Top Quality Bolt 22 LR Recommendations?

[Brad Clodfelter]

I would buy an older Anschutz 54 model 1411 from Mac Tilton if it were me. It will out shoot any of your choices. Mac may even find you a Suhl 150, or Rem 40x that will shoot holes too. Mac will guarantee what he sells. I believe he will also let you shoot the gun up to 3 weeks to meet your satisfaction. Any of these guns will out shoot most shooters.

Mac Tilton

805-720-7720

[email protected]

Brad

 

[JohnBT]

Isn't the 1411 a prone target rifle that weighs over 11 pounds? Or did they make a sporter model at some point? I can't remember if I ever knew at all. Nothing wrong with the accuracy of an Anshutz and the triggers are great on the 54's. I've even seen one or two sporter stocks that I liked a great deal - of course one of them was on a .260 Rem. ten years ago and I didn't have the $1200 they wanted for it.

John

 

[Brad Clodfelter]

John,

I'm guessing that's the style stock you could call the 1411. And yes they are a very heavy gun in the factory stock. I do know they will shoot real well. If you can find one with a perfect condition bore, you may just be surprised what kind of groups you can in fact shoot with these guns. That's if the shooter knows how to shoot. The triggers on these guns were some of the best factory triggers ever produced.

Anschutz made a older 54 action sporter, but I don't know the exact date. They shot well too.

I have a Suhl 150 with the original factory barrel stamped 11/74 for the date. Anschutz(West Germans) actually helped the East Germans of Suhl to design the Suhl 150 in I believe around the summer of 1974 for a date of origin. It is said that the original Suhl factory barrels on these guns were some of the most accurate factory barrels ever made. I would say they would in fact be one of top picks. The triggers on these guns were killers. Mine is on 2oz, and can be made to go down to approx 1oz if I remove the spring and stainless ball bearing from underneath the sear engagement screw. I feel that 2oz is light enough.

Here's a couple of groups I have shot with my Suhl at 50yds. I have actually shot 4 consecutive shot groups a lot smaller than these, but have yet to put 5 any smaller so far than these 2.

At 25yds it can shoot Eley Biathlon through the same hole for 5 shots.

Here's my second time shooting the gun at 100yds.

I believe I can beat this group judging on my 4 shot clusters I have shot. But it takes a near perfect no wind day to do this.

This group was measured at .375ctc. The dime will easily cover all 5 shots.



Just to show you that group wasn't luck I shot this one on the 4th of July of this year.

Brad

 

[JohnBT]

I'd like to have a Suhl 150, but I think I missed my chance. Gary Mitchell's
( www.eley.co.uk/view.php?ID=45 ) famous benchrest record-setting Suhl, Old Blue, was already a record-setting rifle when he bought it from K.C. Young. Mr. Young owns the Black Creek range where I do a lot of shooting. Like I said, I missed my chance.

Funny thing, the rifle has a 1-in-19 twist barrel on it. They must have thrown those guns together using whatever they had at hand. Whatever they did, it worked.

John

 

[hksw]

So, if you own a very nice bolt action 22, can you give me some advice? What is your opinion and recommendations on the following:

Remington 504
CZ 452 American
Kimber Classic
Cooper 57m
Anschutz 1416
Others?

The range of the candidates listed is a bit uneven. For the Anschütz offering, I would suggest a 1710D, Meister grade if your prefer nice looking wood. The 1400 series is pretty low on the Anschütz totem pole.

My personaly choice would be an Anschütz 54:18 MSR. Close second is any other heavy barreled Anschütz 54 action with a 5018 trigger.

 

[Brad Clodfelter]

John,

Gary Mitchell's Suhl was a screamer. A lot of Calfee customs were beaten by ole blue.

There still are some Suhl 150's floating around. I don't see many at all original stock Suhl's. But I see a few at Benchrest Central with benchrest stocks and tuners that have been tricked out.

I hope you find one if you still are wanting one.

Brad

 

[Brad Clodfelter]

John,

Here's the kind of 5 shot groups I can get at 25yds with the Eley Biathlon EPS ammo.

Jim Finn measured that 1st group at .021ctc.

A good shooting Suhl will shoot groups with the best of the custom guns regardless of who built it.

Lamon Loggins smithed my Suhl.

 

[Peter M. Eick]

Well I wont be able to do anything for another 2 or 3 weeks because you fine folks are sending your used hurricanes up here to the North Sea to harass those of us stuck on vessels at sea. I was hopeing to finish the job before the remains of Gordon got here, but no go.


Anyway, the good news is that after riding out another hurricane at sea I intend upon blowing the whole bonus and get something nice. Someone up a ways in this thread hit the nail on the head when they said go look at the exact rifle you are considering buying. The quality of the wood and fit and finish are very discriminating.

Now let me summarize what I have seen above:
1) CZ's have a good reputation, but you may have to hunt for a good looking one.

2) Coopers are general liked, but if you go for the classic you get some AL parts and have to go for the custom classic to get all steel.

3) There is a valid point that the Coopers may not be worth the 3x cost of the Coopers.

4) A few votes for Kimber.

5) Several votes for Anschutz.

6) No mentions of the Remington 504. I guess I will cross that one off the list (sorry Remington!)

7) I had not thought of an old Winny 52. I will have to consider that.

After that it is still the standard crap shoot that every rifle is an individual and you may great the best CZ ever made or you may get the worst Cooper that every snuck out of the factory.

Accurate assessment???

Finally any suggestions on a decent scope? I have bought almost exclusively Leupold VXIII's but I was curious if they are "overkill" for a 22 at 100 yards.

Thanks by the way!

 

[CB900F]

Peter;

Oh, now you did it! The glass dragon hath been roused. Gad, you really know how to stir the pot, don't you?

I am extremely happy with the Nikon Monarch 3.3-10X A/O mil-dot that's on my CZ452LHB.

900F

 

[JohnBT]

Brad, nice targets. I just now noticed the 541thb nic on one of them. Hi.


Rimfire scopes I like include the glossy Leupold 3x-9 EFR. Um, um, I put a matte Weaver 2x-7 on my '63 Mountie, but that's just temporary (for the past 3 years.) You probably don't want a Weaver T36 or V24 on a nice sporter, even though I have T36 on my Finnfire Hunter (but it has a 1.5-ounce Jewell trigger on it so it's not really a squirrel gun.) Okay, I'm out of ideas for now.


"The 1400 series is pretty low on the Anschütz totem pole. My personal choice would be an Anschütz 54:18 MSR."

The 1411 is a 54 Match action so it shouldn't be but so bad. And I agree about the 54:18, even if it isn't a traditional squirrel gun.

John

 

[six4atd]

Late recommendations

I'm a little late to this dance, but have to chime in

I collect .22's and have pretty much all of those listed on this thread.

First off, I heard a concern about flush magazines...and I agree totally! That is one of the first things I look for in a high quality .22; not that their aren't high quality .22's w/out flush clips. BUT...if this is a concern, you've narrowed the field somewhat. In new rifles, basically either COOPER or KIMBER. In somewhat recent rifles: Winchester/Browning 52's (re-issue), Browning A-Bolt, Ruger 77/22. Some of the older Rems & Wins did this as well. The CZ does NOT; I own 2 of them & the clip is not flush.

The next thing I consider in a high quality .22 is sights. Call me old school (although I'm only 35) but I think bases and turn in rings are superior to dovetailed receivers (for shooting purposes only). So, when a rifle comes with bases from the factory, I take it more seriously as a shooter. Again, both COOPER & KIMBER do this.

From here it is a matter of fit & finish (action & barrel). Again, COOPER & KIMBER are in my opinion, neck & neck. But I give Cooper a slight edge based on the quality of their small caliber centerfires.

I like dark wood with lots of figure so I prefer Kimber to Cooper in that category, although Coopers have nice wood as well.

My Cooper is a M57 Classic & my Kimber a Super America (I also have an Oregon model 82 in the standard grade ). In addition, I have 3 Winchester 52's & 3 Browning 52's (these are the early 90's re-issues). So I'm very familiar with all of these.

So...to make a short story long, my ratings go:
1) Cooper M57Classic (Appr. $1250)
2) Kimber Custom Classic (Appr. $1400) (same as SA w/out monte carlo)
3) Win/Browning 52 re-issue ($550 & up)

As for glass, almost all of mine wear Leupolds, except the Win 52's which get Burris. I rate them 1) Leupold VXII 3-9EFR & 2) Burris 4-12 Compact RA.

To all CZ fans, no offense...I really like mine & find myself grabbing the 452 American more than any other gun for going out back for a 10 minute shoot. But, it is not really fair to compare a $400 rifle to a $1250++ rifle. That said, a 453 American with a Leupold 2x7rf is a sweet set up for only about $600! Yes, less than half the Cooper or Kimber (before the scope!).

These are all awesome guns, but with a few cons:
Cooper/Kimber: (Price!)
Win/Br 52: (a little heavy, bolt removal:banghead: )
CZ/Rem 541/Anschutz/Sako finnfire: (plastic clip, most not flush)
Browning A-bolt .22/Ruger 77/22: (beautiful, but don't shoot w/ others)
Browning T-bolt: (Belgium shoots OK, but expensive parts??) & the new re-issue: mine is on the way, but probably won't get fired )

Remember, we're talking about rimfires & you can only make a rimfire shoot so well. To get any rimfire to shoot top notch it takes tons of rounds of lots of different ammo. And they still don't produce groups like the slightly larger centerfires. But...they're so fun!

Please tell us about your decision!!!!

 

[hksw]

My bad John, when I saw '14-' I was thinking 1451.

 

[Khornet]

Model 52

there is no other. I have two- a 1929 Model 52 Speed Lock and a 1948 Model 52B. Both are a delight to shoot, and are tack drivers. With the scoped 52B I routinely get 0.25" 50 yard benched groups with Win. Power Point.

These guns are still turning up, and I think you can get one for a grand or less.

 

[rangerruck]

you can get the aftermarket mags for the cz , that will make it flush fit, and there is no way that the pic , with that mag, is for a 22lr, that is a centerfire mag, for sure.