I have a Ruger 10/22 now, but in reading a new book the author recommends a solid bolt action .22 rifle because it is less likely to break than a semi-auto. I figure .22 rifles are cheap enough that it wouldn't kill me to have a bolt action version.

I am looking for very high quality, black synthetic stock or very nice wood stock with a stainless barrel and of course bolt action. Does anyone have any suggestions of make and model they have that they really like that meets these criteria?

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"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote." - Benjamin Franklin

Ruger 77/22 Ruger® Rotary Magazine 77/22® Bolt-Action Rifle Models
CZ 455 American makes a real nice rifle but I don't know if they are available in stainless. CZ-USA -> CZ 455 American

Thanks, I will check it out. Someone also suggested the Savage Mark II, but I don't know anything about the quality or reliability of Savage, any thoughts?

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"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote." - Benjamin Franklin

Savage makes some pretty good rifles. They are known for out of the box accuracy, they just never really did it for me, so to speak. They just have an air of cheapness to them in my opinion but they have a very loyal following and plenty of people would disagree with me.

I don't know if I'd call it "high quality", but the Savage MKII works really well for me in a practical sense. Instead of a scope I got the tech-sights for it, which make it about as precise as you can get with a .22. I've also found better wood stock sets for it, but didn't think it was worth the extra $.

Here is me running it in a run and gun .22 match... I was running against guys with 10/22's and AR conversions, plus just to show off my zombie skills I went for all headshots. Somehow, I actually did not have the slowest time of the day!



I do agree with the book you are reading, it would be very hard to permanently break anything on this rifle. Breakdown for cleaning leaves you essentially with 2 parts, could not be simpler. But, even though it is a bolt, it can still jam up. Less so than semi-auto's, but in this round I have a magazine related hang up. It's just something that you always need to be prepared to handle.

I got a Savage bolt Mark II and it's really alot of fun and a good shooter !

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One good shot is worth more than alot of misses

I think I am going to set up the bolt action with a scope and use it for small game hunting. My struggle was do I put the scope on the 10/22 and maybe limit how I use that rifle or get the bolt action and put the scope on that and use it for just small game. Decisions, decisions.

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"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote." - Benjamin Franklin

Well, at ~$140, that ol' savage MKII is not really a major investment... Just sayin.

I totally agree. I just wasn't sure about the quality of the Savage, never owned one before, but I am going to go check it out and see what I think.

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"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote." - Benjamin Franklin

It's not a high end .22 match rifle by any means, but it's worth every penny imo. Handle one and see what you think of the construction. The stock is clearly cheaply made, but it is tough and 100% functional.

If I have one complaint, it is the magazines. They're $5 quality mags for $15... But yet again, they still work.

Why worry about the relialiblity of the 10-22, I doubt that you can wear one out in your life time and they are no more prone to problems than any other .22.

I've shot matches with the 10/22 as well:


Much faster, but towards the end of the day everyone gets failure to feed malfunctions if you don't clean the chamber, much more so than the one rogue magazine jam up with the bolt action. For survival purposes, a bolt action has the advantage of being more reliable when dirty, much easier to strip and clean, slightly more accurate, and generally they are lighter.

10/22 is a great gun, don't get me wrong, but it is not the end all .22 for every purpose.