I am thinking about getting involved in rimfire steel challenge competition.
I need an inexpensive rifle that will shoot well out of the box with virtually any brand of 22 LR ammo. the ranges are 25 yards +/- a few and the events are timed, shooting at 6 inch steel plates. Optical sights are a disadvantage and semi-autos are a definite advantage.

Has anyone got recommendations?

Brno [CZ]
Anshutz

IMO 6 inch plates at 25 yards would fits Ruger 10/22 very well.

tikkat3 wrote:

Brno [CZ] Anshutz

I'm with Tiks...the CZ is hard to beat for accuracy. As for accurate with any sort of ammo...that's a big ask for a .22 rimfire. My shooting buddy has a CZ .22, so I'll ask him what ammo his prefers and that should give you a start point.

agree with Gelandagan...and if you want you can pimp it out and go all tacticool with after market junk...ooops accessories

Here's a start point Paul...

Rifle - CZ 455 Heavy Barrel
Ammo tested:

BRAND....................TYPE.................................TYPE..................GROUP

Eley.......................Club...................................Match.................0.297
SK.........................Rifle Match..........................Match.................0.318
RWS......................Target Rifle.........................Match..................0.4
Lapua....................Midas+...............................Match..................0.47
Geco.....................Rifle (Red Box)....................Match..................0.569
Remington.............Cyclone.............................HVHP....................0.597
Remington.............Subsonic............................Subsonic HP........0.668
CCI......................Green Tag...........................Match....................0.702
Remington............22 Target............................Match...................0.733
Eley......................Team..................................Match....................0.818
Winchester............Subsonic............................Subsonic..............0.865
Winchester............Power Point.........................HVHP...................0.886
Federal................Gold Medal HV Match............Match..................0.964
SK.......................Standard Plus......................Match....................1.026
Remington...........Golden Bullet.......................HVHP.....................1.129
CCI.....................Mini Mag..............................HVHP......................1.174
Federal................Champion............................HVHP....................1.203
Highland..............ZX Super Quiet Subsonic......Subsonic HP.........1.291
CCI....................Quiet 22 Segmented.............Subsonic HP...........1.56
CCI....................Standard Velocity..................Match.....................1.728
RWS...................Club....................................Match.......................1.873
RWS...................Rifle Match...........................Match......................2.484

HVHP - High Velocity Hollow Point
Range is 50 metres,
Group size is in inches and is 5 shots.

Good luck mate.

Paul, forget everything and go and try the FN/Browning Auto-22, it will beat any Ruger out of the box and you wil love it. Somewhat more expensive is the BAR-22, but then you also have a rifle that will get all the eyes in the neightborhood.

When you cannot find the FN/Browning Auto-22, there might also be a Miroku with the same outfit...

it's all vintage and not bling-bling, but you will never regret when you give them a chance.

Maybe I should have put the "inexpensive" in bold. Over $1000 for a rifle is about three times the budget for a rifle that will only be used in this single competition. The FN/Browning is way too expensive. The CZ is more than what I would feel comfortable spending for this game but it isn't absurd.
As much as I like Ruger, I have seen a lot of failure to feed and stove-pipe from the 10-22 in this competition (as informal as it is). What ever rifle I end up with will have open iron sights because I will be shooting instinctively and once I train on the rifle I will most likely not even use the sights. Bling and add-on accessories are not on the list of things to buy. The gun needs to be light weight, heavy on the barrel for follow through but window dressings would be a disadvantage.

In the competitions that I have watched the AR22 has been the fastest over the targets but the gun is just out of my price range. I am hoping to find something under $200.

I have owned a couple of semi. 22s. My current is a Savage 64. It shoots okay but I get the occasional misfeed when using lower velocity ammo. You may wish to look at what Gunbroker may have to offer. Another option is a pump action which is slower but less prone to misfeeds or that is my experience. Getting something new that is decent under $200 may be a challenge.

ok norinco copy of the take down Browning then...cheap ,fast and reliable.

Expensive? Due to our license system these Auto-22's go here for 50-100 euro and even at that price lot of them are not sold but just given away. It costs about 75 euro to get it officially destroyed... It would make you very sad if you should see the guns that are destroyed after the law changed in 2006

I also like the suggestion made by Elvis...a Norinco...cheap and nasty, but bloody accurate.

Aloys, I'm not familiar with the Auto-22, but at those prices I don't think you could go too far wrong mate. The killer is the cost of importing one into the country. We are not allowed autos in Australia so that's out of the question, but I would imagine an importer would charge BIG dollars to import one into the USA.

Paul, I bet the 10/22 failures were from not using the Ruger mags.

I have a 10/22, circa 1979, and the only failures I have had with that rifle are from dirt cheap ammo or non Ruger mags.

RePete wrote:

Paul, I bet the 10/22 failures were from not using the Ruger mags. I have a 10/22, circa 1979, and the only failures I have had with that rifle are from dirt cheap ammo or non Ruger mags.

Or else magazines allowed to get very dirty! RePete is right. I have never had feeding problems with Ruger magazines but plenty with other "after market" brands, especially those ridiculous "banana" mags. A 10/22 cqn be easily slicked up to perform fast and reliably under pretty much any conditions. I would guess that many of the issues you see could also be traced to the addition of buffers or less than high-velocity ammo. There is a whole industry that exists around specialty items for the 10/22...but not all are of any benefit other than lightening your wallet. Basic "slicking" up of the action, keeping it clean and feeding it decent ammo and you are ready to go.

They were all Ruger 10 round mags - some were old so dirt could have been a problem. with the black mags it is impossible to see inside without pulling them apart.
I will look for the Norinco to see what I can find. I have seen a couple Marlin model 795 that I am looking at too. They have a good reputation other than factory trigger pulls but that can be fixed.