Looking for a .22LR fun gun/rifle. Any ideas?

[puma guy]

Any recommendations for a scope for the Marlin XT-22?

I don't want to pay more for the scope than the rifle.

Well maybe a little more.

Bill,
Deals can be found on scopes for .22's, but I'd stick to the higher end brands. Knowing you you'd most likely do that anyway. I have purchased Tasco and Simmons .22 variable 1" tube scopes that were in the $50-60 range (I knew better, but hey it's a .22, right? ) they both fogged up. It's not worth the postage (both ways) and warranty fee ($10) to send them back. Both brands are owned and serviced by Bushnell BTW; probably the same scopes. I got a Redfield Battlezone TAC 2-7x 34mm for $91 back in August. It's calibrated for 36grn 1250fps ammo. I haven't decided on which rifle to install it yet. I found a little more information on Marlins since the Remington take over. The bolt actions (.22 and centerfire) seem to have not had the drastically poor quality of the lever guns. Also the auto-loading models 60, 795 and probably the 70 Papoose are made in Mayfield, KY and are not having any major issues. The XTR is based on Marlins tried and true bolt action design from the 1930's, but have an improved trigger; The Pro-Fire adjustable. Magazines are practically a dime a dozen. My old vintage bolt action Marlins with basic triggers are outstanding little rifles for such a simple design.

[Taypo]

One thing about Academy Sports, this was my first gun purchase with them. I found it interesting that the salesman carried the gun to the front, kept it in his hands during my paying for it, and then carried it out the front door before handing it to me. I was beginning to think he was going to carry it to my truck for me. ha
Joe

As opposed to Cabelas, where they hand over the gun as soon as the paperwork is done. I was there a couple weeks back, turned a corner in the clothing department and walked right in front of the muzzle of a shotgun belonging to a guy who bought one and decided to play with it while his wife was picking out clothes.

The Cabelas in Allen has walked the gun to the front with every one of them that I have purchased from them. They use a lot of tape on the boxes too!

Not sure how long it's been, but I bought an 870 there at Christmas time last year that they taped and handed over the counter. Combined with this guy, I'd say they're awfully inconsistent on how they're doing business.

Your experience is more recent than mine... maybe they have changed policy?

Given the lines at the counter some days, I imagine they'd have to hire more staff if they were walking everyone to the door but that's just a guess. I've never bought a handgun from them, so I don't know how they're handling that.

[puma guy]

Ruger 10/22 TD Accuracy test

http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2013 ... -takedown/

[JRG]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I had not seen the AR-7 before.

I went today to the Arlington Academy sports and bought a Ruger 10/22 Takedown. I got the black synthetic stock with the stainless barrel and works. I love the bag! Plenty of room for the broken down gun and several hundred rounds of ammo on the inside. That still leaves the two pouches on the outside. I am excited.

One thing about Academy Sports, this was my first gun purchase with them. I found it interesting that the salesman carried the gun to the front, kept it in his hands during my paying for it, and then carried it out the front door before handing it to me. I was beginning to think he was going to carry it to my truck for me. ha

Joe

Unlike Academy which has no checkout at the gun counter. you can pay at the sporting goods counter at WalMart, but they still carry it out the door. I bought a .22 pistol at Academy and they wouldn't sell me any .22 ammo at the same time. I just put the pistol in the truck and reentered to get the ammo. I found a very interesting review on the 10/22 TD. I'll look for it, but he tested the rifle one shot at a time for accuracy and disassembled it after each shot. He used the iron sights and took the gun right out of the box. The results were very good. I'll look for it and post if I locate it.

I asked about .22 ammo before we headed up to the front. The guy pointed out what they had, but it was all such over priced stuff I declined. The cheapest was %59 per brick and went up to $89 per brick. I'll shoot my Bucket o Bullets thank you very much.

Joe

[puma guy]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I had not seen the AR-7 before.

I went today to the Arlington Academy sports and bought a Ruger 10/22 Takedown. I got the black synthetic stock with the stainless barrel and works. I love the bag! Plenty of room for the broken down gun and several hundred rounds of ammo on the inside. That still leaves the two pouches on the outside. I am excited.

One thing about Academy Sports, this was my first gun purchase with them. I found it interesting that the salesman carried the gun to the front, kept it in his hands during my paying for it, and then carried it out the front door before handing it to me. I was beginning to think he was going to carry it to my truck for me. ha

Joe

Unlike Academy which has no checkout at the gun counter. you can pay at the sporting goods counter at WalMart, but they still carry it out the door. I bought a .22 pistol at Academy and they wouldn't sell me any .22 ammo at the same time. I just put the pistol in the truck and reentered to get the ammo. I found a very interesting review on the 10/22 TD. I'll look for it, but he tested the rifle one shot at a time for accuracy and disassembled it after each shot. He used the iron sights and took the gun right out of the box. The results were very good. I'll look for it and post if I locate it.

I asked about .22 ammo before we headed up to the front. The guy pointed out what they had, but it was all such over priced stuff I declined. The cheapest was %59 per brick and went up to $89 per brick. I'll shoot my Bucket o Bullets thank you very much.

Joe

.22 is coming back so just watch your local stores for the reasonably priced stuff. Rugers sometimes prefer one ammunition over another so it makes sense try different ammo for the best accuracy and functionality.

[winters]

I only buy 22lr when its under 6 cents a bullet. Lately I have had pretty good luck buying it cheap. people who buy it at 10 cents or more are just fueling the price gouging. And don't tell me its "free market". EVERYONE used to sell it for a decent price now you never know.

[JALLEN]

Given the lines at the counter some days, I imagine they'd have to hire more staff if they were walking everyone to the door but that's just a guess. I've never bought a handgun from them, so I don't know how they're handling that.

When I dealt with Cabelas recently, I took two pistols in, and was greeted at the door by a man who inspected them to verify unloaded, put an orange action lock in each and carried them to the department I was heading for.

I bought two pistols at Cabelas, and when the paperwork was completed, the cases were taped shut and I headed for the door. I opened the cases when I got to my car.

[Taypo]

I only buy 22lr when its under 6 cents a bullet. Lately I have had pretty good luck buying it cheap. people who buy it at 10 cents or more are just fueling the price gouging. And don't tell me its "free market". EVERYONE used to sell it for a decent price now you never know.

Gas used to be $1.00 a gallon, too.

[puma guy]

I only buy 22lr when its under 6 cents a bullet. Lately I have had pretty good luck buying it cheap. people who buy it at 10 cents or more are just fueling the price gouging. And don't tell me its "free market". EVERYONE used to sell it for a decent price now you never know.

Gas used to be $1.00 a gallon, too.

No gas used to be 29.9 cents a gallon and down to 13-14 cents in gas wars. Just to put things in perspective that was the mid 1960's and .22 shells sold for about 50-65 cents bx/50 and we'd run them on sale for .33 a box. The wholesale price for Remington/Peters .22 lr was about 60-65 cents. Vendors got them a little cheaper. The wholesale price of a Remington 700 BDL was $119 and Winchester Model 70 about the same; $110 and ammo was $3-4 bx/20. A 1964 Pontiac Tempest with the GTO option - hardtop with a 389/325 HP , Four speed Borg-Warner tranny and Hurst shifter could be had for $3000 drive out. (List price for one with all the options was about 4500 bucks) So A Remington 700BDL is now about $1000 and good ammo for your Model 700 is 35-40 bucks a box of 20. The last GTO was about $35000.

.22LR are selling for $2.19-2.29 bx/50 at Academy. Any questions?

[Taypo]

I only buy 22lr when its under 6 cents a bullet. Lately I have had pretty good luck buying it cheap. people who buy it at 10 cents or more are just fueling the price gouging. And don't tell me its "free market". EVERYONE used to sell it for a decent price now you never know.

Gas used to be $1.00 a gallon, too.

No gas used to be 29.9 cents a gallon and down to 13-14 cents in gas wars. Just to put things in perspective that was the mid 1960's and .22 shells sold for about 50-65 cents bx/50 and we'd run them on sale for .33 a box. The wholesale price for Remington/Peters .22 lr was about 60-65 cents. Vendors got them a little cheaper. The wholesale price of a Remington 700 BDL was $119 and Winchester Model 70 about the same; $110 and ammo was $3-4 bx/20. A 1964 Pontiac Tempest with the GTO option - hardtop with a 389/325 HP , Four speed Borg-Warner tranny and Hurst shifter could be had for $3000 drive out. (List price for one with all the options was about 4500 bucks) So A Remington 700BDL is now about $1000 and good ammo for your Model 700 is 35-40 bucks a box of 20. The last GTO was about $35000.

.22LR are selling for $2.19-2.29 bx/50 at Academy. Any questions?

Nope. You sure showed me how price gouging works.

[Pawpaw]

Any recommendations for a scope for the Marlin XT-22?

I don't want to pay more for the scope than the rifle.

Well maybe a little more.

I don't have the Marlin, but I like the [url=chrome-extension://oemmndcbldboiebfnladdacbdfmadadm/https://www.redfield.com/_media/downloa ... 2_7x34.pdf]Redfield Battlezone TAC.22 2-7x34mm[/url] I put on my 10/22 TD.

Bass Pro has it for $150.00. http://www.basspro.com/Redfield-BattleZ ... 309251018/

[puma guy]

I only buy 22lr when its under 6 cents a bullet. Lately I have had pretty good luck buying it cheap. people who buy it at 10 cents or more are just fueling the price gouging. And don't tell me its "free market". EVERYONE used to sell it for a decent price now you never know.

Gas used to be $1.00 a gallon, too.

No gas used to be 29.9 cents a gallon and down to 13-14 cents in gas wars. Just to put things in perspective that was the mid 1960's and .22 shells sold for about 50-65 cents bx/50 and we'd run them on sale for .33 a box. The wholesale price for Remington/Peters .22 lr was about 60-65 cents. Vendors got them a little cheaper. The wholesale price of a Remington 700 BDL was $119 and Winchester Model 70 about the same; $110 and ammo was $3-4 bx/20. A 1964 Pontiac Tempest with the GTO option - hardtop with a 389/325 HP , Four speed Borg-Warner tranny and Hurst shifter could be had for $3000 drive out. (List price for one with all the options was about 4500 bucks) So A Remington 700BDL is now about $1000 and good ammo for your Model 700 is 35-40 bucks a box of 20. The last GTO was about $35000.

.22LR are selling for $2.19-2.29 bx/50 at Academy. Any questions?

Nope. You sure showed me how price gouging works.

My real point is that prices for some things have increased at different rates than others. Nowadays .22 ammo at normal prices is a bargain. If it followed the inflation of the other things I listed it would be about 12 cents a round, but you can buy it at WalMart and Academy for about 4-5 cents a round. A lot of font has been used on this forum trying to explain the .22 ammo drought (even though manufacturers say they're producing more than ever) - I won't try to explain it. The drought, real or perceived has spawned gouging at gun shows as a routine matter and even some retail sellers do the same when they get it from legitimate vendors, just because they can. There are also people who buy it whenever they see it whether they actually need it or not. From time to time I do buy some for my sons-in-'law when I see it at a non-inflated price. I bought plenty before the crises and don't have to buy .22 LR for myself.
Then there the evil vultures that arrive on the mornings of delivery at WalMarts with several of their friends and suck up all the available .22 ammo. I know of at least two guys who do this and they think it's funny. Forum rules prevent my from commenting. A small LGS I frequent has a hard time getting any .22 from his vendors and many times has to buy from those jerks just so he can have it for his customers when they purchase a .22 rifle or pistol. He marks it up a little from their ridiculous prices when he sells it over the counter, but not much. Those guys also sell a lot to the dealers at gun shows.

BTW heads up to anyone near Burleson. The Academy there has some CCI Maxi Mag +V .22WMR 30 grn for $13.99, Federal Blue Box 40grn 1250FPS $2.29/50, 500 round Rem Golden Bullet $24.99 and Federal AutoMatch $17.97/325 rounds. They had decent amounts with a 500 round limit, so that gives me reason to be optimistic that we may be over the hill.

[goose]

BTW heads up to anyone near Burleson. The Academy there has some CCI Maxi Mag +V .22WMR 30 grn for $13.99, Federal Blue box40grn 1250FPS $2.29, 500 round Rem Golden Bullet $24.99 and Federal AutoMatch $17.97/325 rounds. They had decent amounts so that gives me reason to be optimistic that we may be over the hill.

Dang. WMR is the holy grail right now. 22LR is on the shelf. 22Mag would rock! I also feel like we are close to over the hill. Fingers crossed.

[puma guy]

BTW heads up to anyone near Burleson. The Academy there has some CCI Maxi Mag +V .22WMR 30 grn for $13.99, Federal Blue box40grn 1250FPS $2.29, 500 round Rem Golden Bullet $24.99 and Federal AutoMatch $17.97/325 rounds. They had decent amounts so that gives me reason to be optimistic that we may be over the hill.

Dang. WMR is the holy grail right now. 22LR is on the shelf. 22Mag would rock! I also feel like we are close to over the hill. Fingers crossed.

I didn't buy any since I have enough. The Pasadena Academy had .22WMR available on the shelf two different times in September.

[puma guy]

Since I am partly responsible for high jacking this thread I feel obliged to return to the original topic. I found a .22LR fun gun/rifle today. I know a couple of little girls that will be thrilled come Christmas.