Rimfire Small Game Rifle

Lots of good suggestions here. Best budget option, IMO, is Savage. Sure, buy a bunch of magazines to stash, but also realize that you can (a) use single shot adapters, as others have said, or (b) single-load the rounds right into the chamber in a pinch.

I have a cz455 and am not impressed.
It does Ok as a plinker w various standard ammos, but only really did good w match ammo.

My Anschutz 141, 184 and 1403, even my pos 541THB were better w WW Super X.

1022......target build was fine. Had an old sporter that had the crap shot out of it.....did pretty good. .75" w CCI Blazer at 50 yds.

Current 1022 is also a fingergroove and it sucks. As did the 67 standard I had.

Old guns, old wood stocks, and overtorqued action screw.....gotta do a little work to clean up the effects.

Im not a BR guy but dont think 1" groups at 50 yards to be worth a hoot, from supposed " tack drivers "

Maybe i am used to smaller tacks

Put a new synth stock on my 455. Need to check zero.
Need to shim forend tip on 1022 to take our rocking
And slap a scope on an AR for yotes
Trying to grab lunch and then hit range.
Am stuck in a store w the ol lady buying clothes......am doomed

The 1022 is simple. Been around forever.
Manufacturer and aftermarket parts everywhere.

I see it as a non issue ( reliability ).
Never had one break down.
Thousands through one over a decade.

Bought older shot to hell ones.
They still went bang

greyling22 said:

you could get an old winchester 67. single shot 22, adult sized, iron sights.....it's you asked for.

I always thought the ruger 77/22 was a neat gun. An adult sized bolt action that takes 10/22 mags. that said, my cz outshoots it for less money. But the plastic cz mags do not inspire confidence.

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Good thing CZ still sells steel magazines.

My buddy got his 7722 shooting good w shimming the bolt.

Remington Target Master (511)? I vote for not what you wanted but the opposite, Ruger 1022 and spares. I believe Savage has a single shot adult 22.

Hookeye said:

My buddy got his 7722 shooting good w shimming the bolt.

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Is there a thread or reference for this procedure?

My vote goes to the Ruger American Rimfire.I have a bunch of rimfire rifles, and the RAR is the closest I think I have. Savage would be close, but I have had feed issues with too many combinations of magazine and rifle. The 10/22 magazine is the most reliable .22 magazine I have used.

There are companies that make SLED devices (single shot loaders) for just about every bolt rifle. With that said, I have 10/22 magazines (which the RAR uses) that I have been using since the 1980's with no parts added.

My RAR has Tech-Sights aperture sights, which really helps with iron sight visibility.

There are many accurate .22 rifles. I have been buying some old ones. Just purchased a Mossberg 51M. Also a 10/22 (who doesn’t), a Mossberg 46BT, Henry Pump, and a Savage Mark II. I have a CZ512 in 22 Mag and a Steyr Scout RFR. I like Rim Fires and looking to get some more of various old types. The old Mossberg really interest me. The 46BT was given to me by a dealer. It was broken. I fixed it up. Nice rifle.

Boy, this thread got me going. I got a Savage MarkII a couple of years ago but haven't shot it much at all. Had put on a Redfield high power scope on it, but the parallax at shorter ranges was terrible, so got a 3.5-10 Bushnell .22 scope long ago but had not put it on until today. Now ready to go .Have been having too much fun with my CZ 750 S1M1.

maxxhavoc said:

My vote goes to the Ruger American Rimfire.

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https://ruger.com/products/americanRimfire/specSheets/8372.html
For the life of me, I don't know what purpose (other than looks) a muzzle brake would serve on a 22LR rifle. Nevertheless, this Ruger American Rimfire is the one my wife has been looking at lately.
She has a birthday coming up in a few months, and I can always order a thread protector to replace the muzzle brake, so...
Besides, maybe one of these days the government might decide suppressors don't need to be as much of a hassle (and as expensive) to own as they are now. I've always had a hankering for a suppressed 22LR rifle. A 22LR rifle that accepts the same magazines as my old 10-22, and already has a threaded barrel, just might be the perfect birthday gift for my wife.

D.B. Cooper said:

I'm assuming simplicity equates to reliability

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I can't imagine a simpler, more reliable option for small game than an older variation of a model 24 Savage/Stevens. Especially a .22 over a .410. Not sure what kinda mess an optics mount would turn into if you went that route though.

@D.B. Cooper I don't blame you for wanting something that's not an autoloader, I've had enough struggles with the 10/22 Charger. It's super accurate and all, but getting it to feed is a pain sometimes and there are times I find some guns shoot better with certain ammo, but it can't cycle it reliably.

You want something simple and rugger and you don't want it magazine fed, so I'd say do a single shot bolt action or break action or check out the Heritage revolver carbine. I doubt the Heritage will have the accuracy of the bolt or break action rifles, but it'll be simple.

Less then a minute with some 600 sand paper and it will fix any feed problems with 10/22 mags, I've never had a real factory mag not feed even before polishing. All the feed problems I've seen always end up being aftermarket mags.

NIGHTLORD40K said:

This, if you can find one- View attachment 928910
Romanian M69. Ive read that the design is related to the CZ family, but sadly never owned a CZ.

Dirt cheap, built with typical Combloc rugged simplicity, and deadly accurate with the excellent iron sights. Mounting a scope is a little tricky, but certainly doable. Magazines are not hard to get or expensive, and the port is large enough to allow easy single loading if necessary.

My second choice would be a Savage Mk2 repeater. Very similair to the Romanian in operation, just not quite as overbuilt. Usually needs to have sling swivels added. Much easier to mount a scope to, however.

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I have one. It's minute of pop can at 130 yards from a bench. I love the flip up leaf sights. I never bothered scoping it.
The trigger is a slightly heavy 2 stage.

greyling22 said:

... But the plastic cz mags do not inspire confidence.

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As chicharrones mentioned, you can get either polymer or steel. The polymer CZ magazines are just fine, are lighter, are less likely to scratch up the bottom wood if you are blindly fumbling around trying to find the mag well with the magazine, and functionally are as the steel ones (some people think they're better). I have several of both and tend to use the polymer ones more.

I have 2 Norinco JW 15s. They are a copy of the BRNO line through the CZ 452. Both have been rugged and durable. Got the first when I was 16, and I'm 45 now, and I trap. The rifle is still accurate and reliable with zero parts failure. They are still available on gunbroker and show up at shows from time to time. They have a simple and rugged iron sight system as well as standard dovetail scope mounts sized for "American" rings. I've got a fixed 6 mounted on mine with a large objective and old Weaver see through mounts...a throwback to my 'coon hunting days. I could pick a coon out of a cottonwood through the scope with a 500K cp spotlight illuminating the target. With less light, I'd use the irons on which I had dabbed a touch of glow paint. A poachers dream. They use 452 magazines, and the mag is a very simple design and could easily be rebuilt with scavenged/fabricated parts. I've done this. Not a mechanical failure, lost a magazine in my truck over the winter (it migrated into a rust hole in the floorboard) and it rusted beyond recognition. A soak in diesel and some sandpaper and a "new" spring from a random single stack magazine from a gunshow and it functions good as new. Worst case, the open bridge facilitates single shot loading well also. The CZ 452 is a more refined version of the same gun at a higher price point. Don't know about the irons on those.

The stocks on my JW 15s are sized for an adult shooter. I think they're mahogany or some other tropical wood. Have held up well to hard use and weather, and they're well fitted. They don't change POI. Finish is a durable poly similar to the old bowling pin Remington finish. Ugly as hell but functional.

In our family only ONE 22lr has been worn out. A rolling block 22lr that pops had since I think the early 40s. Still have it. The mod 60 was literally beat in the back of the old Silverado and borderline abused. Its choking? Pour some used mofor oil in it. Then wipe off excess.

I put the receiver and trigger group in a ultrasonic with dawn and water. That water after 120 seconds was as black as good coal. The barrel was fine.

My vote goes to a cz 452-455.
Reasonable magazine prices and good accuracy in mine and friends CZs.
Or the single shot Suhl 150/150-1 standards that I picked up. Those things make even me look good, even with winchester 555 at 50yds.

Bfh_auto said:

I have one. It's minute of pop can at 130 yards from a bench. I love the flip up leaf sights. I never bothered scoping it.
The trigger is a slightly heavy 2 stage.

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Did you completely tear down the rifle and clean all the cosmoline out from around the trigger and sear? I know after I stripped mine down completely and cleaned ALL the cosmoline out if the trigger area, the trigger was a lot smoother afterwards.

DB, Have you looked at any of the old single shot bolt actions? any of them from the 60's or earlier are usually good shooters no matter what brand they are.

D.B. Cooper said:

So, the thing I dislike about the Ruger American and even the 77/22 is that it uses 10/22 magazines. I know they're better than a lot of other rimfire mags out there. I had a 10/22 that didn't feed worth a darn and some of it was mag related.

I know these auto loader rimfires on the market have good reputations, but I haven't experienced that. I had the aforementioned 10/22 that was basically junk. I had a Model 60 that was far better than the 10/22, but I eventually (after 30+ years) had to replace the sideplate mechanism. I also once had a Nylon 10C that just wouldn't retain a magazine no matter what, even after all related parts were replaced. (Of the three, the model 60 was, by far, the best.)

So much, if not all, of my desire for a bolt action, possibly single shot, (truly, I hadn't considered a break open action and perhaps I should) is a result of those auto loader rimfire experiences. I just feel like owning an autoloading rimfire is like a ticking time bomb; you're just waiting for it to fail-and it will fail. Subsequently, I start to gravitate to more simpler designs, but I'm assuming simplicity equates to reliability.

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Never heard of problems with 1022 magazines or Ruger rotary magazines in general, they are the best of the breed. The 1022 can be ammo sensitive, they like MiniMags, at least all of mine have.

So, then if you want a new rifle, go get a Savage bolt Mark II. I have two of them and while they may get put down at the highest level of rimfire accuracy by specialty target rifles nonetheless the Savage Mark II has a lot of accuracy potential and comes in many flavors from stripped down plastic stocks and light barrels to heavy barrel target versions with laminate stocks.

How about a Marlin 39A? Seem impossible to wear out, very classy, accurate, take optics well and will shoot anything from a CB short to a stinger.

CZ452 gets my vote.

3Crows said:

Remington Target Master (511)? I vote for not what you wanted but the opposite, Ruger 1022 and spares. I believe Savage has a single shot adult 22.


Is there a thread or reference for this procedure?

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Some vids on Youtube.
Here's a place that sells em, some explanation

https://www.triggershims.com/ruger_m77.php#S77.25

Had over a half dozen 10/22s.
Even slotted mags from a ways back.
No problems unless absolutely filthy.
External clean and back in biz.
No need to disassemble.
Even bought a couple newer mags for backup.
Ran fine.
All factory 10 rounders.
HV ammo.

Reliable and flush fit are two big reasons why I like em. The only beef is stock is a little wide because of em.