Thread: Stirling semiauto .22 - thoughts/opinions wanted

Does anyone have/had a Stirling semiauto .22? I have an opportunity purchase one cheap and wanted to know peoples experiences/opinions.

They are not too bad, if you can find a marlin model 60 they are way better than the stirling

Originally Posted by hunter308

They are not too bad, if you can find a marlin model 60 they are way better than the stirling

Good to know, How do the stirlings shoot?

hi a lot of people will rubbish the stirling but they have been around for a long time there must be a reason ive owned a brand new bolt action one and had no problems at all with it. Ive also owned a semi recently as well cant speak for the one you are looking at but the one I had was realy good out of the semis ive owned some of which include a Winchester a ruger and a Remington the stirling went the best never misfired or jammed or had feeding problems and was the least fussy with ammo and was perfectly ok for small game hunting most people that have actualy owned one will probably tell you the same.

Had mine for over 25 years, bought it new. Never let me down, shoots everything except subs. I'm happy with it !

My semi auto Stirling is exceptionally accurate. Enough to win .22 matches at the rifle club. It does not like under powered ammo or sub's tho. So that might be a consideration.

Stirling an inexpensive rimfire make, not highly regarded as rimfires and reports on performance vary alot. Not the gunsmith's frend. This is because Stirling build quality/accuracy varies alot ex factory. Many are of poor construction, do not cycle/shoot well, and wear out with solid use. Others however can perform and shoot well and if you do get one of these then hang onto it. Hard to know what you will get when you buy - unless you know the particular rifle.

There are better entry level semi 22s on the market. As mentioned above the marlin 60 and 795 ae more consistent performers. Still entry level but very accurate and reliable with preferred ammos. From bench testing 12-15, all could drop under 0.5" for 5 shot groups at 50m at best. The worst of them averaged under 1" for four group sets. Ruger is a nice wee carbine but let down by consistent inaccuracy issues due generally to poor chamber/rifling or barrel pinning issues. Stirling, magtech and mossberg hit and miss.

As others have said hit and miss had one in Aussie years ago failed to cycle, not accurate I gave it away when I came back to NZ. Five years ago offered another for the price of the ammo that came with it from someone not wanting to renew there FL. My kids use it and its a loaner when needed. Never failed to function and as accurate as my Ruger 10/22's.

I had one, cycled well, even on subs, but spayed all ammo like a shotgun.

Hi all wanted model 20 mag 10 shot for semi auto if anyone knows were i can get hold of one would be great as dew to governments rules need to find at least one mag for my old semi as it only had 15 shot mags which are now gone hopefully someone may know somebody who wants to part with one thanks

generally good value, they have a habit of fracturing firing pins but this is easily remedied with a small circular file and making a radius in the L shaped pin in the bend

Mine jammed after about 60 rounds unless I cleaned it .

The firing pin broke.

I found it to be a bit of a dog to pull to bits and clean.

Don't grab the mag when firing, it pivots it forward and the next round smushes onto the feed ramp.

Better 22's out there, frankly, unless the price is jaw droppingly cheap.

I reckon the OP probably either has one now, or doesn't care about our opinions. This post has been resurrected from 2014......

Hasn't visited for a few years

My mentor who got me started into hunting and shooting had one.
He bought it 2nd hand and have fired countless rounds through it.
Not quite as accurate as my Norinco JW15A.
Has a few jams every now and then, but otherwise reliable.