Hi everyone,

The other thread about Rugers brought up mention of their 10/22 rifle and it made me think.  I have been looking for a good .22 LR rifle for a long time, but I can't seem to find a truly good one for under $400.  Now that Winchester has dropped the 9422, which was the only .22 I've ever owned that really shot well for under $500 I am at a loss.

There seem to be a lot of OK .22's out there, but none of them really seem to get it right.  My criteria would be as follows:

MOA accuracy with at least a couple favorite loads
Good trigger
Reliable feeding.  A good detachable magazine is preferrred
Real scope mounting such as you would find on a center fire rifle.  It seems most every .22 I've ever owned has had to have its zero checked every other time I use it.  This is mainly due to the crummy 3/8 scope rails that so many mfr.s seem so attached to.  Who invented that anyway?  Daisy BB guns?

The closest I've ever come to it was back when 77/22's could be had for under $400, but mine had a trigger that would make a 10/22 fan cry the blues...  At least it had good scope rings...

The 10/22 itself is almost OK, in that it's reliable and has a good magazine, but its trigger is an atrocity and its stock barrel is too short and not very accurate.  Some of this may be due to the poor quality sights, but even with a scope mounted it doesn't get much better.  I know a 10/22 can be turned into a premium quality rifle and you can install a real weaver rail on it if you ORDER the thing.  (the factory included a 3/8 rail with both of mine)  It's just that to make a 10/22 really worthy you have to spend almost as much as you would on a decent AR.  I'm talking a complete trigger group and rebarreling to start.

Let's see, the Henry rifles are cheap enough and purported to be accurate, but htey are a tube-feed and I'm not sure about their scope mounting ability or their triggers.

There are also AR uppers and conversions out there.  There again though magazines are a bit of a weak point.  I also feel that the buffer tube on an AR forces you to mount your optics far too high for a short range proposition like a .22 LR.  Particularly when shooting at targets where a few fractions of an inch error in elevation can mean the difference between a kill or a wounded critter.

You also run out of your $400 pretty darn fast buying an AR in .22 LR.  I'm talking a complete rifle, so I'm talking apples to apples.  Even with that said though, most good AR uppers are nearly $400 by themselves.

So how about it?  Anyone got any suggestions, or is it so bad that we all need to write the mfr's and bitch?  When is someone gonna give us a GOOD sub-$400 .22 rifle?  Why can we get good centerfire rifles for under $400 and NOT a .22????

Check out a Ruger 10/22T.  Has a decent trigger from the factory and a hammer-forged heavy barrel.  I have a blue one.  Should have waited a year or so for the SS version.  Scope mounting is iffy by your standards.

Or maybe a Ruger 77/22.  Like a slightly scaled down big game bolt rifle.  A friend has one, loves it.  Much better scope mounting.

the EAA biathlon rifle would work great

I wouldnt buy any .22 Rifle except a 10/22. So many parts for them, you can make it into anything you want. Plus the 10 shot rotary mag that fits flush, is a genius of a design

10/22 in stainless.....factory 10 shot mag is good.......around $200 new.....nice furniture.......plenty of upgrades if you want.................a lot of good machine work for the dough.. Ever think about a .17hmr.? They are way fun to shoot out to 200yds. Just thought I would ask.

The only .22 I've ever owned is the 10/22.  
I bought mine used for $100
GM .920 bbl.:  $100
Hogue stock: $40
VQ hammer: $35
WK buffer: $7
simmons scope: $40
weaver rail:  $8
bipod: freebee

That's $330 right there.  With wolf MT ammo, I can cover a 10-shot group with a dime at 50 yards.
That's prone with a bipod & 3-9x32 scope.  That was BEFORE I added the hammer, bringing the trigger pull down to 2.5lbs.  

Some people dump ALOT of money into 10/22's.  I'm happy with mine as it is.  The only thing I'd like to upgrade is the scope.  

Under $400, and still decent accuracy considering the goon behind the trigger.  

Oh yeah, a VQ hammer alone will bring the pull down to a nice 2.5lbs.  There's no need to upgrade the entire trigger group.  Some people are more picky than others when it comes to this.  But many are satisfied with the hammer upgrade alone.  

If everything I mentioned is old news to you, sorry.  YMMV, JMHO, ect. ect.

Only .22 I've ever owned...Winchester Model 67.
If you can find one, jump on it.

With your criteria, your best bet is a 10/22
Upgradable, costomizable, etc.
Get it.

Thanks for the info.  I will have to research the EAA.  I have not heard about it.

Yes I love the 77/22.  The only weakness mine had was the trigger, and I bet a good smith could fix that pretty quickly.  It could shoot very close to MOA with the right ammo.  It was pretty finicky but good ammo would really make it sing.  I could head-shoot squirrels all day with it.

My 9422 was about twice as accurate as my 77, but it was a tube feed lever gun.  Still very nice if slightly slower reloads don't matter.

I noticed Ruger has been improving the 10/22 a lot.  I wish they would put Ruger ring cutouts on it like the 77/22 has.  Either that or at least include a real weaver base in the box.  The barrel and trigger upgrades would be very much welcome.  I know guys who have over $600 invested in their older stock 10/22's just to get them to really perform...

If Ruger has fixed any of the things I'm complainging about then I guess I owe them an apology...

CZ's bolt action rimfire gun will have a single set trigger this year, and I suspect it will meet your price.  Browning is going to sell T-Bolts again this year, but I doubt they will be less than $500; don't know.  Otherwise, you can find what you want in a used rifle, or save up for a Kimber.

MOA accuracy with a rimfire means you will spend some time searching for ammunition that will match up well with your rifle.

My plain off the shelf Wal-Mart 10-22 will shot a dime size group at 25 yards with mini-mags.  That is about as good as most off the shelf 22's get.    The best 100yr group I have been able to shot with it was about 3 MOA 3 shot group with a cold barrel on every shot.  In your price range I think you may have a hard time getting a 1 MOA 22 because for most people, a 1 inch group at 25 will do what they need a 22 to do.

Ruger 10/22's are OK, not great. But the parts market for them is huge! For $400, you could easily build a 10/22 MOA tack driver.
Check out Rimfire Central for some serious hyperactive 10/22's.

+1 on the 10/22--easy gun, LOTS of parts/acc.  Prevalence of high capacity mags, etc...

Quoted: The only .22 I've ever owned is the 10/22.   I bought mine used for $100 GM .920 bbl.:  $100 Hogue stock: $40 VQ hammer: $35 WK buffer: $7 simmons scope: $40 weaver rail:  $8 bipod: freebee That's $330 right there.  With wolf MT ammo, I can cover a 10-shot group with a dime at 50 yards. That's prone with a bipod & 3-9x32 scope.  That was BEFORE I added the hammer, bringing the trigger pull down to 2.5lbs.   Some people dump ALOT of money into 10/22's.  I'm happy with mine as it is.  The only thing I'd like to upgrade is the scope.   Under $400, and still decent accuracy considering the goon behind the trigger.   Oh yeah, a VQ hammer alone will bring the pull down to a nice 2.5lbs.  There's no need to upgrade the entire trigger group.  Some people are more picky than others when it comes to this.  But many are satisfied with the hammer upgrade alone.   If everything I mentioned is old news to you, sorry.  YMMV, JMHO, ect. ect.

I wrote to earlier reply before I read your reply.  Sounds good!  I like to tinker, so the simple replacement of a hammer and barrel doesn't sound too bad!

It would still be nice to see these things out of the box.  AT least the bbl and scope mounting arrangements...

Used 10/22 = $120-$160 depending on condition, model, etc.

Green Mountain Target Bull Barrels = $100-$160 depending on length, material, etc.

Volquartsen Target Hammer Combo = $37.50, while not a complete trigger assembly, here's a qoute from the website.  

The target hammer is designed to give the factory Ruger 10/22 a superb "trigger job" by simply replacing the factory hammer. The hammer notch is precision surface ground. No stoning or fitting is required. Reduces trigger pull down to approximately 2.5 - 2.75lbs. Made of stainless steel, hardened to Rc 58-60
Free Auto Bolt Release with each Volquartsen hammer


IMHO, you're best bet would be buying a used, cheap 10/22 and check out the numerous aftermarket companies to replace various parts.  

Then again, read up at rimfire central and make your own decision.

EPOCH

ETA: just noticed RRA-A2 suggested alot of the same things.  Looks like I took too long looking up links

I'd look for a used stock 10/22. All I would want out of it is the receiver, bolt, and other 'innards'.

Slap on a synthetic stock, a target/bull barrel, and then, as you grow to like it, a scope and trigger group.

Quoted: 10/22 in stainless.....factory 10 shot mag is good.......around $200 new.....nice furniture.......plenty of upgrades if you want.................a lot of good machine work for the dough.. Ever think about a .17hmr.? They are way fun to shoot out to 200yds. Just thought I would ask.

Yeah, I had a .17 HMR.  It was a NEF single shot and it really shot well.  I found the ammo a bit pricey though, and I didn't really think it was worth the extra money for the increased range.

Much the same reasons I've never been fond of .22 mags...

+1 on getting a Ruger 10/22 and then customizing it.  They are very simple to work with and there are excellent parts available for turning into a very accurate rifle for $400.00.

As mentioned before, check out Rimfire Central and be prepared to learn a bunch.

Eric  

Thanks for the info guys.  I've been kinda led to avoid 10/22's by certain people because of the cost of building a really decent one, but I think they might have been mistaken.  I appreciate you correcting the errors of my thinking.

BUT...  Why can't we get closer to this out of the box?  lol

I'm pretty fond of my Savage MKII-F. Trigger needs a little work when you first get it but nothing too fancy, just some brass shims. Its a bolt action, don't know if that was a criteria or not. Shoots cloverleafs most of the time using CCI Stingers. Can buy or special order at Wal-mart. I think I paid $99 for it 3 years ago.

get a walmart special, 22" barrel checkered stock like the deluxe exept its not walnut(beech wood i think) 214.00 bucks. send the barrel off to Randy at cpc, have him rechamber it and recrown it. put a hammer( just the hammer no springs) about 32.00 bucks. put a weaver T-09 scope base on it and your choice of optics, you'll be shooting under 1/2 " groups at 50yds. not exactly sure what Randy is charging for the barrel work these days but you'll have under 400. bucks in it. oh you will lose less than a 1/2" in length on the barrel work. go to rimfirecentral.com for a link to Randy at CPC  

I've got less than $100 in aftermarket parts in my 10/22. Since i put a VQ extracter in it, I've gone hundreds of rounds, with no failures.
I put a >$30 VQ hammer in it, now the trigger pull is great, just a little creep, then a nice light break.
A better scope rail is less than $20.
They are soo easy to upgrade it's not even funny. I wish I would have bought one 15 years ago, instead of messing with 6-7 other 22's.

I am going to have to give a big +1 to the CZ rimfires.  Of the five .22 rimfires that I own, two are CZ's, and when I go out, it is usually a toss-up as to whether to grab one of them, or the Winchester 52.  

Like others have mentioned, check out Rimfire Central.  

Quoted: Thanks for the info guys.  I've been kinda led to avoid 10/22's by certain people because of the cost of building a really decent one, but I think they might have been mistaken.  I appreciate you correcting the errors of my thinking. BUT...  Why can't we get closer to this out of the box?  lol

You can, but not for $400. You want a target rifle for bargain basement price. You either need to lower your expectations or raise the amount of money you are willing to spend.

For $400 you can build a 10/22 that will shoot good. But if you want a tack driver with all the bells and whistles it'll cost you more.

Quoted: I'm pretty fond of my Savage MKII-F. Trigger needs a little work when you first get it but nothing too fancy, just some brass shims. Its a bolt action, don't know if that was a criteria or not. Shoots cloverleafs most of the time using CCI Stingers. Can buy or special order at Wal-mart. I think I paid $99 for it 3 years ago.

he he he

I just bought one of those last week!  You are right the triggers are horrid, but the accuracy seems to be there if I could pull the darn trigger!

I also had a cartridge stick in the chamber after firing.  I had to fish it out with a knife blade.

This gun is definitely going to the gunsmith soon for an extractor inspection and trigger work!  Perhaps a chamber polishing.  I will have to see what my gunsmith thinks...

I love bolt guns so yes your suggestion qualified.  I really have no criteria on action type, but I prefer a detachable mag on a repeater and so far the Savage's mag seems solid, if a bit odd looking.

The Savage is still kind of a stop gap rifle though, as its scope mounting is still the horrid 3/8 rail, and the trigger doesn't pass the "Snag test" out of the box...

Quoted: Thanks for the info guys.  I've been kinda led to avoid 10/22's by certain people because of the cost of building a really decent one, but I think they might have been mistaken.  I appreciate you correcting the errors of my thinking. BUT...  Why can't we get closer to this out of the box?  lol

Because that would drive prices up although they could offer it as a sort of "Custom Shop" option. Then again,the people who buy the regular version could probably customize it themselves for cheaper than what Ruger could sell the tricked out version .
I would also add a +1 to the 10/22 list. Everybody I know that has one and everyone I've known that had one has NEVER been disappointed. And that is a lot of people.Good luck.

 Take a good look at the CZ bolt action 22 rifles. I have been around 4 of them and all will shoot .30 size groups with cheap, promo ammo if you have consistent form. They are amazing for the money. My buddy sold his Cooper 22 bolt gun that would only shoot sub MOA with expensive ammo. This is at 50 yards.

Older, check out any remington 580 series.  New, the CZ452 is tough to beat.  Non-bolt, Marlin 39.


SRM

Remington 504 is a sweet piece, though prolly over your budget

You can, but not for $400. You want a target rifle for bargain basement price. You either need to lower your expectations or raise the amount of money you are willing to spend. For $400 you can build a 10/22 that will shoot good. But if you want a tack driver with all the bells and whistles it'll cost you more.

You're absolutely right on that.  I know there are some AWESOME .22's out there if a guy has the money.

My main intention with this thread was to begin a discussion and get some information, so I think I've been pretty successful.

To the person who mentioned CZ.  I forgot them.  I have handled one and it was quite impressive.  What is their scope mounting arrangment like?

The 10-22's standard barrel is great! What are you talking about?
As for the trigger, just by changing a couple of springs mine went from 4 1/2 lbs to 2 3/4 and a overtravel screw was also installed.  I had a Hogue heavy barrel and stock put on and it shoots like a bat out of hell.

You are right about the 77/22's they are nice.

The Marlin bolt action 22's while not real pretty are very accurate and they have models with detachable magazines.  I think the triggers are heavy.

Buy a Ruger 10/22.  Even the basic out of the box versions I have fired have been accurate as hell with open sites out of the box!!  Cant  go wrong.  Killed me a lot of ground squirles with mine.  My favorite gun to shoot.

ruger 10/22 volquartsen trigger

if you can work with iron sights, try a Winchester 75 (5 or 10 rnd mags available)
or a 513T Remington,
gunbroker has had both on different auctions that have been drilled and tapped for scopes




how about a M12 H&R from the CMP??  ($229) but it's single shot, but damn accurate

10/22 simply because you can make it into anything. This is my recently perchased squirrel sniper

Quoted: i26.photobucket.com/albums/c125/BuckeyeRifleman/Guns0391.jpg 10/22 simply because you can make it into anything. This is my recently perchased squirrel sniper

NICE!!

Quoted: To the person who mentioned CZ.  I forgot them.  I have handled one and it was quite impressive.  What is their scope mounting arrangment like?

The CZ rimfires have a 3/8 wide dovetail.

personally i think marlin with their microgroove barrels are some of the best shooting out of the box .22's you can find..with probably a dozen different models.

i am thinking about the remington 597.

i have shot .22 competitively for 20 years off and on.

marlin makes a heavy barreled bolt gun..that would be the shitz my man.

look  them over..you wont go wrong.

or..

i would cough up for a tricked out 10/22

didya know..

right now on gunbroker they have a HK semi auto..4sale..

Quoted: Quoted: To the person who mentioned CZ.  I forgot them.  I have handled one and it was quite impressive.  What is their scope mounting arrangment like? The CZ rimfires have a 3/8 wide dovetail.

Tikka mounts work well on them.

I recommend:

10-22
CZ452
Marlin Lever

(one of each, or 2 of each)  I sold my #2 CZ 452 to get one in .17HM2, but haven't found one, yet.  The .22 is a tack driver without any modifications.  







I don't have a CZ picture.  I will have to get one..........

Quoted: personally i think marlin with their microbroove barrels are some of the best shooting out of the box .22's you can find..with probably a dozen different models. i am thinking about the remington 597. i have shot .22 competitively for 20 years off and on. marlin makes a heavy barreled bolt gun..that would be the shitz my man. look  them over..you wont go wrong. or.. i would cough up for a tricked out 10/22 didya know.. right now on gunbroker they have a HK semi auto..4sale..

My girlfriend bought her son a Remington 597 last year so I had a good opportunity to get to know it.  I wasn't too impressed.  The magazines were temperamental and it was a complete whore to disassemble for a good cleaning.

Other than that the scope seemed to stay put fairly well and it was a decent shooter.  I just got sick of those unexpected dry fires when the magazine decided to hang up.

The followers on the magazines seemed to stick quite often.  I hope the 504 mags aren't the same design.

your the first person i know that has any experience with the 597..

i shoot alot of different .22's

one thing that i forgot to mention was the CZ stuff.
i know of 2 competitive shooters shooting these and they are excellent buys.

You never stated if you wanted bolt vs auto.

Running large scopes on the 10/22 can be a problem, to address a issue as you stated it:
Expoxing, not even truely bedding, the rcvr scope mounting rail or even sealing it with red locktite goes a long ways.  If the base to rcvr fit is true enough, red loctite and waxing or running "blue" around the cap screws to keep the permanent locktite from welding the cap screws, where you use non permanent..... Without routine cleaning, lubricant makes a home between the rail and rcvr putting all the liability in the cap screws like a boat anchored on water.  You want to maximize good surface contact area. It's not the recoil with a .22 but a long target scope (even  worse with a sunshade) that'll alter POI due to optic mass and torque angle on the smaller mount.

With the 10/22 IMO the bigger liability is the non threaded v-block barrel to rcvr fit, I believe this to be where your true observed problem is.  Notice the trend for tricked 10/22s is to run a reverse canti-lever mount off the barrel.   With nill chamber pressure, there isn't much question in drill and tapping the barrel after the short chamber and the optic is made more true to the bore.
Back to that, from experience, $100 bolt-on .920 barrels don't buy you much in performace as the rcvr can't support the floated weight and the rnd does'nt need a beefy tube for velocity or whip.  Done that with trigger work and a good scope mount in a fajen stock.  
With a purely stock 10/22 the best thing you can do is remove the barrel strap. For what they are, they shoot amazingly well, not to totally can on them but more of a investment to exceed other bone stock platforms.  

In conclusion. 10/22's can shoot but they do not lend themselves well to non-smith bolt ons. If you want a shooter, buy a good tube with a conservative profile and have it fitted properly to the rcvr and action.   Using the same action, the platform is popular enough where you can start from scatch.

For the money, the best .22 I had good time with is the Anchutz Achiever.  The stock and blueing finish was a bit dissapointing but the thing shot very well and it's a child sized gun in all matters with a small bbl profile.  LOP is adjustable and the trigger mediocre not in the oz range.

"MOA" with a .22 is a hard spec to meet or state giving the pill. I would'nt put it in that context, but I guess it applies.

I've stated my short range consistancy observations with the 10/22 and not to much time with others outside a nice shooting BL-22 and a savage .22 bolt.   For no hot roddin, I'd get a bolt.






 

Quoted: You never stated if you wanted bolt vs auto. Running large scopes on the 10/22 can be a problem, to address a issue as you stated it: Expoxing, not even truely bedding, the rcvr scope mounting rail or even sealing it with red locktite goes a long ways.  If the base to rcvr fit is true enough, red loctite and waxing or running "blue" around the cap screws to keep the permanent locktite from welding the cap screws, where you use non permanent.  Without routine cleaning, lubricant makes a home between the rail and rcvr putting all the liability in the cap screws like a boat anchored on water.  You want to maximize good surface contact area. It's not the recoil with a .22 but a long target scope (even  worse with a sunshade) that'll alter POI due to optic mass. With the 10/22 IMO the bigger liability is the non threaded v-block barrel to rcvr fit, I believe this to be where your true observed problem is.  Notice the trend for tricked 10/22s is to run a reverse canti-lever mount off the barrel.   With nill chamber pressure, there isn't much question in drill and tapping the barrel after the short chamber and the optic is made more true to the bore. Back to that, from experience, $100 bolt-on .920 barrels don't buy you much in performace as the rcvr can't support the floated weight and the rnd does'nt need a beefy tube for velocity or whip.  Done that with trigger work and a good scope mount.   With a purely stock 10/22 the best thing you can do is remove the barrel strap. For what they are, they shoot amazingly well, not to totally can on them but more of a investment to exceed other bone stock platforms.   In conclusion. 10/22's can shoot but they do not lend themselves well to non-smith bolt ons. If you want a shooter, buy a good tube and have it fitted properly to the rcvr and action.   For the money, the best .22 I had good time with is the Anchutz Achiever.  The stock and blueing finish was a bit dissapointing but the thing shot well and it's a child sized gun in all matters with a small bbl profile.  LOP is adjustable and the trigger mediocre. "MOA" with a .22 is a hard spec to meet or state giving the pill. I've stated my short range consistancy observations with the 10/22.

With the rifle posted above I shot under .5in groups(5 shot) @ 50 yards the day I finished building it.

Build coust
10/22 from wally world $175
Core lite stock $45
New hammer sear and disconnecter $45
GM 16in fluted barrel $110
2 cans of Krylon(OD green and base clear) $5
cheapy 3-9X scope taken of my other 10/22 $0
total $340

Building something perfect for my needs that shoots MOA, priceless

Its fun to tinker with the 10/22 system. Although the reciever cant handle a true "float", there are several options that are equal or better. One is to free fload all but 2-3 inches in front of the reciever. The other is to leave a pressure pad somewhere in the barrel channel. I free foated my stock and then used a pressure point(a piece of foam). This foam allowed me to "tune" the rilfe for accuracy by moving the position of the foam along the barrel channel. When I first got to the range the other day it printed 1.5 in groups @50yards. By the time I had it "tuned", I was printing sub .5in @ 50yards. Then I glued the foam in that position to make it perminent.

Could I have simply bought an off the shelf rifle and gotten that kind of accuracy for $340?
Maybe, But this was a whole lot more fun!

ETA Pic and group size correction

Quoted: With a purely stock 10/22 the best thing you can do is remove the barrel strap

best piece of advice on here  I have seen increses of 50% or more
get a decent trigger kit for $50  or so and go
BTW Rugers now come with a little better weaver type base these days

She's not the tack driver you're after,
but she's well within a minute of racoon/possum at night




and she runs circles around my marlin papoose

You need one of these:




With the factory bull barrel it was a great gun. I have a 10/22 with a shitload of work in it that shoots well, but only as well as this gun, and isn't as cool or as handy. The Buckmark Rifle is one bad-assed .22.

Dave

The EAA/Izmash Biathlon rifles were nice, but EAA no longer imports them. I don't know anyone who does yet. Or where to get parts or magazines (which were 5-shotters, by the by).

The CZ rifles are good, and don't cost much. Not many accessories but they don't want for much anyway.

The 10-22 is basically it if you want over-5-shot mags at all.
Get a used one cheap, then get a new trigger/barrel/stock and the scope of your choice.

And then get Butler Creek steel-lips magazines, nothing else. All the other (plastic!) magazines are crap--even the other ones that Butler Creek makes.
~

Here's a story I did on a 10/22 build I completely this past summer.  Includes all pricing, except the gun.

www.varminter.com/particles/gss.html

Hope this helps!

Eric  

Marlin 880 SQ - "Squirrel Gun"

Black composite stock with the same barrel off of their $$$$target 22.  Not a pretty weapon, but extremely accurate for a low price.

My 10/22 could not handle the Aquilla Super MAx's. Must of needed stiffer springs.

I wanted a bolt action and got that. Awesome 22 bolt rifle.

Quoted: The 10/22 itself is almost OK, in that it's reliable and has a good magazine, but its trigger is an atrocity and its stock barrel is too short and not very accurate.  Some of this may be due to the poor quality sights, but even with a scope mounted it doesn't get much better.  I know a 10/22 can be turned into a premium quality rifle and you can install a real weaver rail on it if you ORDER the thing.  (the factory included a 3/8 rail with both of mine)  It's just that to make a 10/22 really worthy you have to spend almost as much as you would on a decent AR.  I'm talking a complete trigger group and rebarreling to start.

The 10/22 trigger can be fixed real easy if your  comfortable in taking the trigger group completely apart, all you have to do is polish a few things and carefully clip one or maybe 2 coils off of the trigger spring and your set without spending a fortune on a new trigger group. Accuracy is kind of hit or miss with factory barrels, I had 2, the one I sold was a 10/22 sporter, after I floated the factory barrel it would shoot 10 round groups at 50 yards you can cover with a dime. The blued one I still have does good to shoot one inch at 50 yards

Quoted: The EAA/Izmash Biathlon rifles were nice, but EAA no longer imports them. I don't know anyone who does yet. Or where to get parts or magazines (which were 5-shotters, by the by).

Russian American Armory.  

Quoted: your the first person i know that has any experience with the 597.. i shoot alot of different .22's one thing that i forgot to mention was the CZ stuff. i know of 2 competitive shooters shooting these and they are excellent buys.

I own two 597's.  Either will shoot and handle better than any 10-22 I have ever fired.  I'm going to get the 22 magnum version next.  You can get match triggers/chambers, target barrels, Weaver mounts, and high caps for them now.

I'd put either of mine in stock configuration, up against any stock 10-22 out there. I've had zero problems and a whole lot of fun.  I'm thinking of making one my rimfire match gun.

Just a note, when you take a 10-22 and throw away everything except the receiver, it's not a 10-22 anymore.

If money is REALLY an issue, go to a pawn shop and buy an old Remington 500 series for 75$. Refinish the stock if necessary and you'll still outshoot any Ruger out there.