In Your Experience, Which Is More Reliable?

S

Single Six

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Let me cut to the chase here; I'm talking about .22LR rifles. Which type, in your experience, is the most reliable and trouble-free: Semi-autos, bolt actions, or lever actions? I ask because I may have one on my horizon. Feel free to include whatever make / model you have that corroborates your opinion. Thanks, guys. :)
 
It's hard to get more reliable than a bolt rifle. Having said that, I've owned Marlin 60s and Ruger 10/22s that were very reliable. My current .22 is a Savage semi. As long as the magazine is good, the rifle is good. My son has a Henry lever rifle that's never caused any trouble.

It's a toss-up. Get the one that suits you best.
 
I'm down to just three rimfires, I've got older Winchester 1906 pump and 67 single shot bolt action and a pre Accutrigger Savage 93 in .22 WMR. I've owned the Marlin M60 and Ruger 10/22, both very accurate and reliable. I got rid of the semi autos when I stepped up to the .22 WMR for small game hunting. Plus I found when I wanted to shoot .22lr I usually grabbed the old pump.

The only time I ever had problems with the semi-autos is when I had miss fires becuse of bad primers or they were so dirty they needed to be cleaned. When you get a miss fire the pump and bolt action clear just as fast as the semi auto. When the rifle needs to be cleaned I'd usually get a stuck case and the action would jam trying to feed the next round. I've never had that problem with any of my other rimfire rifles.
 
I really could not make an honest comparison, not having put near the volume of ammo through anything but semi-autos, and most of those were various Marlins...... never had issues that were not related to shooting more than 1000 rounds of cheap bulk ammo w/o cleaning- you know, when you can can scrape flakes of powder residue off the bolt face with a screwdriver, it's no wonder why the bolt wont completely close..... ain't early June parairie-doggin' great?

My kids have shot bricks and bricks through their Marlin and Savage single shots (it amazes me how fast 2-4 little kids can burn through 500 or so (I guess they throw in an extra 50 rounds in the box these days...... while the price is double what it used to be.....) rounds...

We have not had problems with their guns, either.

My nephew had (or he might still have it-he never brings it shooting anymore!) a Henry lever action .22 ....... that thing sure was pretty, but it never worked well, and was not terribly accurate, either.
 
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I'm experienced with:

Lever
- Winchester 9422 (lever, exceptionally accurate, very reliable - favorite)

Single shot (no mag) - hard to beat for plinking fun
- Winchester model 67
- Remington model 514

Semi-Auto
- Marlin Semi-auto
(I don't really recommend it - not quite satisfied with consistency)

- Ruger 10/22 (better than the Marlin, but still not my favorite)

Of the bunch, I'd recommend the 9422 first. You get a faster action, but don't forfeit accuracy. It's NOT cheap ($500+) - but a darn nice gun.
You might look at a Henry if you like the concept, but not the price.

I'm getting very interested in CZ (bolt) - and am seriously considering a CZ for my next acquisition.
 
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Browning lever actions...I have shots tens of thousands of rounds through mine with little trouble..no parts needed replacing although the gun and barrel has become worn down..it still shoots fine..not as good as it used to..but still good..just purchased a ruger sr22 and it seems nice..a few jams on cheap ammo but no biggy :)
 
A bolt action is going to be the most reliable. Any semi is going to have at least a few failures over the course of its lifetime. I've never owned a .22 lever gun, so i'll not comment on those.
 
Got to be bolt rifle.

Talked to competitive small bore shooters about barrel life. They tell me the competitive life of a small bore barrel is 250,000 rounds. Well, the action has to function 250,000 times to shoot out a barrel. And all small bore shooters use bolt rifles.

For a plinker, or even semi serious target, a Ruger 10/22 is hard to beat for reliablity.
 
I can't speak for all, and it is hard to beat the reliability of a bolt action, but my 10/22 is the bees knees! It has jammed before, but only if I wasn't the one who loaded the mag, or inspected it before putting it in. I always bump the rounds back before loading a mag, and in maybe 5000 rounds I have put through it, I have had a handful of "clicks" and no feeding, ejecting, or any other problems. It is also one of the only guns I hate taking apart, so cleaning on it is borderline neglectful.

My suggestions for a 10/22...

1. Metal lipped mags.
2. Good quality .22 ammo. Even the primo stuff is 3c a round, why not use it?
3. Bump the rounds back in the mag before loading it.

Works wonders for me.
 
Hmm...all in all, looks like the bolt is the clearly preferred choice so far. Any and all comments are appreciated, as ever.
 
My opinion.

I was always more accurate with a single shot, then a bolt action. Next in accuracy is the lever action then the semi. I think some of the accuracy issues for me were due to the speed at which I could get my next shot. When you have one shot you have to make it count. If you have the semi, you can fire off a series of shots and hope to hit the target. Also, I believe there is some accuracy lost in the repeating action of loading and ejecting. If you are talking about hunting, I would go with the bolt. I find at the range, however, that I enjoy the lever and semi more.
I had more accuracy with the Marlin model 60 than with my Ruger 10/22.
I have a Henry lever that I really like.
As for bolt action, I can't make any recommendations because the only one I have owned in many years is probably the cheapest Savage on the market and I didn't really like it due to synthetic stock and it didn't eject well.There are a lot of choices out there.
A lot depends on your budget for the gun. I can't see paying over about $300 for any .22 rifle myself, but for under $600 there are a lot of really good rifles. If I wanted a really good bolt or semi I would look at Remington or Browning, but they are more expensive than the ones I mentioned. Good luck.
 
Bolt action is more reliable, eaiser to clean, and generally the most accurate out of the box. I have a CZ-452. With the right ammo, it's a tack driver.

Lever gun is next. I have a Henry, also a tack driver with the right ammo (which for me, happens to be different ammo than for the CZ).

Either one of those will shoot subsonic ammo (necessary if you want to be somewhat stealthy).

A semi-auto of any description is going to give you more issues, regardless of the manufacturer or model. I have a M&P15-22, and while I have never had a FTF or a jam of any kind, I'm careful to load the magazine just right, and use nothing but the higher-speed ammo (CCI MiniMags). It's accurate enough I guess, but the length of the 25-round magazine is (IMHO) excessive. I rarely shoot it, and much prefer either the Henry or the CZ.
 
The most trouble I've ever had with 22 extraction was with a bolt rifle. Specifically a Zastava model 5. The match chamber has to be squeaky clean, so a lot of target 22 ammo with a waxy coating on the bullet is a no no for that rifle.

That being said, unless you are really into target shooting there are a lot of good semi-auto 22's out there that are a ton of fun. I'd recommend a Marlin 795 or Ruger 10/22 for a fun little rifle.

That being said, my 2 22 rifles are bolt action unless you count a dedicated 22 AR upper.

Jimro
 
I've had reliability issues with my old 10/22 so I sold it and got a CZ bolt. More accurate and perfect reliability.
Click to expand...

I had a 10/22 as well and my son a CZ. The miss fires I had I'd give to my son to shoot though the CZ. I sold the Ruger, the accuracy just wasn't there.
 
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