Just for fun lets kick around this question ..... What was the best 22 rifle you have ever owned and why?

[Bullard4075]

A Western Field (Mossberg 48A) tube fed bolt gun my dad bought for my mother in 1930's. Shoots short,long and long rifle much more accurate than I am. Receiver sights, fairly nice wood and glass, crisp trigger. Coyote,Bobcat on down it's done it all.

[Rockrat]

My mid 70's Marlin 39A. Thousands of rounds thru it, probably tens of thousands. Cleaned it once. Still functions 100% and is accurate as I can shoot, even back when I bought it. Loved ww high velocity sx ammo. Heck, it loved just about anything I fed it , but the WW was king. I once put a cardboard box out at 150 paces and put a 1" orange dot on the box. You could cover the 5 shot group with a dime. My eyes were a LOT better then. Probably a fluke, but its my story and I am sticking to it!!

I still like my Nylon 66, looks like jeepnicks gun

[Turdyturdy]

Model 55 Winchester Single Shot Automatic 22. Super accurate open sight 22. Father bought it for me around 1960. Shot a lot of squirrels, grouse and Snowshoe Hare with it. My son has it now and it is still as accurate as ever.

[mickbr]

currently have my best ever, a Ruger 96/22LR lever action. Surprisingly accurate with velocitors and stingers which I mostly use. I have owned more accurate and fancy 22LR over the years, 2 x CZ452 inlcuding the American model and the long barrel trainer with the hogback stock and open sights. But when I minimalised the 96/22 got the vote

[marlinman93]

For myself, the best .22 rifle has to be the most accurate .22 rifle. My main interests in .22 rimfires has been shooting accurately, whether it was shooting paper, or varmint hunting.
My desire for an accurate .22 rifle started way back in high school in the 1960's. Having a decent job during high school allowed me some funds to play with, and I bought an old Stevens bolt action single shot rifle. Not a bad shooter, but certainly not a target rifle that I really wanted. I found an article in a gun magazine where the writer told how to make his average bolt gun more accurate, and fit the stock better. So I took the stock off and after cutting off wood from the comb, and pistol grip, I grafted on large pieces of wood on the comb, pistol grip, and forearm, and began shaping them to the style of a .22 target stock.
Then I bought some heavy wall DOM tube and reamed one end until it slid over the sporter weight barrel, and slid it down until it butted to the receiver. I made up spacer pieces from scrap wood to center the barrel in the tube at the muzzle, and carefully poured epoxy in around the barrel and sleeve tube. Once it got close to the top I let is set up, and then pulled the spacers and finished filling the void to the top.
I opened up the forearm barrel inletting to fit the big 1.125" barrel, and painted the stock black. Did some trigger work on the heavy trigger by replacing the return spring, and filing the notch on the trigger/bolt engagement. Reassembled it, and had a homemade target rifle that actually did shoot much more accurate! I still have this crude target rifle over 50 years later. Mostly because it was the first rifle I ever bought, but also because it was too ugly to consider selling it.

Since those early days I've owned numerous extremely accurate .22RF rifles, and still have several. If a .22 RF wont hold under 1" at 100 yds. I'm not interested much in it as a favorite. For years that was my old Winchester 52 with factory bull barrel, and it gave me a lot of fun shooting. Eventually I ended up with a Ballard made in Cody, Wy. by Ballard Rifle Co. that has a 30" Badger bull barrel, and it outshot the Winchester 52 all day, everyday. So the Win. 52 went to a friend, and the Cody Ballard is my favorite. But I also have an old Ballard #6 Schuetzen chambered in .22 Short, and built by Zettler Bros. in NY City in the late 1800's. It's almost as accurate as the Cody Ballard, but suffers from the .22 Short chambering at 100 yds. and beyond. It's built for 50'-75' indoor matches, and that's where it shines. Just not enough cartridge for longer shots.

[piller]

Cannot argue with accuracy. Sometimes there are other things to consider in addition to accuracy. No matter what, an inaccurate rifle is of no real value.

[RIHMFIRE]

9422 TRAPPER! AND STEVENS 62A

[Buck Elliott]

Best..?
Winchester M 75 Target, that got me through R.O.T.C. in high school, and won me the Utah State Gallery championship in 1959.
In 1960, we shot a higher score, and came in 3rd, by two points behind the ldader.

Also had a 75 Sporyer, that was just as accurate, and more portablle..

Next was an early Winchester 9422M XTR..
Rabbits, squirrels, rats, coyotes, foxes, and even deer were no match for it, for many years...

[Rusty]

Being left handed I'd have to say my favorite is my Marlin M39. It was good when I first got it then when I put a Skinner sight on it, it became great.

[Scott Tschirhart]

Next was an early Winchester 9422M XTR..
Rabbits, squirrels, rats, coyotes, foxes, and even deer were no match for it, for many years...

I've long ago eaten the evidence. But the .22 mag in a rifle length barrel is a really useful gun.

[mickbr]

Scott I agree. Though it can draw a few coughs I have used 22mag on quite a few hogs. A local farmer said I could clear them out for him as long as no larger than 22 wmr in order to keep noise and over penetration down. Tried to sell him on the idea of a 38 special or 44 from a lever action being pretty quiet too, but nope 22wmr he said. Careful shot placement, base of the ear if possible, but I have also killed some with lung shots at 30 yards from a ground stand.