Best bolt action .22 or .17

[ChuckMK23]

Anyone have any recommendations for a rimfire bolt action, magazine fed rifle that is in athe "affordable" range? I've seen a rifle in .17HMR that also came in .22 LR that had a bull barrel, synthetic stock, and 5 or 10 round magazine. Can't for thelife of me remember the manufacturer/model - but it was at Bass Pro Shops.

This would be a gift for my son's 16th birthday...

Any thoughts or recommendations would be appreciated.

 

[squeeze]

Look at the Savage 93R17 line. Great guns, 17HMR is accurate and fast as hell, and they are very reasonably priced.

http://www.savagearms.com/rimfire_home.htm

I typically hate thumbhole stocks, but saw one of these in person the other day and was rather impressed. Nice compact package. The guy had a BSA scope on it designed for 17HMR that was calibrated for ranges up to 300 yds I believe (edit: BSA Sweet17). Zero it at 100 and just crank the BDC knob accordingly. Neat little setup.

 

[Pugs]

Concur on the Savage. Unless they now come with the Accutrigger plan on spending $60 or so to put a Rifle Basix trigger on it. The one I have will put bullets into 100 yard MOA until you're bored or out of ammo.

 

[xmid]

The savage is an awesome little rifle. You could also check out Remington and Kimber, although they are a little pricey.

 

[feddoc]

Another vote for the Savage. I have three long guns from them, they all shoot well. And they are inexpensive.

 

[gaijin6423]

It's been a week or two since anyone posted in here, but since I'm currently living in the high desert, I am now in the market for a decent varmint rifle. Nothing too fancy, just something accurate and durable that I can lug around the endless tracts of BLM land and schwack jackrabbits and coyotes (apparently the county still pays a bounty for these) with. Suggestions?

 

[Brett327]

It's been a week or two since anyone posted in here, but since I'm currently living in the high desert, I am now in the market for a decent varmint rifle. Nothing too fancy, just something accurate and durable that I can lug around the endless tracts of BLM land and schwack jackrabbits and coyotes (apparently the county still pays a bounty for these) with. Suggestions?

Are you in Pendleton now?

Brett

 

[gaijin6423]

Nope, 29 Palms. I'd RATHER be on Pendleton, but such is life. Nothing like 120+ degrees and 70-80% humidity everyday at 3K'... The school I'm at, though, is pretty sweet. Lots to learn, lots to teach the enlisted folks going through the class with us, but thankfully, not a whole lot else to do but study, PT, and play XBox. Hence the current intrest in sending coyotes and jackrabbits to meet their maker.

 

[NeoCortex]

Chuck, the only thing about the .17 is the ammo is much more expensive. I'd go with a .22

 

[Pugs]

.22 LR is a bit light for yotes beyond 50 yards or so and that's pretty open country you're in. The 17 HMR is a bit light beyond 100 yards in my estimation for yotes,although fine for bunnies. Might consider bumping up to something like a .204 Ruger round. Ammo is reasonably cheap in bulk ($140 for 200 rounds through Cabelas and there are cheaper suppliers) and it'll reach out 200 yard easy. you can save the brass and start reloading when you have the time and space.

 

[metro]

To tell you the truth, for varmint hunting, I think a good caliber a lot of people don't necessarily think about is .223. Sometimes people tend to forget that there are other rifles besides the AR-15 that shoot the round. It's definitely a flat-enough shooting cartridge for varmint hunting-typical ranges, and packs enough punch to put down most smaller animals.

For a decent rifle of this type, I would probably go with a Ruger M77, personally. A little pricier than the Savage, yes, but I've shot my buddy's in .243 (another nice intermediate caliber) and it was a terrific rifle for what he paid for it.

Ruger's M77/22 and M77/17 are also pretty nice little rimfire bolts.

 

[Fly Navy]

Yep, seen dudes us .223 for varminting. That and .222, .224., and .22-250

 

[squeeze]

To tell you the truth, for varmint hunting, I think a good caliber a lot of people don't necessarily think about is .223. Sometimes people tend to forget that there are other rifles besides the AR-15 that shoot the round. It's definitely a flat-enough shooting cartridge for varmint hunting-typical ranges, and packs enough punch to put down most smaller animals.

Ummm... .223 is one of the most popular varmint rounds there is.

 

[MasterBates]

Very useful on Al-Quaeda, and other turban wearing varmints.

Reccomend .308 or .30-06 for longer ranges though.

 

[metro]

Ummm... .223 is one of the most popular varmint rounds there is.

Must just be a Kentucky thing, don't see too many people varmint hunt with .223. Most of our varmint hunters won't use anything smaller than .300 Win Mag. Of course, the definition of varmint varies from region to region.