Sweet spot for .22LR rifle value?

If all your looking for is accurate and easy to shoot then a savage, ruger American/American target. Maybe a little nicer (on average) but not "expensive" Then cz457, bergara bmr, and the tikka...after that your paying for features, fit n finish, etc
I love my Christensen Ranger, but its not cheap.

Savage MKII

I totally agree with what has been said about the Savage MKII and Ruger RPR being your choices. The CZ and Bergara are better, but they definately cost more. Maybe throw in Tikka as well, but I have no experiance with them. Your choice.

I have a Ruger 10/22 that does what you want, but you can't buy it like it sits off the shelf.... heck you really cannot call it a 10/22.

-Jeff

I started testing a few side by side awhile back.

The CZ and Bergara are finer and more elegant but definitely not better in terms of accuracy.

Every Savage MKII I have shot has been more accurate than any CZ I have shot.

Take that for the grain of salt that it is but this observation comes from the shooting of more than a dozen of each and more than 30 types of ammo. I worked at a range back then and had access to numerous examples of each.

And yes, I did have an agenda. Back then that was to address the blatant and unfounded CZ fanboyism. The technical aspects worked wonderfully. The end goal however had the opposite effect as CZ fanboyism is more prominent than ever.

These days I don’t care as much about fanboyism or Savage vs CZ. My results are still relevant though…at least to me.

earlthegoat2 said:

unfounded CZ fanboyism.

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It's certainly not apt to say CZ preference is "unfounded." I've never understood why folks choose to ignore the fact that CZ's run house in every competitive format as the "non-custom option," and Savages always get replaced. It's cute to talk about anecdotal results, but we can be 100% sure that if Savage Mark II's outshot CZ's, we'd never see another (more expensive) CZ on a competitive firing line ever again...

jmorris said:

I started testing a few side by side awhile back.

Side by side, Ruger 77/22, American, CZ 455 and Savage 22B

I was going to attempt a more comprehensive test but I didn’t get the hay put up until late and the rain came early. I gathered the 4 out and did a little testing at 50 yards before I had to put up. Using CCI blazer I shot 3 fowlers the proceeded with 3, 5 shot groups, round robin style vs...

www.thehighroad.org

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Thank you…very helpful.

Maybe. Maybe there is a bias working that one thinks they need something because they have been told by the fanboys that they do and therefore they do need it, when really they did not. The further up in competitive shooting or any similar endeavor the finer the equipment becomes but the improvement in accuracy is not linear, once to a certain point, that point being the object of this thread, we are dealing with incrementalism and more than likely, the vast bulk of shooters even at advanced levels, it is not their rifles lack of accuracy holding them back. There is a skill and learning curve to be factored in.

I have to agree with some of the comments about CZ. I have owned four CZ's in total, two of which were .22LR bolt guns, one of which was a 452 I traded away. They're fine guns but I do find the rampant fanboyism to be irritating. I've been on RFC for 22yrs and in all that time, I've seen very limited discussion about the issues affecting the 452's. I ran head first into them when I got my first. The backwards safety is a nuisance but the bolt handle/scope interference is intolerable, both of which are downplayed by any CZ fan. It is the main reason why I traded my 452FS for two 10/22's. My 457 American is another matter and its accuracy is nothing to write home about. Yes, they're a little nicer made rifle, usually come stocked in walnut and they are accurate but I don't find them to be anything extraordinary. Nothing that would justify the frothing fan brigade. My CZ Scorpion and 550 .416Rigby are both excellent and I'd like to have some of their pistols. So no grudges against the manufacturer.

I don't care at all for Savage centerfires but have three of their rimfires, two .22LR's and a .17HMR. They are a little more "basic" but fantastic shooters. I say that but they are built with a tubular receiver just like my vaunted Remington 541T. They are not flashy but well made, well finished, reliable, accurate and perfectly serviceable rifles. Not a Savage "fanboy" either.

Jonah77 said:

Thank you…very helpful.

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No problem, if you have any specific questions about the difference between any of them, I could answer your questions. Like, out of that group, the CZ has the easiest mag to load but only holds half of the others (5/10).

CZ 457 is probably the best value out there. Not cheap but a very smooth accurate rifle for the money.

We had a couple prove it threads awhile back. Small samples but true target rifles shot best. The CZ's were a step above the Marlins, Rugers and Savages on the whole. I have shot several matches and usually win with a CZ 452. In fact most .22 RF matches are dominated by CZ's. in their category. You might want to look at Rimfire.com. You can hate 'em if you want, dispute results all you want but small samples aside they are very good for the money. I agree that on occasion a Ruger, Savage, Tikka or Marlin might outshoot a CZ or a few even. These are all mass produced cheaper rifles. None of them are an Anschutz, Cooper, 40X, Turbo or other real Target rifle. Some are better than others in the same model. Also ammo makes a bigger difference in the better rifles. No so much in the cheaper in general. I am a fanboy of what works, I have shot a few rifles better than my CZ, you can too if you can afford it or get lucky. BTW either of my 452's outshoot my 457 but I have shot other better 457s that outshoot my 452 the day I shot them.
I did shoot a Styer Zepher that was very accurate. But the bolt and trigger were so stiff I didn't like shooting it.

jmorris said:

No problem, if you have any specific questions about the difference between any of them, I could answer your questions. Like, out of that group, the CZ has the easiest mag to load but only holds half of the others (5/10).

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That is not true, I have some 10 round magazines. Most do come with 5 rounders, some 10. You can buy 10 rounders if you want.

If your baseline is the box-stock 10/22, then yes...a Savage MKII of about any iteration should be an upgrade in terms of accuracy. I've had a handful and for a $200 basic rifle, I couldn't complain about accuracy. If all you need is a rifle that'll put round after round in a 1/2" hole at 50, get a Savage. Especially if you have a penchant for buying cheap ammo. I've got one I've kept around because at times it shoots cheap ammo better than my better rifles do...but it never shoots better ammo better than my better rifles do.*

*All my "better" rifles are 60+ year old retirees

d2wing said:

That is not true, I have some 10 round magazines. Most do come with 5 rounders, some 10. You can buy 10 rounders if you want.

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Just reporting what came in the box with them. They do show up to 25 round one's though one can add.

Maybe for transparency - I OWN Savage Mark II’s and Ruger 10/22’s (and Marlin 60’s), but I respect reality. If I want to improve performance on the line, and reduce how many people beat me at matches, it’s as easy as upgrading from a $400 Savage to a $600 CZ.

Hookeye said:

FWIW

My CZ455 did half inch at 50 yards, sporter hunting rifle w SK Rifle Match ammo.
Hated the safety so got a 457, but in .22 magnum.

Now am looking for an older Anschutz 64 for a hunter in .22 lr.

Was gonna try NRL22 so picked up a Savage MKII TR. Only tried it w Fiocchi HV, new gun had a box of ammo, break it in.
It too did under .5 at 50 w that stuff. Of course thats the only box I had LOL

The 457 sporter and the MKII TR both had MSRP at 600.
The Savage to me is a clunker, but it shoots good enough to warrant further evaluation.
I got a DiP trigger guard, EGW base and rings, and slapped a 6-18X Freedom VX on it
A little chunk of money in ugly setup.

Id say scope and rifle, medium price/value..........runs $1-2K

SK Standard Plus is avilable here and its 90 bucks a brick.
Trying for a little better accuracy proly means more expensive ammo, better triggers and optics.

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Pm me for an older Anschutz 1415/1416.

Varminterror said:

Maybe for transparency - I OWN Savage Mark II’s and Ruger 10/22’s (and Marlin 60’s), but I respect reality. If I want to improve performance on the line, and reduce how many people beat me at matches, it’s as easy as upgrading from a $400 Savage to a $600 CZ.

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Thats stock stuff though, a good barrel can make any of them shoot better but out of the box the bolts seem better. I did a similar test as the one I posted for the bolt guns with semiautos.

Cheap and Accurate automatically directs me to a Savage made rifle.

d2wing said:

That is not true, I have some 10 round magazines. Most do come with 5 rounders, some 10. You can buy 10 rounders if you want.

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Do the 10 round magazines hang way out the bottom?

3Crows said:

Do the 10 round magazines hang way out the bottom?

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They have no where to go but down.

3Crows said:

Do the 10 round magazines hang way out the bottom?

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They are at the link above. Not as bad as the 25 round ones.



That said, the 5 round factory CZ one's are not flush, like other 10 round ruger/savage 22b rotary mags.

ms6852 said:

Cheap and Accurate automatically directs me to a Savage made rifle.

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Tell ya what, both our $150 Rascals are crazy accurate for the price and come with decent peep sights. I'm tempted to hang a scope on one of them to really stretch it's legs and see what it'll do- but Im scared itll show up my $1000 REAL target guns!