Your best rimfire surprise?

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We've all purchased guns that were a complete disappointment. Those stories are all over the web. But have you ever made a purchase with low expectations only to be blown away?

I picked up a used Mossberg 702 Plinkster from a local gunshop for $80. The only reason I bought it was that it was cheap. Just a spur of the moment thing.

I took the gun home pulled it apart and discovered it was full of sludge. This thing was seriously dirty. It looked like it had been filled with some kind of grease that hardened up. No clue what it was. After giving it a good scrubbing, I discovered that all the internals looked brand new.

I threw on a spare 3-9 x 32 scope I had laying around and took it to the range. After sighting it in, I was stunned to find out the gun was very accurate. At 25 yards everything was landing in a half inch bullseye. At 50 yards the groups were about 1 inch. This was with bulk ammo. The gun also has never jammed one single time.

I like it so much I went out and bought 2 more mags for it. It has become part of my regular rimfire rotation at the range. All this for $80. I'm still blown away.

Does anyone else have a nice rimfire surprise to share? Considering the day, it's nice to hear positive stories.

Happy Thanksgiving.
 
I guess "best surprise" stories wouldn't be complete, without one about Norinco.
Got a JW-25A(K-98 wannabe) from CanadaAmmo. Excellent fit, finish and accuracy.
Yes, I said excellent. New Norinco's never cease to amaze me! And neither does CanadaAmmo.
 
My big surprise was my Winchester Model 74, I was bored one day and was perusing the EE when I spotted it for a very good price and I bought it. It too was filled with the gunk that accumulates from thousands of rounds. In any case I stripped it, cleaned it, gave the wood stock a gentle clean with a cotton patch and a little Hoppes and all sorts of dirt came off revealing some really nice wood. The rifle is ALL metal, no plastic and it shoots well and has been completely reliable. It's now part of my regular range rotation.

I love the EE
 
I've had several .22lr's come and go. Some expensive and some highly toted as good shooters.
The one I've kept and shoot regularly is my Marlin 981T. Love the tube mag capacity, shoots diff .22's without issues, not shy about taking a few dings, and best of all it's very accurate!
IIRC the rifle, 3-9x cheap scope and mount cost less than $250. Money well spent for an adult sized .22lr bolt gun. A keeper!
 
I was looking for a bolt action rim fire for my wife, she doesn't like my 10/22. I was looking for .22 LR but my local has a CZ 452 Varmint in .22 WMR instead for a good price with weaver scope and mount, I can't pass since never have a .22 WMR in my closet so grab it for her.

After sight in, It wasn't disappointed so far at 50 yard but meh, my .308 can do the same or probably I have experience shooting rifle before.

So brought wife out the range, firs time rifle rifle, show her some basic safety stuff and such, she caught up very good. Load 5 rounds, let her have a blast, I was on the side with spotting scope. Surprisingly, I only see the first rounds and the last rounds hit the paper through my spotting and told her that the second, third and forth probably hit somewhere on the board.

We went to pick up the target, I was shock to see the second, third and forth rounds tight pretty much on the first rounds, it's like a quarter grouping.

it would worth without pic there we go, picture of her shooting that CZ.

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My rimfire surprise was the Winchester Wildcat Target/Varmint .22LR. I picked up my first one at Le Baron's for $169 when they started to sell them. Since then, I've had four of these rifles. The last one, that I bought on the EE, is an absolute keeper. I've found that this rifle shoots more consistently with different ammo than any of my CZ-s or Savages. It is also very accurate (sub MOA @ 100m). I wish they were still in production. No wonder they don't come up for sale very often but when they do, people gladly pay more than twice of the original sales price.
 
Mine is not a surprise. My Henry Arm's .22lr Mare's Leg. When I bought that little thing, I was just expecting a neat little .22, not the case! It is still my favourite .22 to shoot. Even without a stock, and the beefy iron sights. I still manage to hit where I am aiming. And NEVER had a jam.
 
I picked up a marlin 81 on the EE that was missing parts for cheap. I knew I had some parts around and after some work it was done. The accuracy with anything from cb longs to velocitors is amazing and it feels sturdy. It not being a beauty queen makes it get used more too. Another one is my ruger 7722 with the paddle stock. Almost shoots as good as my CZs but way lighter and almost indestructible. The bolt is so smooth it's just a pleasure to shoot.
 
Winchester lever 255 deluxe 22 WMR, bought it from a co-worker back around 1996. Came with the Weaver scope and is truly a tack driver. It sees sunlight about twice a year to shoot and clean.
When ever I go into Cabela's and mention I have one the drool starts to form followed with offers to buy.
My Marlin 795 was another surprise simply for price and function.
 
I haven't owned a high precision .22 rifle yet, but I was very surprised how accurate my Buckmark Rifle "Target" was.. Love it.
 
My pre-war Savage Model 29.

I guess that really shouldn't be a surprise though.

It's factory drilled and tapped for a tang sight, I'll have to look for one and I should be able to shoot even tighter.
 
Winchester 69's and 69A's still are dear to me heart.
I bought two rimfires years ago, one rabbit semi (?) and a
69A. The wood was scalped into a thin slim schnabbly nose thing.
Not horrible, but this thing is a tack driver. I only wish it came with
the dove tail receiver. This scope over hanging over the receiver throws
a chit into my way of shooting. I was going to get dove tail grooves machined
into it, but the metal is far to nice to distort.
This gal is a keeper.
 
always was a Cooey fan , but picked up a Marlin here in EEs. 1940 Marlin 81...after a good cleaning, it accompanied me for years into the gopher fields. Accurate out to 200 yards with a scope and bulk ammo. Soon after got a Marlin 25MN magnum and it turned out to be a tackdriver at 100 yards. Now the cooeys can go onto new homes. The newer Marlin 782s i have bought in EEs have proven to be the same quality and accuracy. Love my rimfires.
 
Marlin 795 SS

Wanted a semi-auto .22 with a SS for a reasonable price. Was going to have it as a secondary for when friends/families without rifles come out and want to do some shooting.... turned into mine.
Got an old bushnell 3x9 thats been sitting around for a while, put it on it with a cheap ebay dovetail rail and boy is she accurate. Eats anything and everything with no issues. The 30 round mag works like a charm on it and has no issues.

I dont even remember what I spent on it, but bought used off the EE a while back and its by far my favourite .22 - even over the VTR 597.

Next in line that I'll be grabbing tomorrow is the JW21B :). SUPER excited about that and we'll see which one comes out for the hunting trips more after a few times at the range with the JW
 
Best surprise? Finding cheap banana mags (for Marlin M70) that fit my Norinco JW-14, and (with a tiny bit of sanding) function flawlessly, as fast as I can squeeze 'em off.

Too bad I can't get my Nomad/aa922 mags to work like that! That is my worst surprise, that d*mn thing.
 
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