The new .22 rifle selection is dismal,,,

Bart B. said:
The best accuracy these days for 22 rimfire rifles and ammo is almost half an inch at 50 yards extreme spread.

Prior to 1980, it was half that.
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Huh, so my $250 Charger with a Mueller scope and CCI Standard velocity is apparently a high end rig.

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BTW, that's a 3 shot group.
 
ThomasT said:
Thats funny. A few years ago I bought a Ruger 77/22 off GB that came with a cheap straight tube 4x Bushnell scope. IIRC the gun was made in 1986 and has never had any stock work or bedding done to it. I paid a total of $405.05 with shipping and everything else.

I only expected a gun with field grade accuracy. But what I have is a gun that will shoot 5/8" groups group after group with WM blue box Federal bulk ammo. And those are 10 shot groups. After all it came with a 10 shot magazine. And it still has the cheap Bushnell scope on it. I like the way it looks.

I never even tried any other ammo in it. I shot one 30 yard group that was 4 shots in a slightly oblong hole and of course pulled shot number 5 about a quarter inch out. I would have never guessed this gun would shoot so well from the internet reports I had read.
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You should know by now that elitism and snobbery rules the gun forums, everybody has to show off their $1000 or $2000 builds and peacock. I'm not going to say that an Anschutz is a poorly made POS, it's not, they're very well made, but it's like what Hickok said in a video years ago that you can pay $300 and get 95% out of a rifle or you can pay $1500 and get the full 100% because that's what it costs to get it.

For competitive shooters, they'll pay that money (plus the cost of SK and Eley ammo) to be able to compete and have a chance to win.

I don't think paying big bucks for an Anschutz is worth the money, not when I'm getting the groups I get with my Charger and its 10 inch barrel. That right there is largely the reason no competitive shooters buy them to try them: anything with a barrel less than 16 inches was stuck in the NFA and inaccessible until braces came about. Old guys set in their ways who've been around the fudds for too long can't begin to fathom anything outside the box like a 10 inch braced pistol or a field grade Ruger bolt action being used in a competitive environment.
 
You can also reach a point in competition where your equipment is the weak link not you, although that takes years and many thousands of repetitions. I used to shoot small bore sporter-rifle competition: unsupported standing at 50' with a rifle/scope combo that weighs 7.5 pounds or less. I did three years with a 10/22 and built some very solid fundamentals and then received a Browning A-Bolt .22 for Christmas (I think I was 13 or so) and my scores definitely increased. There were a few guys shooting Anschutz rifles, but I recall a lot of Ruger 77/22's and Remington 541s. Money can buy accuracy but it can't buy fundamentals or skill (although it can buy training). It is kind of like the triathlon scene: money can buy speed (on the bike), I don't ride a cheap bike but there are quite a few people at races whose front wheel cost more than my entire setup. Some of them put in the sweat equity to make the most of what they bought, some can afford the fancy equipment but don't have the time to train to make the most of it, but like in the shooting world, they want to know that they are the weak link not the equipment.

I am trying to get back into some form of competitive rimfire so I hit the upper limits of my budget on a rifle that I can go back to Sporterrifle with, silhouette, or hopefully some of the precision rimfire matches that mimic PRS shoots. I convinced myself I was saving on ammo until I bought a thousand rounds of Tenex and Midas+ (range reports to follow this week). Its more rifle than I need BUT when I go home at the end of a range session I know that it is me that needs improvement, and my equipment is not the weak link.


That Charger does shoot pretty nice though.
 
I decided to buy myself the present of an “elite” .22 hunting rifle because life is short, I have the money, and the dog got me out walking woods and fields again in the autumn sunshine.

There are nice bolt action .22s from Savage, Ruger, and CZ and Anshutz and Tika. That runs the range from a couple hundred bucks to about $1500.

It took some doing and some enjoyable weekend drives, but I got a look at the first three. The Savage and Ruger looked nice. When the clerk took the CZ out of the box, all the fellas in the gun shop crowded around.
“What’s that?”
“That’s mine, and that’s my credit card.”
I bought it because it came with two barrels (.17 and .22) and the wood was nice. It’s a beauty, and any fella that sees me with it is thinking “that’s a good looking little rifle.” Not “that’s a tired looking fat old man.”

Now, I have a 10/22 as well. Everyone should have a 10/22 unless you have a Marlin or a Plinkster and wear that warpaint when they have a football game. After much smoothing, crafting, enjoyable work with sandpaper, drill bits, and epoxy, a new trigger group and a pillar to bed the stock, the 10/22 shoots about 1.5 inch groups (10 shots, extreme outer edge to extreme outer edge.) at 50 yards. The CZ does 1.0 inch out of the box.

The number of squirrels in your game bag will be the same.

I enjoyed home-building my 10/22 and am very fond of it. It looks fine, until you put it beside the CZ. Then it looks like a 2x4 with a scope and barrel. Many fellas don’t care, many have more important places to put the $250 difference in price. But I hope my daughter will love my CZ like I do and maybe in 100 years it’ll still be in the family, looking good in hardwood when everything else is plastic.

Are the Premier $1500 .22s worth it? Yes, just not for my budget and needs.

My only problem was finding a good gun shop that had them all to look at, as I did not want to go to a giant warehouse store. I like the little guys better, and finding the CZ took a bit of searching.

I could say “just order the CZ online” but that’s not as fun as seeing it before you throw money at it.
 
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So, I hit my LGS yesterday morning,,,

So, I hit my LGS yesterday morning,,,
I wanted to see if he could order a CZ 457 LRP for me.

He said he would go online and try,,,
But he guaranteed that even if he could find one,,,
The distributors would not ship to him because he's too small a fish.

He said they are only shipping to the larger gun stores,,,
The little stores like his just aren't getting any stock.

Something about showing "loyalty" to their biggest customers.

Yesterday afternoon I sat down and called over 20 larger gun shops in the Tulsa/Broken Arrow/Ok City area,,,
Not a one of them had the rifle I want and all said they couldn't (wouldn't) back order one.

This is what I mean when I say the "...selection is dismal."

Aarond

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aarondhgraham said:
So, I hit my LGS yesterday morning,,,
I wanted to see if he could order a CZ 457 LRP for me.

He said he would go online and try,,,
But he guaranteed that even if he could find one,,,
The distributors would not ship to him because he's too small a fish.

He said they are only shipping to the larger gun stores,,,
The little stores like his just aren't getting any stock.

Something about showing "loyalty" to their biggest customers.

Yesterday afternoon I sat down and called over 20 larger gun shops in the Tulsa/Broken Arrow/Ok City area,,,
Not a one of them had the rifle I want and all said they couldn't (wouldn't) back order one.

This is what I mean when I say the "...selection is dismal."

Aarond

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I feel your pain, Aaron, my small LGS that I have do my transfers is at the mercy of whoever will distribute to them. When I was there a couple weeks ago and saw airgun stuff I knew things were bad. Yeah, they had some consignment guns, they always do, but for new I'm not seeing much. It really doesn't make sense to me to buy new from them anyway, not when I go online and get the same gun and pay no sales tax on it.
 
It took some doing and some enjoyable weekend drives, but I got a look at the first three. The Savage and Ruger looked nice. When the clerk took the CZ out of the box, all the fellas in the gun shop crowded around.
“What’s that?”
“That’s mine, and that’s my credit card.”
I bought it because it came with two barrels (.17 and .22) and the wood was nice. It’s a beauty, and any fella that sees me with it is thinking “that’s a good looking little rifle.” Not “that’s a tired looking fat old man.”
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Sounds like the 457 American convertible. You'll be plenty happy with it I bet.
 
After almost a year I finally "pulled the trigger",,,

After almost a year I finally "pulled the trigger",,,
I found a CZ-457 Varmint AT-ONE with 24" barrel in stock at Buds.

This was my 2nd choice after the CZ-457 LRP.

I decided that I was tired of waiting/searching and ordered the dang thing.

So, by the end of next week I should be the proud owner of a new CZ,,,
This rifle is my long awaited retirement gift to myself.

It's a bit late as I retired back on Jan the 8th,,,
But you know, Covid!

I am very excited! :D

Aarond

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Oh I am all about the 10/22 Ruger! Aftermarket parts a plenty. Can get a skin and bones stock model, and do whatever you wish to it!! Price is right, too. IMO.

I had a charger, shot great. Mine was a take down model and I loved taking it down and putting it in its little case to tote around. Sold it for something else.
 
Hello 10-96,,,

Aarond, The suspense is killing us! Have you picked up the rifle yet? Shot it yet?



I did pick the rifle up from my LGS,,,
And after a few days trying to find some purple Loctite,,,
I finally have the Weaver adapter rail and the Scope mounted and leveled.

Today is my regular scheduled day of "lawn work grunt labor",,,
I'll be taking the rifle out to the range on Thursday morning.

Aarond

.
 
Henry purchased the ERMA patent for their 22LR levergun. This is a reliable action originally designed in West Germany. Accuracy is quite good when fitted with a good scope sight and Winchester hollow tip ammo.

Leverguns are not for everyone but I love 'em!

Jack
 
Your new rifle probably has a similar barrel to mine; it's expensive ammo but be sure to try some RWS R-50, most ammo shoots very well out of mine but the R-50 is lights out the best of them all in my CZ457.
 
Ruger 10/22 modified to be my range day tack driver!! I can’t say the 22 selection has gone dismal. Just gotta know what you are looking for and never stop until you find it.
 

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Enjoying this thread very much!

darkgael - please tell us more about the Anschutz

PzGren - same, please tell us more about your Anschutz

BornFighting88 - that is one terribly cool 10/22 pup, please tell us more

(last but certainly not least)

aarondhgraham surely you've had a chance to fire that lovely CZ, tell us about it!!!
 
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