what old .22 bolt action rifles are worth looking for?

I did see bolt action RF where all the stops had been pulled out. How about a custom old 52 Winchester sporter in a classic stock. There was a side mount as one would find on a G&H. That was a show stopper. Not for sale.

A 10/22 is an off topic comparison in a bolt action thread but ...
I don't know why that rumor about upgrades still exists except it is passed on by someone who has never fired anything but a basic carbine.
Get a LVT Model 1234, a Deluxe or any mid level factory gun ($325ish). My only mod is a cleaned up trigger.

The problem with old bolt actions is the same as with any used gun....have three generations of kids cleaned them with bent coat hangers? Have the muzzles stood on muddy boot tops and bashed a hundred car doors? Have the controls been diddled with over the decades by Bubba to make the trigger pull "easier"

You don't know what you've got until you've got it.

Sometimes though those nasty looking oysters have pearls in them .

My wife's bolt action is a Savage 124 that would be a Savage/Anshutz 124 that we found in an "as is" rack of a fairly well known Daytona gun shop. She paid about a third what they were going for at the time for two reasons. 1. Bubba's cousin Elmo tried to close the bolt with the safety on and when it would not go easily put some of Elmo's patented Elbow Grease on it and forced it, bending the safety nose....and 2. The shop owners where convinced only a gunsmith specializing in Tutonic Target rifles should ever so much as remove the stock on an Anshutz,

We got it home and four minutes with a screw driver and a pair of needle nose pliers and the thing has been shooting about 30 years now like it did in the tunnel in Ulm right after it was born. I "steal" it every chance I get.

-kBob

Kookla said:

Have been slowly saving my pennies towards getting a .22 rifle. Thinking of going used and was looking for advice on some good ones to look for. For the most part, this would be for range use. Hoping to hear about the ones that can be found on the used racks for under $400 or so.

Thank you.

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Stevens Buckhorn

DannyLandrum said:

I don't care about capacity - I only care about the fact that the tube won't accidentally come out and get lost nearly as easily as a detachable.

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That is true but the inner tube can fall out and get lost, or bent or the lifter jam or break. Then you're screwed. Clips are easier to lose but easier to replace, plus much quicker to reload or unload and much simpler. I have a couple but I only use them on the range. I don't know of any modern tube fed bolt rifles but then I avoid them. I don't recall ever losing a clip in over 50 years but it could happen.