and hit up a gun show? Two of my best are some old mossberg .22s from the 70s with a bull barrel --- we had deer rilfe scopes on them (7 or 9 or something power) and used to shoot the caps off 2 liters at 50 & 100 yards, and the only gun I have that is heavier is my mauser. That bull barrel is *heavy* --- modern ones are all lightened but this is just solid steel. Typical 5 round mag bolt action guns, simple, rugged, and accurate. I see similar stuff (60's - 80's era guns) at shows all the time, and most of it is not too expensive. Modern stuff is all lightened with aluminum, plastic, etc so if you like a heavy bench gun, a new one is harder to find, most folks do not want a 10 pound .22 anymore!

That is actually a great idea. Had not thought about gun shows. I quit going to them long ago because they became a joke. I can sit at home and order anything cheaper than a gun show and don't have to look at garage sale crap. But for what I'm looking for that might be the best place to find it.

Thank you for the suggestion.

[Guest twpayne75]

I have the TRR-SR and it's extremely accurate. With good ammo (and little wind), you will shoot sub MOA groups at 100 yards.

If I can't find anything older as mentioned above and have to order new production, the TR is probably the way I will go. It's a bargain in my opinion.

[Jonnin]

Good luck with that, shows are still hit & miss but I give you 85% chance of finding *something* at a mid sized show, given your needs. I mostly go to get out of the house: $10 at a gun show is $10 better spent than at the movies, and usually equally good entertainment.

[Viracnis]

At the last Goodman show in Nashville there was a guy selling two Remington 597 .22 rifles for $109. I got mine on my 18th birthday and it's still shooting. Not nearly as heavy as my Mosin Nagant 91/30 but it's no featherweight either. I've got two of the bigger (25 or 30 shot?) magazines for it but I think it came with the 10-round I use when I'm on a bench.

A google search showed lots of stock options.

[jtmaze]

Check classifieds on here saw a few the other day. Pretty good prices.

JTM

Sent from my iPhone

[Major Kong]

I would go with a CZ452 rather than the 455 but I'd go with the 455 over the Savage or the Ruger. Nothing wrong with either of the other two, CZ just makes a better rifle (IMHO). I have 3 of the 452's, a pimped out Ruger 10/22 and a Savage 93r17 with the accutrigger.

All three brands are nice but if I could only keep one it would be the CZ.

[runco]

You can not beat any Remington 541 series guns, especially 541THB, 541S or even the military 541x. There are always some on gb. My favorite 22s are Anschutzs, especially 54 with the heavy action.

[DaveTN]

Remington 597. More accurate out of the box than any 10/22 I have seen and its closer to a full size rifle. And it $200! If you want to spend more try the 597 heavy barrel target.

I had feeing issues for the first 500-1000 rounds but it was fine after that. I don’t know if they have worked those problems out or not.

[R1100R]

CZ 452 if you can find it. But a 455 over all the others.

[Tempest455]

If I can't find anything older as mentioned above and have to order new production, the TR is probably the way I will go. It's a bargain in my opinion.

The TRR-SR is new.

[Guest twpayne75]

Check classifieds on here saw a few the other day. Pretty good prices.

JTM

Sent from my iPhone

Believe me, I check here several times a day. But nothing has come up like what I'm looking for yet.

[Guest twpayne75]

I would go with a CZ452 rather than the 455 but I'd go with the 455 over the Savage or the Ruger. Nothing wrong with either of the other two, CZ just makes a better rifle (IMHO). I have 3 of the 452's, a pimped out Ruger 10/22 and a Savage 93r17 with the accutrigger.

All three brands are nice but if I could only keep one it would be the CZ.

Isn't the 455 an updated version of the 452? I need to do more homework on the CZs. I have yet to hear a bad word about them. But I can't find anybody stocking them to check one out.

[Guest twpayne75]

You can not beat any Remington 541 series guns, especially 541THB, 541S or even the military 541x. There are always some on gb. My favorite 22s are Anschutzs, especially 54 with the heavy action.

Looking those up now. Thank you for the suggestion.

[Guest twpayne75]

Remington 597. More accurate out of the box than any 10/22 I have seen and its closer to a full size rifle. And it $200! If you want to spend more try the 597 heavy barrel target.

I had feeing issues for the first 500-1000 rounds but it was fine after that. I don’t know if they have worked those problems out or not.

Just read a review. The heavy barrel with laminate stock is definately an option. Thank you for the suggestion.

[Guest twpayne75]

The TRR-SR is new.

I know. That's why I said if I ordered new production I may end up with the TR. A lot of these other rifles are discontinued. I wouldn't want the added rails, don't really see the point. And I doubt mine would ever be suppressed.

[Guest twpayne75]

Still up for suggestions. Thank you all for the input so far. I knew there had to be more out there that I couldn't think of or knew about.

[Dolomite_supafly]

The CZ 455 is designed to allow easy swapping of the barrel to a different weight or caliber. The 452 is not replaceable or at least not as easy as a 455.

Purpose will dictate what you get. If accuracy is the ultimate quest then the CZ or the Savage are what you want. They are about equal as far as practical accuracy goes but the CZ feels like a real gun. A 10/22 can be made to shoot as well as either of these but it will likely cost you close to twice as much to do it. CZ's also feel like a quality gun unlike the Savage. The Savage shoots well but it doesn't feel like a quality firearm like a CZ.

If it were me with my money to spend it would be the 455. They are great guns and every bit as accurate as anything mentioned so far. Plus you can get an extra barrel or two to suit other uses. It literally take about 5 minutes to swap a barrel on a 455. It has two screws that hold the barrel rigidly in the receiver.

Dolomite