The Marlin 60 and the Ruger 10/22. Both of those rifles have had more production numbers and more of a life then any other. Both are excellent and reliable guns that are sturdy enough to hold up and maintain accuracy. Plus, neither of them ever has to be clean to function properly...sometimes a dirty 10/22 shoots better then a clean 10/22. Either way you split it those two rifles have more rounds shot then any others.
CZ bolt guns seem to shoot as well as Kimbers, and the difference in price will leave you with plenty of change to buy ammo. The CZ's are very well made, and are a real value for the money.
For general purpose sporting use a Ruger 10/22. If you want to drive tacks it's not hard or all that expensive to turn that $200 sporter into a $600 sub MOA tack driver.
As much as I'd love to hate this goofy thing, I just can't. It flat out shoots without hiccup anything I put into the tube. I love the way it spits unburnt powder and soot out of its receiver's art-deco inspired gills and I'm intrigued by it's unorthodox bolt operation. The fact that this over-complicated little rifle actually works has made me a fan.
I concur with the Stevens 87. He had it for over 20 years before he gave it to me and I've used it for the past 40 years. Never a failure.
Another bargain you need to check into is the Russian made TO-3. It is a little extremely light weight bolt action rifle and the most accurate I have ever seen for the price (about $100). The first one I got had a bent front sight so I slapped a 4x scope on it and in no time I was shooting 10 round groups at 40 yds that could be covered with a quarter. I loved it so much that I bought another. This one had perfect open sights and would post 10 rnd <1" groups at 40 yards (which is good for my eyesight). They come with 5 rnd mags and look like a minature Moisan T-33 but weigh between 4-5 lbs. Perfect for all day squirrel and rabbit hunting. I took out 6 squirrels last year in about an hour just around my house because they were building nests in my cars. They were still tasty with gravy. There is also an online webstie that you can order 10 rnd mags from. I picked up 8 of them last year for about $90.
Two other honorable mentions for extremely accurate out of the box rifles are:
- Winchester Model 270 pump (although no longer produce) is a tack driver and shoots short, long, and long rifle like the Stevens 87.
- Taurus Model 62 Gallery Rifle (what a hoot!!!) pump with exposed hammer. She is a beautiful looking rifle, very reliable, and exremely accurate.
Now if I had to pick a favorite of mine, it would be the pretty boy of my collection. My Mark XXII will shoot ragged holes all day long and look good doing it. It doesn't have an aftermarket like the 10/22, but I wouldn't change anything about it. Crisp trigger, rich blue, great sights, beautiful and comfy stock, near perfect balance and accuracy. Also feels and handles like a full size rifle.
Hedley, my 87B isn't anywhere near as nice as yours but it's one gun that isn't going anywhere. I paid 15 bucks for it about 20 years ago with a cracked stock that was improperly repaired. But dang it's a shooter, fairley quiet with that long barrel too.
Except for the new matches set up for super-custom autoloaders, Anschutz is the only game in town for rimfire rifle competition. There are a few Walthers and a Suhl here and there (mostly in benchrest, I think), but pretty much everyone goes with one model of Anschutz or another. Just about anything else will put you at a disadvantage to the other shooters.
At least that's how it has been at all the NRA (national), collegiate, international, Olympic, and high-level club 3 and 4 position smallbore rifle matches I have shot in.
I have not competed in a while, but I would be surprised if things have changed much.
They make lots of super-fancy megabucks space-rifles, but I usually did ok with a 1903 action in a standard wedge stock: