A 10/22 is a decent enough hunting rifle, but I don't endorse it as a first rifle. A good bolt action rifle is a better choice from a marksmanship training point of view, as a semi-auto by design has a more difficult trigger to manage. A CZ-452 is an excellent rifle for your initiation to the shooting world, and its not a bad hunting rifle either. Once you've become accustomed to cycling the bolt at the shoulder, the apparent advantage of a semi-auto diminishes, particularly when the difference in trigger quality is considered. A younger fellow I work with dismissed this point of view saying that bolt guns were boring and no fun for a kid, so bought his son a 10/22. My response was if he wasn't going to shoot good, he'd have to shoot lots, but there is more than one way to look at the question, and my opinion is only one. Personally I think one's performance on paper should be established before live targets are engaged, and a shooter's confidence is greater if he can keep his bullets within a half inch of his aiming point, compared to an inch or more. Shoot an inch from your intended point of impact, and that red squirrel will live to chatter another day.
Another consideration is whether or not you want to learn to use iron sights. A scope makes sighting much easier because it puts the target and the aiming point in simultaneous focus, where as your eye cannot focus on 3 or even 2 objects (opens sights require the acquisition of the rear sight, front sight, and target, and with a rear peep sight you're just concerned with the front sight and the target) at different distances from the eye. Your focus alternates between each, so you can first align the sights, then center the front sight on the target, finally shifting your focus to it, the moment before you press the trigger. Shooting with irons is certainly not mandatory, but I believe it makes you a better shooter if you use them enough to gain an understanding of their relationship with the target, and the better the sights, the easier it is to improve with them.
Where I see a 10/22 at it's best is as a trapper's gun for dispatching animals caught in traps, and for securing a grouse or ptarmigan for lunch. The 10/22 stands up to use in difficult environments, it will digest hundreds and hundreds of rounds before it won't fire, and if it fires it will cycle, provided high velocity ammo is used. The big bulky magazines can be readily retrieved from a parka pocket, without having to remove your mitts or gloves. Its short, quick and handy, making it a good choice to carry on a snow machine, although for me it doesn't point intuitively. So it does have a lot going for it, but for all it's advantages, the 10/22 is not a rifleman's rifle.
