Great forum and have learned a bunch from here in the recent past as I work to set up a new .22.
Have shot .22's my whole life getting my first Marlin Mod 60 in '74 that I got for my birthday one year - still shoots great. It looked pretty bad so a few years ago I stripped it down and painted the stock desert tan, then painted some of the forestock and the handgrip with some dark gray textured paint. Then I added a piece of rail under the front end to add a bipod, put a Nikon ProStaff 22 scope on top and have a great gopher plinker.
Then about 25 years ago I picked up a Marlin 25n for about $99 new, to carry on my ATV and used that with the open sites for ever and a day. Bolt seems to go on for ever, the little metal clip will kill your fingers after a while and the trigger is quite heavy but it always shot well so never put a scope on it - until recently (later for that).
So just a couple of months ago I was visiting my uncle up in Idaho. We ride, hunt and shoot a lot. We happened into a local gun shop and I saw a Bergara BMR steel barrel and checked it out. My 300 WinMag (an anniversary gift from my wife) is a Bergara and I just love it. So, after looking at the BXR and the BMR I said to my Uncle - I haven't had a new .22 in over 25 years, and knowing that the number of guns you should own is N+1, I bought it.
I took it home with the intent to set it up and go back to Idaho shooting with my uncle. He called and said, "Hey there's an NRL22 match down your way, you oughta go shoot it with that gun." I laughed - I told him I don't even have a scope on it, of course he knew I had to have something. With it only a few days away I pulled the UTG 4-16x44 off of my pellet gun and mounted it on the BMR. Sighted it at 50, shot some different ammo to find one that seemed to be consistent and went off to the match. For my first ever I did not zero on any station and just did some ballpark holdover as to not need to dial the scope.
So, now after a new scope (Bushnell Match Pro), a decent bipod (Harris), 4 bags, Atlas cheek rest, throw lever and scope caps from MKM, various ammo runs and a Boyd's AT-One thumbhole stock on the way (need a lot more LOP to shoot comp) I am down the NRL22 rabbit hole trying to do comp shooting with a micro rifle. But it has been fun!!
Loving the rediscovery of rimfire!!!
Have shot .22's my whole life getting my first Marlin Mod 60 in '74 that I got for my birthday one year - still shoots great. It looked pretty bad so a few years ago I stripped it down and painted the stock desert tan, then painted some of the forestock and the handgrip with some dark gray textured paint. Then I added a piece of rail under the front end to add a bipod, put a Nikon ProStaff 22 scope on top and have a great gopher plinker.
Then about 25 years ago I picked up a Marlin 25n for about $99 new, to carry on my ATV and used that with the open sites for ever and a day. Bolt seems to go on for ever, the little metal clip will kill your fingers after a while and the trigger is quite heavy but it always shot well so never put a scope on it - until recently (later for that).
So just a couple of months ago I was visiting my uncle up in Idaho. We ride, hunt and shoot a lot. We happened into a local gun shop and I saw a Bergara BMR steel barrel and checked it out. My 300 WinMag (an anniversary gift from my wife) is a Bergara and I just love it. So, after looking at the BXR and the BMR I said to my Uncle - I haven't had a new .22 in over 25 years, and knowing that the number of guns you should own is N+1, I bought it.
I took it home with the intent to set it up and go back to Idaho shooting with my uncle. He called and said, "Hey there's an NRL22 match down your way, you oughta go shoot it with that gun." I laughed - I told him I don't even have a scope on it, of course he knew I had to have something. With it only a few days away I pulled the UTG 4-16x44 off of my pellet gun and mounted it on the BMR. Sighted it at 50, shot some different ammo to find one that seemed to be consistent and went off to the match. For my first ever I did not zero on any station and just did some ballpark holdover as to not need to dial the scope.
So, now after a new scope (Bushnell Match Pro), a decent bipod (Harris), 4 bags, Atlas cheek rest, throw lever and scope caps from MKM, various ammo runs and a Boyd's AT-One thumbhole stock on the way (need a lot more LOP to shoot comp) I am down the NRL22 rabbit hole trying to do comp shooting with a micro rifle. But it has been fun!!
Loving the rediscovery of rimfire!!!
