Thinking about either a CZ 452 American or Ruger M77 in .22 magnum.

Does anyone have any comments or pros and cons on these two?

Uses would be for shooting crows, etc.

Thanks,
Dave

I have them both and they are pretty much the same although I like the sights better on the Ruger. Most Marlins shoot just as well and cheaper too if you can find one of the few with a tolerable trigger.

The Ruger has cleaner lines and less drop in the stock as compared to the CZ, which makes it much better for scope use (provided you toss the factory "medium" hight rings and get some low rings which actually put the scope down where you can see through it). Using the CZ mounted with a scope is like trying to crain your neck to see over a six foot privacy fence.

On the other hand, the Ruger has a reputation for accuracy which is "hit and miss", and mostly "miss". Sometimes you are lucky and will get a good one, but most require a lot of tinkering to get to shoot reasonably well. Add a new trigger and a couple of hundred dollars worth of "tinkering" and you'll have substantially inflated the Ruger's relatively low initial cost.

Unless you want to spring the bucks for a Kimber or Cooper or similar, the Marlins and Savages are perhaps more practical than the "real" guns. You might add the Browning A-bolt to your list under consideration.

The CZ in "American" version will not have any neck craning or scope problems, and should be quite accurate generally. It is the European style LUX that has the droopy stock. It would be my choice as I have 3 CZ 22's in long rifle and they are nice solid rifles.

I have a 77/17 and I'll never buy another one, .22 caliber or otherwise for the reasons stated above. barrel tenon fit was unbelievably sloppy, trigger is a throw away from the get go.

you get a lot more gun for the same money in a CZ.

-tincan

I have a CZ varmint .22 and a CZ Varmint .223 and love them both. I owned my last ruger rifle 7 years ago. If trigger means anything to you go with the CZ.

I have a Ruger 77/22mag. You can get the instructions from rimfire central to take the trigger down to about a pound. You can get a Green Mountain barrel for $125.00 in 17HMR and have a switch barrel if you choose. Mine has a Lothar Walther middle weight from Clark on it and it shoots bug holes. They have came along way. I had a 77/22 that was a total POS. If you can find a used one Conneticut precision does a bunch of trueing and tuning for a little over $100.00. They can be made to shoot really well. It depends on what you want, I did most of my own tinkering and the after a few well thought out trades I got the gun for free, so I got less than $250.00 invested. My shooting partner has a Marlin with a heavy barrel that will shoot with mine all day long out of the box. Price about $225.00. Savage makes a sweet rifle also.