Greatest .22?

[Sanjuro82]

Ruger 10/22

 

[been]

Springfield 87M

 

[flatwins]

I have a few .22 rifles from 10/22s to a CZ452. If I had to choose one and let all the others go, it would be a Marlin 39A.

 

[NikatKimber]

Greatest is subjective. If you're a serious benchrest match shooter, your definition will be different than someone who shoots squirrels and tin cans with a semi-auto.

Most prolific, iconic, well-known is easy. The Ruger 10/22.

 

[Old Fart]

Opinions are like rearends.
As many as there are people.

I'd suspect the most popular would be the venerable 10-22.

 

[O4L]

If I had to choose one and let all the others go, it would be a Marlin 39A.

This. ^ ^ ^

The Marlin 39A is my first choice.

The 10/22 may be the most prolific, but I wouldn't call it the greatest. The problem is that I'm hard pressed to settle on a "greatest" choice at the moment.

The 1st one that comes to mind is the Browning Auto-22. First manufactured by FN in 1914, it's still in production today. It was also manufactured by Remington as the 241 Speedmaster from 1935 to 1949, and Norinco manufactures a clone as well. It's probably the slimmest, most elegant .22 semi auto ever designed. It's a delight to carry in the field and the gracefully contoured grip lends itself well to hours in the hand. The top feed and bottom eject with no exposed opening to the action make for superior reliability. Being a takedown design, it's also one of the easiest .22 autos to field strip and maintain ever made. The fire control system lends itself to easy tuning of the trigger for pull weight and overtravel. Replacement parts are also inexpensive when you wear them out, which is common because they're so fun to shoot. Produced in a .22 short model, they've been extremely popular "gallery guns". I remember shooting them at the Tulsa State Fair as a kid in the 70's.

Someone may come along and post a better choice, but I think this one tops the 10/22.

This is my very close second choice. Browning SA-22.

A John Browning original. One of the last guns he designed.

 

[Stephen Cue]

I had a Browning .22 as my first gun and like Gtg stated, it is elegant.

I love the 10/22 and I own/owned many different setups with it.

My choice for "greatest" though is the Marlin 60.

Of course one can do almost unlimited options with a 10/22 but comparing out of the box rifles; the 60 is a superior shooter.

I prefer irons to optics, the stock 60 barrel is longer and thicker. The 10/22 is magazine feed as opposed to the 60's feed throat operation. I have experienced more malfs with the 10/22, mostly due to a worn mag.

That is just my goofball opinion

 

[Mr10mm]

The 10/22 may be the most prolific, but I wouldn't call it the greatest. The problem is that I'm hard pressed to settle on a "greatest" choice at the moment.

The 1st one that comes to mind is the Browning Auto-22. First manufactured by FN in 1914, it's still in production today. It was also manufactured by Remington as the 241 Speedmaster from 1935 to 1949, and Norinco manufactures a clone as well. It's probably the slimmest, most elegant .22 semi auto ever designed. It's a delight to carry in the field and the gracefully contoured grip lends itself well to hours in the hand. The top feed and bottom eject with no exposed opening to the action make for superior reliability. Being a takedown design, it's also one of the easiest .22 autos to field strip and maintain ever made. The fire control system lends itself to easy tuning of the trigger for pull weight and overtravel. Replacement parts are also inexpensive when you wear them out, which is common because they're so fun to shoot. Produced in a .22 short model, they've been extremely popular "gallery guns". I remember shooting them at the Tulsa State Fair as a kid in the 70's.

Someone may come along and post a better choice, but I think this one tops the 10/22.

This was my first choice also.

 

[ronny]

10/22's get the vote of a lot of folks these days. However, most of those guys are relatively young and didn't get to enjoy the .22's of yesteryear. There were some marvelous rifles back then; from single shots on up. It would be hard to make a definitive choice.

Having said that, the Winchester Model 63 (circa 1930-50), already mentioned on this thread, was a Super Rifle. It is not unusual to see one go for over $1,000 today. I'm not referring to the latter day edition.

BTW, I've owned 3 Remington 241's, all of which were passed down to me by family member and all of which I have passed on down the line. There is no question that these were superior rifles in this class, as well.
This is a 241.

 

[flatwins]

In a .22, I like something reliable. This weekend, we took my son's 10/22 to the range and it FTE'd on probably 1/3 of the rounds we put through it. Granted, the thing had probably 6 range trips since we cleaned it last but an auto is almost almost more prone to cycling issues than a single-shot, bolt, or lever-action. If I had to rely on a .22, I want enough rounds in it so I can spend more time shooting than reloading. A lever-action .22 can hold enough rounds to make it worth the shooter's while, plus not have the ejection issues that autos have and are not picky about ammo.

My Marlin 39A is the Mountie version (20" barrel) and can hold 15 rounds of 22LR or 21 22 Short. Reliable, very accurate, and dang fun.