A little back story-
One of my best friends passed away at only 33yrs old two weeks ago- I served with him in Iraq. He leaves five kids, aged 6mo to 14. One special needs. They were not all that well off financially, and he was disabled. My friend dealt with considerable PTSD both from service and from childhood. That lead to substance abuse problems... which lead to him losing his gun rights. Anyway, he loved shooting; I got him interested in LR shooting, and he dreamed of shooting with his friends, and his sons joining us, etc etc. That was unfortunately, not possible due to his firearms prohibition, and to a lesser degree, his financial situation.
Well, I don't have any kids (yet), but if I did, I'd hope very much, that my friends would take them under their wing, and teach them to shoot... and the ones I served with, help them to understand who I was, in that part of my life.
So, there lays the basis for my question....
I'm looking for a good bolt action .22LR trainer to get things kicked off. Ultimately, I'll be financing the shooting activities for these boys, for the foreseeable future, so I don't think a CZ is an option on the table here. We're more in the Savage and Ruger ballpark, mainly because, I'm going to need to purchase a 6mm in the spring if the oldest two boys decide to get serious about this (I run .300WM, and also have .308's... but for the second oldest, both are going to be too much; not to mention, the .308 ballistics being poor); it makes more sense to save a little on the .22.
So anyway, any suggestions on what route to go with this? I'm looking for a threaded barrel from the factory so I can toss one of my rimfire cans on it.
***Is the Ruger American Rimfire Target ($380) worth the extra cash over the Savage B22 FV-SR ($280) or MkII FV-SR ($220)?
***Speaking of the Savage options, is the B22 actually a better option than the tried and true MkII??
***Which rifle has more accessories or stock options out there???
***Which has the better trigger from the factory?
***Which has a better after market trigger option?
***Which has shown better accuracy?
***Are there other sub $400 options out there (worth discussing) that I've missed?
Any suggestions on optics? I can get mil-discount from Bushnell, Burris, and Vortex. I'm not looking for BDC .22 reticles. I want them to be able to learn the concept of holds and dialing. But I'm also not going to drop $1000 on an optic for a .22 trainer that costs under $500.
I don't own any .22 trainers, so this is all new to me. Serious .22 accuracy has never been something I've looked into. .22 has always just been a fun "toy".
Thanks guys!
One of my best friends passed away at only 33yrs old two weeks ago- I served with him in Iraq. He leaves five kids, aged 6mo to 14. One special needs. They were not all that well off financially, and he was disabled. My friend dealt with considerable PTSD both from service and from childhood. That lead to substance abuse problems... which lead to him losing his gun rights. Anyway, he loved shooting; I got him interested in LR shooting, and he dreamed of shooting with his friends, and his sons joining us, etc etc. That was unfortunately, not possible due to his firearms prohibition, and to a lesser degree, his financial situation.
Well, I don't have any kids (yet), but if I did, I'd hope very much, that my friends would take them under their wing, and teach them to shoot... and the ones I served with, help them to understand who I was, in that part of my life.
So, there lays the basis for my question....
I'm looking for a good bolt action .22LR trainer to get things kicked off. Ultimately, I'll be financing the shooting activities for these boys, for the foreseeable future, so I don't think a CZ is an option on the table here. We're more in the Savage and Ruger ballpark, mainly because, I'm going to need to purchase a 6mm in the spring if the oldest two boys decide to get serious about this (I run .300WM, and also have .308's... but for the second oldest, both are going to be too much; not to mention, the .308 ballistics being poor); it makes more sense to save a little on the .22.
So anyway, any suggestions on what route to go with this? I'm looking for a threaded barrel from the factory so I can toss one of my rimfire cans on it.
***Is the Ruger American Rimfire Target ($380) worth the extra cash over the Savage B22 FV-SR ($280) or MkII FV-SR ($220)?
***Speaking of the Savage options, is the B22 actually a better option than the tried and true MkII??
***Which rifle has more accessories or stock options out there???
***Which has the better trigger from the factory?
***Which has a better after market trigger option?
***Which has shown better accuracy?
***Are there other sub $400 options out there (worth discussing) that I've missed?
Any suggestions on optics? I can get mil-discount from Bushnell, Burris, and Vortex. I'm not looking for BDC .22 reticles. I want them to be able to learn the concept of holds and dialing. But I'm also not going to drop $1000 on an optic for a .22 trainer that costs under $500.
I don't own any .22 trainers, so this is all new to me. Serious .22 accuracy has never been something I've looked into. .22 has always just been a fun "toy".
Thanks guys!