Old .22s that just plain shoot

[guzzijohn]

Kind of to go along with the favorite .22 thread, I would like to hear about old .22s that you all have had that just plain shoot beyond all reason. In my case it is a 30s vintage Remington model 34 bolt action. I bought this gun used in the late 60s for $14 when I was a kid. It looked well used when I bought it and I have shot untold number of rounds through it myself over the years. This rifle is very accurate with almost all types and brands of ammo. Others that have used it are almost always impressed. Just seems to always hit what you point at. Bench resting at 50 yards will produce cloverleafs or less. The only other rifle I have that has come close is a Marlin 39A and then only with specific ammo that it likes.
GuzziJohn

[Kurt L]

I have a Springfield Mod 82 single shot that I got from my grandfather a few years back
that seem to shoot real well no idea how old it would be but shoots good.

[coyotejoe]

One I regret parting with was an old Mossberg M146B. It was an adult size bolt action, tube fed .22 and came complete with a 4x Mossberg scope. The iron sights were really tricky, it had four different rear notches which could rotate into place and four front sights, just slip off the hood, choose the blade, bead or aperture you like and lock it up by slipping the hood back on. Of course I never used the irons because it would group CCI Blazers into a half inch at 50 with the scope. It would also function fine with .22 Shorts and I used a few of those on the trapline. It really is a shame Mossberg no longer builds .22s, for many years they were the pace setter in .22s with many original and innovative ideas.

[dave375hh]

I have an older Rem. 581 that shoots as well as some target rifles. I'm talking .491" 10 shot groups at 50yds with Eley Ten X, and .511" 10 shot group at 50yds with Fed. Am Eagle 38gr HVHPs. It's glassed, had the tiigger worked on and restocked, it has a Tasco World Class(Japan Mfg) 3-12 Mag IV scope. I bought it at a gun show for $100.00. I'd say it was a good deal.

[bscman]

Older remingtons and mossbergs are GREAT rifles. I scarf up every single one that I can find for a decent price. Great shooters--and they have DECENT wood, unlike modern rifles.

[iowa]

I have an old Ballard .22, about 120 years or so new, with original 30" barrel.  Shoots excellent but prefers high vel. shells at 100yds for MOA groups.  My take is it needs the HV stuff to overcome the longer barrel resistance and still maintain enough velocity to stabilize out to 100 yds.  I don't know if the HV stuff will harm the barrel much or not, beings it probally is softer than modern steel barrels.  Does hwever shoot excellent at 50 yds with standard vel. Seems to prefer CCI mini mag and CCI green Tag respectively...........for what it's worth.   

[bscman]

Any 22lr that'll shoot MOA at 100yds is a keeper for sure. Especially if the ammo you're using is less than $10 per 50.

[Hairtrigger]

I had a bolt action Springfield M2 that I wish I had kept!
My Browning A-Bolt shoots well as does my USA Shoot team 10/22

[james]

Most Winchester mod. 69s will shoot. It has a box magazine and adjustable trigger.  some have peep sights but mine is the B model and grooved for a scope. The tube fed mod 72 does not have the adjustable trigger but is essentially  the same action. My 72 is slightly less accurate than my 69, which is scary accurate.

[Ladobe]

I had a lot of old Winchester's, Remington's and even a JC Higgins Model 31 (still have it) that were great shooters in the 50's and 60's.   Had a couple of Steven's Favorites too that were dang good.   But the best of all the old model 22 rimfires I've owned as far as how precisely they shot was a Mossberg 640K Chuckster I had in the 60's/70's.   It wore an old Weaver scope and was pure death for varmint and small game hunting at greater ranges thanks to the 22MAG ammo.   While I only shoot 17 rimfires now days (have 6 of them), that's one old 22 I shouldn't have let get away from me.

Mid 80's isn't old I guess, but an Anschutz Woodchucker I bought for my son was deadly accurate.

[Brithunter]

Hi All,

     My newest .22 rifle dates from 1964 and is a Brno model 2 and I also have a early 1960's BSA Super Sport Five bolt action and a earlier round action top BSA Super Sport five from the late 1950's and a BSA Sportsman Five from 1955. All of them shoot better than I can hold. The only .22 rifle I have which the jury is out on is the last one I acquired, another BSA this time it's a Pattern No2A from about WW1, I simply have not spent the time shooting it to find out how well it shoots. It's on my licence for collection only so ........................................... I have only fired it to test function after cleaning it up as yet.

     Last Sunday I shot the other .22 Rimfire rifle I have in the annual club competition. It's a BSA model 12/15 Martini, a proper target rifle complete with Bull barrel (it measures 7/8" at the muzzle) and target aperture sights. Although I have owned it for about 6 years I have never tried it with proper target grade ammunition so on the way to the range I called into the gunshop (yes it opens 7 days a week) and picked up two boxes of Eley EPS Match to try through it. At the range a new target was set up and 15 rounds were fired to adjust the fall of shot to the center of the target. However the wind was far too strong and blustery for really accurate rimfire shooting. We have been experiencing gales far a few days and Sunday was only a little quieter, the wind strength was varying from about 30-50 mph and fishtailign down the range so scores suffered as a result.

     Our club range is only 75 meters (82 yards) which also complicates things slightly as gettign targets of the correct size is difficult as a result the comp was shot on NRE/ISU standard 25 Yd/20 meter pistol targets and not 100 yard small bore ones. The highest score was 96 ex 100, I came third with 91 ex 100. The first shot just touched the 10 ring at 11 o'clock the next shot was in the 9 also at 11 o'clock so I adjusted the sights down 2 clicks which seemed to bring the shots level with the bull. However shot #3 went left at 9 o'clock. Ther finshed 10 shot grouping actually formed two distinct groups with 5 nicely grouped at 9 o'clock about 1" spread just outside the bull and the remaining 3 shots inside the bull. Once the wind abayes I will try it again and get the sights finally set up for this Ely ammunition. It shows promise and with practice I expect it to group about the MOA mark which is not to shabby for a 50-60 year old ex-clib rifle that has had god only knows how much ammunition down the bore:-


This phot was taken not long after getting the Martini and is taken on the 100 yards firing point fo Bisley's "Short Siberia" range.


As I say it's got a bull barrel.

[deerhunter]

I got an old Mossberg M44US that I got from the CMP, that will put 10 rounds of std velocity CCI into an inch at 50 yards.  It has a peep rear sight and post front sight.  It groups better than my newer 22s with scopes.

[Double 30]

My Remington 581.Even with a defect in the bore she'll dump 50 rounds of Fed A.E. 40 grainers into a 1 1/8th inch group at 50 yards...open sights...

[Drilling Man]

  Many many years ago my dad bought a Savage 3D for $10.00 from his brother, i think it was made in the 30's...  He bought it to keep on his 4 wheeler to use on his trap line.  A few years ago i asked dad to sell it to me, and he told me $10.00  lol, so i paid him and i use it on the same trap line...

  I'm amazed how good it shoots, but i've never shot groups with it.  It i set up a small stick or shotshell, it hammers them every time, and i'm sure it shoots better than i do with it's iron sights.

  I have several 580 series Remingtons too, and they are great shooters!

  DM

[torpedoman]

many years ago when those old mossbergs were new they were serious hunting guns that people used to put food on the table they had to be accurate. todays 22 is a plinker just a fun gun to go out and bounce tin cans around very little attention is paid to making them accurate.

[Keith L]

Don't kid yourself.  There are plenty of accurate 22s made today.  And some of them are even cost effective.  Many people do only want/need plinkers and they are out there too.  And in fact they were there in the old days as well.

[huntersmurf]

My Winchester 72a will shoot pretty good with the right ammo. I used to think it was just an average shooter untill I tryed some target ammo last year, wow what a difference. Very nice wood on this gun too. Then I have a family hand me down Stevens Favorite 1915, it is my favorite, but I have not realy sat down with it to see how good it will shot, just plink with it mostly.

[lil_hunter12]

my mother has an old remington pump i cant remember the model but i know it has a 26 inch barrel that rifle can shoot more acurately than i can hold it even with a bench rest. i've saw my mother hit a water bottle standing on end in the cap off handed at 73 yards i believe and using federal bulk ammo. i have a crickett myself i can get under 1 inch groups at 50 yards with it. with the same ammo. we have just gotten lucky and got good ones even a pistol that shoot under 3/4 inch groups at 25 yards.

[Jack Gilbert]

I bought my daughters a 67-A Winchester youth rifle in 1992 for $75. It is one of the best shooters I have ever seen. I also have an old model Marlin 39-A that will stay with about anything out there.

[Bubber]

The first .22 I ever shot was a Winchester mod. 68that my grandfather bought, probably back in the 40's. That old single shot rifle is one heck of a shooter. It dosn't have very pretty wood and most of the blueing is gone but it sure shoots.

[TLARbb]

My Remington 581, which I bought in 1968, shoots pretty doggone good for a $45 rifle (at that time).  It has been through a couple of minor modifications, one to put target type sights on it, another to remove the front and recrown and a couple others to shorten and re-lengthen the stock after teaching my young-uns to shoot with it.

Here is a target I shot in November 2006 when I was trying some new ammos.  The groups are from just over a half inch to about 3/4.  I was using Eley HVHP and CCI SGB on this target.  I was using a Redfield 6x WFLP scope to shoot these groups off the hood of my car at 50 yards. 

[torpedoman]

I have a stevens favorite 1915 and it has taken its share of squirrels same can be said for the stevens marksman i have and both are very lightweight , the iron sights have gotten too small lately and i will not scope them. So i guess they are retired until I sell them or a grand kid wants them.

[cwop]

my fatherinlaw gave me a remington mod. 12a pump. it is dead accurate he paid 2.00 in 1921 the firing pin was bad. i have had it redone and it will stay in the family forever.

bob

[Brithunter]

Last Sunday I took my oldest 22 rifle to the range, now the bore is not perfect and has some pitting possible from black powder cartridges, yet using some old South African (Swartclip) ammunition shot 20 rounds into a 2 1/4" group at 82 yards (75M). If it was not for the three rounds that strayed high the other 17 made a group of 1 3/8". So looks like I need to get used to the old sights a bit more. It has a folding peep rear sight and the fore sight is a graceful bead, it's a single shot bolt action made around WW1 by BSA and it the Pattern No2A as it had an adjustabel rear sight on the barrel but only the body is left as some previous owner removed the adjusted and blade so the peep could be used and fitted a BSA No8 rear sight with a multi aperture disc. Really need to get some photos of it.

[guzzijohn]

A Remington model 12A was the first rifle I ever shot as a child. My father bought it well used in the 30s for one dollar. I always thought they were a great gun. I have been keeping my eyes open for one in good condition. My father also bought a Springfield trapdoor for a dollar during the depression. The bad news is that my younger brother got both of them and later sold them for meth money!!!
GuzziJohn

[brad541thb]

I have a Suhl 150 that was made in Nov of 1974 that shoots pretty good.  It got put in a McMillan stock later on.  That's how I bought it.   But here's how the original factory Suhl barrel could shoot.

[brad541thb]

deleted

[kimberkook]

About 50 years ago, my father bought a used Winchester 72 for my older sister and me to plink around with. A couple of years ago my sister reminded me that she still had the rifle and asked me if I wanted it. Since she was using it as a door stop (really!) I had to rescue it. Now this old Winchester gets an outing about every other month. When it's fed Wolf MT ammo, it responds with 1/2 minute groups, never jams, nor ever fails to feed, fire, extract or eject. It has a great two pound trigger that is suprisingly crisp. I fed it some SK Match ammo once, and from a sandbag rest made consistent 1/4 minute groups. It seems the only limitation on this gun's performance is the shooter. I just love it. 

[popplecop]

My favorite old 22s that I take out and shoot consist of a Rem 510 that I received as a birthday present 60 years ago, a Rem 12C, Rem. 241, Win. 63 20" bbl,  and a 1553 Marlin 39A.  Have all sorts of newer ones but the old ones bring back a lot of memories and are fun to shoot and more accurate than I can hold them.

[toysoldier]

Shortly after I got married, my father-in-law gave me a rifle he bought somewhere. It's a Stevens Model 44 (a variation of the Favorite) that was rebarrelled with a Mossberg 44US heavy barrel. I mounted a tang sight from Dixie, and this is a tack driver. I taught my kids to shoot with it.

Guzzijohn, I also learned to shoot with a 12A. My sister has it. I've been watching the gun shows for one, but prices are high. Three days ago, I stopped at my favorite pawn shop. On the rack was a 12C, reblued and refinished, with a dirty barrel. Would you believe $150 out the door? After 2 hours of scrubbing the bore, I took it to the range and fired some decent groups. Love that action!