.22 rifle for the wife...

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Jenrick

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So I've gotten the wife into shooting. She loves her .22 auto pistols. Her concern is her group size, she's very into accuracy. I'm thinking of getting her a .22 rifle for the holidays. I know even less about rim fire rifles then I did about rimfire pistols.

What companies/rifles would you guys suggest? Main things are in order: accuracy, reliabity, ease of cleaning, capacity. Accuracy with irons is a must, and I'd prefer it have an easy upgrade to optics (just put rings on and go, not get it drilled, and removed the irons, etc.)

Thanks,

-Jenrick
 
What is her group size/distance with the 22 auto pistol?

My Savage MkII-BV shoots one hole groups at 40 meters. It comes with weaver scope mounts already on it. Other models are drilled and tapped. With a BSA target scope (on sale) I spent ~$300.

http://www.savagearms.com/markiibv.htm

They also have a target model with iron sights.

For accuracy/reliability/ease of cleaning a bolt action is the way to go. For capacity, a tube feed, or a "banana clip" on a Ruger 10/22.
 
Ruger 10/22

There's a variation on the 10/22, the 22-inch stainless rifle.

Only available at Wal*Mart. Price is about the same as for the carbine.

Up from that is the (pricier) Ruger 77/22 -- see review at http://www.gun-tests.com/performance/nov97gggsquirrel.html -- which uses the same magazine as the 10/22, but is a bolt gun. No iron sights, you need to mount glass.

I have the stainless 22-inch rifle. Very nice. I don't have the 77/22.
 
well i can get 10-in-1 hole at 50 yards with my 10/22

but i dont have many other guns

the only other 22 i have is 75 years old, has iron sights propped up with a candy bar wrapper...but it's pretty accurate.

Arbor
 
Accuracy with irons is a must, and I'd prefer it have an easy upgrade to optics (just put rings on and go, not get it drilled, and removed the irons, etc.)
Click to expand...

IMO, without a question, CZ452 Lux. The Trainer may also work as it is the same gun but with slightly inferior wood. Sometimes you will get lucky with a Trainer and get one with very good wood pattern but this is a crap shoot and with the Lux it is nearly gauranteed. If you're really stingy, you can get her a 513 Basic. Same gun but with the lesser wood and more rudimentary adjustable sights.

Of all of the 10/22s I've had, none shot better than 1" @ 50 yds out of the box. Never had a 10/22T, though (which does not come with sights).
 
I do not want to sound sexist but

would loading 10/22 magazines be a headache for her?? I did not think about this issue until someone pointed out that with a tubular magazine you are not tearing up your fingers loading box magazines. On the other hand, of course, you cannot carry spare tube magazines and easily insert a fresh, full one. Although, I read on another forum that one guy uses plastic tubing for "speed loading" his Marlin 22 rifle with a tube mag.
 
Savage and marlin are the most accurate of the low end rifles, with marlin also being a tube fed variant. if you want accuracy and beauty, cz is the only way to go. thompson/center also has a very accurate semi auto mag fed , as well, with good sites, but is more money than the cz.
 
I'll second the recommendation for the CZ 452. If your budget will allow, go for the Lux (~$350 or so) otherwise, as described above, the Trainer (formerly called "Special" I think) is the same rifle with a non-walnut stock for about a hundred bucks less. I've got a trainer, and I love it. If you're interested, do a search for CZ 452, you'll find a lot of favorable opinions of it.

That being said, I doubt you'd be disappointed with a marlin model 60 or 39, or a 10/22 or a henry golden boy, etc. But my recommendation is for the CZ. Have fun.
 
My wife had an absolute blast shooting my scoped 10/22 last weekend. On the 40yrd tin can range, she was making aluminum cans dance. They were shredded by the end of the session. The magazines are easy to load in my opinion.
 
I would let her shoot a variety to see what she likes. Gun fit of course, ease of controls and how nice it looks.

I have suggested when ladies are shooting a variety the idea of learning with a bolt gun, with irons is a great way to get the correct basic fundamentals. Ladies understand this, many took the suggestion to learn handguns shooting a revolver double action only and are so grateful for having done so.

Still..."I want pretty and fun" - I respect that. Last lady chose the Marlin 60 in the Woodtone finish. She liked not having to have a magazine - just a self contained gun. She is turned off by 10/22 because of all the aftermarket stuff she sees.

One lady got the Marlin 39, she inherited a Marlin lever in 30-30 - so she wanted .22 practice and learning with it, to assist with the centerfire ( something I agree with, having a .22 platform like center fire).

One lady "went for the gold". He daddy "had" 4 Browning .22 Autos. Basically she went bonkers, and " hey dad, I am stealing this gun and the rest of this brick" . :p
Dad of course knew this was going to happen...

Another "stole" her grandpa's Rem Feild master pump gun ( she shoots pump shotguns).

Funny part is, many of these ladies have been around the kids we hang with. Single shot .22 rifles of various makes.

They shoot these, even being kid sized. "You know, you [me/others] suggested a bolt gun to learn on, but we chose ____ at the time".

Now they find a old Rem 514, or some such at the pawn shop, newspaper, gun show...whatever and have a ball with a single shot .22 rifle.

They have what they wanted and picked out. Pretty, good looking, sentimental, and all that.
Now they have a fun single shot, mess with cleaning up the stock and "A girl cannot have too many .22 guns you know?" ;)

Dang Women! :D
 
Thanks for all the replies. Guess a price point would have been a good plan too huh? $200ish is the max I'm looking to spend for the rifle. Preferably rifle and glass, but I realise you should spend as much on the glass as the steel.

-Jenrick
 
I just bought my wife a Mossberg Plinkster for $99.00 at Gander Mtn. She loves it, and it only weighs about 3 1/2 lbs. Sights are a bit unusual, but are very easy to fine tune. She wants a AR type 4X scope to keep it light and easy to hold up for a few hundred rounds per session...
 
Another vote for a Marlin Model 60

Low entry cost, accurate beyond their price and easy to upgrade with a low cost scope. Usually less than $175 new, $75 used. (I have three so far.)

Once upon a time (last year) I bought myself a nice new Model 60 SSK, stainless, composite stock, fiber optic front sight, holds 14 rounds in the tube, fast reloads from a speedloader gadget I picked up from Midway. Shot great right out of the box. Then I made the mistake of picking up a little matching stainless scope.

Now I have a hard time getting it back from the wife and daughters. Easy to shoot, no recoil.

The downside, if you want to customize it and turn it into a Krinkov lookalike or such, there are a lot more accessories and parts for the Ruget 10/22. For plain old plinking and paper punching it's one of the best bargains out there. I have never walked into a gun store and not found at least one on the used rack.

You might try going to www.RimfireCentral.com. A lot of good ideas there on the different forums.
 
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