I'm not sure where to begin, but I think I'll start with my bargain basement really accurate .22 LR rifles.
1. My CZ 513 Farmer is a $200 rifle with a $125 Cabelas scope and it'll shoot 1 MOA at 100 yards with $2.50 per box CCI SV. It's not the prettiest rifle and you'll need to master the heavy trigger, but it's a shooter based on the CZ 452 action with a high quality barrel:
2. My M1969 Romanian trainer also isn't much of a looker but it's also a $200 rifle that will shoot 1.5 MOA at 100 yards with CCI SV:
3. I have two CZ 99 Precision rifles, made by the "other" CZ, Cervena Zastav, and more recently sold as the Zastava MP 22. They are sub $300 rifles. They have very heavy receivers reminiscent of the WInchester Model 43. One of them will shoot every bit as well as any of my Czechoslovakian CZs with 1 MOA groups at 100 yards with SK Std Plus. The other one is a 1.75 MOA rifle at that range, so there's arguably a bit more variation in them than there is in the Czech CZ 452, 453, and 455 where the variation is on the order of 1.0 to 1.5 MOA at 100 yards. The CZ 99 Precision's weak points are a less than inspiring stock (mine have been replaced with Remington Model 5 stocks (imported by Remington for several years), and a magazine that it is a bit rough around the edges and VERY hard to find.
One of my CZ 99s (the accurate one) is seen here (bottom) with my CZ 453 American (middle) and my first year of production Ruger 77/22 (top).
4. My Ruger 77/22 (above) started out with very lackluster accuracy around 2.5 MOA at 100 yards, but after bedding the stock, free floating the barrel, and shimming the bolt, it's a solid 1.25 MOA rifle. I also added a trigger kit to make the trigger a bit less friendly, although that really doesn't improve accuracy unless you've got a skills deficiency.
5. My CZ 453 American (above) is a solid 1 MOA at 100 yards rifle using SK Std Plus, and will do so consistently. It's the first consistent 5 shot, 1 MOA at 100 yards .22LR I bought.
6. In comparison, my CZ 453 Varmint will give me 1/2 MOA groups and 1.5 MOA groups in pretty much equal measure, with the average being 1.0 MOA. But my CZ 453 Varmint also won the wood lottery relative to the otherwise normally plain, but still nice, CZ wood. Ironically it's also one of the less common CZ 453s with a matte finished receiver:
7. My CZ 455 Varmint Heavy is also a solid 1 MOA rifle, and it's by far the best suited for sub caliber "long range" practice with .22 LR, as a stand in for my long range centerfire rifles. Not pretty, but very, very practical for long range .22 LR shooting.
8. I have two Winchester Model 52Rs, one with exceptional wood and the other with the plain walnut usually associated with Winchester rifles. These are bar none my favorite .22 LR sporters. They are very well made, well balanced, accurate (1.25 MOA 5 shot groups at 100 yards with SK Std Plus), and perfectly sized and proportioned for an adult .22 LR rifle. They also have well made magazines, like the Czech CZ rifles. These are Winchester branded, Miroku made reproductions of the Winchester Model 52 Sporters and are commonly referred to as the "R" model. They are however arguably the best mass produced (around 10,000 of them) .22 LR sporter ever made.
9. My Remington 540S is another higher end sporter, and it looks nice but is a bit of a disappointment as a shooter, with 1.75 MOA accuracy. I never found any .22 LR ammo that shot better than that, and most of the 540S and 540T rifles are regarded as better shooters than that. The major negative however is the cheap plastic magazine that frequently splits and pukes all the rounds out. Horrible, cheap, magazine design on an otherwise nice rifle.
10. I found this very nice but refinished Winchester 1890 in a small gun shop where it was mostly reviled as a refinished piece, in large part because it was in the rare .22 LR cartridge and probably hadn't looked all that bad before it was restored. And I use the word restored as it is very well done with no rounded edges and sharp roll marks. However, it was probably a $2000 rifle before it was restored and now it's maybe a $600 rifle. It's not horribly accurate, but it is great fun to shoot and is an excellent example of a gallery rifle and well suited to offhand shooting at 25 yard beverage cans, golf balls, etc.
11. I own three 9422s. I found the plain wood 1978 XTR in a large local gun shop and found the 16" trapper in the same shop about 6 months later mis-racked and mis-priced in a rack of Henry .22 LRs. The owner was not aware he had a 9422, and when I said I wanted to buy it, he started walking toward the room with the collectible guns. I said "no it's over here" and led him to the Henry rack. He looked at it and said "If you buy it right now, I'll honor that price, but if you don't I'm going to put it where it belongs and re-price it." I bought it.
I found the 9422 Legacy several years later in the same shop. The Legacy is (IMHO) the only 9422 that looks good with a scope. ALl three of my 9422s are 2 MOA to 3 MOA capable rifles at 100 yards. Not stellar accuracy by bolt action standards, but very good by lever action standards and excellent by .22 LR lever action standards.
12. Remington 540XR
I bought this as an inexpensive match rifle. It's a bit underweight in its stock condition that also makes it well suited to young shooters. It'll hold the 10 ring on an A-23 target consistently at 50 yards with mid range SK Rifle Match ammo.
13. My Anschutz Match 64 is another inexpensive match rifle. I never could get it to fit me quite right, so I restocked with with a Master class prone stock. It'll also hold the 10 ring consistently at 50 yards, but with a scope it also does a nice job on long range steel plates.
14. I wanted one of these as a youth and eventually got one when I turned 18, but I bough this 1976 edition about 30 years later as I preferred the walnut stock and the overall higher quality of the earlier Ruger 10/22s:
15. I've had a Springfield M6 Survival rifle for a couple decades and it gets used as such as it fits nicely in pretty much any aircraft baggage compartment. I use a ball detent pin to allow it to be easily separate into two pieces for a bit more compact stowage. It is surprisingly accurate (1" at 50 yards) given it's construction. I had a later CZ made version in .22 Hornet and accuracy was horrible, so it got turned back into money and I stayed with this one.
16. I also have a Charter Arms made AR7 and it's functional but not terribly accurate or reliable. It was however free (a gift) so I've kept it.
17. I was an early adopter of the love it or hate it Umarex made Colt M4 Tactical .22 LR. It has a Zamak bolt carrier that purists love to hate, most AR-15 accessories won't fit, the bolt release is not operational, and the first thing most new owner did was take it apart and thus fail to realize that recoil spring adjustment mattered a lot when it came to reliability.
In my experience it is very reliable when the recoil spring is properly adjusted and that adjustability makes it very tunable to high velocity or standard velocity .22 LR. The magazine design is excellent and easy to load.
The sleeved barrel is also tunable as the muzzle device can be tightened to increase tension on the barrel. That combined with the 1-16" barrel makes it more accurate than my dedicated CMMG .22LR AR-15 build and substantially more accurate than my 1-12 twist .22 LR conversions.
18. I bought this Rossi Matched pair (.22LR and .410) for $75. I think I paid about $50 too much. It's the least accurate .22 LR I have ever owned. I'm not sure why I still own it. I'll probably give it to a kid someday - an annoying one that I don't like.
