22 cal upgrade semi auto
 

Hello Looking to buy an upgrade for the boys 22cal.He is very good,using the old single shot cooey,that i learned.So i thought i would upgrade to a semi-auto.Got any preferences,Ruger,1022,rem.567,Some of them come with factory scopes .Are they worth it..Thanks in advance...

A semi auto may not be an upgrade at all. I would be getting him a better quality bolt action instead

Marlin 795 are rather reliable and accurate, the only negative is the receiver is not drilled and tapped.

(Personally speaking only of course)
I would be looking to upgrade to a higher end single shot like a falling block Winchester or an 54 Anschutz bolt action if I wanted a repeater.
I have never had a lot of people agree with me on the subject of .22's however
Cat

My first 22 was a bolt. Then I got into the 10/22's. I never put money in to them. From there I went to the Remington 597 heavy barrel. I love it. My 11 year old son loved enough to buy his own too.

After saying that, I will be looking for a bolt 22 againnothing terribly fancy but something that I know works and won't be overly expensive. In reality, the 22 is probably the most shot round in the world and yet it's the one rifle people have trouble spending money on, me included to a point.

My first choice for semi or bolt would be the weatherby but they're as rare as rocking horse chit these days. For a semi I have a 10/22 and the Marlin and much prefer the ruger. For a bolt gun I've got a CIL/anschutz 310 and a cz 452 and both are excellent.

Sorry, I missed the part asking about the factory scopes. Most factory scopes are junk. At least the unlabelled/unbranded ones. But you don't need to spend a lot of money on one either. I am using a Pursuit brand on mine and my sons (Bass Pro house brand), and I know a couple of people using the Cabela's brand ones as well. You will gain more from spending more obviously, I am just satisfied with what I have and what I use it for.

I will most certainly agree with you, very sound advise, haven't seen many semi's that are more accurate than a single shot or a bolt action repeater in any cartridge. That being said, savage makes a very accurate 22 for a good price. Just make sure you find what it likes to eat. I tried everything out there from match to Korean ammo. Mine loves the winchester super X in the red plastic box. 50 yards it will cover a ten shot hole with a 5 cent piece if i do my part. Other ammo that can go to a 3 inch pattern including match ammo. The savage is about 550 and 80 for the scope for a real shooter. I tried 3 different 10-22's and wholesale in Grand Prairie took all three back, Some people love em but i had bad luck, they where terrible. Ive tried a marlin as well but had to do the bic pen spring upgrade on the trigger to get it to shoot good and the mag needed tweaking to get it to feed properly

Personally I much prefer a semi auto rather than a single shot or bolt/lever repeater.
That said, since your planning on upgrading anyways, have you thought about upgrading to a 17hmr? Still a rimfire rifle, but much better bang for your buck.

If i was buying a semi it would be a cz 512.

Huge difference in cost for ammo for his boy to play around with though

The 17hmr does offer superior ballistics, but at around four to five times the cost per shot, the 22lr is still the most bang for the buck.

Exactly!

The Ruger 1022, Remington 597, and Marlin 795 / 60. Are reliable Rimfire that won't break the bank. The 1022 can be easily modified to many configurations. Scopes as part of a package will get you started, however depending on your budget you may do better purchasing the rifle and scope separately.

Personally I'd stay away from. Savage and Mossberg semiautomatic 22s.

357

Hi tallyho ... hey I love my Rem 597 Semi .. for both rabbits and grouse and target and have had lots of mentee's use it and love it .. with them not having much shooting experience ... with it having a extra big clip ..which can be fun for gopher's n rabbits or target .. just make sure not to buy target barrel if using for hunting ... here are some mentee's and my pic's ... even my Bro changed too one as his 10/22 was giving him trouble ... love my 597 .. I put a 4 power Bushnell scope on at around 90$ .. clean it first time in 4 years the other day ... enjoy

http://www.cabelas.ca/product/4648/r...emi-auto-rifle

David :)
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What does the boy want? Take him shopping, he will be thrilled

If you want accurate, feels like a big gun and reliable go for the Remington 552 BDL . If you can find a good used one they aren't all that bad for price, around $350-400, new they are about $700. Most people won't buy them because of the price but it is one of the few semi autos that will shoot almost as good as most bolt actions. The other that are great shooters are the Nylon 66s but they have become very hard to come by.

Dont even consider the the black and chrome nylon 66 if you want a scope. The barrel is chrome not stainless and the scopes will move and continually shift as the rails for the scope are soft. Loved the looks of mine but any tap at all and you have to set the scope again

The Win 490 comes to mind as well. I have several that all shoot well.

I personally don't consider semis to be "upgrades" at all, as they're inherently less accurate than a bolt gun with heavier triggers. It's also been my experience (3 kids and a bunch of nephews/nieces) that semis encourage rapid fire=less hits=less interest very quick. Heck, that's been my own experience too. However, my suggestion for an accurate semi would be this; http://www.cabelas.ca/product/3789/m...emi-auto-rifle and a cheap/easy upgrade to the trigger here; http://www.mcarbo.com/store/p/26-Mar...pring-Kit.aspx To my way of thinking, the best value/accuracy/number of good features all wrapped-up in one. Someone mentioned that it's not tapped for bases~true, but the receiver is grooved for rimfire rings..so I'm not sure what the big deal is there. I've had 2 Marlin 795s and one now belongs to a good friend in AB. Great-shooting rifles.

With all that said, personally...I'd get a decent bolt-action repeater. Doesn't need to be an Anschutz either. If the kids are small, I don't think you could do better than a CZ 452 "Scout". If they're bigger guys, a 452 American if shooting offhand is the way they get it done most. My 452 is a Varmint model because I shoot prone with it most. There are lots of other older models (Marlin) that I like too, but the last 2 bolt guns I've bought were the 452 Varmint and a BRNO 2E. (basically the same gun as a 452 LUX)

Bottom line~your $/your decision and hey...if you're adding a new 22 to the collection every year or two, why NOT add a semi for variety's sake! Personally, I'd hold-off and get a better bolt gun. Lots of people I've met over the years dismiss 22s altogether because of lacklustre experiences with 10/22s, cheap bolt guns, dirty/gummed-up old Cooey 60 farm guns, etc. In almost every case, after chatting, I soon learn they've never tried something decent like BRNO, CZ, Anshutz etc. To shoot a decent-quality bolt gun with even mid-grade ammo and a decent scope can be a different experience altogether if you've never done it. And yes, the kids in my life have ended-up getting a bigger kick out of hitting distant targets than seeing the brass fly on a semi.

Re: scopes~the last scope I bought for a 22 was for the 452 Varmint, and this is the one; http://www.hirschprecision.com/index...oducts_id=1595 I'm a bit of an expert in inexpensive scopes...I think I've owned most of what's out there in the $50-$150 range! lol Not a bragging point, but true. However, this scope has proven to be very decent for the money. I've also used older, glossy Bushnell Banner AO scopes I've picked up for $100-$150 and they've worked great. Still have a 6-18x on my 17HMR. Those are about the 2 best suggestions I'd make for the $. If budget allows, a Sightron SII..they pop-up for $400-$500 used from what I've seen.

the browning SA-22 is the greatest semi auto 22 I've ever owned or fired, hands down.

however I do love a good lever action with an external hammer :) and my ruger american rimfire I like a lot better than the 10/22

If you're just looking for a utilitarian semi-auto I'd go with the 10/22.

Something fancier as has already been mentioned, the Browning SA-22.

IF I was a kid and wanting my first 22 I'd likely be leaning towards the BL22 lever action. Handy little rifle.

Ruger 10/22
 

The Ruger 10/22 has a cult like following as in many and I mean many after market products so that if and when the temptation come to add/delete you already got a great semi to go off of.

One thing about any of the tube feed 22s is that they are more troublesome to unload and clear as compared to a magazine that is removeable

always liked the browning semi's

Yup, that's what I hated about my browning and why I sold it.

Ya but semi's are fun to shoot. The little guy would love it.

1022, wait, they'll go on sale, got an ss take down, just after xmas fer 350$, sorry, semi autos are way funner imho , the 1022 is very modular, I'd even go so far to say they are the AR of the rimfire world. Although I've been searching for an A-bolt 22, and thinking of settling on a cz bolt, if I can't find an abolt, my semi autos will be my rimfire bread and butter!:)

I have several Ruger 10/22s but none of them are stock.The stock triggers are very heavy and gritty feeling, I recommend a Kidd trigger but most any aftermarket trigger is an improvement over the Ruger trigger. I have a Tacsol barrel on my primary gopher getter and I really like it. For a scope at a reasonable price the Leupold 2-7x33 rimfire works very well. The thinner crosshairs are perfect for gophers.

Mine all did, for at least 5 minutes. I guess that was my (long-winded) point. lol They're not for everyone, even kids. Mine haven't tried a lever yet, but several semis, LOTS of bolt guns and a couple of pumps. The bolt guns are always what holds their attention longest.

What I don't iike about semi autos for youngsters, is that they often lead to bad habits. The shooter often doesn't concentrate on tbe first shot enough, and starts to rely on fast follow up shots.