A good plinking ..22
- Thread starter Hort Tech
- Start date
You mean the GSG StG 44 Schmeisser? I've had one for some time. An excellent plinker. Actually very accurate. Eats any ammo brand without a hiccup. The only thing is that it's quite heavy at 10lbs since it's a very good replica of the real StG 44. Full metal, also steel, and wood. Good for someone rather strong.
I've never shot the Beretta arx160 which looks much more modern than the StG 44.
I can also recommend the Baikal TOZ-99. It doesn't have a "tactical" look but it's a great .22 semi-auto carbine. Beats hands down the overblown 10/22. The TOZ-99 is very accurate, nearly all steel and wood. The sights are made of steel. Only mags and the mag insert are made of reinforced polymer, very hard. It's light and very pointable. Very good price at 230-249.
I just got one of the STG-44's and had a chance to shoot it this weekend. It's a fun gun. mrs. Cannon has never had a semi-auto .22 before, so to be able to spray rounds was a lot of fun for her. I found mine shoots a bit low - I just fired it at about 20 yards and found mine was very accurate with the sights set to 30 at that distance. Windage (at that range, anyways) was non-existent. My sights are set evenly in the middle.
It is indeed heavy, but I feel like Brad Pitt in Fury when I shoot it lol. Honestly, it was a lot of fun. I use CCI mini-mags in it, and had no jams at all. I did have the occasional feed failure - the round wouldn't elevate into the chamber. This was quickly resolved by simply re-cocking the handle a la Ma Deuce. I read this perhaps happens during the loading process of the magazine and has to do with how the round sits. Could have been operator error during loading - if you pull the thumb slide down far so you can just dump the rounds into the mag this can happen.
Otherwise, I'd honestly use this gun for partridge. I think you could make accurate headshots at that distance. I thought it would be useless, but it was actually quite accurate at grouse distance. I was lucky - I picked mine up used for $400, and we hunt in the Wildcat, so carrying it long distances is not an issue.
Cannon
It is indeed heavy, but I feel like Brad Pitt in Fury when I shoot it lol. Honestly, it was a lot of fun. I use CCI mini-mags in it, and had no jams at all. I did have the occasional feed failure - the round wouldn't elevate into the chamber. This was quickly resolved by simply re-cocking the handle a la Ma Deuce. I read this perhaps happens during the loading process of the magazine and has to do with how the round sits. Could have been operator error during loading - if you pull the thumb slide down far so you can just dump the rounds into the mag this can happen.
Otherwise, I'd honestly use this gun for partridge. I think you could make accurate headshots at that distance. I thought it would be useless, but it was actually quite accurate at grouse distance. I was lucky - I picked mine up used for $400, and we hunt in the Wildcat, so carrying it long distances is not an issue.
Cannon
Well, I think almost all 22s are good for plinking so it becomes a matter of personal taste really. In my case, I think the STG 44 would probably be among the last 22s I'd buy for plinking simply because of the weight. I also think you should be able to shoot a heavy rifle off a rest/bench, but the mags on that gun might make that nearly impossible. So, it's a heavy gun to shoot offhand (for very long) and ill-suited to shoot from a rest. Cool factor of 9/10 though!
I like bolt guns and use them for almost everything..but for plinking, I like something light. In a semi~the Marlin 795 is a great choice and it's close relative the Marlin 60 is good too. The 795 is box mags verses the 60's tube mag~maybe more convenient. These are light guns, accurate, inexpensive, etc. The iron sights on them are crappy, so that might be an issue if you want to leave optics out of the equation. If it's a military look you're after, I'd personally pick a Ruger SR22 over anything else non-restricted. They're based off the the Ruger 10/22 which is a gun I don't care for...however...to hold an SR22 is to want one. IMHO
The amount of free time I have and the limited number of spots I can shoot have shaped the type of guns I'm looking at these days. "plinkers" are starting to make the most sense so I'm hoping Santa puts a pump-action 22 under the tree for me.
