I'm in the market for a new .22.

It will be used primarily as a supplement to practice with my centerfire rifles between hunting seasons--something that lets me put in a lot of low-cost time from offhand and other field positions in between sessions with the bigger bores. A little squirrel hunting will also be on the agenda.

I was originally thinking of a Remington 504; however, recent comments on a decline in Remington quality are giving me second thoughts.

Cost, within reason, is not a consideration. One one hand, I'd be willing to consider other rifles in or above the 504's price range; on the other, I wonder whether my purposes would be just as well served with a rifle designed to sell at a lower price, but will provide the desired level of accuracy (one that I've heard some good things about is the Marlin 990 or, if I can find a leftover in a dealer's rack, its forerunner, the 880SQ).

The bottom line is that I want a bolt action with a weight not too much less than my big-game rifles, with enough accuracy to keep the tree rats worried.

I've been out of the .22 market for a number of years, and would like the opinions of those who have had some recent experiences.

Thanks.

A friend just got a new CZ 452 with a 16" barrel, straight out of the box it's doing 5 shots under 1" at 50y. The action is smother, the extractor is more reliable than older CZs I've used, and the wood looks better as well.
I have found the CZs usually need a fair bit of running in, so if this one actually gets better with a couple of thousand rounds through it, it will be a seriously accurate gun at a very reasonable cost.
The 21†heavy barrel would give you a bit more weight and a small increase in long range accuracy, but that would hardly be noticeable at any range you would be hunting at, with a .22.

problem with the remmy is that it's in the price range of a kimber & the kimber is a whole lot nicer rifle

Kimber, very nice indeed. But, for your stated purposes I would consider the Ruger 77. I have both and both shoot under an inch at 50 yards with many different varieties of .22. In my past experience what Ruger may lack is the consistency from barrel to barrel. The two 77's I have now, .22 Hornet and .22 LR, are excellent.

I appreciate the comments, and welcome any others that people may have.

Thanks.

I've owned almost every rimfire in the world, cheap, expensive and cheap, so I think I know a thing or two about .22's.
The Remmy is a fine gun, and the few I've owned shot pretty well. Maybe they weren't benchrest rifles, but then again they outshot some really expensive guns in their class, such as Kimber of America's for one. The 504's have spotty quality, some being nearly perfect and others being poorly fitted, both metal and wood. Get a good one and it's a fine rifle indeed.
In my humble opinion, if you want a fine sporter, get a Sako Finnfire, a Kimber or Oregon 82, or a CZ 452, any of which will shoot far better than the shooter, and each is in a different price range. If money is no problem, get a Cooper or better yet an Anschutz sporter.

If a varmint barreled .22 is in your future, get an Anschutz or Sako Finnfire varmint, or again a CZ varmint, they're all that good.

If you want a position rifle then the Anschutz is the way to go or a second place winner would be a Kimber 82 CMP gun.

That's all just opinion, and there are some fine shooting Marlins in both sporter and heavy barrel versions. A little trigger work and you'll have a bargain shooter. With Marlin's new trigger design, these are super shooters with better triggers. To me the stocks are wierd feeling, but for what you get they're hard to beat.
Also, in my opinion, the Ruger 77/22 is outclassed by nearly any other 22 bolt rifle in it's class. They're capable of shooting well, but have a rather spotty accuracy record because of the manufacturing architecture of the gun. They simply have to have the two piece bolt fitted precisely, have a rather snug fit of the barrel to reciever, and be properly fitted in the stock to shoot well. This is too hard to consistently duplicate in mass assembly. Also their triggers take a lot of work to be decent and even more to be top notch. For the price range you can get a whole lot more gun. If you have a good one, they're a fine rifle, and I have had one that shot super. I wrote an extensive article on how to modify the triggers and it just so happened the one I did the original work on shot like a bench gun with it's factory barrel. But, alas, that was the only 77/22 that I've had that would shoot that well, the others were only mediocre at best. Why in the world they didn't follow the 504 and Sako and clamp the barrel with a split receiver, I'll never know. Suffice it to say most 77/22's are finiky to shoot on a good day.

I have not been a Ruger fan even though the two I still have, the .22 Hornet and the .22 LR are excellent shooters. My problem with Ruger in the past has been that, as you said, they are very inconsistent. There is no comparison to the quality of their handguns.

quote:

Originally posted by Bobby:
But, alas, that was the only 77/22 that I've had that would shoot that well, the others were only mediocre at best. Why in the world they didn't follow the 504 and Sako and clamp the barrel with a split receiver, I'll never know. Suffice it to say most 77/22's are finiky to shoot on a good day.

I personal recommend a CZ. Have read on other forum on the rem 504 and no one seemed to be very impressed at all.

The CZ 452 is a tough rifle to beat. I have two and both are accurate. But, they need some trigger work done to them to get the most from them. I did the work myself and it isn't difficult to "fix". Eliminating pre-travel and getting the pull weight down are the issues.
I've read mixed reviews of the 504. I don't know if you're interested in doing any "tuning" on rifles. If you are, you might get a 504 and get a very fine shooting rifle. One guy I know did that and is very happy with his. It's kind of a sad thing to have to spend $500 on a rifle and then rebuild it to make it shoot.
Moving up the money tree, there's Anschutz and Cooper. Neither of those rifles require "tuning", and they flat shoot.
I own a Kimber H-S and must have gotten a bad one as it is not a rifle I can honestly recommend. I've had to send it back to Kimber twice for fixing, and it still doesn't shoot as accurately as it should, for the price of the rifle.
I'm in the mood for a 504 now that I know what it takes to get great accuracy from them.
22 Rimfires are what I shoot mostly nowdays, so I keep tabs on what shoots and what doesn't.
Don

quote:

Originally posted by billinthewild:
The two 77's I have now, .22 Hornet and .22 LR, are excellent.

Your lucky the Hornet shoots well from what I've heard. My 77-22lr will shoot well under an 1" at 50 yards with ammo it likes. I'ts not very fussed with standard velosity ammo,CCI have been quite usable though.

One character had the cheek to look at my bolt and said it was only bearing on one lug.
Quick as a flash, I said the other one was just a spare.

Well, as others have said, the CZ 452 is the ticket. Nothing for less or the same money shoots as well.

My other suggestion would be for an Anschutz 64. Not as expensive as the 54 series, but just about the best 22 other than the 54 Annie's or Coopers.

You also might look around for used 54 Anschutz rifles from the 60',or 70's. These would cost around what the new 64's would. They will have medium or heavy barrels, and pretty much cannot be worn out. Only thing is the trigger might be too good, and will make you unhappy with your centerfire trigger.

I picked up a lightly used Finnfire a year or so back. Great rifle. Really have to shoot it a 100 yards to tell a difference b/w performance of different ammo brands. Lucky for me, it likes federal lightnings. I pretty much just shoot paper anymore.

Look for a used Remington 541-S. I've had one for thirty years and nothing can touch it up to 100 yards. It will shoot one holers all day long at 50 yards and under an inch at 100 with the right ammo. I ubderstand some of the later 541-T's also shoot well. Good shooting

CZ. cant beat the acuracy for the price. i personally own 2. my cousins father-in-law owns a large ranch. lots of gophers, and they have 10 .22 on the ranch and the 2 most accurate ones are the cz.