Should your best rifle be a 22LR?

[76shuvlinoff]

Lefty here too

My best 22 rifle.. Marlin Golden 39A lever, my next best.. Marlin 60. No real "lefty" issues but neither are high end competative shooters

But I've only got those 2 and a little Sears Ted Williams single shot I got as a 9 year old. In fact that's probably my "best".

 

[DPStx]

I guess it would depend on your definition of "best." My Model 70 243 is the prettiest of my rifles but both of my 22lr's will out shoot it. They're both Win 52's, one is 88 years old and I've spent $700 buying,customizing and scoping it, and it shoots 3/8" groups at 100yds. The second is my 49year old 52C Match rifle (18.5 lbs) I bought for $150 30 years ago, that shoots 1/4" groups at 100yds. (of course, I wouldn't sell it for thousands of dollars) The M70 only shoots 3/4" groups..... I love to shoot competition with my 52C, I love to shoot deer and targets and handload with the 243, and the old one is just plain fun to shoot. I love the Winchester 52 rifle and think it oughta be made again, easily one of the BEST rifles ever. Since I'm an accuracy nut, I've just never been happy with a 22 that won't pop turtle heads out of a stock pond out to a hundred yards.

 

[Taurus44]

I have a tweaked out Savage .308 bolt gun, and I'm in the process right now of building an evil little twin in .22LR for practice. I will be going with a Savage (with Accu-trigger) to match the .308, and I'm even going with a similar scope, stock and bipod for it. I'll end up with quite a bit in it, but I want it to match as closely to the big bolt gun as possible. My reasoning is that trigger time on the .22 should translate directly to the bigger gun.

My local range goes out to 300 yards at most, so I don't get to stretch the .308 out that often. But, shooting a .22LR at 200 yards is a LOT like shooting a .308 at 800+ so in addition to cheap trigger time, I also get good opportunities to learn to dope the wind and drop.

 

[Kind of Blued]

In my opinion, no.

You can attain the realistic maximum capabilities of the .22LR without buying the most expensive rifle and optics you can get your hands on.

You are equating "best" with "most expensive" which, happily, in the world of .22LR rifles, is almost impossible to make true.

 

[Dookie]

If you shoot it more than anything else, or in matches, why not. Why should your most shot firearm be you cheapest.

Take pride in a nice 22 and scope.

 

[elmerfudd]

One of the really nice things about 22's is that you can get a really nice one for $500 and you don't have to worry about whether your scope is tough enough.

 

[goon]

Not necessecarily.
I like my 10/22 but it's not really the epitome of fine fitting. It even had problems out of the box that I had to fix. All in all, it's become one of my most used and favorite shooters, but it's not the highest quality.
I'd say that your .22 rifle should be of reasonable quality though. There are any number of manufacturers who can supply a pretty good .22 LR rifle for $150-$300. Makes sense to spend "enough" go get a relatively accurate and reliable gun because it isn't any fun to shoot a gun that doesn't work right.

 

[moooose102]

well, since it will probably be your primary practice rifle, IMO, it should be of similar quality and feel of your hunting rifles. since you will will use this to keep up on skills, it should have similar handleing characteristics and trigger feel of your hunting rifles. that way, when you shoot those, you will be "in synch" with them. if your 22 trigger is way different, when you go to fire your hunting rifle, you will be way off, and possibly blow the shot.

 

[Zach S]

Depends on the use.

In my situation, no. My 10-22s are rarely out of the safe. The .22 rifle I that I actually shoot is an AR15 that I built. I prefer that it doesn't run 100% so I can practice clearing "real" malfunctions, and not a snap cap loaded in the magazine.

My most reliable rifles are my 5.56 AR and my 9mm AR. They both run 100%. If I need a HD gun, I'll be grabbing one of them (whichever is out), therefore they have to be the best rifles I own.