Talk to me about a .22

Look at the Savage MkII models with the heavy barrel.

The MkII FV-SR will have a 16" heavy barrel while most other MkII rifles with a heavy barrel will have a 21" barrel.

Here is what Savage offers in the MKII with their heavy varmint barrel

https://www.savagearms.com/content?p=firearms&so=az&pp=24&a=all

How Savage does their model designations is as follows.

G - wood stock
B - Boyds laminate stock
F - polymer stock
V - heavy barrel
SR - threaded barrel
L - left hand

I have two MkII rifles and both are very accurate. One is a GVL in 17m2 and the other is a BTVLSS in 22lr. My GVL is stock as it came from the factory. I ended up getting a chassis stock for the BTVLSS.

I have a Ruger American Rimfire Predator in 22 Mag and a Savage fvsr they're both great I have a Boyds laminate stock on tbe Savage.
And they do make the Ruger in 22LR
https://www.gunbroker.com/item/952027505

mavracer said:

I have a Ruger American Rimfire Predator in 22 Mag and a Savage fvsr they're both great I have a Boyds laminate stock on tbe Savage.
And they do make the Ruger in 22LR
https://www.gunbroker.com/item/952027505

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+1
I've posted this picture before. It's of my wife using her Ruger American Rimfire 22LR to shoot ground squirrels over on our friend's ranch last spring.

I bought that little rifle for her for her birthday a year ago come Monday, and I could see from the picture that's where the 15-round magazine for my own Ruger 10-22 disappeared to shortly after I gave her the American Rimfire.
One of the things my wife likes most about her Ruger American Rimfire though is its modular stock. My wife is only 5'2" tall, and she has short arms to match. So, every other rifle or shotgun she's ever owned (except for one "youth model" 20ga) got a trip to the gunsmith to have the stock shortened before she could use it. With her Ruger American Rimfire, all she did was order a stock component kit from Ruger, and I helped her install the correct components - to make the stock the right length and the cheekpiece the right height. The scope is a fixed 4X Leopold.
BTW, between my wife with her Ruger American Rimfire and me with my more expensive Kimber bolt 22LR (I can't remember the model), we exterminated right at 500 ground squirrels last spring on our friend's ranch, and my wife killed as many as I did. It was me though that killed a nice mule deer buck with my .308 Norma last Monday evening - not a half mile from where this picture was taken.

CZ 457 for sure.

But the CZ does not fit ops price constraints.
I am of the opinion that the CZ is a much better rifle than the others mentioned.

wcwhitey said:

I like that! Thanks The Ruger makes a great deal of sense magazine wise.

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Yeah I was really happy to find the shorter 18" threaded barrel because I wanted a 22 Mag suppressor host.

The Ruger American with a 22 inch barrel is a great choice. It uses 10/22 mags and comes with a decent trigger and a green fiber optic front sight.

I will admit that I am biased towards my Savage rifles since they have always been the easiest to find in a left hand version, plus the fact that they shoot very well.

With the OP's price point, I would have to say that the Ruger American or Savage MkII will do well for him right out of the box. There is also the Savage B22 that meets his price point. The B22 FV and B22 FV-SR both have a MSRP of $349.

I don't have any experience with the B series rifles so can't comment on them. And unless Savage introduced a left hand B22 with their varmint barrel, then I will just stick with the MkII rifles.

Either Savage or Ruger is what I would look at for new rifles. Plenty of used rifles out there too. With the Norinco that was mentioned, yes they are accurate but none have been imported to the US for a long time.

I would recommend the CZ as well wcwhitey, but the Ruger American Rimfire fits in your budget and is a good 'un.

Barbaroja said:

https://www.budsgunshop.com/product_info.php/products_id/93670/ruger+amer-rfc+.22+lr+cmptb+blk+syn

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Varminterror said:

CZ 457 for sure.

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bihj said:

But the CZ does not fit ops price constraints.
I am of the opinion that the CZ is a much better rifle than the others mentioned.

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There is no arguing that a CZ will be better than a Ruger or Savage. But the CZ rifles are out of the OP's price. The cheapest CZ with a heavy barrel is $585. A Savage MkII FV-SR is $245 and a Ruger American Target is $369. All three are available at Bud's.

The OP asked about rifles with a heavy barrel that are $350 or less. The Ruger is just slightly over his budget by $19 while the Savage is well under his budget. Either rifle will serve his stated purposes and within his budget.

Just don't think about the cost too much, I mean sure it sounds crazy to spend that much on a rimfire but they're so dang much fun.
I just dropped 300 to put the same scope I have on my 5.56 AR top on my 22 AR bottom

And when cheap 22 ammo gets expensive it doesn't cost too much more to get the 22 ammo that's supposed to be expensive, it becomes far more interesting to slow down a bit and see just how small of target you can hit IMHO.

I strongly recommend a CZ as well. If you are absolutely unable to spend the extra money, I have a Ruger American rimfire in 22 Mag that shoots very well. Some guys really like Savage rimfires. The cheaper trainer CZ's shoot really well also. If you look at the rimfire prove it thread, you can get an idea of how some compare. Notice the Target I shot with a CZ452. I also in another post, posted some target posted by 3 CZ's, a Cooper and a Steyr. Now those last 2 are real expensive guns. In the under $1000 range CZ dominates rimfire competition but Tikka is comparable. For just target shooting an old target rifle might fit the bill as well. But it seems there are no bargains anymore.

wcwhitey said:

Devils advocate time! A $19 difference is really nothing. I have seen the CZ’s and they are obviously more of a quality item. Having never shot one are they worth the extra few hundred? What makes them so?

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If you ask me, no the CZ does not shoot any better than a Savage to justify the extra costs. At least that has been my experiences with shooting both brands. Yes the CZ will definitely have a nicer finish than a Savage. But how a finish looks does not always mean a gun shoots any better than a rougher looking gun.

One of the best shooting 22lr bolt actions I own is an old Romanian M69 training rifle. You can tell it was made by peasants under communist rule. The gun is roughly machined and poorly finished. But it is an accurate rifle.

12Bravo20 said:

If you ask me, no the CZ does not shoot any better than a Savage to justify the extra costs. At least that has been my experiences with shooting both brands. Yes the CZ will definitely have a nicer finish than a Savage. But how a finish looks does not always mean a gun shoots any better than a rougher looking gun.

One of the best shooting 22lr bolt actions I own is an old Romanian M69 training rifle. You can tell it was made by peasants under communist rule. The gun is roughly machined and poorly finished. But it is an accurate rifle.

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That could be true in your case as it sometimes happens. The Savage is a good shooter. But competitions results do speak to the overall superiority of CZ's. There is a Rimfire forum for more information. But i agree that some Savages will outshoot an occasional CZ. My competition CZ 452 Lux came with a stock that had a crooked barrel channel. Until I fixed it and broke it in and tested ammo it wasn't great. You can see in the prove it thread how it shoots. Compare to Savage targets posted.
But again for the money Savages are pretty good.