Advise me on .22LR take-down rifles

[PDXbiker]

Had an AR-7 and Ruger 10/22 takedown. Still have the better gun which was the Ruger and sold the AR-7.

 

[solv3nt]

I'd love to have a 62A in my collection...so you actually have me beat there....
Andy

You're just looking to add a gun that's younger than you

 

[bivy53]

The older Remington models 24 / 241 and the Browning version of the same , work well.
Andy

I have a 241 from 1937 and a model 12 from 1930. Tack drivers, both of them.

 

[Diamondback]

Keep meaning to talk to Velzey about building a take down/switch barrel bolty in 5.56/300 B.O. kinda like the old M-4 Survival rifle, but in a easier to find or load caliber(s)!

Take a look at the 12.5" GAU-5 URG from Midwest, shouldn't take too much to swap in a .300BLK barrel.

EDIT: N/M, you mean a bolt-action not a semiauto.

 

[Vorpalis]

Thanks for all the advice!
I am considering a .22 AR-compatible upper, probably built with CMMG parts. (Side question: does anyone know what CMMG's .22ARC is? Is that a cartridge? I couldn't find any info via Google).

However, I'm leaning towards a 10/22. Is a Ruger-made one good enough, or should I build off an aftermarket receiver? And if aftermarket, who makes the better ones?

Thanks!

 

[Hueco]

View attachment 1017515

Completely forgot about the Charger in a PMACA as an option. Man, that is tiny...use a foldable or collapsible stock or under folder style like an AK and it'll be tiny indeed...Perhaps the same size or smaller than just the stock portion of the Magpul Backpacker.

 

[titsonritz]

(Side question: does anyone know what CMMG's .22ARC is? Is that a cartridge? I couldn't find any info via Google).

AR conversion
https://www.primaryarms.com/cmmg-22arc-chamber-adapter-assembly
https://www.primaryarms.com/cmmg-22lr-dedicated-arc-bolt-group-for-ar-15

 

[Knobgoblin]

Thanks for all the advice!
I am considering a .22 AR-compatible upper, probably built with CMMG parts. (Side question: does anyone know what CMMG's .22ARC is? Is that a cartridge? I couldn't find any info via Google).

However, I'm leaning towards a 10/22. Is a Ruger-made one good enough, or should I build off an aftermarket receiver? And if aftermarket, who makes the better ones?

Thanks!

Brownells 10/22 receivers are pretty nice in that you can clean breach to muzzle without removing the barrel.

This means absolutely nothing when you're talking about the takedown version, however.

The Brownells is fun in that you have to chase down all the parts you want. Even a lowly 22 can get expensive if you scratch build the whole thing.

Having owned both the AR7 and Marlin papoose, I would not recommend either unless weight and space are top priorities.
Marlin will always have my undying fanboy love. But the papoose might as well be a pistol

 

[Member 34319]

Thanks for all the advice!
I am considering a .22 AR-compatible upper, probably built with CMMG parts. (Side question: does anyone know what CMMG's .22ARC is? Is that a cartridge? I couldn't find any info via Google).

However, I'm leaning towards a 10/22. Is a Ruger-made one good enough, or should I build off an aftermarket receiver? And if aftermarket, who makes the better ones?

Thanks!

You can easily buy the 10-22 and swap every single part on it later as if you started from a receiver by an aftermarket company.

Id say just buy an original the 1st go around. By the time you are on your nineteenth 10-22 you'll be building them from nice receivers.

22 ARC by CMMG is just a conversion device that goes into a 223/556 barrels chamber to use 22lr bolts. So that you can shoot 22lr out of your AR15 without a dedicated 22lr barrel. Only issue is most ARs have 1-7 to 1-9 twist rates, common 22lr barrels are 1-16 twist. So the bullets will spin too fast and behave pretty erratically. Great for cheap practice, not so much for great accuracy.

 

[Member 34319]

Completely forgot about the Charger in a PMACA as an option. Man, that is tiny...use a foldable or collapsible stock or under folder style like an AK and it'll be tiny indeed...Perhaps the same size or smaller than just the stock portion of the Magpul Backpacker.

Just the original and some sort of folder is a small option.

 

[Vorpalis]

AR conversion
https://www.primaryarms.com/cmmg-22arc-chamber-adapter-assembly
https://www.primaryarms.com/cmmg-22lr-dedicated-arc-bolt-group-for-ar-15

Thanks! I think I'm figuring it out. CMMG's website could really use better descriptions. They list both .22LR and .22ARC parts side-by-side that appear similar if not the same, and the descriptions don't really help. I even emailed them asking, but got no response.

 

[91A PE]

The Ruger 10/22 TD is just like that super hot girl when you were single. You're going to take her out a lot. You're going to spend a lot of money to make things special. But in the end, she just won't perform the way you want.

Joking aside. I built 2 of these for the kids and would not do it again. Right out if the box the stock, barrel, trigger, sights, and bolt release are no good and need to be replaced. At this point, why but a factory Ruger TD, when you're already in Tactical Solutions and Volquartsen territory? TDs are like scout rifles. You get enamored with the idea, but $$$$ later you realize you can't make bad compromises work.

 

[Vorpalis]

The Ruger 10/22 TD is just like that super hot girl when you were single. You're going to take her out a lot. You're going to spend a lot of money to make things special. But in the end, she just won't perform the way you want.

Joking aside. I built 2 of these for the kids and would not do it again. Right out if the box the stock, barrel, trigger, sights, and bolt release are no good and need to be replaced. At this point, why but a factory Ruger TD, when you're already in Tactical Solutions and Volquartsen territory? TDs are like scout rifles. You get enamored with the idea, but $$$$ later you realize you can't make bad compromises work.

What would you prefer instead of a takedown?

 

[Knobgoblin]

^^^^^^^^^
What are your top 3 criteria?
Weight?
Reliable function?
Accuracy?
OAL ; stowed / deployed/ both?
Mag capacity? Mag / parts availability?

 

[Member 34319]

What would you prefer instead of a takedown?

What is the purpose for the rifle? That's an important detail to make recommendations off of.

Ive found plinking enjoyment with a fairly plain 10-22 and a binary trigger. It satisfies my range visits, steel plinking, and it's reliable and fairly accurate though it only has a micro red dot for a sight.

 

[Longwalkhome]

The Henry AR7 is a good takedown rifle and it runs great once you learn how to run it. Right velocity ammo and lubrication where it's needed and the gun functions great. It has another plus the rest of the guns don't have, it stays clean stored in the butt stock. All the rest of the guns need a case to stay clean.

 

[Knobgoblin]

The Henry AR7 is a good takedown rifle and it runs great once you learn how to run it. Right velocity ammo and lubrication where it's needed and the gun functions great. It has another plus the rest of the guns don't have, it stays clean stored in the butt stock. All the rest of the guns need a case to stay clean.

I have one, and have shot it enough to not really like it. The trigger is my biggest gripe. Stiff as middle school morning wood. It's still a keeper, just not on the list of "fun" shooting guns.

 

[baker3gun]

Echoing Andy, but at Ruger...

If you buy a Ruger 10-22 and loosen 1 screw, it comes apart into a stock piece and a receiver/barrel piece.
Especially with iron sights, this is a pretty small bundle.

I've owned and seen .22 survival takedowns that were actually smaller,
but they were only like 2" smaller, and nowhere near as accurate or reliable as a tuned-up 10-22.

2 cents.

 

[Spitpatch]

Having made the decision (or not yet it seems?) to acquire a takedown .22 (for whatever purpose), you need to decide whether or not you are EVER going to consider putting a scope on it.

The issue here is that with a few exceptions, the takedown offerings have their optics mounting locations (be it a 3/8 dovetail or screw holes for a base) on the receiver. Your careful sighting-in session is only valid for the time period the gun remains assembled. Take it down, put it back together and chances are greater than not, a different point of impact will result.

Ruger claimed to have this whipped with their "locking ring". Honestly critical objective tests showed otherwise. One of the early U-Tubers that was enthusiastic about the gun artfully dodged a true test of disassembly and repeatability, still claiming to have "put it through its paces".

Of course, iron sights (buckhorn and bead) both mounted to the barrel (that stay with the barrel in take-down mode) suffer no such inconsistency.

I believe the current version of the AR7 actually has a peep on the receiver. The consistency/repeatability problem waiting to erupt again. My greatest complaint with that gun, however, is that the new version abandoned the design's BEST feature. The original version of the gun (assembled or taken down into its buttstock) FLOATED! Paint that baby orange and you could use it for a crab trap marker. The fabric case of the Marlin Papoose was promoted to have enough buoyancy to float with the gun inside.

The Marlin 39A does indeed takedown, as does the Winchester 62 in much the same fashion, but I would put them in a separate category I might call "break down" guns, with the distinction being when they are in two pieces, critical elements of the action are open, vulnerable, and require serious protection during the period of disassembly.

The Browning Automatic .22 solved the repeatability of optics problem by offering a "Cantilever Mount" which amounted (pun intended) to a "flyover bridge", with the attachment screws on the barrel, and a 3/8 dovetail rail extending rearward over the receiver. The scope and mount travel WITH THE BARREL in disassembly, thus requiring no sight-in when reassembled.

 

[Knobgoblin]

Echoing Andy, but at Ruger...

If you buy a Ruger 10-22 and loosen 1 screw, it comes apart into a stock piece and a receiver/barrel piece.
Especially with iron sights, this is a pretty small bundle.

I've owned and seen .22 survival takedowns that were actually smaller,
but they were only like 2" smaller, and nowhere near as accurate or reliable as a tuned-up 10-22.

2 cents.

Don't do that with replacing the pins with Tandemkross upgrades. And a nylon bolt buffer too.
Losing ruger assembly pins is inevitable in the best of circumstances.