Plinking Silliness

Gratuitous Gun Pics, The Gun Thing

When you read a “Top 10 Plinking Rifles” article and it finishes with a .50 BMG Barrett monster, you know you’ve just been insulted.  Even the five suggestions before the Barrett offering are just plain silly.

Let me try to rebut this nonsense by offering my suggestions for plinking fun, and each of the rifles I offer up will yield all-day enjoyment.  And no, only people with too much money or lust for reloading should plink with anything other than .22 LR, because regardless of how “cheaply” you can get .223 or 9mm, not much beats the “seven-cent solution” (nowadays, nine cents sigh ) for both cost and time savings.

I’m going to group the guns by action type, to make it simpler, and to limit the guns to those I’ve actually fired myself.

Pump-Action Rifles

Right now I’m going to issue a gunny jihad  against Winchester, Remington and Taurus for discontinuing production of their pump-action .22 rifles. Why?

BECAUSE PUMP-ACTION PLINKING IS MORE FUN THAN ANY OTHER KIND.

There, I’ve said it.

Only Henry gives us any hope for the future, with their charmingly-named (but excellent) H1003:

…and it’s too spendy.  However, if you think that’s $$$pendy, try buying an original Winchester 61/62/62A “gallery” gun.

I want one so badly I’d sell off a body part… wait, I think most of my extraneous body parts have been promised severally to intimate activities involving Nigella, Salma and Carol.  Oh well.

But to wrench myself unwillingly back onto the topic, Taurus deserves an especial Size 12 Army Boot up their corporate ass for ending production of their Model 62 line:

…and, as Loyal Readers know, my little Taurus 62 stainless carbine with 18″ barrel was taken in the Great Gun Theft of 2021.

Now THAT was plinking ecstasy, let alone fun.  Grrr grrrr grrrrr….

 

Semi-Auto Rifles

Not going to argue with the Ruger 10/22, although I’m also partial to the Marlin 60 and Winchester 63 / Taurus clones and the venerable Remington 552 Speedmaster, myself.  If you’re in love with the AR-15 genus (I’m not, especially), then the S&W MP-15 will do just fine.  These are my choices in this group, in no specific order because I love shooting all of them. Stock- and metal type are irrelevant — it’s the action and fun quotient that are important.

Ruger 10/22

Marlin 60

Winchester 63 / Taurus 63 Remington Speedmaster

There are others, like the Mossberg Plinkster, Savage Mark II, Rem Nylon 66 and so on, and all would do just fine.  However, if like me you have crap eyesight, then the 10/22 or Mossberg 702 get the nod because mounting a scope thereon is a no-gunsmith operation:

 

Lever-Action Rifles

Marlin and Winchester (again) are both targets for a gunny jihad, as neither makes lever actions in .22 anymore.  A pox on them.  And once again, Henry comes to our rescue with their “Classic” model.

And considering that Henry claims to have sold over a million of them in the past couple decades, WinMar have no defense under the “But nobody buys them anymore!” excuse.

 

Bolt-Action Rifles

There are so many brands and variants thereof in this category that I couldn’t be bothered listing that many of them. Also, bolt-action .22 rifles are more at home with the “single hole” kind of shooting, as opposed to the “minute of Coke can” activity.  So I’m going to leave off the precision guns like the CZ 457 or Anschutz models, and concentrate on those which can be tossed in the trunk and not cause suicide of the owner when scratched etc.

These are the ones I’ve personally had the most fun / best results with:

Marlin 81TS

…which is essentially a bolt-action version of the semi-auto Model 60.  The Son&Heir has one of these, and using this inexpensive little gun he can compete with many scoped-rifle shooters with expensive rifles.

Savage MkII F

There are hundreds of old, no-longer-made bolt-action .22 rifles (e.g. Marlin 25).  Most people in my age group have a couple of these knocking around, and swear by them — and I’m not going to argue because at the end of the day, plinking is all about FUN.

By the way, if Savage were to bring out their straight-pull Impulse line in .22 LR, I’d be at the head of the buyers’ line — but alas, these seemed to be aimed at the Serious Shooter and not dilettante plinkers like me.

I’m starting to bore myself, so let me wrap this up.

Kim’s Top 5 Plinking Rifles (in order):

  1. Henry pump action (but preferably a Taurus 62, of course)
  2. Ruger 10/22
  3. Winchester 63 / Taurus 63
  4. Marlin 81TS
  5. Mossberg 702

I would humbly suggest that in the “junkyard rat”, “backyard cans” or even “range spinner” scenarios, all the above are supreme.

Your opinions may vary, and I have no doubt that I’ll see those opinions in Comments.

14 comments

  1. It may be soulless black plastic, but my boys love our M&P 15-22. All the functionality of the AR-15, including the top rail if you want/need an optic. And big mags that are easy to load, even for kid sized fingers.

    1. In the same vein, the H&K 416, with a decent red dot, is a blast to shoot and a real ammo burner. I grew up on a Remington 514 my Dad got from Montgomery Ward’s in 1955. Sunday after dinner (lunch, for some of you), we’d head out to the town dump and shoot rats. Shoot til you miss, them pass it on to the next brother.

      Good times.

  2. In the link to the article listed, there was an ad for the Browning SA-22. How in the hell could you not have that on your list? Jeez. Oh right, it’s just barely south of 1 grand. Holy hell.

    Years back (decades, even), I was at a gun show back when it was still a place to find decent bargains and worth going. This particular show had a plethora of pump action gallery guns from all the old time manufacturers. Winchesters, Colts, etc. were selling for big money that day, as in $400 or so in 1980’s dollars for an old and hard used rimfire rifle. I lusted and checked my wallet several times, but it was not to be. Until I reached a table with a very old but excellent condition Savage pump action .22 rimfire. Hell, so old there’s not even a serial number. I think I paid a little under $200 and it’s been my favorite plinker ever since.

    Nota Bene – my wife, who is extremely uncomfortable around guns but coming around (after 27 years of marriage), absolutely fell in love with my 10/22 topped with a red dot scope. Went plinking and she hit everything she could see. For the first time ever at a gun range she had a big smile on her face. Can’t beat that with a stick.

    1. Same with my wife. 10/22
      I built one from scratch last year and my wife was attracted to it and has fired it a few times.

      With the price of ammo what it is, I think of plinking as a .22 game. 4 cents vs 30 cents

      In addition to the Ruger I have a Marlin SS60 and a couple pistols and this coming week I plan to acquire a Henry .22 lever and an 8 shot western style revolver. Just because, and I’ll be paying cash for all of it. Might also get a clint eastwood holster, and a leather rifle saddle-scabbard. Already have plenty of ammo.

  4. I rescued a 1926-made Marlin Model 39 (no bloody “A”) from neglect in a friend’s basement, cleaned it out (broke one screw in the process) and then found it it could not use “high-velocity” .22 LR, but needed vintage “standard velocity” ammo to use without potentially cracking the bolt. My wife loved the thing, but I wasn’t willing to stock ridiculously-priced ammo for that one rifle, or risk running the HV through it, so we donated it to the Gun Museum at the Buffalo Bill center in Cody; you can see it on display in the basement vault. Color case-hardened receiver and stunning burled walnut stock.

    She really missed that rifle, so I replaced it with a Model 39A with the octagon barrel, gold-colored trigger and Microgroove rifling. It’s got the standard open sights, and my eyes now require optics so it’s not my favorite, but whenever we go plinking that’s her go-to .22. She’s a better rifle shot than I am anyway, and she’s shooting 1″ groups at 25 yards when she gets settled in .

    I think that part of the reason that Ruger isn’t making the 39A anymore is just the cost of manufacture. My wife’s is so precisely made that when it’s assembled you can run your finger across the join of the two halves of the receiver and not even feel it. Even with CNC manufacturing that level requires hand-fitting that probably can’t be done economically anymore. I’m just glad we got one when we did.

    P.S.: I use a Ruger 10/22 with a scope on it for my plinking. I can pick which side of a 1″ target to hit at 25 yards; that thing is FAR more accurate than I’m capable of shooting.

  5. My two cents worth: Pump action, I have a Winchester 1906 and just acquired a Winchester 1890. I agree pumps are the most fun. Went shooting with a friend and his grand kids. Several modern .22’s in various actions setting on the table, long line waiting to shoot my old beat up 1906. Lever action, nothing finer than my Henry Frontier with an octagonal barrel. Semi action, 10-22. Millions of people can’t be all wrong. Bolt action, CZ 452 with a mannlicher stock. Now for the bad news, I had a break in where the only thing stolen was a 10 gun safe. In it was my old inherited 1906 promised to my granddaughter. Luckily I had already got a replacement. Also gone my CZ’s a 452 .22 and .17HMR, a 512 .22Mag. and a carbine. Loved those guns. Also hurt, a M1Carbine (had one in Vietnam). Got my 10-22 bull barrel target too. All I can say is OUCH!!!

  6. As long as it works I doubt there is such a thing as a bad .22lr rifle. I have found that 22s are like potato chips or crisps if you are so inclined.

    I sold of a Winchester 9422 because I could never get the thing to shoot.

    My wife’s first rifle was a Ruger 77/22. It was rather pricey at the time but it feels closer to a full sized bolt action rifle than many other available rifles. It’s a great understudy for the Ruger 77 series and it takes 10/22 magazines so there are plenty around.

    Of course then there is the Lee Enfield No 1 Mk III* converted to 22lr laying around

    JQ

  8. Kim, this positively demands a follow up post regarding plinking handguns. (I love my daughter’s Browning Buckmark, so much so I store it in my gun locker for safe keeping. Fortunately she keeps forgetting to retrieve it and take it to her house, and I keep forgetting to remind her).

  10. For a great plinker list, you can’t leave off the Glenfield/Marlin 20 boltie. My son has one from the estate of a deceased uncle (thanks and RIP, Uncle Rick). My uncle received it for his 16th birthday back in the mid-late ’60’s, and it looks like it was made no more than 5 years ago. It takes a 7 round magazine that you can buy from Marlin. Great gun!

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