Lever action rifles .22

JimDeChamp

Has anyone any advice on buying a .22 lever action rifle, past or present experiences. Also any recommendation on what make to buy..?

EWQuinn

http://www.browning.com/products/catalog/firearms/detail.asp?fid=005B&cid=024&tid=101

One of the nicer one's I have shot is the Browning BL-22. Takes a scope pretty well too. Lots of choices, I would also look at Henry.

JimDeChamp

Do you know what dealer sells Henry's in Ireland..?

Snakezilla

Lad I had a Henry and it was good for nothing other than the novelty. Useless for vermin or small game hunting. It just wasnt accurate enough. I think I tried absolutely every type of .22 ammo in it ad it shot terrible with everything. Maybe a 3 inch group at 70 yards or less - with scope. It could have been just a bad gun but it was enough to put me off them for life. I believe the Marlin's are supposed to be great !

JimDeChamp

I have heard a lot of good things about the marlin 39a but the one I like seems to be very hard to find.. I have a marlin .17hmr already and it's a lovely rifle..

It wasn't me!

Only lever action .22 I've shot is a BL22 and it was great fun. Decent trigger, light, short and handy. I never shot it for accuracy off a bag or anything but it handled well in various positions.

tac foley

Apart from the rare Browning BLR, your choices are now minimal for a new gun. Henry tend to be hit-and-miss in the quality/accuracy departments - we have a couple in our club - one looks gorgeous and shoots like a 12g, the other is rougher and shoots very well, but nothing exciting.

Marlin and Winchester are now history and latterly Marlin quality went down the tubes. The club secretary's brand-new 357/38 spe has had repeated failures of the loading latch and trigger springs to the point where he can only use it as a single-loader/single shot.

On the other hand, my Model 39A, bought from a local gunstore in 1959, refuses to either die or even lose accuracy, so I'd venture that a second-hand OLD Marlin like this might do the trick for you.

Rossi of Brazil are sold here in the UK, but I don't know of any dealer in RoI, but they have all had a common features - beautiful woodwork [those Brazilian rain forests, y'know], great fit and finish, and great value for money. There are a good few of them sprinkled around our club in numerous calibres from .22 up to .44Mag - rifles and carbines, round and octagonal barrels, blued and stainless.

Look 'em up and see.

tac

PS - I've just been reminded by mrs tac that Uberti also makes an underlever in .22, but it is RARE and costy.

EWQuinn

Henry Rifle Reviews, for what its worth:

http://www.basspro.com/Henry-Lever-Action-22-LR-Rifle/product/10217916/

http://www.gunsandammo.com/reviews/henry-golden-boy-22-long-rifle/

http://www.gunandgame.com/forums/rimfire-rifles/64083-reviews-henry-22-lever-action.html

http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2010/11/don-curton/gn-review-henry-repeating-arms-lever-action-22/

The Browning BL-22 has also been rated well in the ratings I could find, Aussie link below rates various including these 2:

http://www.ssaa.org.au/officialreviews/official-reviews-22-lever-action.html

Research well before you purchase, have fun.

rowa

My first rifle was a marlin 39a and i really liked it, i haven't many on dealers shelves though, might be hard to find one. The browning lever rifles always struck me as higher quality than the rest, nice wood , lovely bluing and very well built. The henrys don't seem too good quality-wise to me. Best bet imho would be the browning.

EWQuinn

One more key point, at risk of stating the obvious, and it may or may not be practical given the lack of availability. If possible you should handle, point and work the action on the rifle in addition to other research.

Of the main types mentioned here, I frankly don't think you would be disappointed in the handling department.

blue5000

Has anyone on here imported a used rifle from UK or USA?

Snakezilla

blue5000 wrote: »

Has anyone on here imported a used rifle from UK or USA?

Im very tempted and would like to know this too. Im looking for a particular .223 , but the dealers that are within reasonable driving distance of me just dont want to know. They only want to shift what they have on the shelves first and Ardee arent importing Tikkas and Milbro wont have Savages in until April.I may have to go about importing one.

juice1304

blue5000 wrote: »

Has anyone on here imported a used rifle from UK or USA?

Yes I have. I bought a rifle in the uk while on holiday. The dealer i bought from couldn't export to ireland so i had to get it shipped to a dealer in the north and then on to me. It was still an easy process.

Mr.Flibble

Any of the legal expurts on here know if the classification of rim fires as restricted on account of magazine capacity applies to lever action rifles, or is it just semi-autos?

Cass

SI 21/2008

4(c)(ii) wrote:

single-shot, repeating or semi-automatic rim-fire firearms designed to fire rim-fire percussion ammunition and with a magazine having a capacity of not more than 10 rounds

So not matter the action type if it's rimfire it cannot have a mag capable of holding more than 10 rounds or it's classed as a restricted firearm.