The Gun Digest Book of .22 Rimfire. James E. House

so-called Assault Rifle Ban that was introduced in 1994 has just expired. That Act was placed in force in no small measure because of the image of certain firearms. Never mind that the vast majority of such firearms were never used in criminal acts. Note that the news report described above used the word “weapon” as a descriptor for air rifles, paintball pistols, and BB guns. The first step in getting people on your side of an issue is to generate an image. In this case, the image of a “weapon” is being transferred to even BB guns and the paintball pistols used in a type of game or sport but not as weapons.

      The Thompson/Center Classic is shipped with a red flag that is attached to a plastic plug that inserts into the chamber.

      Another word that is used frequently in many shooting publications is the word “tactical.” We read about tactical pistols, tactical flashlights, tactical knives, and tactical scopes. What sort of tactics? Squirrel hunting? Shooting groups to test accuracy? Shooting pop cans and pine cones? Tactical is the adjective form of the word “tactics” which my dictionary defines in one way as the science of maneuvering forces in combat. No wonder a nonshooter seeing a magazine that has listed the contents on the cover as articles on “tactical pistols” or “tactical knives” might think that the readers of such a magazine are (or want to be) members of some paramilitary group. There is nothing wrong with any of these “tactical” items, but they are not part of recreational or practice shooting unless the participant is training for tactics of a different sort.

      Just as this is being written, the December 2004 issue of The American Rifleman arrived. It had a short story about an auction on eBay that had been pulled because the item being offered was believed to be related to assault weapons. It seems that the person whose item was for sale had used the descriptors “sniper” and “tactical” in reference to the item. It turned out that the item was a composite stock for a version of the popular bolt-action Remington Model 700 rifle that is sometimes referred to as a “tactical rifle.” Someone associated with eBay believed that somehow the stock was for an assault rifle and it seems that the policy is not to offer for sale on eBay anything that is associated with such firearms. Had the words tactical and sniper terms not appeared in the ad, the item would have been just as legitimate as the stock that I bought on eBay for my Ruger 77/17 that is described elsewhere in this book. In view of what took place in the Washington, DC area in the recent past, it is probably best to avoid the use of the word “sniper” in sport shooting circles. Image may not be everything, but it obviously important to those who are not knowledgeable about shooting sports.

      We who love (a word that is appropriate for this author who has used rimfire rifles for 60 years) sport shooting can help give a positive image to the shooting sports. The “study” cited above did not mention the fine work done by Daisy Outdoor Products in conducting the National BB Gun Competition because the intent was to emphasize how “dangerous“ airguns are. Shooting sports in the Olympics are virtually never even mentioned in the TV coverage. We cannot expect balanced coverage of our sports in the mainstream media. A great deal of what is written in this section shows the personality, interest, and concerns of the writer. Almost all writing always does. It remains, however, that we can go a long way toward preserving the shooting sports by the image we present. In this book, the intent is going to be to present an image of shooting as a skill, a sport, and a science to be enjoyed safely by an enormous number of people.

Chapter 3 THE RIMFIRE RIFLES

      This book was written to serve as a user’s guide to rimfire rifles and pistols. Some readers are perhaps old hands in the rimfire game, but others may be newcomers. If you are a member of the former group, you may already have rimfire firearms and need this chapter only for reference. If you are a member of the latter group, this chapter will give you some insight into the factors to consider when you start evaluating the enormous number of rimfire firearms that are available in order to select the equipment for your own use or perhaps for use by another member of your family.

      To operate a bolt-action, the handle must be lifted and the bolt withdrawn then pushed forward. Shown here is the famous Anschutz Model 64 action.

      A pump-action like this Winchester Model 90 can be operated very quickly since only motion backward and forward is required.

      Operating a lever-action like this Henry requires the lever to be pulled downward then raised in order to cycle the action.

      Before you select a rimfire firearm, it is necessary to decide what you intend to do with it. It is not unreasonable for a rimfire shooter who is buying a new rifle for serious varmint hunting or competition to spend a great deal of money. For these shooters, equipment at the cutting edge of performance is worth the investment. The rifles and pistols in this category are not made by the millions as are some of the low-end models. By the same token, it is not necessary to spend a great deal of money if all you are going to do is to take a youngster out to hunt squirrels or shoot pop cans. Rifles that perform well enough for this type of shooting do not cost a great deal of money.

      In this chapter, a survey of the different types of rifles will be presented to give a general introduction to the rimfire field. Rifles are available with lever, pump, bolt, single-shot, and semiautomatic types of actions. Within certain limits, rifles having any of these types of actions may meet the performance requirements for the intended uses. However, you are not likely to find many lever-action or pump rifles that deliver tack-driving accuracy, but there are exceptions. Target rifles generally have boltactions although there are some very accurate semiautomatics. One of the first decisions to be made is that of the caliber of the rimfire rifle to be chosen. For many years, the only choice was 22 LR, but that is not the case today.

Types of Actions

      In order to fire a series of shots, some means must be available for reloading. The empty case must be removed and a loaded round placed in the chamber for the next shot. Sounds elementary, doesn’t it? In principle it is, but how it is done often involves some sophisticated engineering and the fabrication of intricate mechanisms. As with most forms of human endeavor, approaches to solving the problem have been many and varied. Some of the earliest breech loading rifles had some sort of block that moved upward behind the cartridge to hold it in place and at the same time placed the firing pin directly between the cartridge and the hammer. The hammer could be drawn back so that the sear engaged a notch to hold it in place. When the trigger was pulled, the sear disengaged letting the spring-driven hammer go forward to strike the firing pin that in turn struck the primer and fired the shot.

      The Ruger 10/22 autoloader requires only pulling the trigger to fire successive shots.

      Most of the single-shot rifles that incorporate a moving locking block (either falling block or rolling block) have long since disappeared from the marketplace. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, there were numerous models of such rimfire rifles that were generally of a small-scale design. Replacing them were single-shot bolt-actions in which the bolt handle could be lifted out of its retaining notch and drawn back to open the chamber with the extractor pulling out the empty case. After a cartridge was placed in the chamber, pushing the bolt forward and turning the handle down into its locking notch closed the action. In some models, a cam moved the firing pin back to cock the action as the action was opened while in others the firing pin was held back by the sear as the action was closed. The first type is known as “cocks-on-opening” while the other is the “cocks-on-closing” type. In still other rifles, neither opening nor closing the bolt cocked the rifle. That was done after the action was closed by pulling back on a knob at the rear end of the bolt (the cocking piece).

      Because