About 10 years ago, I decided that I needed to buy a lever action .22 rifle. I really didn't know what I wanted. I finally decided to buy the Winchester 9422. But, as these things go for me, almost immediately I came across a smoking deal on a Marlin 39A quickly followed by a smoking deal on a Browning. The Winchester I ordered new from a dealer. The other two were used.
At the time, I was working a LOT of overtime and had plenty of cash and I ended up buying all three and I then proceeded to shoot a couple thousand rounds out of each one in rotation to see which one I liked the best.
This was not some carefully controlled test. This was just me shooting bone stock guns with factory iron sights. Most of the shooting was plinking. Metal spinner targets, junk lying in the desert and stuff like that. I didn't shoot them for groups on paper for ultimate accuracy or anything. I just wanted to see which rifle I liked the best for my general use.
Anyway, without going into any real detail. I decided that I liked the Browning the best. One of the reasons is sort of petty and could easily be fixed on the other two rifles, but the first thing that I really liked about the Browning was the sights. In particular, the front sight. The other two front sights were far too large for what I was doing with them. I found it difficult to shoot with any degree of precision with a great big round front sight. Another criteria was the over-all length of the rifle. I frequently took my dog out in the desert and let him run around loose while I walked along plinking at targets of opportunity as well as shooting at jackrabbits. I wanted to be able to walk with my arm hanging at my side holding the rifle by the wrist and not have the rifle barrel shoved into the ground. The Marlin was far too long for this.
Anyway, again, none of this was a carefully done test. It was all just what suited me and my personal needs. I am not going to tell you it is the best lever action .22 out there, but it was the one that suited me the best.
At the time, I was working a LOT of overtime and had plenty of cash and I ended up buying all three and I then proceeded to shoot a couple thousand rounds out of each one in rotation to see which one I liked the best.
This was not some carefully controlled test. This was just me shooting bone stock guns with factory iron sights. Most of the shooting was plinking. Metal spinner targets, junk lying in the desert and stuff like that. I didn't shoot them for groups on paper for ultimate accuracy or anything. I just wanted to see which rifle I liked the best for my general use.
Anyway, without going into any real detail. I decided that I liked the Browning the best. One of the reasons is sort of petty and could easily be fixed on the other two rifles, but the first thing that I really liked about the Browning was the sights. In particular, the front sight. The other two front sights were far too large for what I was doing with them. I found it difficult to shoot with any degree of precision with a great big round front sight. Another criteria was the over-all length of the rifle. I frequently took my dog out in the desert and let him run around loose while I walked along plinking at targets of opportunity as well as shooting at jackrabbits. I wanted to be able to walk with my arm hanging at my side holding the rifle by the wrist and not have the rifle barrel shoved into the ground. The Marlin was far too long for this.
Anyway, again, none of this was a carefully done test. It was all just what suited me and my personal needs. I am not going to tell you it is the best lever action .22 out there, but it was the one that suited me the best.
