Thread: .22lr rifles when did it become ok that they were all just crap?

Originally Posted by gundoc

I still keep my hand in for selected jobs/customers provided you are not in too much of a hurry (yeah, yeah! I can hear you saying 'So what's new?'). PM me if you have a need.

Careful, you'll have an inbox full of messages with an offer like that!

Weihrauch HW 60 J a delightful rifle - very well made. Was given one to range and field test in 22 magnum and straight away it dropped into 0.2"s for groups at 50m - averaged in 0.3s. Stunning. Took it on field trip and was very hard to give it back. One in 22 mag for sale on trademe went for just $640 - only reason I did not take it is would hate to scratch up that lovely woodwork.

Some other euro 22s are quite inexpensive 2nd hand here and are worth a look - Krico, Voere, anschutz 1450 etc and of course the occasional gevarm, and the Unique which has its own following. They are generally fine shooters but by no means necessarily more accurate than other makes listed in earlier post. The liability you take on with them is parts supply - mags/springs/other components can be very difficult to source esp for older models and are often v expensive.

The one thing you need when testing and playing about with rimfires is a sense of humour. If you don't have one you'll soon get it. Its often the case that some of the cheapest little rifles can be absolute tackdrivers. You go out and bench test some more expensive make and it does ok, then you line up a scruffy little JW15 or something and it shoots superbly, and blows the expensive make out of the water. You end up looking down the scope at some tiny group wondering 'what the bloody hell just happened?'. Then it does it again! All you can do is shake your head and laugh. Example was Gadget's little JW bought for about $100. I go to pop a few groups through it and immediately it shoots 0.3" at 50m. What??? Then he takes it out and also gets tiny groups close to match rifle performance. Much amusement ....and a healthy dose of respect.

Great Thread !

Has anyone ever had their hands on a Browning BAR-22, this is the one that looks like its bigger CF brother, with tube mag under the barrel. Theres not much on the net about them, seems that parts are difficult and the occasional one has feeding issues.

The worst semiauto that I ever owned was a Voere . I don't remember the model but it fired from an open breach .
The Bloody thing would burst about 4 or 5 cases every box of ammo just below the rim .
You would get an almighty blast coming back at you and your ears would ring .
I had 3 so called qualified people look at it , but non of them could find the problem . I ended up scrapping the thing because there was no way I could sell it to someone .
I think now with a bit more knowledge under my belt that the thing had a rough chamber , as the bolt slammed the case forward into the chamber it meet resistance and the cartridge went off before it was fully home . It didn't have a traditional firing pin as such , it had a raised ridge vertically on the face of the bolt which hit the case fully across the end , not just the rim .
Nice rifle otherwise , from memory it was quite accurate when it wasn't going off like a stun grenade .

Ken

I have three .22 rifles. When I was 16 I bought a 1966 Brno model 2 and have 4x Leupold in modified Ruger rings on it. My second is a 1956 Brno that I bought as a project. I removed the sights, restocked classic style in fancy walnut, reblued it and fitted IOR 4x scope again in modified Ruger rings. My third is a Remington 541T with quite a beefy barrel compared to most rimfires. It wears a 2-7 Leupold in Conetrol rings. All have beautiful crisp trggers and are superbly accurate with CCI subsonics. I will never sell them as I have put so much work into them and I use them often . If I see any old Brnos with stuffed stocks I will buy them to do up as long as the barrel is fine inside.

Originally Posted by garyp

I have three .22 rifles. When I was 16 I bought a 1966 Brno model 2 and have 4x Leupold in modified Ruger rings on it. My second is a 1956 Brno that I bought as a project. I removed the sights, restocked classic style in fancy walnut, reblued it and fitted IOR 4x scope again in modified Ruger rings. My third is a Remington 541T with quite a beefy barrel compared to most rimfires. It wears a 2-7 Leupold in Conetrol rings. All have beautiful crisp trggers and are superbly accurate with CCI subsonics. I will never sell them as I have put so much work into them and I use them often . If I see any old Brnos with stuffed stocks I will buy them to do up as long as the barrel is fine inside.

I've never seen a Rem 541T so I googled it and this image came up amongst others. Maple stock, I quite like it even though I'm not usually a fan of lighter coloured wood stocks

my most accurate 22 I own is my mod 107 mauser very accurate with win power points

Originally Posted by Ground Control

The worst semiauto that I ever owned was a Voere . I don't remember the model but it fired from an open breach ....Ken

Gevarm also produced several different semi auto models way back, three were the A series which used the open bolt system you describe and one, the Gevarm E1, used a conventional firing pin arrangement. A childhood friend had an A2 back in the late 60's and it was an accurate rifle although the bolt slamming forward system didn't help.

Got to love a gervarm!
Not that I think they would meet the op's needs

Quality older .22, nice price too!

WINCHESTER MODEL 52 .22 | Trade Me

Mmmm...couple of real gems showing up here - the Remmy 541T and the Winchester model 52. Would be very pleased to have either.

Sold a brace of winchester 9422s last year - one in 22LR and one in 22 magnum. There are some delightful rifles out of the USA.

Originally Posted by garyp

I have three .22 rifles. When I was 16 I bought a 1966 Brno model 2 and have 4x Leupold in modified Ruger rings on it. My second is a 1956 Brno that I bought as a project. I removed the sights, restocked classic style in fancy walnut, reblued it and fitted IOR 4x scope again in modified Ruger rings. My third is a Remington 541T with quite a beefy barrel compared to most rimfires. It wears a 2-7 Leupold in Conetrol rings. All have beautiful crisp trggers and are superbly accurate with CCI subsonics. I will never sell them as I have put so much work into them and I use them often . If I see any old Brnos with stuffed stocks I will buy them to do up as long as the barrel is fine inside.

@garyp - how about some photos of the rifles?

+1

That Win 52 , looks like the modern repro the company did in the 90s or later , IF so its made in Japan ?

I have been looking at the CZ455 supermatch, seemed OK to me, but I'm hard pressed to pay $900 for it when a Norinco is more like $300.