I've owned, and still do own, .22s by Ruger, Remington, Marlin, Savage, and Winchester. The Ruger 10-22 is a great little rifle, and handy to load and unload with the detachable magazine, but it's not my favorite, even though I have two. My second favorite is a Remington pump with tubular magazine; it shoots LR, Long and Short ammo, even mixed in the same magazine, and is great for left-handed shooters. My most favorite is a Remington bolt action single shot, which also shoots LR, L and S ammo, with remarkable accuracy. I like the option of the different loads, for different purposes.
\I've never had a problem with misfires, jams or failures to feed with my Marlin M-60's, M-70's, the 10/22's nor any other semi auto, but then I clean them regularly, inside and out, and use good ammo. The Savage bolt-actions newly on the market are tack-drivers, and relatively inexpensive.
You can often get a good quality rifle for a reasonable price, well below MSRP, at your local K-Mart or Wal-Mart, which has the cheapest prices for new rifles I've found, much as I hate shopping there. Also check out GunBroker.com and AuctionArms.com for good deals on new or used rifles.