What's the Most reliable .22lr?

[Jason M]

I don't know what the most reliable is but I know that it is NOT my Remington 597. It'd be a miracle if it shot a whole ten round mag with no malfunctions.

Chris,

I had numerous malfunctions in my 597 for the first 200 rounds or so. I also noticed that it was not particularly fond of regular lead-nose bullets. It definitely preferred a jacketed .22LR round for reliable feeds. With a box of FMJ .22LR, mine does me no wrong. May be worth a try.

But be wary of Remington bulk "brass jacketed" .22LR ammo. It is brass washed at best and makes a horrible mess of your hands and rifle bore.

-Jason

 

[Damon555]

Where are you getting FMJ .22lr ammo? How about brass washed ammo? I've seen a lot of copper washed ammo before....but never brass.

 

[Z-Michigan]

Remington "golden bullet" has some kind of brass colored coating. I have had terrible luck with golden bullet, worse than the cheaper Thunderbolt which isn't so great either.

The Federal bulk pack .22 is copper plated and works great for me. Higher on the price scale, CCI is always good, but not cheap.

 

[Jason M]

The FMJ stuff is the conical flat nose stuff. I think Aguila makes some and I know Federal used to. I had it all in a ziplock bag because the box fell apart about three years ago. I never bothered to look at the stamp on the casing. I guess I should have because I am out of it...

 

[Cron]

Remington 552 is often over looked. I have two of them. Accurate and extremely reliable. A little bit pricey for a new one, about $450.00, but worth it IMHO.

 

[gcrookston]

Savage model 3

 

[Sagetown]

I would never pick my Rossi Winchester 62A .22 Pump to stand off charging Coyotes. It is so unreliable.

But that's what I had in my hands that day walking my fenceline on a wooded hillside with my dog.

I shot nine times as fast as I could pump hitting both yotes on the approach, hit a male four times, two shots on each side, for he turned around right beside me, ran a good ways and dropped dead.

The other yote continued passed me, and my dog got brave and took after it.

Sage

 

[ArmedBear]

I haven't found any semi auto to be very reliable. The 10/22 and model 60 are so dirty that they don't feed perfectly every time.

The Ruger pistols can go a few bricks. So can a .22LR AR. The AR receiver has so much extra room in it, it takes a LOT of fouling to be a problem

 

[verb0s]

Marlin 39 - lever action, very reliable at shooting different types of ammo.

Marlin 925 (or any bolt action) - I have one, both accurate and extremely reliable. I get groups of 1-3" at 100 yards with it, depending on ammo. I generally clean it once every 250 rounds, although its definitely one of those guns that never needs any cleaning, besides a little oil and wiping of the bolt every now and then.

My Ruger 10/22 Carbine is also pretty reliable, but does need cleaning every once a long while, and I need a screwdriver and some tools to take it apart, which in my opinions would lower its reliability rating. So far its been cleaned twice, only when it really needed it, when I bought it used (jammed too much) and after about 1500 rounds.

 

[Funderb]

I suggest the bmg.

 

[shevrock]

As far as i can tell. My Harrington and Richardson model 755. I love it.

 

[BAT1]

CZ 452 Trainer bolt 5 or 10 shot mag. Great iron sights, but a Simmons .22 mag scope makes it a tack driver.

 

[Furncliff]

I have more .22's than anything else. The most reliable by far is a 10 yo Marlin 60 that I bought used. All I use for ammo in that is the Federal bulk pack from Walmart.

 

[orvpark]

I have to agree on the Model 60 or 10/22. As long as mine get a solid diet of "high velocity" they fail within the rate of the ammo. Usually my fail to fire ammo gets fed back in and it will fire on the second strike (on a new spont on the rim).

I had my model 60 for a good 10 years before I did anything but shoot some brake cleaner through it and oil it up. I bet it had at least 20K rounds through it before it started to jam. I replaced a few wear items (feed throat, ejectors/springs) and I assume it is good for another 20k rounds or so. It runs great, in fact, I just shortened the stock so it fits my nephew. He'll get it as soon as he's big enough to shoot!

I have never had a problem with my 10/22 using factory mags and the "steel lip" Butler Creek 25 rounders. It only has a couple of thousand rounds through it though.

There is a reason there are around 10 million of each of these guns on the market.

 

[elsullo]

Ditto on Chron: Remington 552 Speedmaster

I agree with Chron about the Remington 552 Speedmaster! It is an overlooked masterpiece. It is a tube-fed semi auto that because of its big internal rubber buffer will fire shorts, longs, long-rifles, and hyper-velocity long-rifles. It will simply shoot any .22 without fail. I bought mine well-used, and it has simply NEVER failed to fire and eject any .22 ammo (except when I experimentally bypassed the sear!)

It is VERY impressive what 20 .22 shorts can do! Or fifteen Stingers!.........................elsullo

 

[66GTO]

I have owned a Remington Nylon 66 since 1972. I haven't shot 100,000 rounds, like the Remington test did, but I do not recall any failure to fire that was not the fault of the ammo. And I have never had a failure to feed or stovepipe. It is an amazing little rifle. Accurate enough, light and easy handling, and dead on reliable.

Surprisingly, my Savage MKII bolt action is not a reliable as the semi-auto Nylon 66. It sometimes has trouble feeding the first or last round in a magazine (a magazine problem, not a rifle problem), and if shooting dirty ammo (Remington) I have trouble chambering rounds as the tight chamber get dirty.

 

[bestseller92]

I've had 3 Model 60s, and they've all been FAIRLY reliable (meaning a jam every once in a while).

I had a 10/22 a decade ago (traded it, darn it), and never had a jam with it.

I want another.

 

[AirplaneDoc]

My Winchester 61 never misses, I shoot it once a week. Took it to the range the other day, it will put 5 in a 1/2 dollar at 100yards just as well as m 10/22

10/22 is good with factory mags, but it is my 2nd choice.

 

[KiltedClaymore]

single shot

but next on the list is a marlin 39 or a remington 121

or, if you can afford it, a winchester 60 or 61

 

[Kaibabmountain]

The best .22 lr rifle ever made is the Remington model 34. Hard to find sometimes.

 

[jerkface11]

I'd go with a Marlin 60 or a Remington Nylon66 for an auto loader. For a bolt either a Savage or a CZ. (if you get a Nylon66 never ever under any circumstances take it apart though).

 

[captainamerica]

Marlin model 70's and 7000's are very reliable. 60's are too; but can requires extra breakin or smoothing of the action, and finicky ammo capability.

 

[bsp915]

henry h001

 

[Stevie-Ray]

My Stevens model 34 has NEVER failed in 40 years.

 

[nambu1]

Mine is an old Mossberg that belonged to my father-in-law, model unknown. It is a clip fed bolt action. It shoots anything I put in it, even ammo I found on the ground at the range.