The “Perfect” .22 Rifle

Ain't no perfect anything but Gods own Son. We all have our ideas about what is right for us and in most cases it is a compromise. My perfect whatever for one thing might be horrible for anything else. I love these questions as they make me really search. Of my .22s, the one that meets the most needs is my FrankenRuger 10-22, a forty year old receiver, a Jard trigger group, a hand-me-down laminated Ruger target stock, a Shaw, Bentz chambered barrel and a few other miscellaneous parts and a good scope. Squirrels, BR50 targets, bump in the night, plinking, it can do it all. Not with Stingers, however.

 

Now you are waning philosophically on me!!!
IMHO, the perfect .22 LR is in the eye of the beholder or user.

A "perfect" .22 for me is one that never fails, is always accurate and tickles my aesthetic fancy. Like the Anschutz Silhouette - I love that schabel forend! Or like the Browning BAR .22 or SA-22! Both tickle my aesthetic sensibilities. Whatever tickles you suits me just fine!

 

I've lusted for .22 pumps like yours. Over the years, I've fired a few and they were just about the best rifles with open iron sights. I like receiver-sighted .22s the best and still have one, a Win. 69A bolt-action (removable magazine). John P.

 

I have a couple Anschutz 22's, but this is the 22 rifle that I like best,



It was made exactly the way that I wanted it made,



Melvin builds some REALLY nice rifles,



Is it "perfect" probably not, but it's what "I" wanted.

DM

 

Perfection is in the heart of the beholder....

 

This is a once-upon-a-time story, beginning at a time when Remington and Winchester made wonderful .22 rifles. The top-of-the-line models for each was Winchester’s Model-52 target rifle and Remington’s Model-37, which, according to experts then and now, was an even better made rifle than the vaunted Winchester. Winchester also made a stylish adult size sporting version of their M-52, but for some unknow reason Remington never offered a sporting version of their M-37. Which, in subsequent decades, has caused endless speculations among rifle aficionados as to what a Sporting 37 might have looked like. So, intrigued by this mystery, I went about having such a rifle created, beginning with an original M-37 target rifle and creative talents of gunmaker Roger Green. My only input being that he be inspired by the stylish contours and refinements of early 20TH Century British big game rifles.

 

All I can say is WOW!

 

I have about every action type of 22… a Marlin 39A is very satisfying to operate. It’s fun for tin cans. On the other hand I get more satisfaction out of small groups on paper with my CZ bolt action, even though arguably the Marlin lever is just as accurate. Semi autos go through ammo too quickly for me although from a technical standpoint it’s very hard to argue with a Ruger 10/22. Mine is walnut from the early years of production.

Pumps are also great. It’s honestly a tossup whether the pump or lever is more fun… they are both very satisfying and tactile and really make you feel like you are engaged with the gun, unlike the more detached feel of a semi auto.

Aesthetically the guns that look best with scopes (IMO) are bolts. But a scope on a bolt gun usually means you must work it carefully due to clearance, which bugs me in principle. Maybe the best compromise for field use is a scoped pump? Never owned one but it sounds sweet.

 

You had it.

 

I've had Ithaca, Marlin, Ruger, Keltec, Walther and Henry. All have been very enjoyable. I don't know about perfect but certainly all have brought hours of great fun.. Some have thousands upon thousands of round through them and other much less, but all are as reliable as the ammo allows. I'll call my Henry Golden Boy as my perfect .22. It has it all; beauty, accuracy reliability and heirloom qualities.

 

For the money, if you can find one, the Remington Model 504 was a very nice .22 bolt-action sporting rifle. Some complained of accuracy issues but mine shoots plenty straight.

 

So this thread enticed me into ordering a Anschutz 1714 Silhouette on line just before I left for my annual hunting trip.
I returned yesterday to see that UPS says it was delivered 11/12/21. The FFL says he never received it! I am currently (on hold) on the phone with the retail seller. If he can't get this figured out, I will turn it over to the CC co. for returning my money. Then the retailer can slug it out with them.
Currently, not a happy on-line shopper!!!

 

Offfhand

Simply breathtaking! Has to be the most beautifully crafted .22 bolt action rifle I have ever seen!

Thanks for sharing!

 

UPDATE:
FFL has the Anschutz! The online retailer put the wrong invoice inside the box! The invoice is for a 9mm and not a .22!
Good grief!!!
Anyway, all is well.

 

SA-22 for the design, weight, and take-down capability in a semi-auto.

Remington 512-X is the .22 bolt rifle I grew up with and it has huge sentimental value to me.

 

I could not find one that would do everything right, so I bought more.

I also sold some.

Target shooting: CZ 457 Varmint. It could have been longer for me, but it sure shoots. Did half an inch at 100 yards in June, I think, with Federal gold something, which, for me (intermediate shooting skills), is excellent. Beautiful rifle, trigger is rather nice, cycling the action is a dream.

Everything else (walking, hunting soda cans and pest, walking some more, surviving apocalyptic scenarios): plastic Winchester Wildcat. Light, fun, long enough, reliable semi. 3/4 inch and even up to 2 ugly inches at 50 yards is a little too opened for my target shooting taste. Easily accommodates a light.

Cooey model 60 for nostalgia. And it shoots better than I now can with its excellent open sights.

Honorable mention to my father's old gold plated Winchester, first firearm I ever shot. It was a joy to shoot, but I can't forgive him to have put a scope on it. Beautiful rifle if there was ever any, before that darn scope disfigured it. Cycling = fun! Scope shall be removed if inherited.

 

Henry sells a youth stock that should fit on your Frontier rifle to reduce the LOP. I got one for my son to put on a standard Henry… then I kept the standard for myself and went out and bought him a youth carbine .

Stay safe.

 

This long lasting thread has included quite a few opinions as to what might constitute a "Perfect" .22, with many simply being old favorites, which I suppose is fair enough. But in the real world has any .22 approached genuine perfection? My former neighbor Snooty Chuck may have such a rifle. (I say former neighbor as he moved a few months ago because, according to rumor, his wife wanted to move to a better neighborhood.) Anyway, the rifle may be perfect only only for Chuck because he is a southpaw and the rifle was built for a left had shooter, beginning with a Winchester M-52 action converted to left hand operation. And that was just the first step in accomplishing a truly remarkable rifle, which I had a chance to photograph before Chuck packed his guns and moved to a better neighborhood.

 

Another beauty.
Just wish Chuck coulda taken a few of my neighbors with him.

There's no shortage of incredibly accurate, super reliable .22 rifles out there. Many are those things right out of the box, without needing multiple upgrades.

If you're not happy with out of the box offerings, there are 2 options really. Start with a really accurate rifle, then have it fitted with a stock you like, barrel length, etc...
Or start with the rifle that fits you best, get a good trigger and bedding job and go from there.

 

I've owned a bunch of 22 rifles over the years, a Marlin 39a, a half dozen Ruger 10/22's, a couple of Ithaca M-49 single shots, a 547 Remington, and probably some I've forgotten about. But my favorite of them all was a Ruger M-77/22 from the first year production. Man that was a pretty rifle. As I've said a couple of times, I'm not much of a rifleman, but I do like hunting squirrels with a 22 rifle. That M-77/22 always had the feel of a "big rifle" to it. I could lean against a tree and imagine myself somewhere up along the timberline hunting elk or something like that.

Alas, I had to sell it off, like a lot of my guns during a period of unemployment. I don't really even have a decent picture of it, but found this one.



I don't remember ever missing a squirrel with it. I'm sure I did, but I don't remember it.

I finally whittled my 22's down to just one, and technically it's my wife's. It's a "Wally World Special" 10/22 with a 22?" barrel in stainless steel, and a DSP stype hardwood stock. The longer barrel again gives it a big rifle feel that I always liked over the standard 10/22. It's got a blister pack Bushnell 4X scope in silver ($40.00 IIRC) to match the rifle, and a black nylon sling from Wally-World for about $5.00. When my wife got sick a fellow on Rimfire Central with the handle "Swamp Fox" offered to do a trigger job for her. I sent the trigger assembly to him, and he sent it back in a couple of weeks. It's a REALLY nice trigger. My wife never hunted again after her recovery, but I used it some. It's a squirrel getter I tell you.



I think I'd call either of these my "perfect" 22 rifle. (Don't tell her I called it "my rifle.")

 

I've got a few---10/22's--a CZ 455--Ruger Precision Rifle(.22 mag)--Browning SA22 and BL22---------the BL22 is the one that really keeps my interest, just love flicking that lever and the CZ will probably go down the road--just not happy with it.

 

The perfect .22 rifle is the one you hold in your hands right now.........Tomorrow's rifle may be different......And remember opinions are like exhaust pipes. We all got one.

 

Some have two (exhaust pipes that is).

 

And they are usually interchangeable on those people, too.

 

Remington 511 Scoremaster. Family heirloom that shoots lights out. Nice wood too. Original factory price was $10.45.

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