Heirloom-quality .22 Rifle?

[fatbaldguy]

the Lux is what my friend has.  Were I in the market for a .22LR......................

The magazine is 5 rounds.  Do yourself/hi a favor and buy at least one more.  Not cheap either, but then again, this is one very high quality rifle.

I have no information/opinion on the others mentioned.

[Rastus]

High priced 9422's on Gunbroker.  I have one and like it.  You can get a Golden Boy brass model $2k but that's a lot of green for a 22.

If you want to spend the money to get a "Gentleman's Rifle" that's heirloom, I'd go with either of the following:
A Remington 552 Speedmaster semi
http://www.remington.com/rifles/rimfire/model-552-speedmaster
or a
Remington 572 Fieldmaster pump
http://www.remington.com/rifles/rimfire/model-572-fieldmaster

Now, that having been said on a less expensive note the CZ 452 is a great "Gentleman's" gun.  They've been replaced by the 455 (don't know the difference...did not know it happened until now) but have some 452's remaining in left hand. 

http://cz-usa.com/product/cz-455-fs-22-lr-5-rd-mag/

I like the 452 (455) in the Manlicher stock...that would be "heirloom" in my book.  Mine is a 452 Manlicher in 17 HMR and though yes, the HMR is inherently more accurate than a 22LR, but my goodness this thing shoots bugholes at 50 yards with a hot barrel.  Now, put together Manlicher, hot barrel and accuracy...quite a feat to have all that wood out there and maintain accuracy.  I have gorgeous wood on mine...I'm sure the LUX is nicer though.  Now...that's just mine but I'd buy another in a heartbeat.

I also have the Remington 552 and love it.  My dad got his around 1961 or so and I still have it.  It shoots great and shoots not only long rifles, but shorts and longs too.  It's not as easy to clean as others.

Got a Marlin 39A...like it.  I like it better than the diminutive 9422's.  Depends on your definition of heirloom...if heirloom means "cowboy" then Marlin or if a "Gentlemans" look appeals go Remington or CZ.  If you can find a Marlin 1895 in 22 Mag that would be nice...have one of those and it "feels" like a centerfire lever action...however the action needs to be watched look it up on the internet.

One other kink.  A Winchester 1885 low wall.  Have one in 17 HMR.  Elegant, simple, light and a pleasure to handle.  Also very accurate.  Single shot but that's OK.

My 2 cents.

[alfsauve]

CONJECTURE:

.22lr has been around a long time and I'd suspect the older guns are quite capable of handling modern day loadings.   I think the SAAMI specs have pretty much been the same over the years.  Another reason I think the older rifles can handle modern .22lr is I believe the older models were made sturdier than was necessary back in those days.   

If in doubt then just stick with standard velocity lead ammo.

[billt]

Can old slide actions (e.g. Win 62 or Rem 12C) handle modern .22 LR ammo, or are they best limited to .22 Shorts?

They can handle anything that is stamped on the barrel, (short, long, or long rifle). However there were some gallery models that were designed for the old carnival shooting gallery's. They were limited to .22 Short ONLY.

I have a Rossi Model 62 that is a Winchester clone. It's beautifully made. (Mine is a Interarms gun). It will take .22 short, long, or long rifle interchangeably.

[Timothy]

I have an old Savage 1903 that I shoot modern rimfire through..  Other than a mucked up extractor that doesn't work well, I've never had a problem.  The barrel on that old squirrel gun is pretty stout.

That gun has been in my possession for near 40 years and was bought new in 1908 by my grand daddy for about 8 bucks...  It's an heirloom, literally!

[Sponsor]

[MikeBjerum]

I had just seen some pump actions the morning you asked this question.  They were all marker "s,l,lr" or equivalent fully spelled out.  As long as you stay away from the "hyper velocity" you will be fine.

[alfsauve]

I imagine (not a fact) that hyper velocity has about the same pressures, just uses lighter weight bullets.


Don't know why I didn't mention this before (actually it's because I'm getting old), you might mosey over to Rimfire Central and search their archives for information.  It's a whole forum devoted to rimfire guns.

http://www.rimfirecentral.com/

[m25operator]

Heirloom certainly indicates something made well enough to be passed down, but I think it needs a little mystique, something that invites conversation like " Oh, Dad must be serious, He just pulled out the Winchester/Browning/Remington etc.. Tree Rat special! " Hopefully it has some special beauty to it, Fine wood, engraving, commemorative badge, or just so different, people want to know what it is!  Aka - a commemorative lever gun, a Mannlicher full length stock, a Martini-Henry falling block, Military training rifle (a lot of cool ones out there ), genuine sporter rimfires, meant for adult physiques.

I love the older 39a, especially with the octagon barrel.

Browning BLR22 with an oil finish, due to the short lever throw, but the buttstock junction is easy to break!

Browning BPR22 - BAR22

Ruger international series  (if you want a 10/22, this is it ) the 10/77 is kinda sexy too.

Remington (detachable magazine ) 541S or 541T, or ditto on the 552 Speedmaster (oil finish please)

Remington 513t

Winchester 52, 75 bolt action

Winchester 63 semi-auto

Holy grail of military trainers - Springfield  03 22lr .

H&R 65 Reising semi-auto, I dug the green phosphate finish. 

Henry Yellow Boy

Martini-Henry single shot target guns are cool.

Weatherby Mark XXII, gorgeous, wished I'd never sold mine.

CZ 452 MANNLICHER

Anschutz 54 or 64 sporters, beautiful, very accurate  $$$$

Kimber 82 $$$

Cooper $$$

Thompson Center Contender - short, elegant, accurate and can be converted to other calibers  (almost impossible to open for youngsters and some adults) now, they are easily over 500 bucks!

Good luck, let's see it when you get it.

[tombogan03884]

It's the fact of the gift that makes it an heirloom.
The rest is just icing on the cake.
In my opinion, the best gift would be YOUR old .22 Then they can say," Dad, Granddad, etc, Passed this down to me, instead of just the kids memories, he's adding them to yours, building a family tradition.

[Timothy]

What Benny, my Savage 1903 didn't make the cut?



It's OK, it's not particularly accurate, pretty or worth much and would not be worth the money spent to make it anything other than a 107 year old rifle... It was my grand dads, my dads and now it's mine...  I'll give it to my daughter and she'll give it to her daughter.  In another 60-70 years it might be worth the 8 bucks grand dad paid for it!