Recomend me a .22lr rifle platform!

[MrMarco]

I've had a Marlin model 60 for 20 years now and have shot untold thousands of rounds through it - I've have never replaced the recoil spring. It's a great gun for the money. I just bought my gf a model 795 and she loves it. It's as dependable and accurate as the model 60.

[sniper5]

Personally, I am going to get a Browning .22 auto takedown when I buy a semi. Currently I have a Remington 513T and love it. My wife has a 10/22 and loves it.

[MaHoTex]

Marlin 795 is small but accurate. Magazines are a bear to load without the uplula. Marlin 60 is more substantial, but the tube loading becomes a pain. The Marlin 925 is a great bolt gun and a real keeper. All 3 are great shooters, but the 60 and the 925 seem a bit lot better to me.

The S&W M&P15-22 is a class all its own. It is a fun platform, easy takedown, accurate and well... fun...

Out of the 4 I mention I would keep the S&W15-22 before the others, but the 925 is a close second.

ADDED: I do agree with the post below about the 795. It does feel light and cheap and is my least favorite of all my 22s because of this fact. The polymer stock just makes it like a toy in my opinion. This rifle should have a wooden stock on it.

I would rank the 22's I listed as follows:
1) M&P 15-22
2) Marlin 925
3) Marline 60
4) Marlin 795

I do not have the 981T, but would love to have on and would place it at #3 on my list simply because of the Tube feed instead of the Magazine. The 925 and 981 are essentially the same rifle.

[vmwerks]

Savage TR

//end thread

[shy 7th]

The Marlin 795 has been mentioned a couple time in this thread and I am definately a fan of my 795 but...

If you're looking for a "high quality" gun, I would suggest not getting a 795.

Mine's accurate enough, and it's reliable enough, but it definately does not feel or look like a "high quality" gun. For the $150-ish I paid for it, it is awesome, but it will never feel like a $500 gun. My Marlin 981T ($200-ish) is hands and fists over my 795. For that extra $50 the fit, finish, and feel is 500% better.

When my friends and I have 22lr shooting races/challenges/bets and I hand them my marlin 795 to use, they roll their eyes, droop their shoulders and get this expression like "seriously, you're giving me this POS to use?" They don't realize it shoots just as well as my sig-522, my 10/22, or my mkIII, but it just gives that impression, that feeling of the "cheap, loaner gun".

I would recommend a 795 for everybody. But if this is going to be your first or only 22 long gun and you can afford more, I would not recommend the 795. Drop the bux and get something better.

[snafu510]

I have seven 22 rifles. If I could only have one it would be a CZ 452 Trainer. Actually if I could only have one I'd like a Lux, but I have a Trainer now.

CZ452 iron sights are great.
If you prefer ghost ring or peeps those are available.
Trigger is great. Mine had a little creep from the factory, fixed with a brook's trigger kit.
Accuracy is excellent.
Cleaning it couldn't be simpler.
Rarely needs cleaning
Hogback stock is great for iron sight work.
Receiver is grooved for a scope if you want.
Quality.

[AlpineWeiss]

Does anybody have any experience with the CZ 512 semi auto?

Seriously thanks for the replies so far, I can see experience talking which is a great help.


Replies:

Since you have an AR how about either getting a 22 conversion kit or a 22 upper?

I looked at that earlier today. Right away I decided that I like the set up of my upper and I don't want to change that. Okay so conversion kit. The problem with that is my barrel is 1:7. I'm quite far from optimal.

Browning Buckmark Rifle , better accuracy out of box than Ruger 10/22.
Same Magazines as pistol ( one of each makes me happy)

A little pricey but a .22lr pistol may be in my future... Looks neat I want to hold one and see what I think about it.

Marlin 795 is small but accurate. Magazines are a bear to load without the uplula. Marlin 60 is more sunbstantial, but the tube loading becomes a pain. The Marlin 925 is a great bolt gun and a real keeper. All 3 are great shooters, but the 60 and the 925 seem a bit better to me.

The S&W M&P15-22 is a class all its own. It is a fun platform, easy takedown, accurate and well... fun...

Out of the 4 I mention I would keep the S&W15-22 before the others, but the 925 is a close second.

How bad is the tube loading? I load my Mosin by hand and im okay with it.

I have used an S&W MP15-22 before and liked it, but for me its too close to the AR experience.

Savage TR

//end thread

I would recommend a 795 for everybody. But if this is going to be your first or only 22 long gun and you can afford more, I would not recommend the 795. Drop the bux and get something better.

Point taken. I bought an M39 over a 91/30 for exactly the same reason. A little more money, for a lot more gun.

I have seven 22 rifles. If I could only have one it would be a CZ 452 Trainer. Actually if I could only have one I'd like a Lux, but I have a Trainer now.

What other rifles are you comparing it to? All bolt guns?

[MaHoTex]

How bad is the tube loading? I load my Mosin by hand and im okay with it.

I have used an S&W MP15-22 before and liked it, but for me its too close to the AR experience.

Tube loading is not THAT bad, but I prefer to stock up on a bunch of Mags and shoot a lot and then reload them all. I have always been leary of having my hand that close to the muzzle while loading my Marlin 60 (mine is a mid 80's Marlin 60 so the tube it nearly as long as the barrel) and it just kinda freaks me out I guess. I find it a safety issue and will not let my son load it because of that issue alone.

The 15-22 is an AR experience and it is great. It is nearly an identical duplicate of the AR I built. I tell you though, it is by far the most fun with a 22 I have. Of course, if you are looking for a non-AR experience this option is out.

If you are against the 15-22 and want a semi auto loader, you would not be disappointed with a Marlin 60. If you want a bolt gun, the 981 is the same rifle, but I wish they did not all come in synthetic stocks. The 981TS would be PERFECT if not for the systhetic. Bah.

As I mentioned earlier, the 925 is a beautiful rifle. It is full sized, heavier than the 795 and a stable accurate platform.


All of that said, aside from the M&P 15-22, I am only able to offer first hand experience with the Marlins, and can only recommend out of these options. Marlin 60 or Marlin 925 would be my choice in a wood stock.

[AlpineWeiss]

Well how big of a deal is it to swap stocks? Would a wood stock drastically change your opinion of the 795? Or is the rest of the package.... lacking?

Do all the tube magazine guns require you to load from the muzzle end? I agree with you whole heatedly on the safety concerns. A rifle barrel only becomes an inert steel tube when the machinery behind it is missing.

[vmwerks]

I have one and mounted a Leupold rimfire 3x9. It is a real tack driver.. I hit 1" blue bottle caps at 175 to 200 yards with it all day long in a heavy cross wind. The bottles are adult "formula" drink my mom is forced to ingest so we have a lot of them... filled with water and hit wth a .308 or 30.06 from a Garand and they explode.

It's a good looking rifle and needs nothing out of the box, the accutrigger is also excellent.

I miss Serge - he was like a son to me and not a day goes by I don't run across a photo or think of him, he is dearly missed.

[snafu510]

...What other rifles are you comparing it to? All bolt guns?

Bolt
CZ452 Trainer
CZ452 American
Mossberg 44 us
Savage Cub w/accutrigger

Semi
Ruger 10/22 - Green Mountain barrel, trigger kit etc
Remington 597

and a Henry lever action.

They are all fun. All easy to clean. But for out of the box accuracy and overall quality I like the CZ best.

[trxie]

The 512 is the newer version i think of the old Brno ZKN 661 . I have never shot one I picked one up and looked at it very light and it looks like it takes down or comes apart like the zkn 661 . The difference seem to be the receiver is aluminum and the trigger guard looks or feels like some king of polymer . The old zkm was steel and
barrels on both look the same . Most accurate 22rf/mag I have ever owned and I've had a bunch
Everything from anschutz to Walters plus custom shill en and kreger 10/22's

[Dark Mod]

Everyones gonna say Ruger 10/22 because its by far the most popular. But i urge you to consider the S&W m&p. Its an AR platform and its actually pretty good quality. Probably not as reliable as the 10/22 but its a nice rifle

[AlpineWeiss]

I have one and mounted a Leupold rimfire 3x9. It is a real tack driver.. I hit 1" blue bottle caps at 175 to 200 yards with it all day long in a heavy cross wind. The bottles are adult "formula" drink my mom is forced to ingest so we have a lot of them... filled with water and hit wth a .308 or 30.06 from a Garand and they explode.

It's a good looking rifle and needs nothing out of the box, the accutrigger is also excellent.

I miss Serge - he was like a son to me and not a day goes by I don't run across a photo or think of him, he is dearly missed.

Thanks for adding another choice to my decision. :P

It's something that weighs very heavily upon me and that has changed me quite a bit as a person. Man was he alive, like nobody else I have ever met. I miss him too.

[AlpineWeiss]

The 512 is the newer version i think of the old Brno ZKN 661 . I have never shot one I picked one up and looked at it very light and it looks like it takes down or comes apart like the zkn 661 . The difference seem to be the receiver is aluminum and the trigger guard looks or feels like some king of polymer . The old zkm was steel and
barrels on both look the same . Most accurate 22rf/mag I have ever owned and I've had a bunch
Everything from anschutz to Walters plus custom shill en and kreger 10/22's

Thank you! Add another one to the list...