Thread: semi auto rimfire for hares and bunnies ?????

tried most, still use CCI

Personally a Marlin 795 cos everyone else was wanking on how good the Ruger 10/22 was. Mines in dock at moment getting the trigger smoothed out. Must ring him cos it’s being a while....


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I went down this road 2 months ago and also was running a JW15, great little gun that shot way above its price point.
The reason I changed was I got more into spotlighting and been a leftie it was a pain in the arse to have to drop the rifle off my shoulder and reach around behind the spotlight to cycle the action.

I was running one of the new Savage A22 but the mag was rubbish and broke the day before Christmas eve with no hope of a replacement over the holiday period so a traded and a replacement rifle was bought Christmas eve.

I was never a fan of the 10/22 via a mates new rifle in the early 80s that was the most inaccurate piece of crap ( along with a Henry 22 lever gun ) that I have ever used or seen. So I really had to bite the bullet when I went for a 10 / 22 as a replacement.
2 months on and over a 1000 rounds I have to eat humble pie, it's an extremely reliable and well designed piece of kit. I went for the stainless Houge stock and Gundoc was kind enough to do all the little tweaks to it before I had put a round through it.

Down here I don't shoot paper, the farmers places I shoot it's about numbers and pest destruction but I comfortably shoot 100 mtrs with it and that's what I require.
I got a 5mm three shot group sighting in which honestly didn't think either the Ruger or myself were capable of.

I don't think you can go wrong with either the Marlins or the Ruger, both will serve you fine, both have shitty stock triggers that can be improved.
I run winchester subs mainly and maybe get one jam through ejection ever 200 rounds but the big thing for me is it functions and shoots well no matter how dirty the action gets.

Good to see you've come over to the dark side @viper

Mine get a ful pull-down and cleaned once a year, typically in May or June. For the rest of the year they just go and go and go...

The older rifle was purchased in 1997 and runs the smoothest. It sits somewhere around 10,000 rounds and I'm happily hitting rabbits at 100m.

The Hogue stock is definitely the better option. Its much nicer to handle. Other modifications are covered in the 10/22 thread.

I went the other way. Had a 10/22 which had undergone various upgrades over the 20 years I owned it. It cycled everything I put in it, and had ok accuracy until I got one of the Gun City Carbon tension barrels. Then it was horrific. Shotgun style groupings, always jamming, would not eject. After spending time and money trying to fix that, and never really getting a reasonable result, I bought a CZ455.
To my surprise, I no longer needed to lob lots of lead to ensure a kill. Just one well placed bullet that actually hit where it was pointed did the trick. It was quieter than the 10/22 as there was not a large bolt cycling back and forward, so multiple targets were easier to manage as I was not having to shoot moving targets.
Longer range targets were now a viable option too.
As for a spotlight for the CZ - I cut up a Maxtoch, changed the driver so I could use 7V-24V input, and run a 16AH Lipo in my backpack. It's light, bright, and has a QD mount so I can remove the light easily.

Originally Posted by dannyb

is there a better option as far as semi auto goes in 22lr or 17hmr ?

Am I just pouring money into a tacti-cool hole that will be less than accurate @ 5x the cost ?

we keep the meat off the hares so accuracy is important, I like to head shoot them wherever possible.

looking for advice on rifle, setup, optics from those that may have been down this rabbit hole before, was looking at mounting a reasonably powerful torch on this setup as well hence the chassis direction with picatinny rails etc (or am I misguided ?)
thanks

17hmr never worked well on semis, it used to explode. The new Savage A17 solved the explosion problem but in all reviews I see, its accuracy is very average, arguably below-par compared to what you would expect for a 17hmr. So if you want 17hmr - which is not a bad idea at all - stick with CZ455, maybe get a aftermarket barrel such as Lilja.

If you want an accurate, good looking, reliable semi 22LR with a trigger better than sex, get a KIDD with 2-stage. It is a bit expensive, you would be looking at about $2000 for a full rifle, but you will never look back. it really is the ultimate 22LR semi. you can use it for target shooting and hunting.

If you want to save a bit of money, get a secondhand 10/22 and swap out the trigger to a KIDD unit and get a lightweight bull barrel from whistlepig, magnum research, or KIDD. You end up spending about $1.2K but it will be almost as good as a full KIDD. I have such a hunting rig.

KIDD is so good that secondhadd full rifle and 2-stage trigger very rarely come up for sale. That should tell you something. I have 2 KIDD full rifles, if we ever come cross path I am happy to let you shoot it a bit to see for yourself.

If you go to gun shops they tend to push for Volquartsen because that is what they stock. Volquartsen is also quite good but in my view not worth the money they charge (about KIDD price). Their carbon wrapped barrels are not that light. their trigger unit is just a better made unit based on the same Rugger design.

Lastly, in my view there is no need to spend a lot of money on a fancy tacticool stock with fancy rails. I use an el cheapo plastic mount that mounts the torch on the scope, works like a charm at only 4 bucks and next to no weight.

Originally Posted by quentin

... had ok accuracy until I got one of the Gun City Carbon tension barrels. Then it was horrific. Shotgun style groupings, always jamming, would not eject. After spending time and money trying to fix that, and never really getting a reasonable result, I bought a CZ455.
To my surprise, I no longer needed to lob lots of lead to ensure a kill. .

Lesson learn is that do not buy anything with Guncity brand. It is understandable why they would not be any good as well. Guncity has no R&D, they have some brand power to some people, so they basically go find low end products and slap their own brand on it. This strategy would not work if they had to pay premium for premium products, because for example, why would you buy a Guncity barrel if it were priced the same as Trueflite

I have a Marlin 795 for sale if interested,
Fired about 200 rounds,
threaded for suppressor (can sell separately,DPT Can)
$350 +freight
$70 for suppressor

Ruger outbthe box is the most reliable
The easiest to feild strip which is very important with semis
But the triggers are horrible and as a result they are not very accurate
But with a few mods they can be very good reliable and accurate
Change the trigger and the barrel

If you want something out of the box you can’t beat marlin
But i prefer the ruger action and it’s simplistic Design so I would prefer to modify a ruger than a marlin
Also if you want the real good one its the model 60 which is a pain if there’s alot to shoot
Easier just to have another mag in your pocket

5mm at 50yrds, I wouldn't even change the barrel, a bit of trigger work and get into it.
Remember this is a hunting rifle and not kit for winning the small bore gold medal at the bloody Olympics

Said it before and saying it again here is nothing wrong with the 10/22 especially for what it was designed for, shooting small game. Accurate enough, function the best with subsonic ammo, easy to strip and clean. What more can you want.
Used Marlins, Krico's, Browning, Norinco, Brno, Russian Toz, etc all to good effect and some of those were more accurate than the 10/22 but for high volume shooting the 10/22 stands alone as the best ,handiest rifle for that type of work.

Originally Posted by rambo-6mmrem

Ruger outbthe box is the most reliable
The easiest to feild strip which is very important with semis
But the triggers are horrible and as a result they are not very accurate
But with a few mods they can be very good reliable and accurate
Change the trigger and the barrel

If you want something out of the box you can’t beat marlin
But i prefer the ruger action and it’s simplistic Design so I would prefer to modify a ruger than a marlin
Also if you want the real good one its the model 60 which is a pain if there’s alot to shoot
Easier just to have another mag in your pocket

There is only one point here that I disagree with and that it is the easiest to strip. Most semi autos require the action to be removed from the barrel to be stripped and cleaned. The Toz 99 does not. It can be disassembles (action parts all removed completely from the rifle without removing the stock and WITHOUT tools.)

The 10/22 design is well recognised and executed. However for a long period from the 90s through to the mid 2000s their quality control suffered. I had one of these ones and it shot over a 5 inch group at 25 metres. I was actually getting a tighter group from my Baikal U/O shotgun.

Magazines A+
ability to alter and modify A+

need to modify to get accuracy - very possible. I run an Izhmash semi, and though hard to get, they shoot exceptionally well but are not everyones cup of tea. If accuracy and quiet performance is important to you, get a bolt action. What ever you intend to spennd on semi auto, a bolt of the same value will be a much better proposition. CZ 452 or 455, Toz 78, or if you can find one and EM332..... (There is a reason we sold out of the Toz bolt actions.....)

If dismantling a semi to clean it is important then these old timers win out hands down.
Unique x51, brno zkm 581, gevarm. No tools at all.
Accurate to boot, well the first two are the last is ok but so cool to shoot. The triggers need some work though.

I am bias toward the marlin 60 and 795 because of their accuracy with lots of different ammo.
However I have to agree that 10/22 may be more practical with multiple mags for hunting.
I can get 15 rnds in my marlin 60 and have a habit of topping it up even if I have fired one shot while hunting. But it would be handy to have multiple mags instead of a tube.
Having to be cautious of banging the tube mag on things and damaging it is a must and distracting especially when on a vehicle.
I find the 60 and 795 easy to strip right down and clean when needed.

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Originally Posted by timattalon

There is only one point here that I disagree with and that it is the easiest to strip. Most semi autos require the action to be removed from the barrel to be stripped and cleaned. The Toz 99 does not. It can be disassembles (action parts all removed completely from the rifle without removing the stock and WITHOUT tools.)

The 10/22 design is well recognised and executed. However for a long period from the 90s through to the mid 2000s their quality control suffered. I had one of these ones and it shot over a 5 inch group at 25 metres. I was actually getting a tighter group from my Baikal U/O shotgun.

Magazines A+
ability to alter and modify A+

need to modify to get accuracy - very possible. I run an Izhmash semi, and though hard to get, they shoot exceptionally well but are not everyones cup of tea. If accuracy and quiet performance is important to you, get a bolt action. What ever you intend to spennd on semi auto, a bolt of the same value will be a much better proposition. CZ 452 or 455, Toz 78, or if you can find one and EM332..... (There is a reason we sold out of the Toz bolt actions.....)

Only thing that bugs me with the Toz is not having a hold open on the bolt. Easy as to strip down and remove but a hassle when your in a hurry and want to run a snake through it.