Are there any suggestions from those in-the-know?

wannabe

rifle or pistol?

I'm assuming pistol;
Check AuctionArms for a used Ruger Mark II.

I may not be in the know, but I have Marlin 795.  It's pretty darn accurate, lightweight (4.5# i think), and about $105.  2" groups at 50' with me driving, so I'm sure it can do better with a decent shooter.  
We also have a ruger 10/22.  I personally like my marlin better.  There are far more aftermarket accessories for the 10/22 if that's your thing.

Heh, forgot about the pistol vs. rifle bit.  Don't have a 22 pistol.  Shot a 22/45 a bunch, and it's pretty nice.  if you have a favored handgun, check and see if there's a 22 conversion kit for it (1911, glock, cz for sure have them, others might also) so you can feel more comfortable with your piece.  Walther now makes a P22 that's almost the same as a P99.  
Ruger has a $20 rebate on 22 pistols through the end of the year as well, btw.

Thanks for the info guys.  I was actually thinking rifle, but the pistol ideas are appreciated as well!

wannabe

Go down to a gunshop and you should be able to find Semi-Auto. (Used) Marlins for under $100. My Marlin 989-M2 cost me $69. I saw a Savage with the stock cut off for $59 a while back,

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but the gunshop clerk said that now FL has declared rifles w/o stocks to be Handguns, because "They Can Be Fired With One Hand." I'd like to see one of those dumass politicians shoot a rifle with 1-Hand. Especially since this rule also applies to Pistol-Grip Shotguns.

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Marlin Model 60, if you want a tube fed rifle.  It costs much less than the 10/22, and if you're serious about saving money, then not having to worry about buying extra mags is nice.z

IMO, Marlins are junk go get you a Ruger 10/22 at Wal-Mart.

If you only have one .22LR semi-auto, it should definately be a Ruger 10/22.

Ill jump right in and say that statement is crap.  I have two that are eight or so years old, and a friend has one that is a year old.  He put 700 rounds through it before he cleaned it for the first time.  They shoot any ammo, are accurate and jam less than any 10/22 I have shot.  Albeit, I have only shot five or six 10/22's but I would say that is a fair statement.  I will say that I do like the 10/22 and as far as modifications there is no competition.  When I get another .22 it will be the Ruger, but if I was wanted one and was not going to modify it, it would be a marlin.

The Ruger gets my vote.
More customizable,and better engineered.
I took apart a friends Marlin .22 one time to clean it and couldn't believe all the crap they put into that thing.Seemed overly complicated to make it operate.
Shoot both though if you can and then decide.

[size=5] Ruger 10/22  or Ciener .22LR conversion kit for M16[/size=5]
[url]http://www.22lrconversions.com/[/url]
[url]http://www.ruger-firearms.com/rfrimfire_auto.html[/url]

How about one of those feather rifles?
[url]www.featherusa.com[/url]

I'd go with the 10/22 as well. GI Joe's just had the plain base model on sale for $129.99. Hard to beat that for a NIB .22 rifle. My own 10/22 is 12 years old with God knows how many rounds through it and it's still going strong. I almost never clean the thing. It even got bounced out of my Jeep once and suffered just a couple of minor dings. You can also still get hi-cap mags for it. I don't really consider any gun collection complete without at least 1 10/22 in it.

I've never owned a Marlin semi-auto .22, but after observing the malfunctions and breakage of those belonging to friends, I've pretty much been scared away from them forever.

I've got a couple of Remington 552 semi-auto with the tube magazine that are good guns, too. I still prefer the detachable mag of the 10/22.

i had a marlin model 60ss for a while and decided i'm not a big fan of the tubular magazines as they are a pain in the ass to reload if you like to shoot a lot.

recently i sold it and picked up a marlin model 70p..which is a take down .22lr. it's stainless and has a case and is just plain fun to shoot.

i like the take down idea quite a bit. and although it's not quite as slick as the feather gun, it serves its purpose well.

maybe worth a look...

I have/had a Marlin 989-M2. It is an older model and is Semi-Auto. I put 5,000 rounds through it. Though, the last 4,000 produced alot of misfires. It never had a Serial Number, so I kept the Receiver, just in case I decide to build it into something new. It is overly complicated and is a pain in the ass to reassemble. Also, the trigger doesn't directly contact the release.The trigger pushes a piece of metal into the release and that metal can slip out of place.

When you rack back the bolt (I kept), it force the hammer down and locks it in place. releasing the bolt allows a round to be stripped off the magazine and pushed into the chamber. When you pull the trigger, the trigger contacts a piece of metal that pushes a release that causes the hammer to fly foward and strike the rear of the bolt pushing a ping into the cartridge firing it.  The Hammer is knida weak and the firing pin barely makes a mark when it does fire.

In comparison, my SKS leaves a huge dent in the rear of the cartridge when it fires. Same goes for all my centerfires. I figured it was just a rimfire thing considering that was the only Rimfire I ever owned and the last.