22LR Bolt Action Rifle Buying Advice
- Thread starter glenspen
- Start date
katonahjohn
Inactive
If you want to buy a really 'good' gun you can't go wrong with a CZ. I have a CZ 527 in 7.62 X 39 which is a joy to shoot.
That said, for a less expensive but totally adequate 22 cal rifle look at Ruger. I have a 10/22 in semi-automatic and A Ruger American Rimfire for a bolt action. They both take the same magazine BTW. You mention passing it along to your children. A nice thing about the Ruger American is you can change the 'length of pull' (distance between the end of the buttstock and the trigger) by changing a butt stock insert. The gun comes with a 'standard' insert suitable for adults and larger children, and a 'shorter' insert for those with shorter arms (like children), and adults if you are wearing a heavy winter coat. Inserts available through Ruger and Ebay..
That said, for a less expensive but totally adequate 22 cal rifle look at Ruger. I have a 10/22 in semi-automatic and A Ruger American Rimfire for a bolt action. They both take the same magazine BTW. You mention passing it along to your children. A nice thing about the Ruger American is you can change the 'length of pull' (distance between the end of the buttstock and the trigger) by changing a butt stock insert. The gun comes with a 'standard' insert suitable for adults and larger children, and a 'shorter' insert for those with shorter arms (like children), and adults if you are wearing a heavy winter coat. Inserts available through Ruger and Ebay..
turtlehead
New member
CZ455 American for me. Will probably never buy another .22 rifle. Sold all the others. 
Sure Shot Mc Gee
New member
One of these. (link) Family owned. Made in the USA. No other gun maker offers their customers the guarantee that Henry does. NONE!!
https://www.henryusa.com/the-henry-guarantee/
https://www.henryusa.com/the-henry-guarantee/
If it has a box magazine, it will only handle .22LR, and detachable box magazines are famous for developing feeding problems if they are dropped or handled roughly. It is also not unusual to hear about detachable magazines being lost or misplaced.
If it has a tubular magazine, most often that means it will cycle any .22 RF ammunition with the exception of the magnums. - And it will do so with utter reliability. An additional benefit is that there is no box magazine hanging down, getting in the way of the balance point on the rifle. They are much nicer to carry and handle.
My Marlin XT-22 TR bolt action with a tubular magazine shoots Long rifle, Longs, Shorts, and several other varieties interchangeably. I find that the .22 Shorts are especially useful. Mine holds 25 of them.
The thing is a tack-driver. Shooting .22LR high velocity rounds, I like to throw an old golf ball about 25 feet in front of me, and when they are shot they obligingly bounce and roll downrange. They usually have get 75 yards or so away before it might take more than one shot to hit them again. At 100 yards, it really starts to be a challenge. You have to hold over quite a bit.
That kind of shooting is very instructive. - More so in general than shooting at paper because the target is small, and the range varies at random from shot to shot. This assumes of course that you have already shot at paper in order to get the rifle sighted-in properly.
A good rule of thumb on scopes for 22's is to spend at least as much on the scope as you did on the rifle. Cheap .22 scopes are a very unwise investment.
Use the open sights until you can afford something really good. - Shooting with open sights is instructive in its own right, and lots of fun too.
If it has a tubular magazine, most often that means it will cycle any .22 RF ammunition with the exception of the magnums. - And it will do so with utter reliability. An additional benefit is that there is no box magazine hanging down, getting in the way of the balance point on the rifle. They are much nicer to carry and handle.
My Marlin XT-22 TR bolt action with a tubular magazine shoots Long rifle, Longs, Shorts, and several other varieties interchangeably. I find that the .22 Shorts are especially useful. Mine holds 25 of them.
The thing is a tack-driver. Shooting .22LR high velocity rounds, I like to throw an old golf ball about 25 feet in front of me, and when they are shot they obligingly bounce and roll downrange. They usually have get 75 yards or so away before it might take more than one shot to hit them again. At 100 yards, it really starts to be a challenge. You have to hold over quite a bit.
That kind of shooting is very instructive. - More so in general than shooting at paper because the target is small, and the range varies at random from shot to shot. This assumes of course that you have already shot at paper in order to get the rifle sighted-in properly.
A good rule of thumb on scopes for 22's is to spend at least as much on the scope as you did on the rifle. Cheap .22 scopes are a very unwise investment.
Use the open sights until you can afford something really good. - Shooting with open sights is instructive in its own right, and lots of fun too.
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Don Fischer
New member
I had an Anchutz in 22 mad that I got stationed in Germany. For me, they are in a class of their own, but also expensive! Now I hve an old Mossberg 22 mag that I like very ell. Favorite was a Marlin mod 60, also came as a Glenfield mod 60. Come's to 22's it seem's it really hard to screw them up, long as it will take a scope, I'd just grab one if I liked how it looked and felt. Don't get one of those skinny POS 22 scope's. Get some POS 1" tube scope and get a set of 1" rings designe to put on a or even a 4x or less. The more you go up in power, the less field of view you'll have. Can make it hard to find something in the scope if it's to close, 2x, no sweat. I have an old Rem mod 788 with a 1-4x Redfield, very old, and on 1x I can see my 18" barrel. That is a lot of field of view! Someone should make a set of 1" rings with the 22 set up on them! Burris used to. I know because I got a set when the first opened, I lived in Greely then!
jackstrawIII
New member
I'm one of the guys that raves about CZ rifles. Check out the 455 in synthetic stock. It's a great little gun.
Quartermaster
Inactive
CZ
Completely agree with this, in fact the more time I spend on this forum the more I'm coming to realize I'm something of a CZ fan boy
I only rave because they make fine guns that work great for me. I have CZ 452 .17HMR, I love it! A lot of the guys at my local club seem to use CZ for the most part, that said any of the guys who shoot competition rifles in .22 LR are all using Anschutz...nail drivers, is all I can say.
Nice work on the purchase glenspen, I doubt you'll be disappointed! Health to Enjoy!
Peace,
Quartermaster
Completely agree with this, in fact the more time I spend on this forum the more I'm coming to realize I'm something of a CZ fan boy
I only rave because they make fine guns that work great for me. I have CZ 452 .17HMR, I love it! A lot of the guys at my local club seem to use CZ for the most part, that said any of the guys who shoot competition rifles in .22 LR are all using Anschutz...nail drivers, is all I can say.
Nice work on the purchase glenspen, I doubt you'll be disappointed! Health to Enjoy!
Peace,
Quartermaster
glenspen said:
Very nice choice! Post pictures as soon as you have it in your hands! (Which I understand being in California will be 2 weeks AFTER you fill out the paperwork, AFTER waiting for 2 months for it to come in. Patience, a level of such I have not.)
It's hard to go wrong with the Leupold VX-2 3-9x33mm EFR. My CZ-452 American has worn one since I brought it home. Great scope, very clear and I love the adjustable objective to bring targets into crisp focus no matter the range. The elevation and windage adjustments are also crisp and repeatable; I do frequently dial in the elevation difference between 50 and 25 yards for my ammo/rifle, unless I'm plinking big targets. The only downside to the VX-2 in my mind is that it does top out at 9x and sometimes I wish I had a little more magnification for making little groups at the range. But for keeping the overall lines of the sporter rifle compact and sleek, it's a solid choice.
Gratuitous picture, just because we're here:
Now on to technique. For learning to acquire targets and shoot through a scope (or any sights really), get in the habit of bringing the rifle and sights TO your face/eyes. Do NOT accept a set-up that has you scrunching your neck, leaning your head over or otherwise performing any contortion to get a sight picture. Look at the target, mount the rifle and the sights come into your vision on (ideally) or near (most likely) where you want to shoot. Refine sight picture, squeeze trigger. Repeat as necessary.
For this kind of practice a properly sized and laid-out .22 rifle is perfect. You can get all kinds of repetition in for very little cost, without being physically worn down by recoil and mentally fatigued from THE BIG NOISE with every trigger pull. Use reactive targets like cheap lollipops and butter crackers for extra fun.
Hammerhead
New member
Congrats, that looks like a real nice classic 22.
I was out shooting my humble CZ 452 Scout on Friday with a Leupold 4X Rimfire Special at 100 yards wishing I had 2 things:
At least 9X magnification and
Either a drop compensating reticle or a turret knob for elevation compensation at distance.
Target 22 loads generally run around 1000-1100 fps and with a 50 yard zero they drop roughly 9" at 100 yards.
I was out shooting my humble CZ 452 Scout on Friday with a Leupold 4X Rimfire Special at 100 yards wishing I had 2 things:
At least 9X magnification and
Either a drop compensating reticle or a turret knob for elevation compensation at distance.
Target 22 loads generally run around 1000-1100 fps and with a 50 yard zero they drop roughly 9" at 100 yards.
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I have several very accurate .22LR rifles including an old Win 69, a Rem 581, a custom Ruger 10-22, a Marlin 39A, and have had Anschutz 54 target, Win. 52C, Win 69. All needed a bit of magic to make them as good as they could be.
I also have a CZ 455 in .22 WMR. It's a great little rifle and it feels more like a centerfire.
If I were starting out, I'd look at the Ruger bolts, CZ455 with both a .22LR and .22Mag barrel. Savage higher grade rifles are great, but the cheapest are, well, cheapo.
The Henry 22LR lever-action rifles are great for iron sights, but I wouldn't scope one because of the way the receiver meets the action. I can see loss of dead zero after disassembly. I've had serious problems with my Marlin 39A and can't recommend one.
If you can find a Winchester lever .22LR, they're very nice.
I also have a CZ 455 in .22 WMR. It's a great little rifle and it feels more like a centerfire.
If I were starting out, I'd look at the Ruger bolts, CZ455 with both a .22LR and .22Mag barrel. Savage higher grade rifles are great, but the cheapest are, well, cheapo.
The Henry 22LR lever-action rifles are great for iron sights, but I wouldn't scope one because of the way the receiver meets the action. I can see loss of dead zero after disassembly. I've had serious problems with my Marlin 39A and can't recommend one.
If you can find a Winchester lever .22LR, they're very nice.
Model12Win
Moderator
All of that can also be said about the soft sheet brass magazine tube in your rifle.