I thought I had wanted a bolt action .22 because I didn't have one. But the Ruger American in 17HMR that I bought last week cured that. It has FO front sight and no scope. I was terrible with it. The bolt was not working too smoothly so my sight picture was completely disturbed with each turn of the bolt. About 25% of the shots did not fire. Not sure if it was light strikes or bad ammo (Winchester Varmint). So I'm no longer in need of a Bolt .22.
I already have a scoped 10/22 that has been worked on. It has a bedded Hogue stock with a Volquartsen trigger group that breaks very cleanly at 2.5 lbs. I'm thinking it may not get much better than this for an inexpensive .22. (I did not do the work myself). I fired up the 10/22 after finishing with the RAR 17 and it was so much more fun. Acquire a sight picture and just keep pulling the trigger with minimal disturbance. No failures of any kind. I realize that the purists among us will prefer a bolt action. And I thought I might too. But apparently not. So it's Semis for me.
I've been looking at Savage 64, Marlin 795 and Remington 597 as a second .22. But they all have their advantages and problems. From reading the various forums it seems as though none of those has a decent trigger out of the box. The Savage 64 does not come with the AccuTrigger which seems to be very well liked. Some have kits or spring sets that could be added. I'm not much of a gunsmith so replacing the trigger group would most likely mean having a gunsmith do it. Not the end of the world, but just more added expense.
The Rem 597 has a hold open bolt on last shot which I would like. But then I keep reading about the bolt guides being a problem if too tight or loose. How often do you need to come in contact with the bolt guides on a 597? Are the bolt guides involved every time you clean the gun?
So I'm kind of stumped for what to get that won't need a gunsmith, or cost an arm and a leg. My 'worked on' 10/22 may be as good as it gets for me in this category.
If you have any suggestions, let me know. Thanks.
I already have a scoped 10/22 that has been worked on. It has a bedded Hogue stock with a Volquartsen trigger group that breaks very cleanly at 2.5 lbs. I'm thinking it may not get much better than this for an inexpensive .22. (I did not do the work myself). I fired up the 10/22 after finishing with the RAR 17 and it was so much more fun. Acquire a sight picture and just keep pulling the trigger with minimal disturbance. No failures of any kind. I realize that the purists among us will prefer a bolt action. And I thought I might too. But apparently not. So it's Semis for me.
I've been looking at Savage 64, Marlin 795 and Remington 597 as a second .22. But they all have their advantages and problems. From reading the various forums it seems as though none of those has a decent trigger out of the box. The Savage 64 does not come with the AccuTrigger which seems to be very well liked. Some have kits or spring sets that could be added. I'm not much of a gunsmith so replacing the trigger group would most likely mean having a gunsmith do it. Not the end of the world, but just more added expense.
The Rem 597 has a hold open bolt on last shot which I would like. But then I keep reading about the bolt guides being a problem if too tight or loose. How often do you need to come in contact with the bolt guides on a 597? Are the bolt guides involved every time you clean the gun?
So I'm kind of stumped for what to get that won't need a gunsmith, or cost an arm and a leg. My 'worked on' 10/22 may be as good as it gets for me in this category.
If you have any suggestions, let me know. Thanks.