Thread: Best .22 value for money?

Originally Posted by frape787

Not looking to buy yet- just interested to hear your thoughts.

I have a cheap Norinco jw15 that does the job but have issues with a thrifty mag release and have lost mags in past. Thinking upgrade.

What do you think is the best value for money for .22?

Preferably bolt action and 10 round mags.
Going after usual small game; rabbits, hares, possums.

My JW 15. It shoots awesome, have had it over 10yrs and even then it was second hand.
Got a replacement mag release and extractor from shooters supplies and a CZ plastic 10shot mag when I got it, as the previous owner claimed those issues, so it cost me $50
I sold the original wooden stock for $50 and put a plastic stock on it because the quad can be harsh on wood.
Must have shot rabbits out to 150m with it now, and some nights close to 200x in a night in central.
It just needs a gunk clean once in a while due to waxy 22 ammo.

Most of the used OZ rifles I've seen for sale are around the $700 mark now

Originally Posted by muzza

I guess the real issue is how much money do you want to spend for "best value".

I think this is always the real issue.
We all have a different idea of best value, this is mostly dependent on the price range we can work with.

Some interesting choices possible here. If you're investing in a 22LR rimfire to do PRS shooting, or you simply want to enjoy owning a nicely engineered rifle then its entirely valid to spend $1000- 2000 on a 22LR - Bergara, Lithgow, Annie, VQ etc. But is it a necessity to spend this coin for effective field shooting - no.

One key point - the effective difference in the field between an accurate wee hunter 22 and a PRS 22LR rifle on bunnies is almost zero. The PRS rifle may shoot 0.25s average with match ammos, but we don't shoot bunnies with match ammos - with Tenex, Fiocchi Match etc. A PRS might shoot 0.3" repeatable groups at 50m with hunting ammos, whereas the sharp little hunter rifles (several JW15s, Marlins, CZ/Brno) in my experience will average around 0.5" at 50m - odd ones alot less. The difference on a bunny at 50m from a 0.3" group round and a 0.5" bullet is nil - both are close to minute of rabbit's eyeball. No difference in shoulder shot. At 100m there is also no real difference. In my experience it doesn't follow that the most accurate 22s at 50m are necessarily the most accurate at 100m. Example is Em332 - good at 50m but superb at 100m - while other sporter 22s (several) which were better at 50m could not match the EM332's 0.6" group average at 100m. One might reasonably expect both the PRS rimfires and the accurate hunters to be in the range 0.75 - 1.25" for consistent groups at 100m - easily inside 3" bunny chest/shoulder shots. No real difference on the bunny.

All of our Chch team have accurate hunter 22s and there are no rifles more costly than a CZ452 amongst them. Lots of chopped/polished Norincos, Marlins, Brno etc. Are they all deadly in the field - yes. In the north people tend to shoot less often and fewer rabbits. Even shooting 3-4 bunnies on a walk is alot of fun - often with time to bipod etc. But in the south - Canterbury/Otago etc - people often shoot alot bigger numbers in all sorts of terrain including alot from truck. Here you will find worker 22s are preferred - the inexpensive but accurate, durable, reliable units..

But...some day I would like to play with some nice high end PRS models - that would be a treat. No need for them at the moment but would be a pleasure spending some time with Lithgow, Bergara etc on the bench. Be cheaper than buying bloody sports cars every year or two....

Anschutz with a match trigger......cost you a hell of a lot, but it will keep increasing in value.....that's got to be good value, and unmatched accuracy

I saw a most unusual .22 two weeks ago. A pre 54 model Annie. Very very slim and elegant, just oozed class and it was ( the rifle was factory mint ) obvious that many many hours had been spent sanding and rubbing the stock to perfection at the factory. It had the look of a faultless piece of antique furniture

Went for a wander round 3 gunshops in Chch this afternoon and very few 22LRs under $5-600.

Found a brand new Marlin XT-22 which would be $599 with new Nikko 3-9x. Accurate, but not as reliable as earlier pre-Remington ownership Marlins. Be ok if they gave a good guarantee. Then looked at the Rossi model 8122 22LR bolt action - Hmmmm.. Picked it up and its a little hollow plastic stock thing with very simple action. Shop guy and I agreed it looked and felt like a $50 rifle...not $299. But that Rossi with GC 3-9x40 scope, rings and basic silencer is $449. Alright I guess, but it felt like my grandson's plastic water pistol. Did find a Brno model 2 for $600 - with a JW15 mag in it!! The Brno would be my pick of the 0-600 rifles on offer.

One H&F guy did say their will be more JW15s and poss other Norinco rifles coming into country within month or so. Said the Norinco firm had ceased production (of JWs?) so someone else in China must be making them for export. That could be ok IF IF they at least attempt a reasonable production standard. IF.. Will be worth having a look in month or so - will at least mean renewed availability of JW magazines etc.

Originally Posted by mudgripz

Went for a wander round 3 gunshops in Chch this afternoon and very few 22LRs under $5-600.

Found a brand new Marlin XT-22 which would be $599 with new Nikko 3-9x. Accurate, but not as reliable as earlier pre-Remington ownership Marlins. Be ok if they gave a good guarantee. Then looked at the Rossi model 8122 22LR bolt action - Hmmmm.. Picked it up and its a little hollow plastic stock thing with very simple action. Shop guy and I agreed it looked and felt like a $50 rifle...not $299. But that Rossi with GC 3-9x40 scope, rings and basic silencer is $449. Alright I guess, but it felt like my grandson's plastic water pistol. Did find a Brno model 2 for $600 - with a JW15 mag in it!! The Brno would be my pick of the 0-600 rifles on offer.

One H&F guy did say their will be more JW15s and poss other Norinco rifles coming into country within month or so. Said the Norinco firm had ceased production (of JWs?) so someone else in China must be making them for export. That could be ok IF IF they at least attempt a reasonable production standard. IF.. Will be worth having a look in month or so - will at least mean renewed availability of JW magazines etc.

Just use CZ mags, feed better than the norinco ones too.

Yea the Jw15 as rough as guts as they are, well the one I have is but man do they shoot well lol, proberly the best value for money rifle I've owned at a whopping $140 bux brand new. Definitely shoots alot better then my Ruger American which is bit of a spu.