What would you target/hunt with ?

[brybenn]

Savage

 

[2tall2]

I'm not understanding, is this one or the other? Get both. Then a lever, and a pump to round out the collection

 

[Timberlord]

I have a number of .22's for target and having fun with but when it comes to for bush work this Stevens 87C has been my sidekick since '78.
It's accurate , it's tough and a true working gun.
Just because it's "older" doesn't mean it's "over-the-hill"

 

[aaron v]

Hey Ck~definitely my personal opinion, but I've had lots of rimfires come and go over the years too. So maybe a little experience too. Bolt guns are more accurate, the triggers are almost always better (lighter always, less creep usually) and the action is solid. Semi 22s are blowback, so part of the energy from the shot going off cycles the action. That will always mean some accuracy is lost, no matter what semi you're talking about. However, among semis...some are better than others (I've had plenty) and I'm down to 2 of them~both Marlin 795s with tuned triggers. Still, they don't touch the accuracy of my bolt guns.

I've been a Savage centerfire fan for some time, and just bought my second new one a few weeks back~a Model 10 Predator in .243. I gave Savage rimfires several chances over the years, and have owned 2 heavy barrel HMRs, 2 x .22 rifles, and a model 93 heavy barrel in 22WMR. All that remains is the Savage Rascal my kids have basically outgrown...but still like to shoot...so it stays. QC was never great on these guns, and has only gotten worse in my experience. I've had guns with terribly rough machining, faulty mags, crooked scope bases, damaged crowns, and so on. With this deteriorating QC came increasing prices...so I simply had enough. Most were accurate, I'll give them that...but no more taking chances on mail-order rifles I can't inspect first. Not dismissing them forever, just no temptation to add another any time soon. The Ruger American, while I have no experience shooting them...appears to be a fine example of what a budget-rimfire can be, and while my own 10/22 experiences have been lack-luster (to put it mildly) the 10 round rotary mag that feeds it is superb. The Marlin XTs are around $75+$100 less than a Ruger American (depending on what you pick) and while they aren't quite as nice as the RAR's, they're likely every bit as accurate. Maybe even more, depending on who you ask.

Bottom line for me~hunting means being as accurate as you can be, so picking rifle that has a mediocre track record for accuracy (10/22) at the beginning seems counterintuitive.

Again, just my opinion. Everyone has 'em.

This^^^ same experience and have owned many many 22s. The XTs have been great for me, as have all the new marlin semis. I have had 4 mk2s and 2 needed extractor springs so far and accuracy was hit and miss. I think I would still pick it over the 1022 for hunting though.

 

[thenerdboy]

Here are some ammo testing groups from a base model Mark II FV - 5 shots, 50 yards, front bipod, no rear rest. It had just started to rain as I was shooting these groups. I am not a seasoned shooter so these seem like more than acceptable groups and you could probably shrink them down a bit with practice. Seems to me that you would have to spend a lot more money (rifle and ammunition) to improve on this level of accuracy. Groups fired left to right, first group typically bigger than the rest. Lots of ammo shot much worse than these two; they were the top performers.