Fabulous firearms Friday………
Everyone pretty much agrees that of all the various firearms you can sock away (for whatever reason you sock away firearms) a couple good .22LR guns are a ‘must have’. I agree. The ammo is cheap, the guns are inexpensive, and when push comes to shove I’ll take a Ruger 10/22 over a baseball bat when I’m trying to Omega Man my way out of Katrinaville. (But thats only when my choice is between those two…between a 10/22 and, say, an AR or AK…..different story.)
Everyone has their own preferences, and thats fine, so here’s mine. Keep in mind that these are just opinions…you might disagree, and thats cool too. This is all based on my own experiences, yours may be different…maybe your AR-7 was a flawless tackdriver, mine wasn’t. Luck of the draw. Let’s move on.
AR-7 – This design has been tackled (and tortured) by at least a half dozen different manufacturers in the last several decades…Armalite, Charter Arms, Survivasl Arms, Henry, etc, etc. I’ve owned two or three of them and theyre nifty, gimmicky, and crude as hell. Their only real redeeming feature was that they took down into small enough parts to fit into the buttstock of the gun. The sights were crude, the finishing rough, reliability was often just a passing thought, and spare parts/mags weren’t always forthcoming. If you have one that works, great…keep it. But I always recommend folks take a pass on these. There was also an AR-7 pistol for a few years…no better than the rifle and with the limitations of a short sight radius and no stock to steady your aim. Gun show novelties.
Marlin Papoose – I love Marlin .22 rifles. I’ve owned exactly one Marlin Papoose and it was a far better gun, although not as compact, as the AR-7. Only drawbacks were finding spare mags and finding ‘hi-cap’ mags. If I come across one of these at a reasonable price I wouldnt turn my nose up at it. These two guns, the Marlin and AR-7, were pretty much your only real choice for a ‘takedown’ factory .22 gun until recently. A few very oddball takedown guns are still out there (the Garcia Bronco spring to mind) but they are rare birds.
Marlin 781/881/981/81 – All basically the same rifle, just with a few improvements/changes over the previous generation. This is a tube-fed bolt action repeater. I like tube magazine guns because I have a fear of losing magazines. On guns where the magazines are ubiquitous (10/22) I don’t fret about it, but on less popular guns its a tremendous logistics concern for me. I used to go out and make amazing shots on ground squirrels with my 881. I don’t have one at the moment, but if one crosses my path (and they are usually reasonably priced) I’d get one to scope and take out for varmints.
CZ – I don’t actually own one of these but my buddy does. We shot it, with iron sights, using bulk ammo, and got dime sized groups at 30 yards. These things are incredible guns. They take detachable mags, which is a turn off for me, but the incredible value and performance of these guns (with single set triggers!) is making me think I might be able to get over my logistics issue.
Ruger 10/22 – This is pretty much the standard .22 rifle of the preparedness demographic. Magazines, parts, and accessories abound. This gun can be modified, tweaked, altered, modded and tricked out for just about any purpose. Ruger recently introduced a takedown version, which I think theyre going to sell a buttload of, but in reality all 10/22 rifles are takedown if you just remove the two allen screws that hold the barrel v-block in place….it just takes a couple minutes. When it comes time to start sticking guns away for the uncertain future, this is the .22 rifle that we stock up on. There are more accurate guns out there, there are cheaper guns out there, but none have the unbelievable logistics train that the Ruger 10/22 has. For that reason it should be the first choice when selecting a .22 rifle for preparedness needs.
Other than those, I’ve not much first hand experience with the Winchester, Remington and other brands of .22 rifles. Winchester and Remington both made some awesome guns but with Ruger’s established market share and aftermarket support there is really no other choice. If you have a Marlin 39A or a Nylon 66 you’re not at any real disadvantage….you can kill squirrels and headshoot turkeys as well as the next guy. But as the years roll by and you wind up needing parts, accessories and magazines, the Ruger will probably be the one that is easiest to keep up and running.
A few words about magazine availability: I make a big deal about magazine availability. Most manufacturers are very good about producing magazines for their guns even long after the guns are no longer made. In many cases, once a gun is discontinued, the newer models will use the old mag or the discontinued model will be able to use the new mag. Problem is, not every gun shop is going to want to keep on hand one of every single magazine ever made by Marlin (or Winchester, or whoever). Let me give you an example: if, when you want a magazine for your gun, the guy behind the counter has to look up in a book what magazine your gun takes, you need a different gun. Meanwhile, if you walk into a shop and say to the guy behind the counter “I need a Ruger .22 rifle magazine” he won’t even look up from his monitor. He’ll just say “Aisle 4″ and wave towards the display rack of Butler Creek and Ruger products. That is the kind of availability you want.
My wife just picked up the Ruger 10/22 Take-Down this last weekend. In either direction (assembly/disassembly), it takes only seconds. It stores in the supplied pack with optics installed. I’m very stoked for her!
John in Alaska
I love my 10/22′s. Anytime someone asks what kind of gun to buy as their first I always direct then at the 10/22. An absolute favorite and I wouldn’t feel happy but I could get by with just one of these and a Glock in a common caliber.
Amen to your fears about magazine availability. My first .22 is still my best .22-a 1970s Sako 72 bolt-action, for which I have two five-shot magazines, which are smaller than a matchbook, and the supply seems to have dried up-last time I saw any on offer, maybe ten years ago, they were around $70 or $80 apiece. 10/22s emerge as the clear winner in this regard.
The one thing that kept me from a 10/22 is an extended magazine of durability. Even the new Ruger hi cap magazines are jam-o-matics once they get a little use, as I have been told by friends.
That was my reason for getting a Hammerli Sporter .22. It’s tube fed, semi-auto, 17+1 capacity, standard fiber optic sights, comes in wood grain or black color poly, and easy break down. Doesn’t have all the nifty gizmos available like the 10/22, and its a bit longer, but it feeds anything. I haven’t jammed it yet, no matter how fast I squeeze off the rounds, and it’s a tack driver……very accurate. I will be getting a couple more when I can, without a doubt. And price is comparable to a 10/22. Highly recommend it. Love mine.
One rifle you have left out is the S&W 15/22. Magazines are available everywhere, they break down into a smaller package by pushing out two pins (ie. takedown rifle) and they are light, dependable, and fairly accurate. They also have the close to the same manual of arms as the AR. High cap magazines are readily available and they work well. Worth taking a look at though they are not as pretty as many of the traditional .22′s that you name in the article.
I said that I was listing guns based on my own experiences, I’ve no experience with the S&W MP15/22 so it wasn’t listed.
Good discussion of magazine commonality. However its not consistent, even with Ruger: I have a Mk I .22 pistol, which uses a different magazine (and very hard to find) than the Mk II or III.
Quite true, but I was limiting it mostly to rifles for now.
I had one 10/22 and scads of accessories.
Then those guys at Ruger snuck out (no SHOT Show debut, no gun-porn debut 6 months in advance) that takedown. Found one in the wild hereabouts.
Now I have two 10/22s.
The 10/22 take down is all it’s cracked up to be, and more. Ruger will sell dumptruckloads of them once they start cranking out enough to meet demand. Someday. (With multiple shifts, they’re still months behind on this years’ firearms orders until…August?)
I had originally wanted a stainless Marlin Papoose, but since Remington moved the Marlin works after the takeover, there’s no word when or which Marlin items will be back in the availability pipeline.
And as Kim DuToit used to point out:
In troubled times, 22LR isn’t ammunition.
It’s a commodity.
Best regards,
-Aesop
Yup, on the 10/22 comments.
Another advantage of tube fed bolt actions is that they can feed .22 shorts, which are plenty powerful for small things at short distances, keeping the garden pest free, and are really quiet.
I’ve been really happy with my Henry lever-action .22.
I didn’t see the Ruger 77/22 mentioned. I have one that is used exclusively for squirrels. Extremely accurate, with a 4x scope I put an amazing 30 rounds in less than an inch. Head shots on tree squirrels are the norm out to 40 yard with this setup and it used 10-22 mags.
I really like 10/22s, I own a pair of 80′s vintage carbines and are they ever reliable. The new TD version really looks interesting as well.
Other take-downs worth considering – the Browning ATD is very nice, if you can afford it. 14 shot buttstock tube fed (protects the tube from dents) and ejects empties down – great for lefties! Before Clinton banned importation of Chinese manufactured. Norinco imported a clone of the Browning. Not nearly as well made, but still accurate enough for <50 yard shots on live targets.
The other take-down – Marlin Midget Magnum. I believe 80 series of action, and takes the standard 5 shot .22 MAGNUM cartridge, some of us feeling the extra cost worth it. Especially if turkey, javelina and larger bodied small game is available. Discontinued but still ocassionally available on the used gun market.
Good post – a .22 is indespensible, both as rifle or handgun.
That Marlin is ridiculous…the only thing ‘takedown’ about it is the put a knurled thumbscrew where they would normally have a regular screw, and sawed the forend down. Virtually every Marlin bolt-action mag is takedown if you go by that criteria. However, you get mad props for coming up with a gun that I’d never heard of.
I have the ruger 1022. Got the extended clip from ruger and never had a problem
Lol, I’ll take your point of removing action from stock not really being considered a true take-down. There are some good inexpensive bolt guns that can be converted easily for take-down like you said. I bought an inexpensive Marlin 782 with fore-arm cut so that when action is removed from stock, the action barrel match length for example
There are other take-downs, the pump
Winchesters and Rossi copies (the 63 Rossi was ubber cool, that would fit a briefcase!) and one of my favorite .22 Magnums – the Brno 611 which is totally ridiculous in price now. A 4 shot magazine often sells for more than $100 – krazzeee!
Apparently youre a fan of the .22 Magnum. I like the ballistic advantage of it, but ammo availability and price is a real dealbreaker for me. I always figured that if I really had need for a .22 Mag I might as well get a Hornet and get the advantage of reloadable ammo and more flexible performance. On the otehr hand, if I were packing a kit for, say, a small plane survival kit and I was going with a rimfire I’d go with the mag since ammo availability is a non-issue when the only ammo available is what you carried in. Buddy of mine has one of the Rugger 10/22 Magnums and it’s a mighty cute gun. Shame Ruger dropped it.
Hard to beat the Ruger 10/22. Tube fed Marlin’s are, in my limited observation, hit or miss. Some are great and serve people faithfully for years with little to no maintenance while others give nothing but problems. I would buy one if the price was right.
Still have Dad’s old WWII Marlin with the plastic parts and the cut down stock I learned to shoot as a kid, too many years ago. Love that thing for its simplicity and all the memories.
Guilty as charged (.22 Magnum fan), I like it a lot. I’ve shot it for over 30 years and am comfortable with the limitations it has. A box of 50 rounds is only about 30% larger than standard .22lr, but the size of animal and longer lethal range does make it worth it. Imo at least.
We don’t have the larger species of big game you folks up there have (i.e. bears, elk, moose, wolves but some pretty big wild hog do exist) so that probably weighs in as well. Our deer are pretty small – 150 lbs live weight is a mature deer, nothing like those 300 lb mulies you have up there.
I’ve got the ammo covered pretty much – I agree, the cost of putting back now would be pretty expensive. The ballistic advantages aren’t really worth it in a handgun, but in a rifle, it adds about 100 yards of range, assuming the person doing the shooting is up to it.
Thats just my take for my locale, ymmv.
I’d second the Browning ATD. They are pricey but since Browning designed the rifle so that dry-firing won’t harm the chamber, buying one used isn’t as risky as other rimfire guns.
I picked up one for about 1/5th of a new one. It was beat up on the outside, but shoots beautifully.
Another vote for the S&W 15/22. Light accurate, AR ergos. I got rid of my 10/22 because it was just not that reliable (lots of FTE, etc based on standard Win & Fed bulk ammo). I have 2 other friends that also say their 10/22′s jam constantly (with factory mags). S&W has been very good.
I also am very much of a fan of the S&W 15-22. I have sold all of my Ruger 10/22′s. It was ok, but the S&W is a shorter, lighter, handier package that shoots just as well. Magazines are easy to find and are relatively cheap. My Rugers were sometimes ammo particular, but the S&W that I have has cycled everything that I have put through it, even subsonic loads.
Rifle butt pouch of things without which life may be short but grim
-100 rounds 22LR Remington Subsonic,
-an extra rifle magazine,
-two bottles water pills,
-a penny to adjust scope,
-Allen wrench for scope mount screws.
-40 feet 50 lb test braided Spiderwire and four fishhooks
-a 2×3 fresnel lens
-small Buck locking folder
-a thong and ten patches
The thong has 8″ bead chain on end, a bowline at other end, a bowline 8″ from that end. Place a patch in loop sticking through bowline. The thong comes taut and holds patch securely. If the patch sticks, use bowline on the end to pull it out backwards. Not good to break the thong and leave a patch in the bore.
Two black cable ties secure the pouch to my Marlin 25N 22LR rifle.
http://sailing.about.com/od/learntosail/ss/howtobowline.htm