Browning 22 Auto worth the $

The price is a little high for a 22 in my opinion, so is it worth the money?

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I love Brownings, I own 2 of the rifles you are looking at, so this is hard for me to say . . . but "no".

I have an older model and a newer, Japanese made model. To my knowledge, it is referred to as the Browning .22 Auto Rifle. Browning's other automatic 22 rifle is the Buckmark Rifle. The Autos are fine shooters, at first. The newer auto started to loosen in the barrel screw quite quickly - not just because it wasn't "screwed in good", just wiggly. I had bought the newer version because I was told that they didn't show this problem like the older guns did. My older gun, which had been quite broken in by both my father and me, had finally started to "wiggle". I was not pleased with the new gun.

This was my personal experience, I really don't know others who have one, and I really hope that someone posts that I don't know what I'm talking about . . . they're really cool shooting and functioning rifles.

The Buckmark Rifle (also kinda pricey) is an excellent alternative, however. It looks and feels nothing like a "regular" 22 rifle, though.

The best groupings I can get out of either (before the wiggling) is 1.25" at 50 yds (maybe a little less for the Buckmark). One nice ragged hole at 25 yards off a bag.

Most of these guys are going to tell you to go bolt. They're probably right. Still, I do like my automatics for plinking. I wondering what others think about the Savage autos???

One of my favorite rifles. My father gave me one when I was young, and I bought one to give to my son a couple of years ago.

Great fun to shoot, and pretty enough to become "heirloom" kind of thing.

I love shooting mine and still take it to the range nearly every time I go.

Downsides? The bottom eject it kinda odd and you have to get used to keeping your skin out of the way

Cleaning it is kinds tough the first few times, getting the bolt out is a PITA.

As for the barrel getting "loose" I have never seen that on the 2 I've shot. They all seem to hold up just fine. Mine is a Belgian made with God knows how many bricks of .22 through it since I was 15 years old. My rifle has seen literally 15,000+ rounds through it over the years.

Other than that I just love the little things and I think they are well worth the money.

I don't like the Japanese models rear sight adjustment though. My Belgian has a wheel for elevation rather than a ramp. That's my biggest complaint.

Are they worth the money?

If you define worth in how well they shoot, there are other, less expensive 22 rifles that will out shoot them (Marlin 60) Other 22 rifles will out perform them in other ways such as ease of breaking down (Marlin Papoose) or durabilty and longevity (Ruger 10/22).

The Browning 22 Auto is a beautiful gun. No tools are needed to field strip it. It is incredibly "handy." All of these things are hallmarks of it's designer, a firearms genius by the name of John Moses. The Browning 22 Auto is a great heirloom firearm, especially the ones made in Belgium. One other thing is pretty sure with them, they will provide you with years of shooting pleasure, and if you ever get bored with them, you can get almost all of your money back out of them. You might even turn a profit if you take care of the rifle and wait long enough. There are not many guns that can boast that.

It's kind of like asking whether a Mercedes Benz is worth the money. A Toyota will get you to the same place just as quickly, and with almost the same comfort level. It's not a Mecedes though. That's my take. Whether that is worth the money to you is something only you can decide.

Browning SA-22

I have seen the semi-auto .22 referred to as "SA-22" occasionally.

I have one of the Japanese mfrd ones and I like it. The adjustable take-down has to be adjusted correctly, almost hard to assemble, and then the barrel doesn't wiggle.

I gave up on the iron sights and put a 4X scope on it. While it does alter the classic looks, it definitely makes it more of a shooter. (For me, anyway)

After taking the bolt out a couple of times, it isn't that hard. No more difficult than a Ruger Mark II. ( )

I had a little trouble with the stock getting loose. The magazine tube has a clever nut that clamps the stock to the receiver. You have to figure out how to hold the port in the magazine tube in the correct position while tightening or it can spin and make the port disappear! A small Phillips screwdriver inserted in the port worked for me, without scratching the inside of the tube.

Accuracy is good, for a semi-auto. Great grouse gun.

I started to just let my first post ride, but I'm actually regretting hitting the button now. The rifles are nice and it was the rifle that I begged dad to let me carry.

In its defense, dad probably put 15,000 rounds through his before he gave it to me. I shot at least that much through it. It was a squirrell gun, lay in the back seat gun . . . it probably got abused.

It's been 15 years since I bought its Japanese replacement. One of the first things I did after getting a real job. I probably got a lemon. Ignore my first post.

The only reason it seems expensive is that we're used to seeing the prices for cheap .22's.

Now IMO, Marlin makes a great cheap .22 in the 60. It's reliable, accurate, and cheap. I'm no fan of Ruger's cheap .22 (which is getting less cheap, and only works well if you spend a lot of money fixing it up). Some others are okay.

But the Browning ought to be compared with the Remington 552 and 572, the Marlin 39, the CZ 452/3 etc. This is a different class of .22, built and priced accordingly. "Worth it?" I think so, yes.

Doesn't mean I don't like my Marlin 60. I do like it. However, it's designed to be inexpensive to produce, not to be a high-dollar rifle. It's not in the same class as the guns above.

Not in the same league as the Belgian or Japanese-made Brownings, but Norinco (China) made a a pretty decent copy a few years back. Might be able to find one of those for a lot less money, at least that'll give you a 'feel' for the basic design.

PS Just found a link for one on GB
http://gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=110791058

I did a bunch of shooting with one, some 40 years back. I liked it a lot.

If it loosens up for whatever reason, well, as a gunsmith told me many years ago, "Hey, what do you think shim stock is for?" Cut a washer out of 0.001" or 0.003" or whtever, and insert it and quit worrying about it. No big deal.

Nicely made and finished. Light weight, reliable and so-so in the accuracy department. They can eject a hot case or two inside the sleeve of your shirt.

There's a simple method for adjusting the 'play' out of the barrel/receiver fit described in the manual. Requires no tools or shims and very little time. dmazur refered to it above.

Ol' JMB wouldn't have designed a take-down rifle without some simple way to compensate for wear with extended use, IMO.

It's a classic design. Elegant and graceful lines, good proportions and balance, lightweight and sweet handling. It has a unique combination of elements and features that still add up to one of the most versatile sporting .22 RFs ever made, IMO.

my father had one and my brother took it when my father passed i had been with out one since 2001, but last month our lgs had a used one and only wanted 350 for it... i thought well thats about fair, but then i noticed it was a belgium browning needless to say i am no longer with out one this gun is sentimental to me because my father had one even though this one was not his so in my case yes the gun is very much worth the $$$

Cinteal:

As mainmech48 pointed out, your rifles ARE NOT BROKEN NOR WORN OUT! ! ! ! They need to be adjusted from time to time, and that flange at the back of the barrel is actually the adjustment nut that re-tightens the barrel-to-receiver fit. Get out the manual (or find the directions online), make the adjustment, and enjoy your TWO wonderful Browning 22's.

They are a classic design, wonderful to carry in the woods, highly reliable, as accurate as almost anyone can shoot them with iron sights, and a joy to own. Every 12 year old should be turned loose with a sandwich, a couple boxes of ammo, a Browning 22, and a rural creek bed to scour for rabbits. We'd all be much better off if they were doing this a few days a summer than surfing, gaming or texting.

In terms of what it's worth, for no good reason, the Belgian-made Brownings fetch a lot more money than the Jap guns do. This is only important if you're a collector and know what the market values are. If all you want is a hunting/shooting rifle, the Asian guns are a far better buy unless, of course, you can find a Belgian Browning in the same price range. As bonza noted, the Chinese-made Norinco replica is a very good rifle for the money. I paid under $100.00 for mine NIB at WalMart several years ago. Norincos aren't Brownings in terms of resale value and you should be able to find a good used one for under $200.00.

Bad Experience with the Browning 22 Auto

I purchased one of these rifles a couple of years ago. Although it was beautifully made, I had trouble with it "shooting loose" in as little as 50 rounds, and the cut in the stock was not large enough to load the rifle. I had to load it through the rear of the buttstock.

Fortunately, I live close to Browning's warranty station, and returned the rifle for repair. They fixed the cut in the stock so I could load ammo, and replaced the locking ring, but when I took it to the range it loosened up again in less than 50 rounds. It now resides in my gun safe, looking nice, but never shot.

I've owned several 22's and if I could only own one, it would ba a Winchester 94/22. I own 2 of these in Long Rifle and Magnum and love them. Polished blued steel, walnut stocks, and a classic lever action look. Very nice.

I bought mine in the early 60s from Weatherbys. Ya couldn't find a
new one, as I think they were transition from Belgium to ? Mine
Belgium with wheel rear sight and heavy engraved side panels. Previous
owner was Roy Weatherby and the salesman at the Southgate store
told me that it was new. No box or papers, other than the sales slip.
Receiver engraving is oak leaf acorn scroll, with bluing on par with Colt
Python. Receiver grooved for scope, and a Weaver V22 is mounted.
I do have more accurate 22 rifles, but this one is not bad. There is none
of the looseness that some have experienced above. Too pretty to woods
carry, so not many rounds as I own others. Still remains close to as new
condition Love the fit, feel, and looks. Never had a malfunction with it

They are the most elegant little .22 ever designed, so I vote yes, just for the looks. I love mine, it's not as accurate as my 10-22, but it sure looks a lot better.

In High School a buddy of mine had one, and it made anything that I could afford appear cheap and tawdry in comparison. A Nylon 66 was functional, but the Browning was classy.

About 15 years ago I found a nice Belgian Browning, and even though I own many .22s it, along with a Marlin 39, gets the lion's share of range time.

Ive even got a hacked up , hammered up copy, a old remmy 241 gs, shorts only , take down rifle. either the browning or the remmy , in decent shape is going to cost you 300 and up, yet I can say , it is the funnest rifle I shoot....

I'd second the recommendation to look out for a nice condition Norinco copy if you'd like to get some hands-on experience with the design before you commit that much cash.

I bought an otherwise excellent condition Norinco several years back from a guy, just because he was only asking $35 for it. The barrel/receiver fit was loose and one of the 'fingers' on the extractor was broken. The fellow said that he couldn't find a replacement part, and the thing was "junk" anyway.

I bought a new Browning replacement part from Brownell's for about $15, shipping included. I discovered that the reason why the stocker probably broke was all of the crud behind it that he hadn't cleaned out kept it from pivoting as it should.

The Browning part was a perfect drop-in and even the stock pin and spring worked just fine with it. Took about 1/2 hr. all told to do and has functioned perfectly for about 3K rds since.

I adjusted the take-down ring the way the manual described (guess the original owner never tried reading it) and haven't had to redo it since.

Once I determined which ammo it likes it shoots better than I can hold for with such rudimentary open irons anymore, as folks with better eyes can knock a quarter to a third off my average groups with it.

I like it so well that I have planned an upgrade project for it. Since I have so little cash in it and a nice Lyman 66 receiver sight in my parts drawer, it's going to get a couple of holes D&T'd to mount it. The cheesey stock rear will get trashed and replaced with a Lyman or Marbles folder as 'back-up'. The front bead gets a FO replacement and I should have a reliable, accurate and sweet-handling little TD utility RF carbine to take the place of a crappy Henry AR7, and for less money too!