Most accurate rimfire

[cfullgraf]

alman,

If you live near one of the CMP stores, go look at the "rusty" Kimber 82G's. Surplus, unused, target 22 RF rifles for $425. Granted a bit higher than your budget.

Most of the "rusty" Kimbers have virtually no rust and what they have cleans up nicely. But I would not trust the luck of the draw these days. You really need to inspect the rifle first.

The "rust" on mine was more like some kind of red dust.

Mine came with target sights and a scope could be mounted without drilling and tapping.

 

[murf]

dried out grease can look like "red dust". hope you got lucky on that one, cfullgraf.

murf

 

[alman]

Chuck ,
Ill check it out .
Thanks ,
Al

 

[Sako Shooter]

I would get a CZ 452 Training rifle in .22lr while they are still available new...They won't hold a candle to some of the claims made in this thread. However, they will easily shoot well under 1" ten shot groups at 50 yards using bulk ammo and will usually shoot groups about half that size using better target ammo.

Yeah, that.

 

[cfullgraf]

dried out grease can look like "red dust". hope you got lucky on that one, cfullgraf.

murf

Mine cleaned up nicely, no "rust" after cleaning. It just had a couple of knife scratches in the stock as indicated in the description on the CMP sales site.

I did buy mine at the south CMP store.

One big problem with going to the CMP stores is it is very difficult to leave with only one rifle.

 

[kingcheese]

I use a 17, my friend use a 22mag, my setup is a mossberg 817 with a barska 4-16x40 on it, my friend uses a savage 93, 3-9x30 nikon prostaff, at a 100 yards my rifle shoots a tighter group, only because the five bullets i put through one hole makes a smaller hole then his five bullets through one hole


i recommended he get the 22mag, its a little more powerful, you get a wider variety of ammo, and it bucks the wind better, when the say a mouse farting can throw off a 17 shot, they ain't joking

 

[single stack]

Thank you CraigC for the published accuracy data.

Of course I have a Cooey single shot .22 that drives
Brads, not tacks at 100 yards.

 

[Captcurt]

22lr Hands Down.

Have to pick Savage if we stay under $300. If I got an extra $100 for Christmas I would go for a CZ 452. I have owned three and all of them shot as good as my 52 Winchester.

As for caliber I have to go with 22lr. When you compare ammo cost it is easy to see that you can shoot 2 or 3 times as many 22lr's as the others.

 

[aka108]

You want good accuracy at 100 yards then the 17HMR would be the best choice. They will shoot little bitty groups at that distance. I've been very impressed with the Marlin that I own. I really enjoy shooting 22 rf at 50 yards. The 22 long rifle at 50 is about as accurate as you can get and a lot less expensive than the 17. At 100 yards the accuracy of the 22 is way off from the 17. The 22 mag, I own one and don't care for it, is pretty accurate at 50 yards but goes seriously lacking in that category at 100 yds. I know I will catch some flack here but I thing the 22 mag is worthless.

 

[DM~]

I've never seen or heard of a .22LR that costs $400 and shoots half-MOA at 100yds. Some even better.

Nobody said anything about high level benchrest competition or Anschutz rifles.

And no one said i couldn't use those as a "benchmark" to compare to.

Knowing what is ALREADY working gives you something to compare to, the choises you are considering.

It always helps me when considering something new, it doesn't mean i have to buy the best, but i AT LEAST like to see what the best is like, and compare my choise to it. And, in this case, for a production gun, Anschutz is at the top.

DM

 

[CraigC]

Your post was misleading and irrelevant. Because the .17HMR and .22Mag are not used in benchrest competition. So how any banter about Anschutz rifles and $3000 benchrest guns is relevant to a discussion about which $300 rimfire to buy, I have no idea. If you read my link, you would see that it took a $3000 Swiss target rifle shooting expensive match ammo (much more expensive than .17's) to match the accuracy possible with a $350 Savage or CZ .17HMR.

When you look at the absolute BEST accuracy in a rimfire bench rest competition, 22LR is the most accurate, even at 100 yards.

How many benchrest competitions are shot with the .17's???

 

[Ken451]

If one wants to try both the 17HMR and the 22LR, the CZ-455 comes in a two barrel combo for both calibers




-

 

[pseudonymity]

Lots of discussion about .17 vs .22lr here, but for a $300 rifle I think it could end up a toss up, but it depends on the particular rifle.

.17HRM - all rifles and ammo in this combo are likely to be pretty accurate, but selections of both rifles and ammo are a bit limited

.22LR - rifles in the $300 range may be anything from mediocre to outstanding with respect to accuracy. The problem is that two rifles of the same brand and model may not shoot the same, it is a bit of luck at that price, even with match ammo. One thing is usually true though - almost all .22LR rifles shoot better with better quality ammo.

All $1K+ .22LR rifles shoot well, but some $300 .22LRs come surprisingly close, but you do not know if the one you buy is a shooter until you get some time to run different brands of ammo through it.

 

[DM~]

How many benchrest competitions are shot with the .17's???

And that's my point! They shoot what is most accurate!

Do i really have to "splain" everything to you?? :banghead:

OK, have at it, i'm done splaining here... lol

DM

 

[CraigC]

And that's my point! They shoot what is most accurate!

Let's see, smart guy, if a $350 Savage shoots half MOA at 100yds and it takes a $3000 custom target rifle to shoot that well in a .22LR, what do you think that means??? The .22LR does NOT shoot more accurately than the .17 at 100yds and it is silly beyond words to believe so. They don't shoot .17's in benchrest because it would be unfair for them to compete against .22LR's. Not the other way around.

DO I HAVE TO EXPLAIN EVERYTHING TO YOU??? HAVE YOU EVER SHOT THE .22LR AT 100YDS???

 

[Pete D.]

Guns and ammo

We are talking about two related but different things here. Accuracy of $300 rim fire rifles and accuracy of two types of rim fire ammo, the .17 and the .22.
Easy to get sidetracked since the efectiveness of each one is dependent on the choice of the other.

.5 MOA at 100yds for 22LR is pretty impressive

Yes, it is....it is for any gun and ammo combo.
A few years ago, at a small bore prone match in PA, I had the privilege of shooting next to, and scoring the targets of, a young man who was shooting for the US Naval Academy. It was a 2400 match.....a game of Xs. One of his targets, shot with aperture sights, no scope, prone, no bench, was a ten shot group a half inch in diameter. Literally one ragged hole.
He is not the only shooter who can do this.

Pete

 

[Cee Zee]

When you look at what "production" rimfire rifle that wins more matches than any other, it's easily the Anschutz!

Actually for true bench rest shooting you rarely see an Anschutz win. People use 40X's, Hall's, Turbo's, Suhl's, and a few other brands in bench rest shooting. If you check out the equipment lists for the ARA nationals you are lucky to see more than 2 Anschutz actions in the top 100.

There are plenty of things an Anschutz can do if you get the right one. For local matches they are likely to be right at the top of the field. But on a national level look for something else.

BTW they are certainly far more than the OP's listed $300. We're talking about 5 times that much for a really good one. For $300 get a Savage in whatever caliber you decide on. CZ's can't be bought in that price range either unless you get really, really lucky and find some new old stock somewhere. I knew where to find some about 2 years ago but they are long gone now. I could have bought a 452 for under $300 back then. Now they're at least $400. And my CZ won't shoot as accurate as my Savage.

 

[Mr. T]

I have had excellent results with a Remington 597 in .22 LR. I almost went with the .22 Win Mag and I'm glad I didn't because they ended up have problems with that caliber in that model. The .22 LR has been great. I took it to a competition at the Rod and Gun club I belong to and for kicks took it up against rifles costing $3,000 to $5,000. Some of the expensive guns were shooting 18 to 20 out of 20; my gun cost $169 and came with a fixed power scope. I ended up shooting 17 to 19 out of 20 with my little Remington. I have to swear by that gun! We were shooting metal silouettes at ranges of 25, 50, 75, and 100 yards, with 5 targets at each different range.

 

[Cee Zee]

The difference in accuracy between rifles is usually not that great Mr. T. My Marlin 60 has shot very tight groups at 100 yards. It doesn't do that every time but it does it often. But it is NOT as accurate as my Savage MkIIBTV or my CZ 453. The difference is in the consistency. It's true that a lot of semi-auto rimfires will shoot tight groups. But if we talk about "most accurate" then we have to talk about the bolt action rifles because they will shoot the best groups time after time even though it's only a slight improvement over other rifles. It takes a decent shooter to get the accuracy out of a gun too. 9 times out of 10 the difference between two people shooting is the result of the people making mistakes and not the rifles having problems.

 

[hillbillyprick]

Personaly,, I would choose ruger, marlin, anshutz, remington.... but I would never trust another savage,,, had a savage bolt pistol, in .223,,,, brand new from the box, and had nothing but problems,,, mostly a bad trigger mech. almost shot my dad with out even touching the trigger,,, a few times it would fire as soon as the bolt closed. I took it back to the gun smith, whom I purchased the gun from, he tested it, and determaned the trigger mechanism was faulty, but after my experiance I chose a different option,,, I wound up with a taurus 686 in .357, with a 6in. barrel, boss compensated...... except for the grips, it was the best pistol I've ever owned.

 

[chad1043]

^^^ That is one of the first bad things I have ever read about Savage. Never had much knowledge about their pistols. Sorry to hear about your bad luck.

 

[alman]

Seems like I have it narrowed down to a Savage MkII heavy barrel in one of many configurations available . I also concur with CAPCURT , if Santa drops a couple extra bucks in the kitty I would go with one of the CZ offerings . As I stated earlier in the thread I have 3 rimfire as is & am happy with all of them . .17 HMR seems attractive untill you get to the part where ammo is just as expensive as feeding an AR . The 883SS in .22HMR fills that niche already . I'm of the opinion the more rimfires the better . Always fun to buy , tune , restore , shoot & trade it for the next one . Some become fixtures that are "untouchable" . I know for some reason I have trouble with the Marlins , when I get my hands on a nice specimen I tend to keep them .
Again , thanks for all the input ,
Al

 

[mr.t7024]

rimfire

I can not add anything to what has been said. The advice given is excellent. Cliff

 

[Ar180shooter]

Well, I'll throw in my $.02. If you don't already have an accurate .22lr bolt action, definitely get one before you get a .17 HMR. If only for ammo that costs 1/4 that of .17. You'll get way more trigger time on the .22 per dollar than the .17, and spending around $8/box on .22lr (around the same as a regular box of .17) will get you some nice match ammo that will shoot well under an inch at 100 with a Savage rimfire. With my Savage Mark II BTVS, I can consistently get 3/4" 100 yard groups with Eley Club ammunition.

 

[CraigC]

...I would never trust another savage,,, had a savage bolt pistol, in .223,,,, brand new from the box, and had nothing but problems...

One has to understand than one guy with one problem gun is statistically insignificant. Experiences folks have with Savage and their rimfire boltguns in particular, is nothing less than stellar for the dollars spent. I have two and would not hesitate in the least to buy another. I've had three dozen Rugers of various types over the years and only one that had to be sent back. Should I judge all Rugers by that one problem gun? No.