For at least 40 years, i went without a 22 cal rifle. I was reloading, and big ammo was cheap. I was also off into my waist in trapshooting. Now I want to do some 22 rifle shooting. A few years ago, I got a near perfect 1942 Remington 512 from Threedflyer, but I also want a semi auto.

I have my eye on a 40 yo Remington 552 speedmaster that is NIB, but I am also thinking about hunting down a heavy barrel Ruger 10/22. I know there are a million things that you can buy to trick one of them out. Which might be fun.

Any thoughts or comments, especially on the Ruger.

Thanks

One great thing about the Remington 552 Speedmaster is that it will also run with .22 Short and Long.

Look for a used Remington 550-1. Probably the finest .22 semiauto ever made. Will also handle S, L, and LR. They are difficult to locate but they do turn up occasionally. I had a 552 once, kept it in my car trunk for years but shot it little, it was fairly beat up. It had a broken buttstock, I glued it back together with epoxy. It was OK.

Both! I’d like to build up a full stock 10-22

I like the tubular magazines on the Remingtons. Have a 1970s vintage 572 Remington Fieldmaster Pump that is very accurate. Marlin Model 60 has a tubular magazine and is a reliable .22 semi. In production for 60 years.

It’ll feed everything. Greatest semi auto 22 of all time.

Great to see so many people who appreciate the Remington 552. They are so nicely made!
My Dad worked for DuPont his whole career, mostly in management of the General Products division, which included Remington.
This afforded me some truly priceless childhood memories!
I got my start shooting in the junior smallbore program at the DuPont Country Club. Of course, we all used Remington single shot .22s fed with literally tons of Remington ammo.
Later, I got into trap and skeet, shooting 870s, 1100s, and even a 3200. When the straight "English" stock came out as an option, we got to try out the earliest pre-production samples.

But, so as not to digress too far, we had a locker full of employee "loaner" guns at one of the warehouses. It was literally a library of Remington arms. The Nylon 66s, pump action .22s, and the 552 semi-auto were all very popular. They probably had a million rounds put through them collectively, and I don't recall a single one of them needing any repairs.

I could tell you about my adventures with the "loaner" 700 Safari in .458 Winchester Magnum, but that's another story....

Not to disparage the 10/22, but honestly, you can always walk into Walmart any old time if you ever decide you want one.

I have both. I got the Remington new in 1966 and used it extensively. I shot a lot of Shorts back in the day since they were 10-15 cents a box cheaper (when a Coke was 6 cents).

The 10/22 is a great rifle especially since I put in the improved trigger group.

Last I checked, the Remington is still made and a new one is priced about double the price of a basic 10/22.

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6/23/2022

I had a Speedmaster back in the mid 80's. I never should have gotten rid of it. It was a solid, well built, good looking/handling and acceptably accurate .22. I don't think you could go wrong if you decided to get one. I've also had several 10-22's over the years and still have one that I pretty maxed out with aftermarket upgrades that made it an absolute tack driver with various type/brands of ammo. The only thing RUGER left on it is the upper receiver. So, if you want to have fun tricking out a .22 and don't mind pouring a few extra dollars into it, a 10-22 would be the way to go.

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SIC SEMPER TYRANNIS

I had Fieldmaster pump 40 years ago and wish I still had it. A close friend had a Speedmaster back then and we shot them side by side often. I wouldn't hesitate.

I shoot my 10-22 more than any of my other rimfires. It's modular, I have it set up the way I want it.

This choice reminds me of my father in law: When asked if he wanted cake or pie, he responded YES.

I have both also.
The speed master is a great shooter. Very accurate with iron sights. As stated by others you can use a variety of short / long / long rifle.
The 10/22 is a tactical target. Love the Hogue over molded stock. Leupold 2x7. I put a voltsquaren trigger in it.
Can’t go wrong with either. Grab both if you can. I’d go with the Remington first. You can always get a 10/22.

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I really like our Ruger 10/22. Performed well right out of the box. Few people shoot well enough that the ruger trigger would impede their shooting, It is a lot of fun and very reliable. I go to the range with 2 ten round mags and 2 35 round mags and one of those magazine loader tools. It is a hoot to shoot. I have never had a Remington auto loader 22. so I cannot comment on it.

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Kind regards, Heinz

I earlier mentioned my admiration for the Remington 550-1. One reason is that it functions well even with .22 Short SV ammunition. Makes little more noise than a pellet rifle. I don't remember trying .22 Short SV in my 552 so I do not know if it will function.

Shot the 552 years back that belonged to a friend. I had a 66 made 10/22. thought the trigger on the 552 was better though. My 10/22 was handier

My first rifle was a 552 with a weaver 4 power scope. I put a million rounds through that rifle. Short, long , long rifle didn't matter. Very accurate. Great gun. I still don't know why I sold it.

If you can find a real beater of a 10/22 for a very fair price BUY it . What they are good for is upgrading over time as cash can be spent .
I was lucky years ago and picked up a couple 10/22's . I will say neather shot worth a darn to me but I did not buy them to remain stock . My wifes has an early clark midweight barrel . Today EBCO has the better deals on barrels and trigger kits in a blued 18" treaded barrel for $169.

Older 10/ss can use the basic $55 dollar trigger kit thru EBCO and look at stock like hogue over modeled for $89 bucks cut for a heavy barrel . Even a beater 250 dollar 10/22 would leave you money ahead of the factory ruger heavy barrel model . 22lr are very ammo dependent for accuracy and all should shot better with standard velocity / lower cost match ammo . My wifes will a sub moa shooter with several upprt mid level ammo but federal 711b will shoot a touch under 1" most times , sk rifle match is a bit tighter but it also has a 6-24 30mm tube tmd scope on it . Mines a full on heavy custom that cost to much 12 years ago !! Today that cost would be even higher .

I hardly ever shoot a semi-auto 22lr today . - I a couple 22lr rifles , one is a rem 511P thats an ok shooter like your remmy . I also have a savage mkii bv with a stock adjusted trigger that breaks with 13oz of pressure and shoots all the same standard velocity /match ammo even better than my ruger custom and today the savage mkii bv retail new cost is $409 .
Street price is around $329 to $355 . If you want to stay with a stock semi auto . Buy nice used a marlin model 60

I was a Winchester 77 kid. lol

Never heard of the Remington as a kid, but my best buddy had a tricked out 10-22 in high school that saw way more action that it was designed for. Always looking for a blued 10-22T with the licorice barrel. Cool design but prefer my Magnum Research and Volquartsen versions.

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213th FBINA

Fall, 1965, bought my 1022, first model, walnut stock, and shot it a lot, with various "optics" on it over the years, now has a low mount adjustable "dot", and we have just started shooting together, and he shoots it very well. I have a box of mags for it, and the original one still works great. My son, several years ago, bought a stainless steel barrel Manlicher 1022 for his sons, but he hasn't had a chance to take them shooting withh it. The only thing done to my rifle was a little trigger work about 15 years ago. We only shoot standard velocity 40 grain lead in it, to avoid beating it up. 1022's just work, and work, and ....... NV

I have three 572's and love them. As stated above, I prefer the tube magazine and the ammo versatility. My 572 will shoot as fast as I can pull the trigger and it's accurate. Remington barrels have always been accurate.

I had a NIB 10-22 made around 2016. I know they're popular but I couldn't hit anything with the one I bought. I couldn't hit a sheet of paper at 20 yards. I don't know what was wrong with it and didn't try to figure it out. I got rid of it. I'm sure the sights were just off but I expect better from the factory for a brand new rifle.

My vote would be for the Ruger 10/22, probably the most reliable .22 auto rifle you can buy. Tons of accessories, parts will never be a problem, accuracy is good out of the box, can be made "Great" if you want to spend the money.

We have four of them in our family, two adults and two teenagers, and they get shot a lot. Only occasionally cleaned, we put hundreds of rounds at a time through them when we get together.

Here is my personal pick for a semiauto .22 - a Ruger 10/22 in the International configuration. Beautiful, reliable and extremely accurate.

John

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Just curious, did anybody ever clean them?

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You're shy a few manners.

I'd go with the classic Remington.

I have a couple of 10/22s, one tricked out and one stock. I prefer my other pump and semiauto .22s, all of which get shot and hunted with far more than the 10/22s. I don't shoot rimfires on the bench for group, so accuracy is what I can hit in the field and off-hand and all of them are accurate enough for that. The only time I shoot my 10/22s is when I want to shoot suppressed.

I'd sell the tricked out version of mine, but I'd never get back what I have in it.

For woods walking, hunting and other practical use other than bench work, I'd take any classic over a 10/22. As far as reliability, my 10/22s need to be cleaned just as much as my other semiauto .22s before they start to jam up.

10/22s are kinda the AR of the rimfire world. If you're the type to accessorize, then they are the obvious choice. I don't own an AR, so Lego building isn't really my thing. The Ruger is blocky, not very ergonomic, and has a poor trigger out of the box. I don't think they handle very well in the field nor look very good. I suppose that is a controversial opinion, but it's an alternative view that one should at least consider.

One autoloader that wasn't been mentioned yet that's worth looking into is the Winchester 63.

Wouldn't go wrong with either, unless money is tight buy both and see which you enjoy more.............. Admittedly, I own 2 Rugers (an International and a standard) and the Remington 552. Love all of them and for me at least they shoot about the same. I like the fact the Remington runs 22 Shorts which makes it a good companion to a Browning SA 22 Short I also have. The detachable mag on the Ruger is a nice feature and when my kids got to be decent shots we would load up the high cap mags and get my little steel swingers bouncing!

As a kid, I always used .22 Shorts mainly because they were cheaper than LRs. And they were fully adequate for all my shooting back them. Nearly always Federal, as that was the only brand the local general store sold. I still have a few thousand rounds of .22 Short in my inventory for use in my 550, a Winchester '06, and a Hi-Standard Olympic rapid fire pistol. SV only for the latter.

I'll weigh in on the Ruger 10/22. This is not a comparison since I have had no experience with the Remington.

I have a Volquartsen Ruger 10/22 built before Volquartsen switched over to building them on just their own parts. I had decided on the Volquartsen conversion because at the time some of the hook and bullet press were publishing comparison road tests of the different customized 10/22s. In each test the Volquartsen Ruger shot the tightest groups. They also tested and published which target ammunition brands grouped smallest out of each rifle.

I am not a bench rest shooter except for testing. But I do want my .22 rimfire rifles to shoot <MOA at 50 yards. From the first time out, using one of the ammo brands listed in the articles that did shoot <MOA but not as tightly as even more expensive brands of target ammo, this rifle easily grouped <MOA. This was not a fluke but consistently. I never bothered to spend the money on the tightest grouping ammo to find out just how tightly my rifle would/will group because once I had achieved <MOA I had the results I was looking for.

All this happened around 2000 when the Chevy truck Sportsman's Team Competition matches were extremely popular. The customized Ruger 10/22s grew out of the necessity to have <MOA rifles that would shoot fast for the rifle events. Through a lot of testing the gunsmiths determined that the 10/22 was most suitable candidate to customize for these events. Since it was now possible, perhaps for the first time, to buy a <MOA semi-auto .22 rimfire, these 10/22 conversions became, and still are, extremely popular.

My rifle was not cheap, but in my opinion, well worth it. I still read carping about starting with such an inexpensive rifle to modify to <MOA grouping ability was a waste of money. Except at the time this was the only way to get there. An example of racing improves the breed.

To carry the racing analogy a little further, in the mid-late 60s the Trans Am road racing series was extremely popular. The cars used were the pony cars of the era, Mustangs, Camaros, etc. One of the legendary drivers in that series (and others) was Mark Donahue, who died way too soon in a crash. One day when the media were interviewing him one of the reporters asked how these pony cars, which had such humble origins in the Ford Falcon and Chevy Nova, etc, could make such potent race cars.

Donohue paused, then said "You can't make a race horse out of a pig, but you can make a damn fast pig".

The 10/22, in its customized form, is one damn fast pig.

So much so that I will never let mine go.

With over 5 million 10/22s made there’s a great selection to buy and maybe more aftermarket / custom parts for it than any gun … ever. Hard to go wrong with one.

However, that Speedmaster is to me a classic beauty. And, I appreciate not having a 10 round magazine to fiddle with either. For me, I’d chose a Speedmaster or Nylon 66 first.

Had a 552 but passed it down to my SIL.
Still have a 10-22 and Rem Model 34.
Who else has a Model 34?

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