looking for a accurate rimfire

[Quadkid]

Hi all,

I would like to get a good little target gun and dont want to spend a whole lot of money. Id love an AR or such, but Im saving up for a house down payment. I just want something to have fun with in the mean time, and take care of some pests.

Would you guys recommend a .17HMR or a .22LR? Which is more consistantly accurate with a decent range (100-150 yards).

Right now Im torn between a 10/22 or a Savage .17.

What do you guys think?

Thanks
Sean

 

[MGB]

Check out a Marlin I think it is a 61M in 22mag nice little bolt action mag fed (7rnds) good shooter at WW for about $160. It is cheaper to shoot than the 17 and hits harder. Mine I got used for $100 is the best shoot'n damm rimfire I've had, and I have had a 17hmr too.

Here's the deal 17m2 ammo is the same price as 22mag. 17hmr is 50%+ more $$$ than 22mag. The 22mag is better than the 17m2 and delivers more force than the 17hmr but is a bit slower. Mine shoots 1" groups at 100yds all day long. Put on a good mildot scope and you won't care about bullet drop just put the right dot on the target.

My 2 cents,
MGB

 

[E304life]

I have a cz453 varmint in .17hmr. More accurate than i am and a very beautiful rifle. I would rather have a CZ in.22lr now though and give up the extra range for super cheap ammo and buy a .223 in the future. I almost bought a savage mkII in 22lr.

 

[paradox998]

Consider a cz-452, excellent accuracy, great craftsmanship.

 

[Quadkid]

thanks for the insight, guys. My father has a .22WMR Marlin bolt action (forget the model right now) and it's a fine gun. Only shot it a handful of times a while back so I dont remember the accurancy of it, plus its only iron sights. I'll look into those 61M's as well as the CZ. (I do love my P01)

 

[earlthegoat2]

For the money the Savage MKII series are hard to beat. They may shoot a tad worse than the CZs but I have noticed they shoot better.

 

[Quadkid]

those CZ look to be at the end of my price range, Ill see what the local shop has for prices.

Part of my attraction to the .17 Savage is theyre on sale tomorrow morning at cabelas and I have points, haha.

I know the 10/22 has a HUGE following and can probably make them into serious .22's, but are there any similar types in .22WMR or .17HMR that has a similar aftermarket following? I would like to build something over time.

 

[Bill B.]

Consider a cz-452, excellent accuracy, great craftsmanship.

+1 ..........I wondered about all the CZ hype till I bought one. I wonder no more! They are a fine .22 rifle in which you will not be disappointed. I have the CZ 452 American by the way.

 

[Uncle Mike]

If your thinking 100 to 150 yards, then forget the 22LR....

A 22 Mag. is your best bet IMO! Better than the 17 for raw killing power, and will definitely get the job done at the ranges you mention.

Nothing wrong with the 17, just a bit pipsqueak for yotes, especially at those ranges.

Rifles....to be cost effective while obtaining an accurate rifle the Savage and Marlin rifles will do you fine, and give similar results. You could go Ruger 77/22-Varmint(22MAG), I squirrel hunt with one of these, although highly modified now, it did just fine in its original form, but these may be out of your price range, along with the very excellent CZ units.

 

[351 WINCHESTER]

I like a .22 mag. out to about 100 yards or so. Much past that the 17 is easier to make hits. With proper shot placement I doubt there is much difference in power at 150 yds.

 

[winchester '97]

the marlin model 25n it the most accurate rifle i have ever shot. micro groove is the way to go.

 

[desidog]

Look at the prices of ammo. Buying the gun is only the down-payment. You gotta feed it. Its worthless to have a gun you can't afford to shoot. Get a .22lr and work on your sneakiness to get inside 100yds if you're hunting. If you're shooting paper, a bullseye is a bullseye at whatever range; as are misses.

 

[lopezni]

If you're looking for accuracy, don't look at a 10/22. Even with $300 in a barrel and trigger invested into one, they're still not as accurate as the new Savage Target series rifle or a CZ 452.

 

[noob_shooter]

Check out a Marlin I think it is a 61M in 22mag nice little bolt action mag fed (7rnds) good shooter at WW for about $160. It is cheaper to shoot than the 17 and hits harder

really... it hits harder than a 17? My dad owns a 22 wmr using ballistic tips rounds... I used vmax ballistic tips and the last time we both went hunting, my squirrels were in pieces and shredded.. Squirrels shot with his 22wmr ballistic rounds didn't compare..

to the OP,

grab a savage 93R17 with accutrigger... nice price and super accurate..

 

[baldeagle93]

There are always terms and definitions that need to be clearly defined...particularly "accuracy." What type of accuracy are you looking for? If you are looking for sub-moa 100 yard groups, than no a 10/22 may not be what you are looking for...especially if you don't have the money to put out. I'm sorry, but you are not going to build a decent "target" rifle for less than $500.00. Here is my story and experience...

I went on a quest this past summer to build a sharp shooting rim fire rifle and ended up being talked into a Savage 93R17 FV. I have fallen in love with it, but it did not fully satisfy what I wanted. I wanted to be able to go shoot and not break the bank. As i said, I love the 17, but 50 rounds at $14.99 vs 22LR 500 at $19.99, no comparison. To the credit of my 17, it is one mean machine that I absolutely LOVE to shoot. My purchase included the Savage 93R17 FV, BSA Sweet 17 6-18X40 Scope, Red Head Base and rings, bi-pod, 250 rounds and a bore snake for a total of $600.00.

After a day at the range I realized that although I love the rifle, it was a lot more to shoot than what I originally wanted. I decided a few weeks ago to build another rim fire, this time sticking to the 22LR. I got lucky to find a 10/22 someone had built and decided he wanted a bolt so was unloading it cheap (he works for one of the local gun shops and gets good prices to start with). he just so happens to be a Marine as well and made me a steal of a deal on the rifle. It has a Green Mountain blued threaded bull barrel and custom stock with BSA Sweet 22, Warne base and rings...cost $400. Needless to say, my quest to build a 22LR came to a screaching halt because I could not build it better or cheaper!

Result, I love both rifles! Either way a squirrel is dead! If I'm wanting to impress someone punching paper, the 17 is going to be tighter. If I want to have fun and shoot a lot of targets with great results, 10/22.

Think very hard what you want to do with it. I was lucky to have some funds to build or by a second rifle because even though I love the 17, I would have not been happy for what I wanted to do. IMO, you can't go wrong either way. If you buy the package deal (Savage), you can't go wrong!

 

[Kentucky_Rifleman]

Look at the prices of ammo. Buying the gun is only the down-payment. You gotta feed it. Its worthless to have a gun you can't afford to shoot. Get a .22lr and work on your sneakiness to get inside 100yds if you're hunting. If you're shooting paper, a bullseye is a bullseye at whatever range; as are misses.

+1

IF you go ahead with the .22 Mag, I suggest the newer Marlin bolts or an older Mossberg bolt. Either delivers fine accuracy with the Mossy having a little edge IMO.

If you go with the .22 LR, pick one up used at a pawn shop, and get an old Remington, Mossberg, etc. I've traded into and out of over a hundred odd old .22 LRs and never got one with the barrel shot out. The best reasonably-priced newer .22 is the Thompson Center .22 Classic automatic. It's a tack-driver out of the box. They're a little pricey though, and may be outside your budget.

KR

 

[DasFriek]

If you don't own a .22lr at all, Get that first and then save and buy the .17 later.
Its all about the ammo imo.
Im going today to get my first .17hmr, But i own two .22lr's in a pistol and rifle.
My main reason is both of my .22's are semi auto's and i never owned a bolt action or a .17 both.
Even if i had my choice to buy a .17hmr in semi auto id buy a bolt action so it slows down my shots and not go threw ammo as fast. Its still $11-$12 per 50 locally for me.
But .22lr is $15 for 500 at all times.

This is just me, But if your going the .22lr route buy a low too mid priced scope as 100 yards should be close to its max bullseye sweet spot. Center Point which WalMart sells for $60 is supposedly a really nice and full of features scope for the money.
But if you get a .17hmr put a mid too higher end scope on it for 200+ yard shots, I love my Nikon Buckmaster 3-9x40 that sells for $200.

The way i see it is keep spending on a gun as a "Theme" low priced guns get low priced accessories and the higher priced guns get the better stuff. I cant say ive always followed that rule, But it makes sense when i look back at some of my buying decisions.

Lastly the 10/22 has a BIG after market so you can personalize that gun like mad affordably.

 

[Storz]

I had a Savage MarkII-FV and it was more accurate out of the box than my highly modified 10/22

 

[Quadkid]

I appreciate all the input guys. Im heading out momentarily with a buddy to see whats available.

DasFriek, i do own a .22LR in pistol form with a reddot for fun target practice. Its great for getting squirrels off the bird feeders quickly, but with me the accuracy gets shaky at distances more than 30 yards or so.

 

[winknplink]

If you're looking for accuracy, don't look at a 10/22. Even with $300 in a barrel and trigger invested into one, they're still not as accurate as the new Savage Target series rifle or a CZ 452.

Quoted for truth.

 

[Keb]

I use 5 rimfire rifles for prairie dog hunting. The Savage 93 17HMR is the most accurate, but it costs a lot in an afternoon of shooting. ( I have about 8,000 acres of private land to shoot for local ranchers.)

But there are 3 Marlin 60's, and the other is a CZ 452 Varmint ZKM HB.

All 4 of the 22's can hit 7 of 10 shots inside 2 inches at 100 yards benched and no wind.

Now believe it or not, but I used the newest Marlin 22 last Tuesday out P-doggin, and I had already cleared the any shootable critters from an open mud field at 100-160 yards, then I began to sight on some way off in the hay stubble. I made some range shots and eventually shot once for right-left determination at a plastic field stick used by the rancher to mark his buried steel water connections. I clipped off the top... so later, I got some black tape and fixed it. ( It measured 275 yards. )

Then I got on a P-dog behind it, and shot about 6 times to see where I could hit. Upon a reload, I dropped the varmint. I took the Nikon Laser to his body and measured back 305 yards to the car and shooting bench.

There is obviously variation in where a long distance rimfire shot will hit after 150 yards, I would guess that is 5 inches. But a semi-auto will let you fill that area with lead very quickly.

BTW... I use good scopes usually set at 12-14 power.

 

[husker]

on the cheap side of the things. my vote is for a 22 rem 597. very accurate for $150

 

[benzy2]

Both a quality 17hmr and a quality .22lr will shoot well, with the nod to the .22lr. What the 17hmr allows is quite a bit less wind drift. As such, shooting at extended ranges for caliber, such as 100-200 yards, becomes much easier for the shooter who has troubles with wind. The quality of .17hmr ammo, in my experience, does not compare to equally priced .22lr ammo. Tenex has shot more accurately for me than similarly priced 17hmr ammo, though most of my rimfire shooting is either 25 yards or 50 where wind is much less of an issue.

As for what rifle. I really like the CZ line. Their rifles have all shot well for me. They also are built like a tank and feel like a centerfire. That to me is the big selling point. They feel solid like a rifle to be kept for generations.

Marlin rifles, or at least their 17hmr rifles, have good barrels. Mine was an early one and was rumored to have a barrel from green mountain on those early runs. Not sure if they still do or not. It certainly shoots well but it NEEDED bedding bad and it needed a new trigger bad. Once those were sorted it became fun to shoot.

Savage rimfires also are known to shoot well. Mine in .22lr shoots very well, though not quite to either of my CZs, though there are still a couple more ammo makes I haven't been able to get my hands on. That said the stock fit is pretty firm on my Savage and the accutrigger is usable compared to the Marlin. Not up to par with a shimmed CZ trigger, but certainly usable. Their 17 models seem to have an ever so slight disadvantage to the Marlin barrels, but the much much better trigger of the accutrigger allows them to be shot better.

Honestly all of them are good options. Some shine in different spots than others but they all can shoot without too much work. Pick what you like best. I would avoid the 10/22 though. Money pit and a half that really doesn't end up shooting that well to justify the price. I could have had an anschutz for the money I put into mine. Certainly doesn't shoot like an anschutz.

 

[APDDSN0864]

While you're out looking, see if you can find a Marlin 881. Tube fed, bolt action, no longer in production, but both of them I have owned have been very accurate.
The Marlin 25N is another good one. You won't regret either one.

Just my $0.02

Ed

 

[colonelhogan44]

Savage Mk II in .17 hm2--it's a nice balance between ammo cost ($5/box) and velocity (2100 fps). As accurate as an HMR, and kills anything the HMR will.

I got mine for $240 out the door last summer.