.22 caliber rifles

Question
QUESTION: Sid,
I have been doing a lot of research on .22 caliber rifles. I have a small bit of experience shooting rifles, but really I want to become an amazing shot, i thought working my way up from a 22, up to a high powered long range rifle would be the best. My interest is in accuracy and marksmanship.  What is the best .22 caliber rifle i can buy to start on my way to becoming an excellent marksman?

ANSWER: Charlie,

You do not mention what your budget is and you can spend many $$ on a .22 full blown target rifle. Do you just want a middle priced decent shooter or do you actually want a "target" .22 ?

If you want to start with a true target .22 rifle take a look at one of the CMP available rifles. Right now you can get a Kimber Model 82 .22LR for $600. Item #R22M82 Kimber Model 82 (Gov - Unused). Contact CMP at 419-635-2141. You can view the rifle and related info at CMP's website at www.odcmp.com

This is really a great rifle for the money and is capable of shooting as well as you can make it shoot ! Good starter target .22 in my opinion.

If this is not what you had in mind, let me know and I'll try to help further however, I will need additional information as outlined above.

I hope this gets you started and thanks for the question Charlie.

Sid Lark



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hey Sid,
Thank you for your quick response and great answer.  Sorry I was not more clear.  My price range for the .22 is going to be around 350 to 400 dollars.  I am going to work my way up the better more expensive guns.  I also wanted the ask to if CMP is an American company, because i would like to buy American.  In addition I was wondering if you think i should first get good with an iron sight and then buy a scope.  Also I wanted to ask you a question about magazines.  Does the magazine make the rifle less accurate?  Do true target guns only hold one bullet, or can they hold an internal magazine with 4-5 bullets and still be as effective?  And does this apply to snipers with long range rifle?
Thanks -charlie  

Answer
Charlie,

If you not ready to move into a new (cost factors) target type .22 rifle, you could take a look at used versions on various websites where such items are listed.

Just to read up on and see what's available at what cost, take a look at www.gunbroker.com and/or www.gunsamerica.com. You will find many .22 rifles (both new and used) at both of these sites and it will give you some idea of what's available and at what cost/s.

As for CMP..... it is the Civilian Marksmanship Program and can be best explained further by your visiting the site and reading all that is there. It will explain all of the requirements to qualify for purchase, where, how etc. etc.

If you want to spend as little as possible, I'd recommend forgoing the scoped versions for the time being. Start with a rifle that has good iron sights for what you want to do and do a lot of shooting. You no doubt will eventually want to try a scope but that is a topic in itself that I won't get into here.

There are many types, brands, and bullet capacities concerning .22 rifles. You'll just have to start shopping/investigating to determine what is available to you within the parameters that you outline.

In general "Sniper Rifles" are of bolt action design with the ability to cycle additional rounds from a magazine into the barrel via operation of the bolt. There of course many variations of this too.

Sid Lark