What to purchase for my first 22

[Ickisrulz]

Not American made...but CZ 452 (455? now) are solid shooters with good open sights.

[adrians]

henry 22 mag lever action is a great ,,,fun shooting rifle ,.
i like mine.

[wallenba]

Got my sister a new Savage Mark II for under $215 US ( a special gift, one time only). In ten minutes she was zeroed in at fifty doing 1-1/2" groups with Winchester 37 gr. She's always had a knack for it.

[oldgeezershooter]

One word,Marlin 39A lever action. Most accurate rifle I have owned.
Sorry, not one word.

[9.3X62AL]

One word,Marlin 39A lever action. Most accurate rifle I have owned.
Sorry, not one word.

My Marlin 39A can shoot right with my Remington 581--by some distance the most accurate lever rifle I've ever fired.

[warf73]

My first 22 rifle was a new Remington 572 dad went halfs with me on it for my 15th birthday I've shot loads of critters with it and its min of tree rat at 50 yards.

The 2nd 22 rifle was bought for $30 at a pawn shop to shoot rats(with shot loads) with but desided to change my mind on that when it shot nickle sized groups at 25 yards using lighting ammo.
I was a member of a new indoor range that held 22 rim fire shoots and was talked into going. Desided I should put a scope on it so I pulled out one of my tasco 2x scopes that was pulled off my old crossman pellet guns. I grabbed 2 boxes of Federal Lightings and went to the shoot and did pretty good for a 22 year old kid, was in the top 20 of 60+ shooters.
Ow the rifle was an old tube fed Western Field bolt action.

[Mk42gunner]

My first 22 rifle was a new Remington 572 dad went halfs with me on it for my 15th birthday I've shot loads of critters with it and its min of tree rat at 50 yards.

The 2nd 22 rifle was bought for $30 at a pawn shop to shoot rats(with shot loads) with but desided to change my mind on that when it shot nickle sized groups at 25 yards using lighting ammo.
I was a member of a new indoor range that held 22 rim fire shoots and was talked into going. Desided I should put a scope on it so I pulled out one of my tasco 2x scopes that was pulled off my old crossman pellet guns. I grabbed 2 boxes of Federal Lightings and went to the shoot and did pretty good for a 22 year old kid, was in the top 20 of 60+ shooters.
Ow the rifle was an old tube fed Western Field bolt action.

Pretty good chance that Western Field was either a Marlin or Mossberg, both makers were known for accurate .22 rifles.

Robert

[Changeling]

I'm new to shooting, and my main gun is a muzzleloader for hunting. But I need something to compete with my friends at the range.

My friends have Marlin auto-loaders. I was thinking I would enjoy a bolt-action better.

Is there such a thing as a reasonbly-priced American-made bolt action that you can install peep sights on? I would prefer that to a scope.

Nothing against competition shooters, but I would prefer a normal knock-about rifle rather than something weird-looking.

I didn't even try to read the above responsive s to your post, Ruger 10/22.

[jh45gun]

There are a lot more accurate guns out of the box than 10/22s and the cottage industry of supplying after market target barrels and trigger groups ect prove that fact. I agree that Marlin 39's are accurate they are great 22's. I never shot a Henry in 22 LR but if they shoot as well as my 22 mag Henry does that would be a consideration. One of the best buys out there still is a used Marlin Bolt action like a Marlin 80 or 81 or the rifles that came after them in the 800 and 900 series.Both of my Marlin 80's are tack drivers and I am shooting Silhouette with one of them and holding my own against some lot more expensive rifles and the Marlin does a lot better than I do. Same with the Remington older bolt actions and the Mossberg 22's all great accurate 22's.

[doubs43]

There are a lot more accurate guns out of the box than 10/22s...

Amen to that thought. Neither of my standard, stock 10/22 Ruger rifles were worth beans out of the box. First time out with the first one was a disaster as the magazine bound up and wouldn't feed. A klutz at the factory had over-tightened the screw around which the follower rotates. It loaded but wouldn't feed. Very disappointing! Years later, Boyd stocks, GM barrels, extended mag releases and a bit of work on the trigger groups worked wonders. Now both are tack drivers but it shouldn't be necessary to spend the extra money to get decent accuracy.

The Remington 597 is another rifle that seems to be poor for accuracy out of the box. I'm going by what I read plus the one example I own.

In a semi-auto, the Marlin 60 is hard to beat for accuracy out of the box and they are priced very reasonably. I have no experience with the Savage or Mossberg semi-auto rifles but their bolt action rifles will generally be very good.

Then there's the Thompson Center semi-auto! I don't own one but have shot a few and they are a gem out of the box. Reliable and ACCURATE! My one criticism is the magazines. They are too large IMO. If TC would redesign them correctly, I would seriously want to own one.

Let us know what you decide to buy and how it shoots.

[RhodeHunter]

Original poster here.

I bought a used Marlin 60 for $90. It's a 1980 model with squirrel carved in the wood. I'm still shooting it with the iron sights. I had to adjust the rear sight to one side by lightly tapping it with a hammer and punch in the dovetail groove. I like it OK so far; haven't shot it enough to know what I'm talking about, and like I said it's my first .22

You guys know so much. Thanks a million for all the advice. I'm gearing up for opening day muzzleloader season this Saturday. Hoping to get my first deer ever. Trying to see if I can do what my grandfather did in Florida. He was quite the outdoorsman.

[tacklebury]

My personal favorite .22 semi is the Marlin 60. Just make sure that if you shoot cheap ammo, you clean the slide occasionally or it'll start binding up. This is a full tube of CCI Mini-Mag Hollowpoints fast fired from 25 yards with elbow rest. Most accurate in mine and puts squirrels down with authority.

[jh45gun]

Marlin 60's put stock 10/22s to shame. 60's are great accurate rifles. I sold mine to buy my Uberti 45 and I now own two Marlin bolt action Model 80's which are tack drivers but the 60 I had shot as well as the bolt actions do. Marlin 22's are just plain accurate.