Please help me choose my first rifle!

[Zeede]

Hey folks! I've recently decided to get back into shooting again and found this forum while Googling. Y'all seem very helpful so I hope I can pose a few questions.

I used to shoot a .22 bolt action rifle in high school, for about a year, and enjoyed it immensely. It was my friend's though (his dad took us to the range on weekends), so I never had to deal with cleaning or maintenance or what have you.

I've decided on 22LR as my ammo since it's cheap and widely regarded as being great for learning to shoot with (low recoil, high accuracy, cheap, etc etc). So now the quandry is what kind of rifle to buy? It should be stated that since I live in the middle of Los Angeles, I'll only be using this to shoot at targets at a range, and probably just for fun on weekends. No hunting, no formal competitions. At least not for now and not with this starter rifle.

So... bolt action or semi-auto?

Bolt actions are fun (there's just something nice about pulling the bolt back, hearing the *tink* of the casing on the ground, then pushing the bolt back into place) AND more accurate, but I do not see myself doing serious competitions, so that isn't *really* an advantage over semi-autos.

Semi-autos do have more moving parts, therefore more stuff to go wrong, and I dunno how hard it is to maintain a gun.

2) Looks - Classic VS Modern

You have your tried and true wood-and-blued-steel designs like the Ruger 10/22, and then you have your funky polymer bullpup designs like the Walther G22. Looks alone I'd probably go for the G22. It looks different, and not (to my eyes) in a bad way. The only off-putting thing is that it has had rather mixed reviews.

So, to sum it up, I'm looking for something under $400, something that uses 22LR, is not too difficult to maintain, and is reliable. I don't care about aftermarket support because I'm not into that stuff. I do care about looks (btw I think the Ruger is beautiful too, just in a completely different way than the Walther), and it would be nice to have a gun that has some pedigree, so I don't have to explain what it is to everyone. I do that enough with my Lotus Elise.

"What's that?"

"A Lotus Elise."

"Who makes it?"

"Lotus."

"Yeah but who makes it?"

"..."

I appreciate your input on this! It's nice to have the time and financial resources to take up shooting again, and I look forward to your recommendations.

Cameron

[Tomcat088]

Howdy Zee, welcome to the wonderful world of shooting and this forum. First off I wanted to let you know that you have GREAT taste in cars if you have a Lotus Elise. I can tell you that there are a couple of 22's that I really like alot. The Ruger 10/22 is one of those .22's, they're nice, smooth, not too long and if you get bored you can always customize it, or sell it to someone who does want to customize one. You'll typically see them in the price range from $245 and possibly up to $445 for some of the higher end customized ones. If you really like bolt actions, you should also check out the Ruger 77/22. They are the bolt guns sort of equivalent to the 10/22's, they are VERY accurate and just plain sexy. The catch is most of the ones that you will find will be right around $400 or $369, which is still in your price range. Many people would rather go with a 10/22 that you can fully customize and get a semi auto, as opposed to a single shot, but it just depends on what you like. I will also say that the Savage .22 hornets, like the model 40 are pretty nice and VERY good shooters also. I personally don't like some of the safety stuff and the triggers, and don't find them as sexy as the rugers, but they are quite good shooting rifles. These are just a couple I wanted to throw in the mix, in terms of modern rifles. I have a couple of old models of .22's that I REALLY love shooting, one that came from Sears back in the day. Remington still makes the models, although I can't tell you how the new ones shoot, the old ones are just as accurate as the Rugers. If you're intersted in trying to find one of these old rifles, I'll be happy to toss out some model numbers for ya. You can find many of those guns for $130 or so, but if they break, you usually have a little trouble finding some parts or fixes for them, but they are quite beautiful rifles. Anyway, if you're interested in some of them, let me know and I'll be happy to post up those for ya. Hope these suggestions helps and give you a bit of a starting place, here's some links to those rifles so you can check some of them out and see what you think.

http://www.ruger-firearms.com/Firear...C2%AE%20Hornet
http://www.savagearms.com/markig.htm
http://www.savagearms.com/markiig.htm << different model of a similar rifle
http://gunblast.com/Savage-MarkIIBV22.htm << a review of the Mark II so you kind of know what to expect

P.S. If you check out the savage rifle, go with the G and NOT the GSB, the smoothbore isn't nearly as accurate.

[PA Rifleman]

..
So... bolt action or semi-auto?

Bolt actions are fun ...

How's this look?



http://www.impactguns.com/store/80670302002.html

It comes close to pinning my 22 lust-o-meter.

[Zeede]

Tomcat: Thanks for the compliment The Lotus is a joy to drive.

Hmm, both the Ruger 77/22 and the CZ 452 Lux look very nice. I don't think the Ruger will be in the $400 price range for me though. The 10/22 Rifle near my house was $220, which represents a 20% discount from the MSRP. Assuming the same % discount that will put the 77/22 at around $550. Or maybe it's just expensive at that local store? (I figured the small local store would be better than the Big 5)

Are there any other rifles in my price range that look a bit different from the norm but still perform well? It's too bad all the more exotic-looking guns are either ridiculously expensive (like the HK SR8-6), fire expensive ammo (like a FN P90) or aren't very reliable (like the Walther G22).

Cameron

[StnCld77]

okay here is my $.02 worth.....I have a Remington 597 which is a little out of the norm, at least around my club, I can tell you that it shoots much better than I do and its very easy to disassemble and clean. The only flaw is the trigger is a bit heavy for most people. Oh yeah that and the fact that I can't hunt the groundhogs with it is a minus. But other than that I love the gun. As for the bolt side of things my wife has a savave Model II and she doesn't have any problems with that one either (groundhogs hate this one hehe).

[RiflesRock]

Not to hijack this thread, but only a ignorant non-car person would ask that question. "Who makes it." Nice cars those Elises and their cousin the Exige. I like how Lotus keeps to their roots with super light weight cars and minmal interiors. Car probley handles likes it is on rails or glued to the road. As for rifles i will second the Ruger. Nice gun with classic lines and at a good price.

[Lycanthrope]

Someone beat me to it......Any CZ 452 or 453 (set triggers!). Here is my Lux with $14 2lb trigger kit from www.cz452.com



50 yards......

[1FingrCHan]

Get a SKS, man. The Yugo one goes for under 200 smacks. About 150 bucks more get you 1000 rounds of ammo. What's not to like?


1FingrCHan

[VeryPrivate]

The best accuracy would be from a bolt-action. I would go with a Savage equipped with accu-trigger. Saw a beautiful one in 17 HMR for $299 the other week. While you may have your heart set on 22 LR, do not discount the 17 HMR. It is also a rimfire and readily available.

[Zeede]

How does the 17 HMR round compare to the 22 LR? Price, recoil, noise?

Cameron