I have a couple different AR 15-22 and GSG's for use with my suppressor, and they are fun enough, although they can be finicky about ammo.  I was pondering a good quality bolt action 22 that I could get threaded for my suppressor as well.   Any recommendations??  I have an old Marlin 981 but the tube magazine extends as far as the muzzle, so no room to thread for a can, unless I remove the can between every reload.

Thanks!

Savage makes a nice heavy barrel with a large bolt handle.

CZ.  Better than Savage in every imaginable way and accurate too.

I have the CZ 452 American 16", Ruger American Rimfire Compact (threaded) and a Savage FV-SR. I would rate them in that order of quality/preference as well (first to last). If price is a factor the Ruger is the best bang for the buck in my opinion.

CZ 455

CZ 452

Go different, and get a PWS T3 Summit.

I have both this and a Savage.  Recommend both. My T3 has a Gemtech Mist Integrally suppressed barrel.  That is really the most fun rifle I own, and I own some cool ones.

 

Savage FV-SR with an aftermarket stock.

/thread.

This man knows what he is talking about. I would even rate the tbolt before the savage. FVSR is an accurate rifle, but after spending many hundreds of round behind the others I can just no longer recommend the FVSR as the one to buy. The action does not always feed smooth, the magazines suck, the stock drop is made for iron sights, and it sucks, and the finish is so poor it likes to rust more than any other rifle I own. Did I mention the magazines suck? If you ever plan to sling the rifle look forward to the sharp pointy Savage magazine gouging you through your shirt. Threads are too long on the FVSR as well.

CZ
Ruger
TBolt
Savage

Ruger American Rimfire Carbine....I had my RARc cut/re-crowned/threaded but you can get them that way now.

I use my RARc to hunt with. It's deadly on squirrels and carries well in the woods.



You can get fancy stocks (heavy) and such for them and use the Ruger BX-15 and 25 round mags in them but that defeats my purpose. I prefer something that is light, handy, and does not have a mag hanging down and poking at me.

Another vote for the Ruger American Rimfire threaded. You can get one less than $300, they have a nice adjustable trigger, fiber optic irons, and a nice stock. Mines a great shooter and I can't recommend it highly enough.

Plus it takes 10/22 mags, so no issue finding them.

I was gearing up to get a T3, but I found a 7-2KO first.

Another vote for Ruger. They use 10/22 magazines.

After owning a Savage FV-SR, I greatly prefer the Ruger American Rimfire I have now. Action, mags, factory stock all much better than the Savage.

I have a CZ 455 Tacticool with a Surefire Ryder.  Boringly accurate.  Closest to hollywood quiet of any of my suppressed rifles.   I'm on the lookout for a Ruger American so I can use the 10/22 mags.  I have a gemtech mist barrel on order for a new 10/22 project.

PSA has Ruger Americans for $199 right now. Not threaded but that's nothing ADCO can't fix for a few bucks. It's not as nice as a CZ but tough to beat for the money.

I run a can on a Remington 513T. subsonic ammo through a 27 inch barrel is super quiet.

I have both the Summit T3 and CZ 455 (17hmr threaded and still need to thread the 22lr barrel). FIL has the Savage, Grandpa has the RAR

It all comes down to what you like.

If you can try them out I would.


For ME in tradition bolt actions the top of the line <1,000 is the CZ 455, Best quality for <300.00 is the RAR,  Best bang for your buck is the Savage (accurate, reliable and inexpensive).

The PWS T3 is a whole different monster entirely. I love mine but it might not be for everyone.  


Below are the Pro's and Con's as I see them and based upon having used these 4 actions - I wish I had a Sako Quad and Annie to compare against

PWS T3

Pro's
Fast/smooth action - Toggle action - straightish pull, faster than bolt action (timed both) loose less sight picture
Uses 10-22 magazines
Uses 10-22 stocks (My all time favorite stock is on my PWS T3)
Trigger (PWS) is pretty damn good (better than my Kidd SS trigger)
Uses 10-22 barrels (Integral barrel would be the cats meow)

Con's
Action is picky - need to make sure headspace is correct (uses shims) - seems to feed and cycle better when done fast
Magazine picky - larger mags can't held onto or used as a monopod (have had various people try out the gun and they did this till I put on the bipod) - seating angle of magazines depends on reliability of feeding
Pricey - $500.00 for action with trigger

CZ 455

Pro's
Smooth action - Not as smooth as the T3 but still pretty dang good.
reliable - mine has yet to have any issues
Barrel changeability - can put Lilja barrels on it and different calibers - (I usually run 17hmr on mine)
accurate - Other than my T3 which I need to really try for accuracy my 455 is more accurate than the RAR and Savage when we compared them (Note: sample size of 1 does not make this alway true )

Con's
Damn safety - I know it is petty but the safety is a pain in the ass for me due to the location and stiffness - if you are trying for a longer shot it can screw with your sight picture - when out in the field and all set up I prefer to leave the bolt handle up instead of using the safety
Price - Still cheaper than the PWS but still not cheap
Stocks - Not a whole lot out there (Boyds, Manners, maybe a few others)

Ruger American Rimfire

Pro's
Price - Can be had <300.00
Action - short bot throw - and decently smooth
magazines - still uses 10-22 mags
reliable - Havent been able to stop the one we use
aftermarket support is taking off -

Con's
Fixed barrel - (Threaded into receiver)
Need to get the 8332 model (I think that's the one that has the extended bolt handle and threaded)
Aftermarket stocks - Still growing but limited and the pattern isn't 10-22 compatible

Savage

Pro's
Price - Cheapest <250.00 and possibly <199.00
Accurate - sometimes it can hang with the CZ 455 (There are some out there that can hang with full custom rigs)
Trigger - If you can stand the accu-trigger it can be adjusted pretty good

Con's
action - definitely the roughest we have (although there are threads here on how to fix that)
Aftermarket Stocks - Doesn't seem to be growing like the RAR (Boyds makes some but I don't think there are other)

this is what I have and have been very pleased with it

I owned one (used with a can) before the RARc came out and used it for one squirrel season because I wanted a factory threaded host. It was OK and killed just fine but I just never cared for the mags, much less the mag release poking at me.

The ten round mag was a non-starter when compared to a Ruger flush fit ten round rotary mag not to mention the Savage mags being a bit on the flimsy side around the feed lips. Much slower mag changes too.

If you are just going to punch paper with it then It does have bit of a accuracy edge over the RAR but not all that much to matter in the squirrel woods.

IMHO for hunting all the rifles with non-flush mags and a protruding mag release leave a bit to be desired when compared to the RAR. Even on my RAR I altered the protruding mag release by removing it and grinding it almost flush with the receiver.

Up till I bought a RARc my go-to squirrel hunting rifles were all tube-fed bolt-action .22s due to their clean lines. The RARc was really a god-send. The perfect suppressed squirrel killing machine.

I guess what it all boils down to is what you plan to do with your rifle. Paper punching only? Then most of the rifles mentioned will do just fine. For hunting, then a bit more thought needs to be put into rifle selection.

BTW.....As far as a protruding mag rifle goes the CZs are the best designed of the lot with the five-round mags.

My first vote would be for a CZ (452 or 455) because I appreciate quality firearms and they really are a great value considering the build quality. I have 2 452's (An American and a Scout) and they are great rifles IMO.

If I was looking to save a few bucks and wanted something a little easier to find locally (CZ's are very hard to find around here) then I would go with the Ruger American if for no other reason then it uses the same BX mags that I already have for my 10/22.

I've never had or shot an Annie but I did have a Sako Quad and can tell you, the Sako's are next level above the CZ's. Better trigger, better mags, smoother action, better barrel lockup. Part of me kicks myself for selling mine but the one thing I hated about the Quad was the cheap plastic stock. I tried but couldn't find a factory walnut stock for a reasonable price. Hell, even for an unreasonable price they are near to impossible to find and there are no aftermarket options that I could find.

I will give you that. Outside of the action, the Savage does feel fairly cheap (kinda that communist, stamped-metal feeling), but then I remind myself it's a rimfire rifle and the smile returns.

Damn you. Now I am tempted to sell my t3 and cz for one just to try it out

CZ or Ruger American

Quads are pretty sweet but I don't know that I would pay today's prices for one? I got mine back when you could get them fairly cheap (~$400). At that price they are an awesome deal but at $800-$1000, IDK? I doubt I would pay more then ~$600 or so for one (w/ a single barrel) in new or like new condition. I personally don't think they are worth much more than that over a CZ that can be had for ~$400-450

I love Sako's. As in I have a .308 TRG-22 and a .338 Lapua TRG-42. Even with that, I couldn't justify the price of the quad over a 455 with a few extra barrels. The CZ trigger can be greatly improved upon, and they're great shooters. I passed on a Quad with all 4 barrels for $850 about 7 years ago. I liked it but didn't need another rimfire at the time.

Good to know

I have been buying 17 HM2 ammo to see if I can get enough together to justify a 17hm2 barrel for the PWS T3 -  Which might threaten my CZ 17hmr as my main p-dog rifle

The nice thing about the Sako also it they already have 17hm2 barrels for them.   Still it's nice to have options

The last Quad I had was the 4 barrel kit in the case. IIRC, I paid $1000 for it but sold the case and the .22WMR and .17HMR barrels which left me with the quad and .22LR and .17hm2 barrels for about $500 which I think is a pretty good deal. I could have sold one of the remaining barrels and ended with with the quad and a single barrel for ~$300.

I don't get to shoot as often as I'd like and shortly after buying the Quad, the only decent outdoor range by me closed so I went into a major consolidation phase. I'm not really a collector and I didn't see the point in having multiples of guns I wasn't shooting. I did want to keep at least one bolt action .22LR and it came down to the Quad vs. my 452 American.

That was a very hard choice and part of me thinks I made the wrong choice because the Quad had 2 barrels and I already had 1400 rounds of Eley .17HM2 to go with it (that I bought before the prices on that ammo got stupid) but like I said, I hated the plastic stock on the Quad and couldn't find a good replacement  for it. I don't hunt so I really didn't see a need for the .17HM2? The wood on my CZ was decent and with an adj. sear, the trigger is pretty nice plus they were discontinuing the 452's so I decided to kept that one.

Maybe I should have kept the Quad instead but I'm very happy with the CZ so I don't loose any sleep over it

Thanks for the recs and the great gun photos!  I wanted to splurge on the Sako Quad range, but reality kicked in and I ended up ordering the CZ455, thumbhole stock and bull barrel.  Getting it threaded for my suppressor.  Now I am pondering scopes and rings.  I will be shooting varmints sub 100 yds for most of the time, and was pondering a 2-7x scope like the Leupold VX-1 or Nikon.  Im a bit frustrated because you can't just test drive one easily.

Any advice?