I agree with Paladin, I love my Nylon 66. It's the reason I've never bought a 10/22. I grew up shooting the 66 my grandpa gave me for my 7th Birthday. Between it and my Ruger Standard pistol I could shoot a brick a weekend, two if I had friends over. I don't ever remember either malfunctioning on me. The only thing, if you're a lefty, warmish cases from weaker ammo will hit your right arm sometimes.

I also shot my Dad's Winchester 94/22 quite a bit and really liked it too. I could hit soda cans from the hip with it and it worked every time. I had a Marlin 39A for a while but didn't ever care for it all that much. It was pretty accurate but also kind of finicky with ammo. I had a 1904-made 1897 that had the same problem.

Another .22 I really like as a cheap-and-cheerful knockabout rifle is the old Remington 550-1 autoloader. They can be had for under $200 and will shoot any length .22 short of magnum. My Great-Grandpa bought mine new in 1952 and it's at least had perfect function for me in the last about 15 years. Shorts will leave marks on my right forearm though. As you may be able to tell, I love .22 rifles more than about any of my other firearms and have quite a few.