Plinking rifle opinions wanted

[NikatKimber]

OK, makes sense.

Yes, if you're not going to do any aftermarket stuff to it, then by all means, get whatever is the best deal from the factory. But if you want to put a new stock on it, or better aftermarket barrel, then your choices are limited with the others.

 

[henschman]

Not only CAN you do a lot of after market mods to a Ruger; you HAVE TO in order to make it as good of a rifle as a Marlin or a Remington, trigger-wise and accuracy-wise.

If all you want is a fun plinker, I'd say look elsewhere. I might have different advice if you said you were looking to build a custom tack-driving target rifle, but you're not.

I wish it weren't true... I like the feel of the Ruger the best out of all of the rimfires. It feels the most like my M1 and my M1A -- on the 10/22 I have equipped with tech sights, the sight picture is virtually identical.

My deal is that I bought two 10/22s when I first became involved with the Appleseed Project as an instructor, so I could use them as "Liberty Training Rifles," as we call them. 10/22s were really popular with Appleseed instructors because at first, it was the only kind of rifle you could find military-style adjustable aperture sights for (from Tech Sights)... the whole idea was that they would be a low-cost way for people to learn how to shoot, and would simulate a battle rifle. Lots of the other instructors had them, so I jumped on the bandwagon. I discovered they had horrible triggers and that their bolt hold-open feature was hard to figure out and frustrating for the students... but it was cheaper for me to just keep the rifles and buy new target sears and auto bolt releases for them rather than to sell them and buy different rifles, with mags and everything.

But if I had it all to do over again, I would have definitely started out with Marlins or Remingtons for my LTRs, especially now that Tech Sights makes sights for the Marlin that will also work on a Remington.

When you get yourself a .22, whatever it is, you should bring it to one of our Appleseed marksmanship clinics some weekend. $70 for two days of solid instruction and drilling in the fundamentals of marksmanship, plus some great Revolutionary War history. Its quite the bargain! www.appleseedinfo.org

 

[BDSolutionsArdmore]

I am a savage fan myself. love the trigger on my 22 and it is plenty accurate enough for me to have fun with. I will admit it was a little rough around the edges untill I got about a 1000 rounds down her, but I really enjoy shooting it now.

 

[bdubtulsa]

I'm thinking the ruger will be what I end up with. I've been looking all over, and I can't find any bigger mags or anything for the savage, so I'll probably buy the ruger, a couple mags, a speed loader, and a simple scope.

 

[ronny]

I've had lots of 22's in my time, but for plain old plinking I've never had one I've enjoyed more than my current GSG-5 Carbine with red dot. You can buy 2 10/22s or 60s for the price of 1 GSG-5, but you can only shoot one of them at a time.

I forgot. If 20+ rounds aren't enough for you, the new 100 round drum will soon be available for the GSG-5.

 

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

I'm thinking the ruger will be what I end up with. I've been looking all over, and I can't find any bigger mags or anything for the savage

Again, the Rem 597, the Ruger 10/22, and the new Puma replica of the Johnson 41 are the only very-high-cap-mag .22s that I'm aware of (looking at both factory and aftermarket offerings).

Of those, I'd not consider any of them great rifles, but the Puma looks the 'funnest' (assuming it runs), due to the look/historical interest; the Ruger will have the best feeling of sturdiness/quality, if a bit on the ugly side (like all Rugers); but I'd still get the Remington of those 3, as they are strong supporters of gun rights, and a pretty decent looking and shooting rifle (the 597), if a bit on the cheesy/chinsy side of things, in terms of materials/fit/finish.

When Rem put the smack down on Zumbo, I became a forever fan of them (was already anyway for the most part).

http://www.cabelas.com/p-0058347229372a.shtml

http://www.keepshooting.com/firearmaccessories/magazines/remington-597-30rd-mag.htm

EDIT/UPDATE: Lookit, I just read that there are two makers gearing up to make hi-caps for the Marlin 795!! If those are out now, or soon to be out, then that'd be the way to go over all of the above! Marlin quality is very good - better than the others, IMO. And low cost too. Marlin makes a strong barrel, and has better materials/fit/finish than Savage or Remington, and as good as Ruger.

 

[z06man]

EDIT/UPDATE: Lookit, I just read that there are two makers gearing up to make hi-caps for the Marlin 795!! If those are out now, or soon to be out, then that'd be the way to go over all of the above! Marlin quality is very good - better than the others, IMO. And low cost too. Marlin makes a strong barrel, and has better materials/fit/finish than Savage or Remington, and as good as Ruger.

Where did you see this? I did a brief web search and didn't find anything about it.

 

[_CY_]

got an old Marlin 25 bolt with clip ... talk about dead nuts accurate.
wearing an old steel barrel 4x weaver scope

one of the best rifles anywhere for a beginner.... bolt action helps make your shots count. this rifle always gets taken along to the gun range... serious plinking fun....

 

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

Where did you see this? I did a brief web search and didn't find anything about it.

Sorry, man, just noticed this...... here is a 15 right now:

http://www.sportsmansguide.com/net/cb/cb.aspx?a=359221

And I read on some forum that there were 2 companies gearing up to make bigger ones.... thought it was gun and game forum, but now cannot find the individual posting on it.... someone *alleged* that two makers were working them now, but they weren't major players like MecGar or something like that; but rather some names I'd never heard of - but as I say, now I cannot find that post with that allegation on it... hmmm, weird, and sorry..