New shooter looking for rimfire suggestions.

Im going to assume the target shooting your going to be doing as a new shooter is just fun pliking at paper trying to get the best groups possible. If that is the case, you cant go wrong with the Savage MKII. I own one and love it. Ive owned alot of different rim fires over the years including many 10/22s, marlins, remingtons etc etc... even a Henry Survival and a Browning trombone.
Semis are great fun and in .22 they are cheap to shoot. After owning so many .22 semis I just got bored with all the "same same" out there so my current semi is a Pietta PPS-50. So far, its been a fantasic gun, super fun to shoot, 30 round mags feed flawlessly. And best of all, it was cheap. With 2 mags, brand new from Tenda it came to just over $300. They have bricks of .22 (1000rounds) for just over $60 right now too.

For a bolt gun, I really like the MKII because its very well setup and very accurate with no modifications. You can get 10 round mags for it, there are upgraded stocks available, it has the accutrigger which is fantastic. Its just a simple, reliable and accurate bolt gun for a great price.

You can never go wrong with a 10/22. They have the reputation they do for a reason. But for me, theyre just so "me too" I just couldnt do it.

If you REALLY want to go for accuracy but want to stick to a rim fire, look at a Savage 93r17hmr. The .17hmr is a cool round that packs a good punch and is super accurate out to surprisingly long distances. More expensive than .22... but its an option depending on what you want to do.
 
johNTO said:
Dumping rounds thru a semi gets old quick. Don't own them anymore. Good quality bolts are the way to go IMO......
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silverfoxdj said:
Yup fun for awhile ...have one for giggles and new shooters
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^this.

I can see the appeal of semis...and of course, the appeal of military-looking ones. However, having been down that road a few times, it's the bolt guns I reach for most. Like silverfoxdj, I keep a Marlin 795 for my kids and new shooters to play with but for my purposes, bolt guns rule the roost. If by "target work" you mean everything but hunting, then all of the guns suggested will work to a greater/lesser degree. If it's a military-looking gun you're after, the only one I'd even consider is a Ruger SR22 but since that's the price range of a CZ bolt gun, I don't see it ever happening.

However, if you're after great results from an accuracy POV...the bolt gun is the way to go. I've had several Savage rimfires come and go, but a CZ and a BRNO are the only bolt-action 22s I've bought in the last couple of years. If something snazzier is in my future, it'll likely have the word "Anschutz" on the side of it. :) Savages are OK and in fact, usually shoot very well for the money. However, go to a gun shop and ask to see both side by side and then see which one you'd prefer to take home.

Good luck with whatever you choose. Sometimes we just have to get a certain gun "out of our system" and get it...in spite of what you might read about it online.
 
I have a few 22lr bolt guns and a few 22lr semis. From my personal experience....

Stevens 300 22lr bolt gun. Cheap and reliable. Great quality. Not very accurate. Very stiff trigger. Great for a youngster.

CZ 455 - love this bolt gun as this is my "go to" if i want to go cheap and save the .223's for another day. I have mine setup with a bi pod and a 4x16 power scope for longer range paper punching and steel ringing. It is a 1 to 1.5 MOA gun with cheap federal target ammo if everything is going right....possibly tighter with expensive eley match ammo. The adjustable trigger is beautiful and the bolt is buttery smooth. I shoot it from a bench at 100 yards most of the time but I occasionally stretch it out to 200 yards and can tap a 4 inch spinner about 50% of the time. It's just silly fun.

Remington 597 - mine cycles like a piece of turd no matter the ammo or the mag. It will extract the rounds from the chamber however the extractor fails to kick the spent casing out of the action enough that it made me put the thing in the safe permanently. I upgraded to a Volquartsen extractor and while it is better, it still runs like a turd. I may revisit it in the future or just give it to a new shooter. I would avoid this one.

Marlin 795 - LOVE this little semi. Very accurate with my red dot and cycles well on many different types of cheap ammo. Mine loves American Eagle 38grain copper plated. The Pro Mag 25 round seems to work well in mine. For 200$, it will by far be your best band for the buck if a fast firing semi is more to your liking. It has a last shot bolt hold open unlike the 10 22. Aftermarket accessories are very limited. You will burn through a brick before you know it.
 
If you're looking at the Stevens, it's worth ponying up the extra change (or waiting for a sale) and getting the Savage Mark II instead. Same gun, but the Accutrigger makes a big difference over the stiff standard trigger.
 
I like 22s. I have at least one rifle in every discipline, single shot, bolt, lever, pump, and autoloading. Same for handguns too, you can't go wrong having a 22, and there is no such thing as too many 22s. What good is a 22? The 22 will teach you every skill you need in shooting: safety, sight picture, trigger control, mounting and dismounting the gun, shooting positions, as well as leading your moving target. It does this while being less taxing, less taxing on both your body as well as you pocket book.

I understand that the shooting environment here in the American southwest may be somewhat different than that you find in Canada. My range allows for "plinking", the use of non-standard targets for recreational enjoyment, which while forbidding glass, allows for frangible targets like clay pigeons and crackers/cookies, or reactive targets like those offered by Do-All.

As for suggesting a first 22, or first gun of any type, I will say look at a manually operated gun, bolt, pump, or lever action. When it takes your action to deliberately load and eject the cartridge I feel you are less likely to have an accidental discharge.
 
I would stick with a Savage Mark II F (synthetic) or G (wood). If you're going to be shooting off-hand, then don't worry about the heavy barrel versions. I actually cut a couple inches off my Mark II BTV to make it easier to hold off-hand. You can even get one that includes a Bushnell scope, mounted and bore sighted, for about $60 more, the Mark II FXP (if you don't mind a green stock).

You'll probably find that, if you care about accuracy, you can probably cycle a bolt action as fast as you can properly aim your follow-up shots anyway. That being said, I have an old Mossberg semi and a customized 10/22, so I really see no reason not to get a semi, if you really want one. They're fun, but they tend to cost more to run.

If you have a chance to try out a few before you buy, that would be best. My BiL couldn't hit #### with either of my scoped 22s, but turned into a crack shot with a bone stock base model Henry lever action. If you put a location in your profile, you might even get offers to go shooting. Probably only cost you a coffee.
 
Gdub905 said:
Hey everyone, as a new shooter am looking to buy a rifle to use on the range that wont be to pricey to do a lot of target work since i know i am going to want to use it a lot for the first year or so. I have my eye on the ISSC MK22 but would love some suggestions on anything comparably priced. I really like the versatility that the MK22 offers for customising and addons, but i have read a lot of negative reviews of it regarding misfires and poor craftsmanship.
Throw out some suggestions and maybe the reason it would be a good starter range rifle.

Also i am being given 2 rifles from my father which are a winchester 30-30 and a enfield mark IV 303. British, so i have some more powerful calibers to use also.
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I'll go with those who said Savage MKII and would like to add to buy the cheapest version, the synthetic stocked slim-barrelled MkIIF. I have one and love it.

Back when I had better eyes and steadier hands, I managed 1 inch 5-shot groups at 100 meters, sandbagged on both ends, on a calm morning shooting cheap Winchester Dynapoint bulk. Hard to believe but true. On the same day, my CZ452 Style produced similar groups. Not consistently though, as cheap ammo will always produce flyers. IIRC, 2-3 groups out of every 5 were 1 inch or slightly less. And the flyers were not that far off, maybe 1.5-2.0 inches.

At times, I have been thinking of selling this MkIIF, but can't bring myself to sell it. My CZ452s need to get out more, and they are indeed much nicer to hold, and shoot, but I wouldn't say the CZs are more accurate that the MKIIF. I am just as proud of my MKIIF as my CZs.

I also have a Savage MkIGY, youth sized single shot, that is waiting for my grandson to get a little bigger. I have only shot 17yd groups with it, and at this distance, 5-shot groups are usually one ragged .3-.4 inch diameter hole, on a rifle rest, using Win HV 333s. I think it will be a great 100-meter shooter as well.

I believe the only interesting rifles are the accurate ones. So I sold all my semi-autos, including 2 Marlin 60s that were really accurate at 25 meters, .5 inch groups, sandbagged. But groups opened up at 100 meters.

I think a bolt action, even a single shot, will give you many hours of shooting fun. Semis are fun too but not anymore for me.
 
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I want it for target shooting and customising, honestly it will be that piece i take out and blow off some ammo and have some fun before getting into the serious work with my bolt action Enfield. So for fun and in semi auto, i like the larger mag capacity for the range. I see GSG has put out their own version of the ISSC MKII called the GSG-15, has anyone shot one yet?
 
Gdub905 said:
I want it for target shooting and customising, honestly it will be that piece i take out and blow off some ammo and have some fun before getting into the serious work with my bolt action Enfield. So for fun and in semi auto, i like the larger mag capacity for the range. I see GSG has put out their own version of the ISSC MKII called the GSG-15, has anyone shot one yet?
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Some talk about them here with video...

https://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php/1518832-GSG-15-and-STG-44-product-review
 
I am new to shooting for the most part. That is too say i am just getting my RPAL having never been licensed before. I have been shooting with friends 4 times and tried 7 or 8 different guns ranging from pistols to semi auto rifles to shotguns.

For this particular rifle i am looking for something to use on paper targets at medium to long range (50 -100 meters), I am looking to stay between $400 and $700 for the rifle. Then add optics between $150 - $300 preferably something that is more universal in case I want to get an AR or some other higher cal rifle for 3-gun later.

I feel like im a decent shot already but I have never shot beyond 50 meters so its kinda hard to tell. Overall accuracy of the firearm is something to consider but consistancy is more what im looking for.

I am kinda leaning towards the new GSG-15 or everyone seems to love the Ruger 10/22. So I guess im closer but still weighing my options.
 
Gdub905 said:
I am kinda leaning towards the new GSG-15 or everyone seems to love the Ruger 10/22. So I guess im closer but still weighing my options.
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Both nice .22's. Currently the Ruger magazine is limited to 10 rounds. GSG-15 has no restrictions on magazine capacity. That would decide it for me.
 
Gdub905 said:
I am new to shooting for the most part. That is too say i am just getting my RPAL having never been licensed before. I have been shooting with friends 4 times and tried 7 or 8 different guns ranging from pistols to semi auto rifles to shotguns.

For this particular rifle i am looking for something to use on paper targets at medium to long range (50 -100 meters), I am looking to stay between $400 and $700 for the rifle. Then add optics between $150 - $300 preferably something that is more universal in case I want to get an AR or some other higher cal rifle for 3-gun later.

I feel like im a decent shot already but I have never shot beyond 50 meters so its kinda hard to tell. Overall accuracy of the firearm is something to consider but consistancy is more what im looking for.

I am kinda leaning towards the new GSG-15 or everyone seems to love the Ruger 10/22. So I guess im closer but still weighing my options.
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Just wondering what you meant by "consistency?" Consistent accuracy? Reliability? I (personally) wouldn't expect either the GSG-15 OR SR22 (=10/22 in a nice shell) to be overly accurate shooters at 100 yards. That's not everyone's goal, I realize that, but the new 10/22 I owned wouldn't reliably hit a pop can at 50 yards no matter what ammo I fed it. If plinking/paper-punching without a burning desire to see tight groups is your thing, then the semis you're looking at should serve you well enough. If you want a 22 that punches holes in paper closer to each other, a CZ 452 bolt gun would be my suggestion but a Savage Mark II or Marlin XT series rifle wouldn't be bad either. If you want to see tight groups with a rimfire @ 100 yards and don't mind paying about $0.35 a shot, 17HMR is awfully hard to beat.
 
gwilder said:
I would stick with a Savage Mark II F (synthetic) or G (wood). If you're going to be shooting off-hand, then don't worry about the heavy barrel versions. I actually cut a couple inches off my Mark II BTV to make it easier to hold off-hand. You can even get one that includes a Bushnell scope, mounted and bore sighted, for about $60 more, the Mark II FXP (if you don't mind a green stock).

You'll probably find that, if you care about accuracy, you can probably cycle a bolt action as fast as you can properly aim your follow-up shots anyway. That being said, I have an old Mossberg semi and a customized 10/22, so I really see no reason not to get a semi, if you really want one. They're fun, but they tend to cost more to run.

If you have a chance to try out a few before you buy, that would be best. My BiL couldn't hit #### with either of my scoped 22s, but turned into a crack shot with a bone stock base model Henry lever action. If you put a location in your profile, you might even get offers to go shooting. Probably only cost you a coffee.
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Good info , sorry i did not see the section to update my profile. I will certainly do that.
 
It all depends on what kind of shooting you want to do. I have a few .22's, and if I had to get rid of one the semi-auto would be the first to go. It's an RX-22, basically the same thing as the ISSC version. It's quite fun, very accurate, and can empty a 22 round magazine as fast as your finger moves back and forth! Hasn't been too picky with ammo either, just use HV and all is well.

For any kind of accuracy work a bolt-action is the way to go, but if your maximum range is 50y or less, then I'd be looking for a good ol' lever-action. I went the Henry Golden Boy route, it'll never leave my possession, and is by far the most entertaining gun I own! Something about a lever-action....
 
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