First Rimfire

i've got 14 rimfires (all 22lr), and the semi's are the only ones i ever consider getting rid of. that being said, i bought 2 10/22s last fall. my personal favorites are the cz 452, but i also like the henry levers and pumps. one of the most fun rimfires i own is the junk savage "favorite" single shot. when i go shooting, i usually have to take at least six with me. that probably doesn't help you does it?

i would recommend:

1. cz 452 bolt with iron sights. foolproof.

2. henry lever or pump. reliable and easy on the wallet.

3. ruger 10/22. most user-friendly semi, most options for goodies (you will want goodies).

4. do like a true canadian gunnut and buy every rimfire you see and be prepared for the zombie-gopher apocalypse.;)
 
If you were my son and it was his first gun I'd say get a bolt action to start.

Nothing wrong with semis but they can create bad shooting habits.

Years ago my son and I were on a rabbit hunt with beagles, rabbit comes along and stops at about 40 yds. After 8 shots out of the semi in a fairly rapid rate the rabbit hasnt moved , 9th shot lights out. The gun was sighted in perfectly.

I hand him my bolt action with one bullet in the chamber and tell him you only have one shot. Next rabbit comes along later that afternoon at a similar yardage and I remind him he only has one shot, it was a much better thought out shot and taught him a very good lesson.

Thats my 2 cents use it as you wish.
 
Yup I agree 1000% get a savage bolt action to start, new they are more than reasonable and the accutrigger is a great addition. Later once he gets into it then the gun has some resale if you want to get into a 10/22.
 
After purchasing a Beretta 92FS and a Remington 870, I finally saw the light of owning a .22 for cheap and extremely fun shooting. I went for a Savage Mk-II F with the sporter barrel (lighter one). It's been a dream to shoot, and fitted with a 3-9x scope, has brought many a squirrel to its doom (and ultimately my dinner table).

If you were looking for something on the inexpensive, but definitely nice quality, go with a Savage Mk-II. I have yet to find something that beats the Accutrigger. Which is also why I own a Savage 12FV in .223, because the trigger is like a dream.

That being said, if you are willing to spend a bit more money, the CZ 453 American is quite the rifle. My father wanted research on a quality .22 that he could use for hunting, and he's been more than pleased with it. The single-set trigger is totally worth the money, and everything on the rifle, from the wood to the action, is quality.

Hope this helps!
 
I've heard a lot on the forums about Squirrel hunting... and maybe I'm just a dumb city person... but you eat them?
 
Not the ones from the city, but ones that live in the wild, many km's from civilization (that haven't been feeding on garbage nor look cancerous). They've been having a steady natural diet of nuts and such all their life. One could quite easily argue that they are 'free range'. It seems like a much healthier alternative to chicken that is pumped full of chemicals and steroids. Also, when you butcher them, they look and taste quite similar to a small rabbit.
 
Nangisan said:
If I went for a $200-$400 bolt action .22, what would be a good choice as far as resale goes?
Click to expand...

You may get lucky on the EE and be the first to spot a 200 buck Marlin or Savage Boltie. They seldom stay long.

I got lucky and got:
1. 200 bucks shipped, Savage MKIIF with Bushnell 3-9 x 32 AO, and
2. 170 bucks shipped Marlin 981T. Both slightly used. I won't tell you about the other one I got, because I haven't EMT'd payment yet:D

Re-sale is not contemplated at the moment, nor in the foreseeable future.
 
I own both of what you are probably considering as your options right now: 10/22 and Savage MKII FV (that's the heavy barrel, btw any V in a Savage model means the same thing, heavy barrel).

There's nothing like ripping a can to shreds with a semi, but I will share my evolution of .22 ownership, and I think it will help you some.

I bought a 10/22 because I wanted a semi, knew it had 30 round mags available for it, and if I needed/wanted to change anything on it, it was very simple as everything is modular. The trigger was the first thing to go. It was so stiff, my finger actually hurt from the strain to pull it. It must be 8 lbs, no lie. I replaced it with a VQ trigger group. oops, $200. I then replaced the stock because I was scared of dinging up the nice wood that came with the DSP model I bought. oops, ~$50.00 wasted because I could've bought a synthetic model as I would've changed out the stock just the same on it. $100 for the stock.. suddenly that 10/22 isn't the bargain I thought it was :redface:.

After playing around with the 10/22 for a bit (and I admit, it is fun burning through ammo just because you can) I started to doubt it's accuracy (it still has the factory barrel mind you). I then found a deal on the Savage MKII FV. Well holy crap, compared to that gun, the 10/22 is a shotgun! It is a far better gun to learn how to shoot on because when you miss, you KNOW it's your fault, whereas with the 10/22, it's within the standard deviation.

And yes, you will burn more ammo with a semi than with a bolt unless you consciously try not to, and even then, it's hard. I had a cheap box of .22s I wanted to get rid of because neither gun shot them particularly well. I could easily go through a brick or 2 with the 10/22 in one range session. With the bolt, it was torture going through 50 unwanted rounds lol.

The semi is damn tempting as a first gun, I know, because I've been there. But if you are looking for accuracy, a gun that will teach you how to shoot, a gun you might hunt or shoot gophers with, and you don't want to spend a whole lot, the Savage does come out waaay ahead of the 10/22 when comparing them straight out of the box.

You WILL lighten or replace the trigger on the 10/22. The Savage comes with an excellent one out of the box.
 
Oh so do the letters after the model number have actual meanings? I thought it was somewhat random...
 
A person creates their own poor or good shooting habits, not the firearm. Just because you get a semi 10/22 doesn't mean your going to burn through the magazine to hit something. That'll be your choice, irrelevant of your firearm choice.
If your really worried, load the firearm one cartidge at a time by hand or use CCI CB longs. They do not have enough power to cycle the action, creating a manual action firearm. Easier to cycle than a bolt action, but still not semi.
 
lone-wolf said:
A person creates their own poor or good shooting habits, not the firearm. Just because you get a semi 10/22 doesn't mean your going to burn through the magazine to hit something. That'll be your choice, irrelevant of firearm choice.
If your really worried, load the firearm one cartidge at a time by hand or use CCI CB longs. They do not have enough power to cycle the action, creating a manual action firearm. Easier to cycle than a bolt action, but still not semi.
Click to expand...

Lol good grief. I'm not saying the semi is possessed and going to turn you into an ammo junkie, I'm just saying it's a lot easier to do it if you so desire. And I know from experience .22 ammo goes a lot faster when my buddies are shooting the 10/22, especially newbies.

As for your question about the Savage letter codes, yes, they all stand for something. A few examples:

F - Synthetic stock
B - Laminate stock
G - Hardwood stock
L - Left hand
V - Heavy barrel
SS - Stainless

There's a table on Savage's website, but I will defer to someone better than I to find it, as I can't seem to locate it as easily as I could before.. hmm.
 
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