Best 22 lr for small gaming hunting?

It really depends what strikes your fancy... most (not to say all) quality 22lr (with accurate ammo) will do just fine for small games.
- And while there's nothing wrong with the 10/22 (everyone will have one to thinker with, eventually)... I like to buy the nicest firearm I can afford at the point in time.

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It really depends what strikes your fancy... most (not to say all) quality 22lr (with accurate ammo) will do just fine for small games.
- And while there's nothing wrong with the 10/22 (everyone will have one to thinker with, eventually)... I like to buy the nicest firearm I can afford at the point in time.

Winchester-Model-1885-Rimfire.jpg

That is a good comment. My 10/22's came from the EE as did the Coopers and an Anschutz 1416 through a trade.

When I made the decision to buy the 1710 . . . done and the same for the 1712. It's just money that I won't have to give to GUVMENT!
 
What's the going $ for the Cooper JSR these days?

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Might be hitting close to his limit! LOL! Life is hard when....

Kimber made a rimfire. The Winchester 52 Sporters sure are nice! Remington made a Sporter 40x, too.

And there is around a hundred or so years worth of decent and high quality guns out there, on the used market too. If you don't mind the Euro styling, check out Brno's.

Thing to remember, is more money may get you a somewhat nicer gun, but you won't have more fun with it than the guy with the cheaper one!
 
Thompson Center R55 All Weather

If you're looking for a rifle that will stand up to abuse in the bush - hard to beat the R55 for price and accuracy.

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I found my CZ too heavy. It was deadly accurate, but I have so many guns that were way lighter, and accurate enough.
I've got a minty Cooey 60 that is dead accurate with open sites.
I had a ruger american rimfire with the .22 inch barrel and the synthetic stock. I really liked that gun, it was very accurate, nice to carry, gave it to my son, he's popped a lot of bunnies with it with just the open sites. I replaced it with the same gun, but with a wooden stock, and I really disliked that one. It was very accurate with a scope, but just didn't carry well for hunting.

I've got a cooey semi and a ruger 10/22 as well. When I take a .22 hunting now, it's usually the ruger 10/22, in the end, it's hard to beat the reliability for a hunting gun.
 
Depends on your woods, but out here having a tube magazine is nice - just one less thing to snag on a branch. Cooey 600s are about 250$ and shoot really well and hold 10-12 rds (IIRC) inside. Could be enough for an entire day out. Throw on a nice 4x weaver or peep site and dinner is served.

I'd also be partial to a 10/22 if you're going after moving rabbits. They range from 300-1500+ smackaroos. Replace the barrel if you wanna be a target man in the summer.
 
Henry Small Game Rifle & Carbine.
Shoots S/L/LR. 17" or 20" octagon barrel with Skinner peep sights. Large loop lever for those cool days when you need gloves.
Tons of fun well under your budget.......
 
... As mentioned by others, please do not scrimp on buying different brands of ammo to try out. Never ceases to amaze me how accurate a rifle can be when you find its matching ammo.

Have to +1 this comment, save at least a few hundred bucks in the budget to test as many different ammunition types as you can. Oh, and a solid target shooting setup if you don't have one already, so you can do some serious testing.

In general I'll say that the list of recommended rifles is probably longer than the list of not recommended rifles. There are many, many current rifles that are plenty accurate and reliable (with the right ammunition), and the rest depends on personal preference and the specifics of how/where it's going to be used.
 
Speaking of ammo... In my book: accurate lead-round-nose are better than hollow-point-hyper-velocity stuff...


The new T-Bolt is kind of nice (and light)
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Depends on the gun sometimes, my xt shoots hollow points better than rn but not by much. Both kill rabbits equally well, hp is definitely noticeable with regards to entry and exit holes. Which is nice when you head shoot but not if you end up hitting a front shoulder lol.
 
22 lr are finicky. I've seen plenty of savages and mossbergs that would shoot a 50 round group at 30yrds that you could cover with a dime. Seen a few cz shoot that well at 50 yrds. But I've seen plenty of 22lr that would have a hard time shooting a 1 inch group at 20 yards. Id buy what you like try several types of ammo a see what it likes. If it doesn't shoot to your satisfaction sell it and buy a different one till you find what makes you satisfied.
 
... Id buy what you like try several types of ammo a see what it likes. If it doesn't shoot to your satisfaction sell it and buy a different one till you find what makes you satisfied.

Haha, reminds me of the best advice I ever heard regarding "accurizing" any firearm:

1. Buy four of the exact same model
2. See which one shoots best
3. Sell the others
 
Mine are Valquartsen 10/22, (sold now), Rem 597 Yellowjacket w/ upgrades (sold), both accurate semis. Bolts are Brno #5&#1s, Rem 541s & t, CZ 452. The Win single showed earlier is a beautiful example. Martini 22s in a number of models also are a joy. Save some $$ for good optics and you are good. Even if you are doing lots of shooting a single is not that much of a handicap.
 
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