Birthday coming up, need advice on new .22 mag rifle

[1mlt]

YUP, gonna hit the magic 70 on Oct 30. Anyway ...

A good friend of mine offered to buy me a rifle for my birthday. We have been discussing the .22 mag stuff for a while and I commented I would love to have a Henry Big Boy level action in 22. WMR. He says, "sure, it's your birthday, why not?" A gun shop near me has a couple for 450.00ish.

My question is,

is there a better choice in 22 WMR? Semi vs lever, don't want a bolt action, capacity, finish, reliability, cost, etc. I'm looking for options. What say you guys?

Marcus

[Greasemonkey]

If you go with 22WMR, steer away from semis, go either bolt or lever. One semi I might consider in WMR is the Marlin Camp 922m, it's built like it's bigger brothers the Camp 9 and Camp 45, but I have the big brothers already, I just need the little brother.

Also, while an avid Henry fan, take a look at Uberti and Rossi levers also, they seem to do pretty good here, I've seen quite a few out on the range and even in the woods. The ones I peeked at in the local shops look pretty well made, are smoother than a Marlin I have and seem to be fitted well, they have really up'ed their game in recent years. Most shops here, have either of the 3 or all 3 in stock, Henry, Uberti and Rossi, the rest(Marington, Remlin and Winchester) are usually special order only. I have heard Uberti has pretty decent customer service, my only experience to back that statement is I had no issues getting a rear cylinder plate swapped on a revolver I have. I sent them the failed part, had the replacement in 4 days.
 
The whole Cerberus Capital Management group(Marlin/Remington/Tapco/Bushmaster/plus others), yeah...I'm finicky, I veer away from, I don't want a half breed Remlin or a Marington rifle. After my Marlin 1894 jacked it's self up(made after the whole buy up and cram everyone together), and I sent it in, it came back just as, if not more junky, there ain't no customer service there, no pride, just junk. I took the 1894 to a guy over the mountain, he fixed it for a case of beer and a 20 buck part. If I am going for a Marlin, I will wait till one with a JM stamped barrel comes around, I would like another H&R or two, but their sorry butts got rid of them too.

[armedhippie]

70 is definitely worthy of a fine firearm.  Great to have a friend thinking of you that much as well.

I know next to nothing on .22 wmr or lever guns but I would be grinning ear to ear to have a Henry Big Boy in .22 WMR and in the $450 ish range as well? Yeah buddy, sounds like a great birthday to me. 

Like GM said around these parts, Rossi's are thought well of ( unless you talk to the old school collectors of old lever actions, who look down their nose at 'em) 1 day I will have a Rossi 92 in .357/.38 spl.

Early birthday wishes man, Congrats.

[Greasemonkey]

Also.. while it's not a big deal, I mean given how many exist, function flawlessly, eat round after round, and they honor the Lifetime warranty, the Henry rimfires aren't quite built exactly the same as their larger center fire rifle counterparts.

The rimfire receivers are made from a zinc alloy, called Zamak, on the Golden Boy, it's plated, unlike the the Golden Boy .44 Mag I have thats solid. The rimfires don't see the pressures the centerfire ones do, even the 22 WMR can't offer the same abuse as full tilt .357 or .44 Mag can offer, they just found another way, a more cost effective way.

Again, it's not a big deal, they have perfected what they offer, honor what they make and sell, been this way for years, it was just one of those eyebrow raising moments when I found out.

[Dannyboy53]

Happy early Birthday Marcus! (danged you're getting to be an old fart!) I can't comment of any of the other lever guns or the rim fire  magnum however I have a Henry H001 .22 LR I bought in 2002 and it has been a gem. Very dependable, smooth as silk and a very accurate .22 rim fire for it's class.