[Universal]

I am looking for an inexpensive .22 rifle for dealing with rabbits. They are all over my place and are eating everything my wife plants. I have seen several rifles at Wal-Mart for around $100 and was wondering if any of these might be worth looking into.

Any ideas or advice would be appreciated.

[BozemanMT]

Marlin 60
New about $125, used about $75
fine little rifle, pretty darn accurate, no magazines to lose and just a fun gun.

[Terrierman]

+1 on the model 60

[combatpreacher]

I wanted a good "lawnmower" gun to ride with me so that I could rid the lawn of woodchuks and such.

Small and inexpensive (would hate to mow over a Kimber or Cooper)

Keystone Crikett mini 22...synthetic stock...single shot....$99 bucks at Gander Mountain...

[Technosavant]

I'd go ahead and spend another $40 and get the Wal-Mart special camo stock Remington 597.

Wait... I did do that. The Marlin isn't a bad choice either. That's the nice thing about .22 rifles; there are a bunch of choices for not much money.

[CoastieTech]

I recently bought a Savage 64 and it's is great. I get decent groups but I think that more my lack of skill then the gun itself. I paid a little over 120 for it.

[MilsurpShooter]

I'd go with a Henry Lever action .22

Not too expensive, don't have to worry about dinging it up or scratching it, and it's darn accurate, at least mine is

[Cueball]

+1 for the Marlin Model 60

[MrTwigg]

I bought one for my boy and I find myself reaching for it when I want to go plinking. Guess I'll have to buy another ! :D

[270Win]

Something to consider - rabbits are QUICK. If you miss the first shot, you'll want a very quick second one, or they'll bolt. A 10/22 or 597 will serve you well, but I really second the nomination of the Henry H001 lever-action: the action is butter-smooth, they are VERY accurate, cheap, and the follow-up shots can be acheived quite quickly, almost as fast as a semi-auto in some cases.

[borrowedtime69]

my favorite , low cost, accurate out of the box .22 LR rifle would be the Marlin 795 semi-auto. shoots well with either CCI mini-mag HP's or Winchester Dynapoints. if you are going to be shooting running rabbits, i suggest a Tasco red dot scope, 1X magnification, large apature so you can keep a running bunny in your sights easier. make sure that the Tasco Red Dot that you get will fit on a 3/8" Rimfire dovetail scope mount. this rifle comes with a 10 round mag, zytel fiberglass reinforced weather proof stock, and is nice and light to carry. also comes with sling swivel studs. DO NOT use hyper velocity ammo in this gun !!!

Price for the Marlin 795 range from $99- $120. they are a quality firearm that will bring you lots of years of fine service. best of luck! -Eric

[aaronrkelly]

Nuther vote for the Marlin model 60 - they are $124 at WalMart.

If you want to save a little money you can get the Mossberg Plinkster at WalMart for $100 - its semi-auto like the Marlin. They are decent guns but I think they lack the quality of the Marlin 60.

[Nashmack]

I'd like to go off the board here and say my Sears model 59 autoloader. Used for $55, with scope and 15 round tubular mag.

[dmckean44]

If I didn't care about keeping the meat and just wanted to kill them, I'd probably just use a shotgun.

[rangerruck]

id go marlin or remmy. if you got that many rabbits, the remmy has a fully adj rear site, and you can quickly drop in new loaded mags, the marlin holds 15 rounds alltogether. plus , im not sure but i think the remmy has a target crown, so you can bounce it around in your vehicle. Chances are however, the marlin will be more accurate, also check to see which one has sling adapters allready on it. i don't think the marlin does, but the Remmy might.

[Universal]

Thanks for all the advice. :)

[mainmech48]

If you live in a rural area where the sound of an occasional shot won't be an issue, then darn near any .22 RF would do nicely. If you're looking for the absolute low-buck, check out the racks at a pawn shop or retail gun shop. It shouldn't be hard to pick up a perfectly servicable .22 rifle for $75 or less.

If you live in a suburban area, I'd suggest that you consider some sort of manually operated action and low report ammo such as Aguila "Super Colibri" or CCI Long CBs. These require some pretty precise placement for humane kills on animals the size of a squirrel or rabbit, but generate little if any more noise than an air rifle from a typical .22 longarm. These cartridges will generally not cycle a semi-auto reliably, but pose no problem in LAs, BAs, pumps or SSs.

Another option is one of the so-called "Sub Sonic" (really just Marketing-speak for Standard Velocity) loads. While they do have more report than the Colibri-type loads, there's a good deal less noise than with High Velocity LRs. For the small increase in noise level you get a very large increase in on-target energy, effective range, and ease of placement when the distances are over ten yds or so. My personal favorites for small game hunting are PMC "Moderator" and Aguila Standard Velocity LR. Both have shown remarkable accuracy and consistency in several of my .22 hunting rifles, and drop squirrels and cottontails with authority out to fifty yards.