Looking to get back into rimfire. What do I get??

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TheArmyMan204

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So I used to have a Savage 93r17 (I think that's what it was called) and it was an impulse buy and I really didn't have a need for it so I traded it off.

I currently have a Remington 597 that is just horrible. It's only feeds cci ammo reliably and when it does shoot it's not nearly as accurate as when I shoot my buddies old cooey

So basically I'm looking for a bolt action rifle that would be good for squirrels and other pests upto 50 yards. Trying to stay cheap as possible but still need reliability. Also should I scope or just iron sights? My 597 has a 3-9x scope which seems over kill for a .22
 
TheArmyMan204 said:
Also should I scope or just iron sights? My 597 has a 3-9x scope which seems over kill for a .22
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:sok2 3-9x is overkill?? Obviously my input won't be much help to you I consider 18x a minimum and have a 24x on one of mine :d Maybe a fixed 4x to snipe those tree rats, I can't see you having much success with irons. To stay cheap look into the used market, I've had good luck with a Savage MKII. Just about any brand will do what you want find a deal and go for it.

FLHTCUI said:
So, my suggestion is a CZ, you'll never look back.
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*Bites tongue, blood pouring down shirt* Oh yeah, totally... their QC is just great :rolleyes: http://www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=765129
 
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RabidM4U5 said:
:sok2 3-9x is overkill?? Obviously my input won't be much help to you I consider 18x a minimum and have a 24x on one of mine :d Maybe a fixed 4x to snipe those tree rats, I can't see you having much success with irons. To stay cheap look into the used market, I've had good luck with a Savage MKII. Just about any brand will do what you want find a deal and go for it.
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I totally agree...nothing worse than the long walk to check the target to see where the holes are! Love, love love "overkill scopes" for plinking. Set up a few papers an go till the barrel needs to cool....
 
Depends on how much money you want to spend,I like the BRNO, or the Norinco knockoff JW 15 for about 1/3 rd the price,not as finely finished but shoots just as well
 
I ordered a CZ 452 American in walnut with a VX2 4-12x40 matte Leuopold scope with AO and (gloss) 13 mm Leuopold rings.

Need to find out about which is good ammo to start with and wonder how this combo will work out.
 
The OP stated budget minded ,so IMO Marlin XT ,no mods needed accurate out of the box

Getting a little hard to find as the secret has been out for awhile.
Cheers
 
I love Marlin rimfire's. Though mine is a model 795 semi it eats most everything I put in it with very few failures. I put a 3-9 Bushnel scope on it and have a couple of 25 round magazines for plinking. Dead on accurate which comes from a well machined firearm. The bolt action model should be just as accurate and even more reliable.
 
Firehoser said:
I love Marlin rimfire's. Though mine is a model 795 semi it eats most everything I put in it with very few failures. I put a 3-9 Bushnel scope on it and have a couple of 25 round magazines for plinking. Dead on accurate which comes from a well machined firearm. The bolt action model should be just as accurate and even more reliable.
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Now the OP stated he wanted a bolt 22 ,if still considering a semi , i will back the 795 all day my only semi 22 which has now become my permanent choice , accurate again out of the box no mods needed and very well priced
 
cz for the win .. ok it costs abit more but you won't need to replace it ... unless you jump into the +$1000 dollar 22 rifles

i have two cooey's ... overhyped budget junk

buy something decent and you won't regret it ( cept cz is addictive )
 
I've been let down by too many Savage rimfires in recent years, I won't buy another. (5 in total, only the kid's Savage Rascal remains) Some shot well, others came with manufacturing defects~all pretty roughly finished. I still think they're mostly OK rifles, but Savage is in love with raising the prices and not the QC so they're just not on the radar for me anymore.

CZ on the other hand~somewhere around 2x the cost (@/around $600 new) might be out of your price range, might not seem "worth it" for a .22 depending on who you're speaking to, etc, However, I've learned the hard way that there is some merit to the "buy once, cry once" mantra. I had a 452 Varmint in 17HMR I was foolish enough to sell when I was getting into .223. I fixed that not too long ago by buying a 452 Varmint in 22LR for my spring 2016 gopher safari. That rifle performed as expected, which was very bad news for a large number of gophers. :) This is the gun/scope combo, I opted for a 4-12 AO and I think it was a great combo for shooting prone off a bipod.

http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/foru...int-shoots-OK!-**UPDATE-photos-added-page-3**

I also got a chance to shoot a BRNO 2E out there with open sights (CZ "predecessor") out there and fell in love with the thing. Got me keen on having an open-sight rifle again and I've since picked-up one for myself. A nice copy is in the neighborhood of a new CZ $-wise. To me, they ARE worth 2x what a Savage is...and I sure don't consider myself a gun snob. Far from it.

A couple other ideas...

1.I like older Marlin 917s (heavy barrel), but I'm not sure what the 22LR models were made around the same time. Marlin 925 maybe? I'd consider them to be worth a look if they're anything like their .17 brethren. Heavy triggers, but you can get a replacement from Rifle Basix for the .17s I know.

2. My first .22LR purchase was an Anschutz 1450. Youth-sized .22, has iron sights. It's on the "never sell" list for me. Trigger is heavy-ish, but boy it's a shooter. Paid $289 for it about 25 years ago. Anschutz made rifles under the CIL name some time ago (if I understand that right) and you see them for sale on the used market often.

3. New~I think the Ruger American is worth a look, MAYBE the Marlin XT series too. Likely in the $350 range and maybe sufficient for your needs. All 22s shoot various 22 ammo differently, so sample lots to see what your gun likes.

Scope~very personal. Mine wear anything from fixed 2.75x up to variables that top-out @ 12x. My 17s~16x and 18x at the top end. Lots of 3-9x scopes out there (especially cheaper ones) have parallax setting of 100 yards. A poor choice for a 22 any way you slice it. Make sure you have an AO on your scope.
 
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