I’ve got enough old military firearms to overthrow Bolivia, but nothing useful when it comes to slaughtering hogs or plinking without bothering the neighbors. I’d like a rifle in .22LR, but .22 magnum would be nice too. I know lots of .22’s take both .22 short and .22LR, are there any that take .22LR and .22 magnum? I’d love semi-auto, but don’t want to spend any more than necessary, so it may have to be bolt action. I definitley do not want single shot, as I don’t want the hogs to suffer any longer than necessary if I need another shot, and I’ve got big hands and poor circulation.
What rifle would you reccomend? Any manufacturers to stay away from? Any place on line that I can compare and see prices and reviews?
Nah, they’re perfectly good right out of the box. The only accessory you’d really want is a scope.
FWIW, mine is the stainless steel model with the 22" barrel. I like the way the longer barrel looks. It gives the rifle a more ‘balanced’ appearance. The only downside is that they’re only sold by Wal-Mart.
I currently own a Remington 597 with the black stock - I won it in a raffle. It is dead on accurate, but I have feeding problems since mine has the original plastic magazine. These now ship with an improved magazine and I just have to get new ones - just haven’t gotten to it yet.
Frankly, the only reason I own a .22 is because I won one - if I were to buy a small caliber gun new, I’d go with one of the .17 HMRs.
Wal-Marti still sells firearms? Man, none of the ones around here do. Hell, they barely sell ammo. Everytime I go there to buy some they are always sold out.
10/22s don’t need anything, except maybe a scope if you’re feeling frisky. Yes, you can get crazy plastic stocks and fluted bull barrels and 50 round magazine and flash suppressors and bipods and all sorts of other bolt on stuff, and yes, maybe I have done this to one of mine when I was younger and stupid but you don’t have to.
No matter how you dress it up it’s still the same action and same reliability. Though replacing those block magazines with a stick magazine can save a little wear and tear on your thumb.
I never had any worries about the stock magazine. Lest the OP take your post wrong, they come out very easily.
The 10/22 does have one problem that I noticed: It’s very easy to go through a lot of ammo! (My other .22 rifle is an old Sears [Marlin] single-shot. You work the bolt to load a round by hand, then pull back a plunger to set the firing pin. Accurate, fun, and economical ammo-wise. )
Just wanted to say that I love my little 10/22 it’s my best gun and it’s lots of fun to play with. Woodchucks and other assorted varmints just don’t stand a chance on my little 6 acres.
No worries about it at all, it’s not the removal of the magazine that’s a pain, mine’s broken in enough that I can drop it with one hand. It’s the reloading of the thing that’s a thumb buster. The edge of the magazine will bite your thumb enough that it starts to hurt after 5 or 6 reloads. That’s why I like the stick mags better, you can get one of those plastic doohickeys that compresses the spring and makes reloading a less painful task.
Oh, yeah. I forgot about that. I tend to take a selection to the range, so I don’t have to reload the 10/22 often enough nowadays for the loading to be irritating.
It was my first .22, hell it was my first gun when I was 12 years old and I was only allowed to have one magazine by my dad, but I had as much ammo as I wanted if I paid for it myself. My hand still winces thinking about those days where I’d tear through one of those milk cartons of Federal Lightning .22s in a few hours. The stick mag was the first legal gun related purchase I made when I turned 18.
Far greater terminal velocity and a flatter trajectory - past a very short distance the drop of the .22LR isn’t acceptable for anything except shooting at tin cans.
Keep in mind that they’ve been manufacturing this cartridge in some form since the 1880s - they have gotten as much as they can from it, performance-wise, but there are more modern choices that will give you just as small and useful a rifle.
Doubt they are still made, but my favorite .22 was actually a Savage .22/.410 over and under. There was a switch to select which barrel to fire, and it could fire .22 minicaps, shorts, longs, and long rifle. It could not fire .22 Magnum. In the .410 barrel, it could fire any rounds I had…2.5 inch, 3 inch, even slugs.
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