which one is easiest to keep shooting,Ruger 10-22 or Smith and wesson 15-22

[bcraig]

Hi,reason I asked this question in the Gunsmithing forum instead of rimfire section is I want someone who works on these rifle to tell me which one is the easiest to keep shooting and not just oppinions on personal favorites.
What I am talking about is not the best looking or even the most accurate.
I am interested in which one of these or even another brand will be the most trouble free,easiest to work on and if parts were unavailable which one would be the easiest to make a part for or maybe even still work with broken parts.
I already have a 10-22 but what is the best for a semi-auto given the parameters I talked about above.
A semi-auto only,no bolts ,pumps,single shots etc.
Thanks
Craig

[SHOOTALL]

A Marlin 39 A most parts could be made with a file and the springs are not complicated,

[Airsporter]

All I know is that the 10-22 has been around since the early 70's and there are more parts/after-market parts 'than you can shake a stick at.'  It's use as a platform in competition speaks volumes.  No-brainer for me.

[gunnut69]

I would vote for the 10/22. Like most ruger firearms they are truly overbuilt. S[rinds are all coils, which almost never give problems.. it uses the best magazine ever designed (my opinion), it is simple! The are several improvements I would recommend and a couple of changes I'd make.. but overall it's a better deal.

[bcraig]

Thanks for the information guys.
Craig

[SHOOTALL]

The 10-22 is a goo rifle for LR ammo but long term with little support it might be good to have a gun that shoots longs , long rifle, shorts , CB caps etc. and feeds them. The 39 holds 17 longs , 19 LR and 21 shorts or a mix and feeds them well

[mcwoodduck]

The 10/22 is the most popular 22LR for a reason.
The weak points of the 10/22 are the Spring, firing pin, and the mags.
Learning how to disasemble and clean a mag would be key to keeping one running in the field for a long time. 
When I was 18, 27 years ago when I was able to earn $138.00 home for the summer from school I bought a 10/22.
I have put 10's of thousands of rounds through that gun and still continue to do so, I have added two others to the stable.
I think the gun went 5 years of shooting before I was willing to disassemble the gun and fully clean it.   
The first has been apart many times and as you know from yours it is a simple design and a blade screwdriver on a leatherman or swiss army knife easily takes down the gun and clean out any muck or mud that gets in there.  But dedicated tools would be better.
To keep a 10-22 running in the back woods a small kit containing:
Spare firing pin,
Spare spring / op rod
Leather man or swiss army knife
Small punch to get the rolled pin out of the bolt to replace the firing pin.
Second rolled pin
Extractor
Allen wrench  (for the barrel and the mag) 
Old tooth brush
Bore Snake 
Small Jar of grease.  Auto guns like lube.
New spare mag. 
The small container is needed to hold parts as you disassemble in the field and keep track of them.
If you get a small water proof container that holds all of this it will weigh only a few ounces and can be kept in a day or back pack.
For about what I paid for my original 10/22 you can put together a small kit with the all the needed parts, tools and grease to keep one running for years out in the deep woods.  ( I have a small Jar of RIG grease I use for all of my  auto guns and that Jar has lasted 7 years and It is still 3/4's full.  A little dab on a Q-Tip or the tip of the punch or allen wrench will get the grease where you want it.)  The grease can be used to lube and for corosion protection.
I would go with grease as a little goes a long way, and a spray can of oil can loose charge and then be useless for further uses and you tend to over lube with spray making cleaning needed more. 
So far I have not broken any of the parts I have listed on any of my 10/22's,  but I did loose the extractor for a week in the garage when I used a tooth brush to clean the face of the bolt and knocked the extractor out and took a while to CSI the floor to find it. 
I have no experience with the S&W M-15 except that when I looked at one the plastic stock seemed weak and flexed as I put it to my shoulder. 
 

[SHOOTALL]

The 39 has 56 parts including screws , stock, bbl , sight hood , filler screws for holes not necessary for operation. You can take it apart with a coin . The smaller screws need a Screw driver. Of course with a Leatherman (a Wave) you would have the drivers and a file to fab new parts. 

[mcwoodduck]

The 39 has 56 parts including screws , stock, bbl , sight hood , filler screws for holes not necessary for operation. You can take it apart with a coin . The smaller screws need a Screw driver. Of course with a Leatherman (a Wave) you would have the drivers and a file to fab new parts. 

I agree a Tube fed Lever or Bolt would be a better survival tool as most will shoot shorts, longs, long rifle and all power leverls and function.  A 10/22 is hard to load anything but long rifle out of the mags or loading single rounds with out a pair of needle nose plyers and the low power loads will not cycle the action.  But he said Semi Auto Only. 
If you really think a tube fed would be best then maybe a Marlin model 60 that can be used as a bolt action for the low power loads or shorts, longs and the like.   But that same tube mag is a weakness in the wilds as it can be bent or dinged, making the the semi auto a single shot untill you can repair or replace the tube, with a box mag, you can clean it, ir load another. 
I have no real experience with a Model 60, other than the guys here seem to really like theirs.   

[SHOOTALL]

SORRY    I missed that part  . In that case you got it covered    As for repair parts just get a couple extra ones they are cheap on the used market. 

[mcwoodduck]

SORRY    I missed that part  . In that case you got it covered    As for repair parts just get a couple extra ones they are cheap on the used market. 

And that is why I own three 10/22's  and three Browning Buck Marks.  Rather than playing with the lego kits, I simply built a different gun for each purpose.  And have swapped parts from one to another, when I broke a firing pin on one of the Browning pistols..
But on that same note I also have a Henry Lever for the same reasons you mentioned the Marlin 39A.

[SHOOTALL]

With the OP permission , is the Henry a good rifle ? Thinking 22 mag.

[mcwoodduck]

With the OP permission , is the Henry a good rifle ? Thinking 22 mag.

I will PM you about mine.
And we have a whole section here about the Henry Rifle.

[SHOOTALL]

I know but it was easy to ask............

[Graybeard]

Let's bring this one back up and see if folks might want to talk more about it.