Since we have so very many .22 fans here I thought I'd start and argument...

So who do you think makes the best .22 general purpose rifle?
Ruger, Marlin, Winchester, some other? Why do you think yours is best?


Now I'm going to say it's my 10/22... why? Well I do own a lot of them and there easy to fix modify or swap parts. Big enough for a grown man like me to use yet my youngest son and daughter can just as easily pick up the same gun and plunk away... no its not the best of the best but good enough for me... Still when I was a kid I dearly loved that first Sears .22 single shot I got for my B-day...




[edit on 11-12-2009 by DaddyBare]

For general purpose I'd say the Remington 552 or it's pump counterpart.

It'll eat shorts and longs and CB's no problem.

I dont even own one so I cant be accused of fanboyism. I dont think I own any Remington firearms.

I own an old Winchester 60A, Ruger 10/22 and an H&R Plainsman for .22's. Of the three the 10/22 is my least favorite. No soul. And it hates anything other than LR and it is a pain to feed single shot for shorts or CB's.

The 60A is my favorite of what I own.

It'll take anything and I love the single shot bolt action simplicity. Makes my plinking into a more complete meditation of shooting fundamentals.

Winchester rifles are good, a little heavy maybe but can be thrown around a bit without worry of breakage.
for a .22 anything with a drop down magazine that can hold around 20 shots for a bolt action would do me.


[edit on 11-12-2009 by redgy]

The 10/22 is amazing, but only for 22lr

If you are going to shoot "Shorts" or 22longs, you need to go with a single action or bolt.. IMO of course

However consider the last time you saw any shorts or longs...

LR's are all over the place and I would say by far the most common.

I'll stick with my 10/22 as well

Semper

I am partial to my Henry lever action. Does longs and shorts. Has the rails for a scope, for those that want one for distance work. Never jams and has been a very solid gun.

Browning take down semi auto.
Amazing little rifle.I especially like the straight down casing eject.
Little pricey tho.

I have been buying 22lr ammo,but I haven't bought a 22 yet.My personal
weapon is a ruger.357 revolver.I want a 22 for target practice.I am short and have short arms with a touch of arthritis.What kind of 22 would anyone recommend for me?

Ruger 10/22 hands down. When you can shoot a squirrel through the eye at 60 yards you have a gun that works for you. By far the simplest design to break down as well
. Add in all the stock, magazine, muzzle, scope and barrel accessories you can gussy it up with. While not the most accurate of any .22 I think all the other plusses more than make up for it, particularly speed shooting and reloading.
As far as being a great human deterrent you can't throw lead any faster than you can with the 10/22.

On a side note:
I tried out some .22 tracers last weekend, they jam something horrible. Don't waste your money.

Living in NY and facing a limitation on capacity of detachable mags I bought a Marlin .22 bolt action in black synthetic with tubular magazine. It holds 14+1 but being tubular I am not in violation of my beloved state's draconian laws.

The 15 rounds is great for plinking. I'm a believer in having a little fouling in the barrel so I clean it about every 100 rounds. I've taken a crow at about 80-90 yards center mass; and a squirrel in the eye at about 150 feet.

Just to be clear on my shooting intentions...

I killed the crow as a warning to other crows to stay out of my garden. It worked.

I killed the squirrel because he was eating all my turkey feed. I ate him.

I have a Savage .22lr with the AccuTrigger and love it. The only thing I would change is it does not have iron sites incase of a situation where the 4x scope that was on it when I picked it up gets broken.

I've been waiting to see if someone would bring up the old thompson contender... Normally it's sold as a pistol... I had one with a rifle stock...
their a break top single shot with interchangeable barrels... I had the .22lr the .45 colt/410 and .223 barrels for mine


that was a great little gun... little pricey but nice way to have one gun then buy different barrels for big/smaller game. I gave mine to my oldest son years ago... now that I think about it maybe I'll go get it back