.22 rimfire rifles that hold a special place in your heart

[Sniper66]

I have two....The first is a Remington 541 Sporter. After I graduated college and started making decent money, I asked my brother to recommend a .22 for squirrels. Without hesitation he said, Buy a Remington 541S. I followed his suggestion and I have hunted squirrels with that rifle for over 40 years. Number two is a Mauser 201 Delux .22, a gift from that same brother. I've now killed many squirrels with it too.

 

[0ne3]

Never had a .22 when i was young. My brother had a Winchester 77, with the mag feed. We shot many boxes of .22's with that rifle. It is a great shooting rifle. The only thing about this rifle is, you really had to aleart when placeing your hand on the fore arm. If you did not, and youn shot, the cocking lug would come back and smack your hand or thumb. The .22 I, own now is a Henry. I. put a Tang sight on it, and my 73 year old eyes, can shoot it real well.

 

[someguy2800]

My favorite 22 rifle will always be this savage mark 2 classic. Me and my wife got married right after I finished college and after about a year and a half of working 70+ hour weeks I finally got our heads far enough above water that we were no longer living paycheck to paycheck so I decided I was going to take some of that overtime money and buy myself something nice.



If I can include a pistol as well this 1980's vintage Buckmark on the bottom will never leave my possession. This was the first handgun I ever owned and I bought it specifically to learn to shoot a pistol accurately. When I got it I was totally hopeless with a piston and now I can shoot chimpmunks in the head with it at distances people don't believe. Its exceptionally accurate and I've put many many thousands of rounds through it. I have taken a fair amount of small game and loads of chipmunks and red squirrels with it and its gone with me for many many miles through the woods. That colt above it is a beautiful gun but it can't hold a candle to that buckmark as a shooter, and I can say with zero hesitation that if I had to pick between them I would chuck that colt in a dumpster before I would ever consider parting with the buckmark.

 

[Pahonix]

Marlin 81 tube fed

Father's first rifle he bought as a teenager and handed it to me the other day.

 

[earlthegoat2]

Like @Varminterror, I have a similar MK II that is a favorite and an heirloom.



My favorite 22LR is my Remington 572 but the one I use the most is my Remington 597 Magnum.

 

[Varminterror]

Like @Varminterror, I have a similar MK II that is a favorite and an heirloom.

View attachment 993221

My favorite 22LR is my Remington 572 but the one I use the most is my Remington 597 Magnum.

That’s a good lookin’ pistol, right there!

Admittedly, side by side, without my since-engrained sentimentality, I would have preferred yours to mine way back. Yours has the adjustable rear sight and a slightly heavier contour barrel - I actually had some trouble identifying the model number on mine years later because this contour and length with the fixed rear sight wasn’t as prevalent as the “target” version you have. I have debated many times over the years about swapping that rear sight and the front blade, but I can’t bring myself to do it.

 

[Bartojc]

Winchester Model 190. Nothing special, boring in the looks department. Mine was/is quite accurate and dead reliable. I cannot tell you how many thousands of rounds have gone down the tube. I purchased it from a flea market used when I was about 14. I was looking to buy my first rifle to call my own. I put a Weaver scope on it also bought used from my uncle. I've had it about 40 years now and I'll never be able to part with it.

-Jeff

 

[Picher]

The first .22 rifle I spent any time with was my dad's Marlin 60 back in the 1970s. But it never found a place in my heart because I always had to share it with my brother whenever we'd go out into the fields to shoot. Having my own Marlin 60 would have been much better.

Later in life after I bought my first home I bought myself a new Marlin 39AS at age 29. My favorite times were riding out the driveway on my mountain bike with that Marlin slung on my back. I'd usually ride over to the abandoned sand quarry and go shoot cans or pests. No one said squat about me riding down the creek with that Marlin slung on my back. This was the mid 1990s and urban sprawl hadn't caught up to where I lived at the time.

Near the same time frame in the same house, I also had a Kawasaki KDX200 that I'd carry my Beretta Bobcat with me in my moto-tool-canteen belt. I'd ride for a while, and when I'd need a water break, I'd pull out that Beretta .22 and pop some targets of opportunity. At close range, of course.

I don't have any photos of my guns back then because taking cameras when shooting wasn't as ubiquitous as it is now. Smart phones changed that dramatically.

Here's a pic of my Marlin. I still have it.

View attachment 992943

Had one the same (39 AS) model as you, but mine must have been built by an idiot. Iron sights off-center, receiver top not perpendicular to the sides, the rear mount screw not aligned with the front two, extractor/ejector problematic,

Too bad, because I would have really liked the rifle if it hadn't been made by an idiot convention. I finally sold it and will never buy the brand again.

My first M-39 was the best!!! Super accurate and everything was perfect on it. It was so long ago, I don't remember why I sold or traded it.

 

[IMAhobbyist]

Never owned it and never will; it was a Remington 513T with beavertail forend. Our father acquired it long before any of his offspring were a twinkle in anyone's eye. As very early teens, a sibling and I would put box after box of rounds downrange with it at our grandparents farm. I'm sure we shot that gun far more than the previous generation ever could have. Sadly when it came time to split up father's guns, I chose a model 12 with even more family history and the .22 went to a sibling.

 

[DazedandConfuzed]

A few I have:

Glenfield Model 60 (squirrel stock) - my very first purchase of a firearm; approx. $60 in 1980 (will go to my 1st grandson, 8 months old today)
Ruger 22/45
Henry Golden Boy .17 HMR - gift from my father
Savage 93R17 .17 HMR
Henry Golden Boy .22LR - inherited from my father (Eagle Scout commemorative)
Taurus Tracker .17 HMR - inherited from my father
CZ 455 .22LR
Browning Buckmark .22LR - inherited from my father
Dan Wesson .22LR revolver - inherited from my father

I'd have to say my favorite is the Glenfield, but the gift from my father is very special as well! I shot the Buckmark for the first time about a month ago and I came away very impressed.

 

[Picher]

A couple of .22LR handguns that I use often. Ruger MK II Target and Beretta 67 Cheetah. The Cheetah is carried often because it's lighter (aluminum frame) and more compact. It rides well in pockets. The Ruger is great at the range, whether with Red Dot or iron sights.




It rides

 

[Random 8]

Mine is a Norinco JW 15 purchased in I believe 1991 for the princely sum of $89 cash on the barrelhead at a gunshow. This was long before I knew it was a loose copy of a BRNO design, or even knew what BRNO was. I just thought it was a good, solid bolt action .22 of relatively full rifle size and the price was something I could talk Dad into. The ammo savings vs. my Marlin 70 was a selling point. I was interested in the enhanced accuracy potential and same action type and balance as my deer rifle.

Although the wood is mystery wood and poorly finished, and the bolt parts and receiver show tooling marks, they did not skimp in the accuracy department. I've put it up against similarly equipped CZ 452s and it runs with the best of them, better than some. Countless vermin and beer cans have fallen prey to this rifle, and I still own it today. Just as accurate as always. Even took it to a few .22 precision shoots and it fared respectably despite being out of it's class against the space guns.

 

[chicharrones]

Mine is a Norinco JW 15 purchased in I believe 1991 for the princely sum of $89 cash on the barrelhead at a gunshow. This was long before I knew it was a loose copy of a BRNO design, or even knew what BRNO was. I just thought it was a good, solid bolt action .22 of relatively full rifle size and the price was something I could talk Dad into. The ammo savings vs. my Marlin 70 was a selling point. I was interested in the enhanced accuracy potential and same action type and balance as my deer rifle.

Although the wood is mystery wood and poorly finished, and the bolt parts and receiver show tooling marks, they did not skimp in the accuracy department. I've put it up against similarly equipped CZ 452s and it runs with the best of them, better than some. Countless vermin and beer cans have fallen prey to this rifle, and I still own it today. Just as accurate as always. Even took it to a few .22 precision shoots and it fared respectably despite being out of it's class against the space guns.

I love that part. "But dad, I'll use less ammo because it's a bolt gun!" (Then proceeds to shoot more often than before.)

 

[Random 8]

I love that part. "But dad, I'll use less ammo because it's a bolt gun!" (Then proceeds to shoot more often than before.)

I think I actually did shoot a lower round count. Fewer mag dumps into old car parts out in the woods. My tastes also drifted towards higher quality and more expensive ammo, until I found that the thing shot $8.99/brick Federal Lightning as well as any of the match ammo I experimented with. I firmly believe this load was off the same line as their match grade biathalon load they made up special for the olympic squad, only with less intensive QC. I got 'hold of some of that when I dabbled in Biathalon as training for hockey. It shot equally to the cheap Federal lightning in terms of groups and POI and looked identical.

 

[jar]

Three stand out. An old H&R 923 in it's flap holster that I found in the barn that while not a rifle it did get carried proudly when I was a teen as I wandered around the Catoctin Mountains.





My Mossberg "New Haven" 251c carbine.



And my Remington "Speedmaster" 241.