Who can recommend a .22 rifle for me?

[Artful]

Seems to me that the 10-22 stock barrel is quite good...many have purchased replacement barrels that cost more than the rifle... as mine shoots quite accurately, I am not sure I understand why.

Forrest r did a good write up on 10/22 - http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=166155

to Quote him

10/22 bbl's are actually a pretty good bbl, they just have extremely loose, junk chambers. Take a stock ruger bbl & touch up the crown, cut 1/4" off the bbl shank & recut the chamber with a good target reamer & you'll end up with a real sleeper. Finish reamers can be bought from $30 to $50 & their worth every penny.

A reamer chart for ptg reamers, I like & use their lilja reamer. You will notice that the smaller/tighter chambers are all match chambers.



I chose the lilja reamer because I usually shoot low to mid-grade match ammo in my 10/22. The lower the grade of match ammo the longer it is. They have found that a 22 bullet likes to be seated aa certain depth into the leade of the chamber (the distance between part b & d on the chart) for optumium accuracy. When you get into plinking/blammo/hunting ammo the bullets are way longer (as much as .060" longer) than match ammo to try to extend out further into the sporter chambers in most hunting/sporter rifles.

Which explains why you need to try all types of ammo to find the flavor your rifle favor's. Matching the Ammo to the chamber.

[I'll Make Mine]

Well, to follow up on this at last -- I had miscalculated, and it was December, not January when I had a paycheck that wasn't committed to either rent or bills. That paycheck deposited today, and despite having acquired two additional mouths in my house (and I don't mean dogs or cats) and, so far, very little additional money to feed them with, I was still able to spend money on a rifle today.

Complicating matters was the fact that apparently starter .22 rifles are very popular as Christmas gifts this year; most of the gun stores and sporting goods stores in my local area were sold out, but Gander Mountain came through with one Marlin 795 left in stock. I zoomed over there, took a number, and waited in line behind a bunch of people who didn't know what they wanted, or were just looking, or in one case were trying to figure out how to get the ejector to stay in place in a take-down Benelli 12 ga.

When my number was finally called, it took less than twenty minutes to complete the paperwork, get the instant background check, fork over $160 including sales tax, and beat it out the door with the first brand new firearm I've ever owned. As previously determined when checking the field in this price range, the Marlin's plastic stock is a perfect fit for me; a solid cheek weld puts my eye exactly in line with a correct sight picture and the length of pull is just right.

I still need to get a sling and swivels, and an extra magazine, but those will still leave me under $200 total cost. I do still plan to mount the Williams aperture sight I have, but I may have to get a front sight shim to go with it (and then possibly pad the stock comb to raise my eye a fraction) before I can use the aperture sight.

[shooterg]

You made a good choice. I love my 10/22's(all 3 of 'em), but out of the box, none will clean that itty bitty "V" ring in the prone slow Appleseed 27 yd. target. The Marlin will and it's magazine changes easier and accepts rounds better than the Savage 64(although the Savage did shoot well). Same for my older Marlin 99's .

[I'll Make Mine]

From what I've read, the 10/22 isn't exactly a 1911 in terms of magazine changes, either. What really clinched it for me over the Savage, though, was the automatic bolt hold-open on an empty magazine -- that'll save five seconds or more over a dry fire in the two rapid strings at Appleseed.

I've been looking at sight upgrades for this rifle -- the spring-click rear sight is pretty cheesy, though the one on my granddad's Glenfield (.22 bolt, tube magazine, I don't recall the model) was good enough to hit ground squirrels pretty consistently out to fifty yards or so. Tech Sights is the obvious upgrade, but with shipping that's about half what I paid for the rifle (and I still need to get a sling and swivels, plus at least one more magazine -- tax refund will cover that, planning to go back to Appleseed in March).

I see one made for the 795SS that fits the original rear sight dovetail, but has a sliding notch for windage (with a gib screw like the elevation a Williams 5D) and screw elevation for about $11 plus shipping; alternately, if I could find a way to raise my front sight by roughly a quarter inch, I could use the Williams 5D-AG aperture sight I already have (I've checked fit, it clears the stock nicely when bottomed, but it's a quarter inch, more or less, above the original sight line); I'm considering getting a stack of Mendoza front sight risers. I can get 5, at 1/16" each, for $10 plus shipping (I've also got an inquiry in relative to height on a fiber optic front sight assembly Mendoza sells via Pyramydair that should fit my barrel). Once I'm done using this for Appleseed, I'll most likely put an NCStar scope on it or get a rail adapter and mount the red dot I have (it fits a Weaver rail and the mount is integral) to use the rifle for rabbit/squirrel hunting and plinking.