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Posted: 5/15/2021 5:30:27 PM EDT
I realize the subjective nature of the topic so I put Best in parentheses.
That in mind, which semi auto rifle is best for an all around shooter? I have a 10/22 bone stock and hate it, it jams a lot and the trigger is awful. I saw the Walther Hammerli - that one looks cool. Any ideas? Thanks in advance! |
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Quoted: I realize the subjective nature of the topic so I put Best in parentheses. That in mind, which semi auto rifle is best for an all around shooter? I have a 10/22 bone stock and hate it, it jams a lot and the trigger is awful. I saw the Walther Hammerli - that one looks cool. Any ideas? Thanks in advance! View Quote The jams can be fixed. So can the trigger. All in, unless there's something special that you want, the best is often a 10/22 that you've tuned up and modded to your liking. The modability of the 10/22 is what has kept most other semi-auto .22 rifles from even being a thing. |
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A dedicated 22 ar built for 22 only is what I had. It was reliable and Squirrel headshit accurate.
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I picked up a Smith and Wesson m&p 22lr ar..
Changed out the extractor to a Volqsteen ( sp ) and threw a can on it. Thing runs like a champ, rare to get a jam, and fun to shoot and train quietly. |
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Quoted: A dedicated 22 ar built for 22 only is what I had. It was reliable and Squirrel headshit accurate. View Quote Quoted: I picked up a Smith and Wesson m&p 22lr ar.. Changed out the extractor to a Volqsteen ( sp ) and threw a can on it. Thing runs like a champ, rare to get a jam, and fun to shoot and train quietly. View Quote |
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Quoted: Can't say it's "the best", but my hands down favorite is the Browning SA-22, and I've shot a ton of different 22's. Beautiful shooter that is far more accurate than I am (and I'm really good with it), smooth as butter, reliable, easy takedown, and beautiful as well. If I could only have one gun it would be difficult to say no to this little wonder. Aside from price I've always wondered why more people don't own them. https://i.postimg.cc/JzGwk9wJ/Collection.jpg View Quote |
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I have a 10/22 with a fixed 4 power Simmons scope and a BX trigger in it. Its mainly used for Appleseed and plinking.
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I have four dedicated 22 LR AR-15’s. My 22 LR AR-15’s are as reliable as the ammunition. The most common failure is where no priming compound gets in the rim of the 22 LR case. With quality ammo my CMMG pattern dedicated AR-15’s are plenty accurate and fun to shoot. I have two dedicated AR-15’s with RDS and two with scopes. I have all my bases covered.
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Thompson center makes a very good improved 1022 copy.
I recommend one of those before they quit making them. |
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While I am not a ruger fan boy, I think the 10/22 is still the best option in “modern” rifles.
Quality control seems to have slipped in the last decade and I have witnessed a number of people I shoot with having function issues, but as mentioned some minor tweaks and parts upgrades can make then run very well. Through the years I have had a few ( older models) that all ran just fine. With a ton of expensive custom work they can be made very accurate and reliable, but by that price range a very good bolt action is the same price. I myself prefer old classics, but decent condition older guns like the winchesters and Remingtons among others are getting harder to find and service with spare parts and magazines. The price of original magazines for some of the older classics can run $75 or more. I recently bought a very inexpensive savage 64 which is very reliable and fairly accurate, but doesn’t have the ability to be tricked out with things like aftermarket stocks parts etc, and the trigger is pretty rough and heavy |
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Quoted: Thompson center makes a very good improved 1022 copy. I recommend one of those before they quit making them. View Quote I don’t know if it’s the best, but I have 2 Rugers, a Marlin, JC Higgins and the new Thompson T/CR 22. I think TC hit it out of the park with the features for the money. Mine works great. More reliable with more types of ammo than either Ruger 10-22. |
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Quoted: I realize the subjective nature of the topic so I put Best in parentheses. That in mind, which semi auto rifle is best for an all around shooter? I have a 10/22 bone stock and hate it, it jams a lot and the trigger is awful. I saw the Walther Hammerli - that one looks cool. Any ideas? Thanks in advance! View Quote New current production? Vintage? |
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I have a bone stock 10-22 in the safe that I got when I was 13
It hasn't come out of the safe since I got a 15-22 |
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My 10/22 came directly from Ruger (won it) with an absolutely horrible trigger. So bad it was basically unusable. Sent the trigger to Brimstone and for around $30 I got a great trigger in return. To think I almost spent $70-80 on a BX trigger. We actually got two triggers done for less than it cost to replace one of them. I HIGHLY recommend Brimstone.
Ours shoot pretty much anything you feed them until they get too dirty to cycle. If yours isn't living up to that it needs a little attention. A 10/22 should be extremely reliable. I'd recommend showing your 10/22 a little love by getting the trigger done and maybe have someone look at cycling issue because they are great guns. With some upgrades they are capable of being extremely great guns. |
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Quoted: My 10/22 came directly from Ruger (won it) with an absolutely horrible trigger. So bad it was basically unusable. Sent the trigger to Brimstone and for around $30 I got a great trigger in return. To think I almost spent $70-80 on a BX trigger. We actually got two triggers done for less than it cost to replace one of them. I HIGHLY recommend Brimstone. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: My 10/22 came directly from Ruger (won it) with an absolutely horrible trigger. So bad it was basically unusable. Sent the trigger to Brimstone and for around $30 I got a great trigger in return. To think I almost spent $70-80 on a BX trigger. We actually got two triggers done for less than it cost to replace one of them. I HIGHLY recommend Brimstone. The BX triggers are an improvement, but for $80... they still suck, IMHO. For not much more money, you can do Kidd/Tandemkross/VQ parts and get a trigger that's MUCH better than a BX. Ours shoot pretty much anything you feed them until they get too dirty to cycle. If yours isn't living up to that it needs a little attention. A 10/22 should be extremely reliable. Yeah, the few issues that can crop up with 10/22s come down to the action not cycling vigorously enough. This can be from being too dirty, the recoil spring guide rod being *slightly* bent, etc.. When that happens, you can get failure to eject, failure to feed, etc.. That's why people will say "mine has trouble with bulk stuff, but works fine with minimags", the recoil from the more powerful ammo is helping overcome whatever problem is going on with the gun. I got a polished guide rod for mine (Kidd, maybe?) with a -10% spring on it, and polished up the bolt surfaces nice and good. |
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Many thanks for the responses and discussion here guys. A lot to ponder. Definitely need to order some suppressors for the 22 also
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It is going to be really hard to beat the 10/22 for all the aftermarket support it has. Basically like an AR. You can customize pretty much any part of it and make it how you want it.
Otherwise, I do like old Marlin tube feeders for a semi auto as well as Savage FVSRs for a bolt gun. |
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I've had 3.
Winchester 190. Traded it off many years ago. Sucked. Ruger 10/22. Okay rifle. Modified for Appleseed use/practice and it's a neat, reliable, fairly good shooting little rifle. Sig 522. My favorite. Seems to be ammo insensitive, which is kind of unusual in a .22 semi-auto. Change brands? Still functions. Groups? Groups good with anything I've shot in it, but the groups do move when ammo is changed. I really shoot shoot it more but I rarely shoot a .22 these days. |
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Factory 10/22s are pretty disappointing from the standpoint that they are a great design but for various reasons the factory dumbs them up with pretty horrible triggers and poor sights. Reliability is a crap shoot on factory guns .
The great news is if you have a bit of time and money there is a huge industry out there that does nothing but produce parts that can greatly improve all the shortcomings of the factory 10/22s. The other good thing about 10/22s is that many folks have taken the time to work out solutions that fix whatever bugs you about the 10/22 and many of these "fixes" are cheap and easy. I have several (Ok,7) 10/22s in various shapes ,sizes and levels of aftermarket fixes and repairs and I find them to be lots of fun. I am looking forward to my suppressed 10/22TD barrel to get out of jail. Something that I get lots of enjoyment out of is my drop in AR rimfire conversion . Not a perfect thing but allows another whole level of use and enjoyment from my various different AR platforms. I wouldn't want to be limited to jut one semi 22 , all are fun in their own way |
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Maybe not the "best" for everyone, but I find my most fun .22lr is a Ruger Takedown Charger that is a registered SBR with all Kidd internals and a Magpul Backpacker stock + can. Got a few spendy ones (mostly TacSol stuff with Kidd internals) and will probably do a full Kidd build someday, but my SBR Charger with can wins the smiles per trigger pull competition so far.
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For those with love of the Teutonic there is always the Heckler & Koch HK270. But it is not for the poors.
Here is a short article on the 270. |
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10/22, running a binary trigger and topped with a Holosun 507, green dot. Rings steel fast and with ease. Probably as much fun to shoot as my M11/9 with the Lage .22 kit (full auto).
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It also helps to define what you are looking for?
For a hyper accurate semi auto 22, a heavily modified ( and costly) 10/22 is “best” For casual plinking with best reliability it is something of a crapshoot Again some 10/22’s run just fine,others not so much and you never know like forrests box of chocolates My 15/22 is very reliable but you can’t do much to the platform to enhance accuracy. Much like golf clubs different rifles are needed for different purposes one cannot do it all. I wouldn’t take my long range precision gun to a steel challenge match, or my steel Challenge gun to a precision match. |
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I wanted something my daughter could shoot and also something I would like shooting so I picked up a 15/22 MOE I think it will be fine off a bench until she’s strong enough to hold it off hand. Obviously it’s going to be a good training rifle for me and for a lot less money.
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Quoted: For those with love of the Teutonic there is always the Heckler & Koch HK270. But it is not for the poors. Here is a short article on the 270. https://special-ops.org/wp-content/uploads/heckler-and-koch-hk270-without-scope.jpeg View Quote Back in 88 I worked at a shop that had all the HK stuff. I wish I had saved my pennies for one of those and an SL7 Heckler & Koch HK SL7 308 Rifle |
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The best is Volquartsen. https://volquartsen.com/departments/rifles
Volquartsen makes some of the highest quality 10/22 based/compatable rifles and parts in the world. Infinitely customizable. That being said, I don’t own any stock 10/22 rifles. All have Volquartsen parts. I just used the 10/22 as a base platform to mod to my personal satisfaction. |
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I think that because of the ubiquity of the 10/22, the TCR is the “best buy” for an affordable semiauto 22 these days.
For not much more than Ruger wants for a craptastic base model, you get a lot of features out of the Thompson. IMO, for a working rifle, 10/22 mags are unbeatable. I don’t think any other rifle has achieved the level of commonality and aftermarket the 10/22 has. |
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View Quote View Quote Quoted: The best is Volquartsen. https://volquartsen.com/departments/rifles Volquartsen makes some of the highest quality 10/22 based/compatable rifles and parts in the world. Infinitely customizable. That being said, I don’t own any stock 10/22 rifles. All have Volquartsen parts. I just used the 10/22 as a base platform to mod to my personal satisfaction. View Quote I vote for KIDD....WITH a rear tang, an important upgrade IMO. Volquartsen is in the same league however KIDD has the rear tang option and noticeably better triggers giving them the edge. |
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Quoted: I realize the subjective nature of the topic so I put Best in parentheses. That in mind, which semi auto rifle is best for an all around shooter? I have a 10/22 bone stock and hate it, it jams a lot and the trigger is awful. I saw the Walther Hammerli - that one looks cool. Any ideas? View Quote Easy-peasy ... CZ 512. Bought mine used. Best $250.00 I ever spent, and unlike nearly every 10/22 out there, I didn't have to dump several hundred dollars into tweaking it just to get it to run jam-free or shoot accurately. I just cleaned the 512 real good, put it back together, and had it punching dime-sized groups at 50-yds with the ammo it liked. Fortunately I already own three other CZ rimfire bolts, so I had plenty of spare 5- and 10-rd .22 mags to feed it. I keep it loaded with the CCI Stingers. While 512's stock trigger isn't as nice as on my CZ bolt .22s, it's good enough to keep rounds within 'minute-of-squirrel/groundhog,' etc. |
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I bought one of those used at a gun show once. Beautiful gun. It wouldn't shoot well at all. It seemed like too much trouble at the time, so I sold it to a guy who said he'd take it, regardless of the lack of accuracy. Maybe he re-barreled it or something. |
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Quoted: I bought one of those used at a gun show once. Beautiful gun. It wouldn't shoot well at all. It seemed like too much trouble at the time, so I sold it to a guy who said he'd take it, regardless of the lack of accuracy. Maybe he re-barreled it or something. View Quote That's a damn shame. Mine was rode hard and put away wet. One of the dirtiest guns I have ever bought...but it was 360 bucks so I didn't bitch. Took a lot of work to clean it. It don't think it had EVER been cleaned. Replaced all of the critical springs and bought some original magazines. It's one of the most accurate rifles I have ever owned. |
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Quoted: That's a damn shame. Mine was rode hard and put away wet. One of the dirtiest guns I have ever bought...but it was 360 bucks so I didn't bitch. Took a lot of work to clean it. It don't think it had EVER been cleaned. Replaced all of the critical springs and bought some original magazines. It's one of the most accurate rifles I have ever owned. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: I bought one of those used at a gun show once. Beautiful gun. It wouldn't shoot well at all. It seemed like too much trouble at the time, so I sold it to a guy who said he'd take it, regardless of the lack of accuracy. Maybe he re-barreled it or something. That's a damn shame. Mine was rode hard and put away wet. One of the dirtiest guns I have ever bought...but it was 360 bucks so I didn't bitch. Took a lot of work to clean it. It don't think it had EVER been cleaned. Replaced all of the critical springs and bought some original magazines. It's one of the most accurate rifles I have ever owned. Mine was bought new and has been cared for. It is quite accurate for an autoloader with ammo it likes. The 552 Speedmaster is a bit more accurate, though. Stay away from the dirty running cheap stuff (applies to all semi-auto .22LR rifles and pistols) and it runs fine. I have two OEM mags, one fits flush (well almost - see photo) , the other holds more but looks ugly. |
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Quoted: Mine was bought new and has been cared for. It is quite accurate for an autoloader with ammo it likes. The 552 Speedmaster is a bit more accurate, though. Stay away from the dirty running cheap stuff (applies to all semi-auto .22LR rifles and pistols) and it runs fine. I have two OEM mags, one fits flush (well almost - see photo) , the other holds more but looks ugly. View Quote For as hard as mine was beaten, I cannot believe how accurate it is. It wouldn't even run when I first bought it and it took a couple of disassembly sessions before I got it right....but now it is a sewing machine. Honestly, I wanted a tube fed but just could not find one so I settled for this beater. I picked up one ten rounder (which looks ugly as sin) for can shooting and the rest are factory 5 rounders. For others reading this: do NOT buy non factory repro mags from Numrich or anywhere else, they are shit. Numrich lists theirs as made by GPC but that are just rebadged Triple K shit. I just wish I could find a new, clean front sight as the one on my gun is long in the tooth and soft on the edges as old front sights are wont to get. |
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The Remington 552 Speedmaster and the Marlin 60 are more accurate and reliable out the box than the 10-22.
LC |
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