H&R made the decision, back around 1883, not to compete with the "top end" gun manufacturers, but to stay within what was considered the middle cost, utility, blue collar market, where it competed, primarily with Iver Johnson and a couple others. H&R and IJ managed to stay in business for 100 years after that decision, while all the others pretty much were done by the mid 1920's. The Double Action Sportsman Model (later called the Model 999) was a staple of the H&R rimfire line-up from circa 1932 until 1986 and was reintroduced in 1987 by NEF. The early models, pre-WW2 are, in my opinion, the smoothest actions and most accurate. The Single Action Sportsman (later Model 199) has a faster lock time and is a bit more accurate, although the sights, rifling and barrel lengths are identical to that of the DA.
The other .22 Models mentioned were all made after 1952 and are sturdy, well-made, "blue collar" handguns. Accuracy is v.good to excellent, and fit and finish are pretty good for pieces at their price point.
Any of the modern Sportsman pieces (these will be DA/SA, as the SA only 199 was discontinued around 1948) will be fine plinkers - and the break action ejection of all empty casings at one time is, well, pretty neat. There are 9 shot speed loaders available for quick reloading.
I've shot quite a few of the Sportsman (as well as most of the other models) models - and find them to range from acceptable to excellent in function and accuracy. Valuation of the used pieces has risen dramatically over the past few years - apparently younger shooters have discovered that for the price - H&Rs are a good value. I've included pictures of a few of my Sportsman pieces for comparison purposes.
