Howdy all. I've been doing a little shooting the last few weeks and have noticed that I have picked up some nasty habits over the winter and spring from not shooting. I would like to get myself a decent .22 LR so that I can practice. My 7/300 is a little too expensive to practice with as are all my other bolt guns. I have a 10/22 but it is factory stock and shoots ok but it has about a 20lb trigger pull. I don't want to put any money into that thing either. I have $500 to spend on a rifle (not including the optic). I am looking at a Savage Mark II BRJ. My question is, is that a good rifle to use to practice form and trigger discepline with? I want something that can easily shoot .25 groups at 25-50 yards. Will a Savage do it? Any other guns in that price range that are better for training? Any advice would be great.
Looking for a fairly good bolt .22LR for training, but which one.
- Thread starter Yagingaboy
- Start date
Alex Wheeler
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CZ 452 over that savage all day. Same price tag too. I stoned the factory trigger to about 1 lb, and can shoot .3-.4 at 50 yd with wolf match. Very smooth action, make the savage seem like a kids gun. I also own the savage in .17.
I see some of the 452's are advertised as threaded barrels. Are they all threaded or are some threaded and some are taper fit? I would think I would want a threaded barrel as I don't plan on having a switch barrel for any reason.
My Savage Mark II 22LR will shoot half inch and smaller groups at 50 yards with cheap CCI Blazer ammo. Rare to get a quarter inch group at 50 though. And of course a few groups are bigger. I use it to practice shooting skils like you describe and it fits the need perfectly. It is also a cheap way to kill time while I wait for the barrels to cool on my centerfire rifles.
Forum Boss
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H&R m12
Look for a CMP H&R m12. These are surprisingly accurate, but they need to be drilled and tapped if you want to run a scope. I got mine for $300.00 a few years back, including match iron sights. The CMP sold out a while ago, but these still come up on the market. The m12 is nose-heavy so it actually shoots better from a rest than with a sling.
Anschutz from MTGuns
MTGuns.com still has a very large inventory of quality Rimfire prone and position rifles from Anschutz, Walther etc. These will be WAY more accurate than a Savage, and are better built than the CZ. For your $500.00 budget, you may have to settle for something without sights or with some cosmetic flaws on the stock.
Suhl 150-1
The Holy Grail bargain .22LR bolt gun is a Suhl 150 -- but they are hard to find now. It still makes me wince when I realize these could be had in new-new condition for under $400.00 not that long ago. The barrels and triggers are so good that many Suhls were converted into benchrest guns. See: http://www.6mmbr.com/gunweek089.html
Look for a CMP H&R m12. These are surprisingly accurate, but they need to be drilled and tapped if you want to run a scope. I got mine for $300.00 a few years back, including match iron sights. The CMP sold out a while ago, but these still come up on the market. The m12 is nose-heavy so it actually shoots better from a rest than with a sling.
Anschutz from MTGuns
MTGuns.com still has a very large inventory of quality Rimfire prone and position rifles from Anschutz, Walther etc. These will be WAY more accurate than a Savage, and are better built than the CZ. For your $500.00 budget, you may have to settle for something without sights or with some cosmetic flaws on the stock.
Suhl 150-1
The Holy Grail bargain .22LR bolt gun is a Suhl 150 -- but they are hard to find now. It still makes me wince when I realize these could be had in new-new condition for under $400.00 not that long ago. The barrels and triggers are so good that many Suhls were converted into benchrest guns. See: http://www.6mmbr.com/gunweek089.html
Wow, thanks for the responses. The Suhl and the H&R look really interesting. I'm not really looking for a target style rifle. I would prefer a sporter style rifle.
I have a real sweet 513t remington,and even though it has a target stock,you would really love the trigger and the accuracy. The h&r is equal to it in accuracy,but I think the 513t is the quintecential rifle of all time .
For the money, I second the CZ 452. I have no experience with the 455 switch barrel model, but have several 452s. The 452 Trainer is even less money, heavier stock, blueing is not as nice as a Lux or Full Stock, but is basically the same rifle.
I think the new Nikon ProStaff rimfire EFR is a good choice for a reasonably priced scope.
I think the new Nikon ProStaff rimfire EFR is a good choice for a reasonably priced scope.
Get a good used Rem 40x and stock choices are endless.
I bought one of the Rem 541X rifles from the CMP several years ago, but wound up selling it to a friend when I discovered the non-adjustable trigger pull was way heavy for target shooting. Wasn't all that fond of the stock's shape either. Replaced it with a CMP H&R M12, which I felt had a lot more potential accuracy than the Rem, along with an adjustable trigger that was easily adjustable for a very nice break at a light weight.
The M12's downfall was a stock shaped somewhat like a club, and since I didn't want to spend the time required to inlet & finish a custom stock for it (even though some nice ones were available at the time), I traded it to Mac Tilton at MT Guns for an excellent Anschutz 1611 prone rifle, complete with sights. Somewhere along the way, someone who obviously knew what they were about did an excellent job of bedding the 1611's action. Together with the awesome Anschutz trigger, a very comfortable prone stock with adjustable cheekpiece that just happens to have very nearly the same shape & proportions of the Robertson H&H prone stocks on several of my LR prone rifles, and excellent accuracy, this rifle fills the bill as a near perfect prone trainer. It'll easily clean a 20 shot string on the 100yd prone target when I do my part with Wolf match extra.
I also bought three of the Rem 40X & two Win M52Ds from the CMP several years ago, and although they're all pretty darned accurate - and much as I hate to admit it - the Anschutz will out-shoot all of them from bench or prone. One of the 52Ds was restored (re-finished stock, fresh crown, Kenyon trigger modification, Ken Viani scope base) as a target rifle, while the other one - which had a trashed stock & bbl, and whose bolt s/n didn't match the receiver's - got a new sporter contour Broughton match grade 22RF bbl, along with a nicely done sporter stock of highly-figured English walnut and another Kenyon trigger. This is now my most highly-prized 22RF rifle, and is an absolute tack-driver.
One of the CMP 40Xs (std. weight bbl, older action with 721-style bolt handle) is in the same shape as the poorer of the two 52Ds, and may very well lose its OEM bbl. & stock, and have them replaced with a Krieger bbl. and custom prone stock. Since the 40X action is so nearly the same as a M700, it's easy to find custom stocks for them.
Sorry for the long, drawn-out post, but that's how I aquired the two 22RF rifles that suit my needs.
The M12's downfall was a stock shaped somewhat like a club, and since I didn't want to spend the time required to inlet & finish a custom stock for it (even though some nice ones were available at the time), I traded it to Mac Tilton at MT Guns for an excellent Anschutz 1611 prone rifle, complete with sights. Somewhere along the way, someone who obviously knew what they were about did an excellent job of bedding the 1611's action. Together with the awesome Anschutz trigger, a very comfortable prone stock with adjustable cheekpiece that just happens to have very nearly the same shape & proportions of the Robertson H&H prone stocks on several of my LR prone rifles, and excellent accuracy, this rifle fills the bill as a near perfect prone trainer. It'll easily clean a 20 shot string on the 100yd prone target when I do my part with Wolf match extra.
I also bought three of the Rem 40X & two Win M52Ds from the CMP several years ago, and although they're all pretty darned accurate - and much as I hate to admit it - the Anschutz will out-shoot all of them from bench or prone. One of the 52Ds was restored (re-finished stock, fresh crown, Kenyon trigger modification, Ken Viani scope base) as a target rifle, while the other one - which had a trashed stock & bbl, and whose bolt s/n didn't match the receiver's - got a new sporter contour Broughton match grade 22RF bbl, along with a nicely done sporter stock of highly-figured English walnut and another Kenyon trigger. This is now my most highly-prized 22RF rifle, and is an absolute tack-driver.
One of the CMP 40Xs (std. weight bbl, older action with 721-style bolt handle) is in the same shape as the poorer of the two 52Ds, and may very well lose its OEM bbl. & stock, and have them replaced with a Krieger bbl. and custom prone stock. Since the 40X action is so nearly the same as a M700, it's easy to find custom stocks for them.
Sorry for the long, drawn-out post, but that's how I aquired the two 22RF rifles that suit my needs.
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