My Ruger 10/22 has been going strong for 15+ years.

You can use CB-22 longs in a 10/22 if you want a subsonic short-range "pellet gun." It turns it into a single-shot, sort of, because you have to cycle the action manually. For some kinds of shooting (control of "flying rats" in my case) that's not all bad.

Frankly, if I were to buy again, I would go back to a bolt action. A semi-auto just isn't as practical as I thought it would be; I find myself unloading it a lot, since I don't trust a trigger lock safety. I would even consider a good single shot with a better scope. Simple and accurate.

My 2-cents.

Good luck my friend. I know the pain. Take care of yourself.

A tubular mag is always a good choice also. I learned on nothing but tubular mag's. Having said that I have also poured the little suckers out on the ground more than once by accident while loading. If you go that route, be careful. I have recently noticed Remington has a new (at least to me) .22 Semi-Auto and have heard good things on it.

Whinchester made a .22 semi-auto in the distant past that the tube mag went thru the stock. That would reduce the chances of a ding causing a problem. Long out of production though. It was old when I was born 37 years ago.

Still and all, my money buys some version of 10/22. It is the M14 of .22 rifles.

I love my Marlin model 25M, its 22 mag, not .22 though. Its called the 925M now

I am a big, biased fan of Marlin .22 rifles. 10/22s work fine, but they really are the McDonalds of plinkers. Now, I'll eat at McD's when I'm hungry and broke, but I prefer not to. Why, exactly, would I need a thirty-round banana clip and a folding tactical stock on a .22? Are we being invaded by an army of terrorist woodchucks? :-]

I've never shot a 981T, but it looks like a decent bang-around critter gitter in your price range. And it's a Marlin with a tube magazine.

On my list of "things to buy when money is no object" is a Marlin Golden 39A lever-action .22. I used one of those every summer while growing up, while doing my "chore" (heeheehee) of keeping the garden clear of the aforementioned woodchuck, rabbit and ground squirrel invaders. They're closer to $500, but it's something to hand down for generations.

You can put a 10/22 with a folded stock into a backpack, just one reason why it's a nice alternative.

As for the banana clips, gotta agree with you there.

John E

Does anyone know if the Enfield No8 .22LR is still available. I remember using these a long time ago and they were durable accurate rifles.

http://www.rifleman.org.uk/Enfield_Rifle_No.8.html

CZ bolt action, clip fed.

http://www.gunblast.com/Paco_CZ452.htm

More money but you can have a 100 yard sub moa rifle out of the box
that feels like a quick handling centerfire and is more accurate than most stock rifles of any caliber. Some are putting a 32 power
scope on them and seeing how many bullets they can get through the
same hole at 50 yards.

"...I know the pain..."

got a pain pump this time, that combined with darvocet is a huge improvement!!!

Makes you wonder exactly how the professional athletes can return to the field or rink 7-12 days after surgery huh? It was about 10 days before I could have a deep thought without it causing pain.


I think that Model 77 was the winchester I was thinking of. My grandmother's rifle. She could hit a yellow 20 Ga empty hull sitting at 25 yards into her 60's. Wish I knew which of my sorry cousins got it.