Buying a .22

[GLS_1956]

if you want to be "Australian", buy any brand of firearm, take it to a back yard BBQ, pour XXXX or VB on the barrel, spill some tomato sauce from a sausage "Sanga" on it and you are covered. (you are permitted to clean the beer and sauce off the firearm afterwards)

In the US when you hear the phrase "Barbecue Gun" it generally refers to your "Bestest and Shiniest" handgun, usually with fancy grips and if possible engraving. Oh yeah it should be carried in premium leather holster too.

Its also know as "Gun Guy, or Gal, Bling".

[juststarting]

So I didn't realise how cheap .22 are! Grabbed 1000 rounds for $130, could have been even cheaper, but I wanted those, because why not. Wish centrefire were that cheap.

It's one reason why I think .22lr is the best rimfire round, might be worth a mention in your blog.

done

[Gwion]

A few minor typos, mate. One other thing.... Every Aussie 22lr has to drop at least one bunny in its life time!

[in2anity]

At the risk of stating the obvious, just remember, when it comes to accuracy, lever-guns are no tack-drivers. Just saying, you won't get much satisfaction if you plan on plinking from a bag all day long. On the contrary, they are tons of fun to plink with offhand - precisely what they were designed for!

[juststarting]

From the bag is not plinking

[in2anity]

From the bag is not plinking

lol well if "plinking" is defined by the behaviour of most casual shooters at all the ranges I normally attend, I'd have to disagree each to their own though...

[southwest shooter]

At the risk of stating the obvious, just remember, when it comes to accuracy, lever-guns are no tack-drivers. Just saying, you won't get much satisfaction if you plan on plinking from a bag all day long. On the contrary, they are tons of fun to plink with offhand - precisely what they were designed for!

i will put my henry up any gun good sir !

[juststarting]

Oh bitches, it's on. ***Gets popcorn***

[on_one_wheel]

Dictionary meaning

plink
plɪŋk/Submit
verb
gerund or present participle: plinking
emit a short, sharp, metallic or ringing sound.
"the sounds echoed and plinked like bells"
play a musical instrument in such a way as to produce short, sharp, ringing sounds.
"a daughter dutifully plinks through her piano lesson"
NORTH AMERICAN
shoot at (a target) casually.
"we enjoyed idyllic family afternoons plinking cans with a revolver"


Plinking Wikipedia Meaning Here

Personally I think of plinking as taking lots of shots at a metallic target regardless of the shooters stance or position.
The plink sound of the projectiles hitting the metallic target is important as it signals a hit removing the need to check the target for holes.

I prefer to plink standing unsupported but doing it from a bench, prone or from a tree is still plinking provided you get the satisfying "plink" sound.

[Gwion]

Pass the popcorn, JS.....

[Supaduke]

I think if it's rimfire and casual, it's plinking. (Munches popcorn) discuss....

P.s I will also run my Henry lever against any takers in an open sight challenge.

[Bills Shed]

At the risk of stating the obvious, just remember, when it comes to accuracy, lever-guns are no tack-drivers. Just saying, you won't get much satisfaction if you plan on plinking from a bag all day long.

Them there is fighting words!


Bill

[in2anity]

i will put my henry up any gun good sir !

Lol - so in all honesty, how accurate is it? (We're talking consistent, 10 shot groups off a bench, no BS)

[in2anity]

And for the record I'm far from trying to pick a fight - just don't want OP to be disappointed when it comes to the accuracy department. Levers can't be compared to bolts - apples and oranges. I learned that the expensive way.

[Gwion]

Need to get those open sight fitted to the Sportco so I can take on that challenge!

Edit for typo

[rsj223]

New thread "Post your leaver groups here"

[juststarting]

I don't know about bolt actions, maybe next purchase... But my Adler groups seem to be pretty tight.

[in2anity]

I don't know about bolt actions, maybe next purchase... But my Adler groups seem to be pretty tight.

Ha, so it seems you're intent on a lever. And if you're shooting without glass, uber-accuracy becomes kind of irrelevant anyway. I get it, and you definitely can't argue against the fun and practicality factors of a lever! They'll put meat in the freezer every time.

My 30/30 holds a special place in my heart as it was my first rifle - I poured my heart and soul into chasing that elusive 1moa accuracy, covering all areas including custom-tuning and ultra-precise hand-loading. And guess what, I never got there. Then it dawned on me - that's not what levers are about, rather the focus is placed on ergonomics and history and fun - everything shooting should be about!

[GLS_1956]

Lever gun vs bolt gun in the accuracy department. Good question, but the answerer is depends upon the guns. I'll put the Browning BL-22, or my Marlin Model 39A, up against any of the budget line bolt action 22s. Yes the lever gun will have a longer lock time that comes from having the exposed hammer and not a striker. Also in the case of the Browning since its trigger moves with the lever the disconnecting feature may lead to a poorer trigger than that of a bolt gun but my 39A has a nice trigger, around 6 pounds, and I could get it lightened but don't want to. Two piece stock versus the one piece of the bolt gun, well the less expensive bolt guns are not bedded for accuracy but the Browning and the Marlin's have good solidly affixed stocks fore and aft. Big thing effecting the accuracy will be the barrel and the ammo.

I have a CZ 455 American I could take out and shoot against my Marlin 39A but that wouldn't be a fair comparison since the CZ wears a 3X to 9X Tasco scope and the Marlin sports a Lyman peep receiver sight.

[Bigfoot]

Hi guys, my first post but had to give My 2c. The browning is a superb little gun. IMO its best to get a really nice .22 as you will probably keep it for the rest of your life and may well pass it on to your kids. The OP indicated a preference for lever guns and I think the browning is the pick with the miroku copy it's equal. I agree with those that endorse the CZ bolt guns. I have a left handed 452 that I treasure. I was perfectly happy with it until I found out about the new Aussie made pump action by Covenantor Arms. Check them out. Not cheap but look sweet. I will always hold on to the hope that we will one day get our 10-22s back. I have one sort of, but it's the pistol version so can't be taken hunting.

[in2anity]

Lever gun vs bolt gun in the accuracy department. Good question, but the answerer is depends upon the guns. I'll put the Browning BL-22, or my Marlin Model 39A, up against any of the budget line bolt action 22s. Yes the lever gun will have a longer lock time that comes from having the exposed hammer and not a striker. Also in the case of the Browning since its trigger moves with the lever the disconnecting feature may lead to a poorer trigger than that of a bolt gun but my 39A has a nice trigger, around 6 pounds, and I could get it lightened but don't want to. Two piece stock versus the one piece of the bolt gun, well the less expensive bolt guns are not bedded for accuracy but the Browning and the Marlin's have good solidly affixed stocks fore and aft. Big thing effecting the accuracy will be the barrel and the ammo.

I have a CZ 455 American I could take out and shoot against my Marlin 39A but that wouldn't be a fair comparison since the CZ wears a 3X to 9X Tasco scope and the Marlin sports a Lyman peep receiver sight.

Of course this man speaks the truth - a quality lever will always out-shoot a vanilla bolt. But (strictly talking accuracy) a quality bolt (of similar pricing) is going to be inherently more accurate than a quality lever. Like you said though, it's comparing apples to oranges; because levers aren't really designed to wear glass anyway, nor are they designed for longer-distance performance. They're more designed for shooting plinking targets while standing and working the lever fast.

From what I can gather, your average Marlin 39A will group inside 3-4 moa - easily a minute-of-bunny at 50m. Smaller targets at 100m and beyond will start to really push it however. To re-iterate, this information is probably already obvious to OP, but TBH I wasn't aware of these facts when I purchased my first lever. I guess I don't want OP making the same mistake, and I just wanted to bring his attention to it since the thread is titled "buying a .22" yet he seemed pretty focused on a lever. So long as his expectations and intended-usage are appropriate, then of course there'll be no disappointment

[juststarting]

Ha, I've definetly learned a few things from this thread.

[Gwion]

I wanna see your 'quality leaver' out shoot my '$180 Sportco' that's been farm shed butchered and tinkered with... ... Will have to wait till I get some open sights fitted, though; they were a casualty of the farm yard gunsmith way back in the day.....

Edits: gaddamn auto correct! bloody phone...

[in2anity]

I wanna see your 'quality leaver' out shoot my '$180 Sportco' that's been farm shed butchered and tinkered with... ... Will have to wait till I get some open sights fitted, though; they were a casualty of the farm yard gunsmith way back in the day.....

Edits: gaddamn auto correct! bloody phone...

The Ruger 96 springs to mind - if you can find one, they can capable of putting em inside a 10c piece at 50m. Rare as hen's teeth though...

[happyhunter]

Lever gun vs bolt gun in the accuracy department. Good question, but the answerer is depends upon the guns. I'll put the Browning BL-22, or my Marlin Model 39A, up against any of the budget line bolt action 22s. Yes the lever gun will have a longer lock time that comes from having the exposed hammer and not a striker. Also in the case of the Browning since its trigger moves with the lever the disconnecting feature may lead to a poorer trigger than that of a bolt gun but my 39A has a nice trigger, around 6 pounds, and I could get it lightened but don't want to. Two piece stock versus the one piece of the bolt gun, well the less expensive bolt guns are not bedded for accuracy but the Browning and the Marlin's have good solidly affixed stocks fore and aft. Big thing effecting the accuracy will be the barrel and the ammo.

I have a CZ 455 American I could take out and shoot against my Marlin 39A but that wouldn't be a fair comparison since the CZ wears a 3X to 9X Tasco scope and the Marlin sports a Lyman peep receiver sight.

Of course this man speaks the truth - a quality lever will always out-shoot a vanilla bolt. But (strictly talking accuracy) a quality bolt (of similar pricing) is going to be inherently more accurate than a quality lever. Like you said though, it's comparing apples to oranges; because levers aren't really designed to wear glass anyway, nor are they designed for longer-distance performance. They're more designed for shooting plinking targets while standing and working the lever fast.

From what I can gather, your average Marlin 39A will group inside 3-4 moa - easily a minute-of-bunny at 50m. Smaller targets at 100m and beyond will start to really push it however. To re-iterate, this information is probably already obvious to OP, but TBH I wasn't aware of these facts when I purchased my first lever. I guess I don't want OP making the same mistake, and I just wanted to bring his attention to it since the thread is titled "buying a .22" yet he seemed pretty focused on a lever. So long as his expectations and intended-usage are appropriate, then of course there'll be no disappointment

If by minute of bunny you mean point five inches max at 50 meters then yeah.. Bunnies DEMAND to be head shot and you need an accurate shooter to do that consistently. That's just science.

[Gwion]

I wanna see your 'quality leaver' out shoot my '$180 Sportco' that's been farm shed butchered and tinkered with... ... Will have to wait till I get some open sights fitted, though; they were a casualty of the farm yard gunsmith way back in the day.....

Edits: gaddamn auto correct! bloody phone...

The Ruger 96 springs to mind - if you can find one, they can capable of putting em inside a 10c piece at 50m. Rare as hen's teeth though...

Well... that's good.

I'll be sending the Sporti off in the next 2 weeks and we'll see .....

[Supaduke]

I nearly bought a ruger 96 brand new for $300 just after the buyback to replace my 10/22. Wish I did now because they go for stupid money these days.

[in2anity]

I nearly bought a ruger 96 brand new for $300 just after the buyback to replace my 10/22. Wish I did now because they go for stupid money these days.

Damn that sucks. Well if it's any comfort - they weren't without fault, apparently the (factory) trigger was pretty crappy, and they are pretty weird looking things. I'd still love to own one though - with a trigger job and a nice bit of glass, they'd be a pretty versatile little bit of kit!

[Nalla Rehctelf]

Does any one have a stainless Marlin XT 22 TSR.
If so, at 50M what is the accuracy ?

[wade06]

Does any one have a stainless Marlin XT 22 TSR.
If so, at 50M what is the accuracy ?

Cant really answer but some web reviews seem ok.
I have just gone through the process of buying a 22LR.
At the entry level the Ruger American Rimfire seemed the best bet.
Step up a bit and I would have got a CZ 452 but they looked a bit cheap in the standard version.
I ended up ordering a Walnut Lithgow la101 because they looked and felt the best plus its always good to support Australian manufacturers.