SKS-FILES FORUM

Rimfire Weapons => Rimfire Weapons => Commercial Rimfire => Topic started by: Justin Hell on June 06, 2018, 12:52:45 AM

Title: Savage A22 22 WMR
Post by: Justin Hell on June 06, 2018, 12:52:45 AM
I've been kicking around the idea of getting the kid another 22 and as discussed in another thread many options were thrown my way...many of which I went out seeking today.

I stopped in at a ma and pa shop I frequent first, and looked around for something old/milsurpy/cheap that might suit the bill...most were collectibles and way out of my range, but I came across this one, and impulse bought. A little research and I think I may have hit it out of the park.


(https://preview.ibb.co/nJDkCo/CIMG1212.jpg) (https://ibb.co/kbAXso)

A 22 magnum has been kind of on the radar, and I barely researched them at all before stumbling on what seemed like a good price, and like new for the most part, although it certainly could use a cleaning from the grime on the bolt. Two of the three original stickers are even still present. The stock only has the slightest bit of wear possibly from just a case or rack...or maybe someone who shoots with that finger pronged olympic stance?

I know Savage was a good company, but like many others have fallen into ill reputation like many other manufacturers have over the recent years.  The rifle retails for around $400 it turns out, and the two zip code scope which initially nearly caused me not even pick it up turns out to be a Sightron SII 624x40...also retailing around $400  :o

I got it for $250 OTD.  8)

I haven't had a chance to fire it yet, or wrap my head around all the features of the scope for that matter, it may need some eye relief adjustment.  There is only a slight bit of rub on the windage cover...otherwise, it also appears new.

Better news is, the kid didn't really want it for her birthday...but the wife already loved it.  When I told her how we made out like bandits in the value department...we both are glad to keep it ourselves...the kid can get a bike or something.

Apparently these followed shortly with the very successful 17HMR semiauto offering a few years ago, and these also have a round designed in tandem with the design of this gun...from YouTube vids, it seems to perform quite well with both this, and the CZ 512.  I didn't know this and picked up some Winchester 40 grain that also seemed to perform well with this rifle.  Proof is in the pudding...hopefully tomorrow I will be as delighted as I am at the moment. :)

Apologies for the pic and lack of even being able to pluralize that...I am a little green with a new to me camera, and it does not seem to like artificial lighting...hopefully more tomorrow, although this being so new, they are all over the internet anyway.
Title: Re: Savage A22 22 WMR
Post by: Greasemonkey on June 06, 2018, 01:04:49 AM
Congrats..  nice bonus with the scope thumb1. Glad I enabled you a little chuckles1 Sorry the kid didn't like it, but hey.. the boss liked it so, that's a win-win right thar  thumb1

Speaking of the Cz512, I posted one in 22WMR a while back, only tried a hand full of shells through it so far... fricken working outta state on and off and only home it seems when it's raining, it sucks...  And the 17HMR is another round I really enjoy. thumb1
Title: Re: Savage A22 22 WMR
Post by: Phosphorus32 on June 06, 2018, 07:57:29 AM
Great snag JH, quite the package deal! thumb1

I hear good things about .22WMR but that’s a rimfire caliber I don’t have.
Title: Re: Savage A22 22 WMR
Post by: running-man on June 06, 2018, 10:08:06 AM
Wow, talk about an impulse buy!!  These two were barely getting started in the enabling dept. and you've already brought one home!  chuckles1
Nice pickup Justin, might as well be NIB.  I'm sure she'll shoot as good as she looks!

I've got a Savage 111L in .223 that I picked up for a song back in '98, it's a tack driver:

(https://image.ibb.co/mdOEOT/IMG_1689.jpg)
Title: Re: Savage A22 22 WMR
Post by: Justin Hell on June 06, 2018, 03:11:23 PM
First test run...mags are a little tricky to load, as per reviews...no where near as bad as folks made it sound. Just a little wonkier than loading a 10/22 mag.

First round, click...bang....stovepipe
Second round click...bang....FTE
Third round FTF....
Fourth round FTE
Fifth round stovepipe

I would continue on...but it it didn't get better.
I couldn't hit a beer can at 25 yards.  I was free standing on an incline though...and the scope could use some eye relief adjustment...so between all the fun under the hood...and trying to just get a decent enough sight picture with the scope that wasn't where my eyes would have liked it...I chalk most of the ineptness and being able to harm the can to either a maladjusted scope...or my shooting an unreliable gun with a HAIR trigger....these are adjustable, and it seems as if they have this set for mosquitoes.

A couple of the brass had typical rimfire strikes....but the majority were VERY light strikes.

Based on the like new condition, and the general filth seen in the sunlight in the action...I think some stupid college kid got this for Christmas....blew through a few hundred rounds without ever cleaning it....and probably consigned when it started messing up.  Hopefully he/she is done with guns forever.  ::)

I am gonna give her a Hoppes enema and rotorootering....clean out the chamber, and do the general cleaning and retry....nothing could be this bad.

I am gonna make a run to town and try clean her up and give her another outing in a few hours...crossing fingers that I can get to that today and see what happens...

Hopefully I can return and get to replies and maybe some pics....and not a sob story.
Title: Re: Savage A22 22 WMR
Post by: Phosphorus32 on June 06, 2018, 04:22:28 PM
Sounds like typical troubles with a filthy rimfire semi-auto. With not much energy and light springs they can be finicky if not cleaned and lighltly lubed. I bet the cleaning will do it unless the firing pin has been badly damaged from some previous owner dry-firing their rimfire a lot  bat1
Title: Re: Savage A22 22 WMR
Post by: Greasemonkey on June 06, 2018, 05:32:54 PM
And like any rimfire, they each have favorite ammo. They are not all equal, what works perfect in one, may not another.  I was running CCI 22mag through my Cz512 with no issues, my Marlin 922 is not fond of it, but likes Remington with the green tip.
Title: Re: Savage A22 22 WMR
Post by: carls sks on June 06, 2018, 06:51:37 PM
hope a good cleaning will do the trick.  thumb1
Title: Re: Savage A22 22 WMR
Post by: running-man on June 08, 2018, 02:20:13 PM
How did she do after a good cleaning?  Would hate it if you got yourself a jam-o-matic.  I hear .22WMR is a fun round to shoot.
Title: Re: Savage A22 22 WMR
Post by: RatedZ on June 08, 2018, 02:35:00 PM
I was gonna say if I'd seen this earlier I'd let you know those guns are super ammo picky, and even with the cci a22 ammo made specifically for that gun you will still have jams occasionally.

Try to find some of the A22 ammo for it, manf #963CC

Title: Re: Savage A22 22 WMR
Post by: Justin Hell on June 11, 2018, 01:21:58 PM
Everything has been hampered by not having the right torx bit to remove the scope, to remove the action cover...to break it down.  That, and a little weather that got in the way of the last day of school camping trip...which essentially stopped me from getting to Harbor Freight for a new set of torx. If we don't have our ducks precisely lined up before the wife disappears for four days as a ranger...things get a little delayed.

I did hear about the A22 ammo...and will hunt down some as it seems to be quite a bit better for any semi magnum. The soft points on the Winchester I do have seem to possibly have something to do with it...but if I can get her cleaned up I think it will make a difference...it almost seems like it could use a slight reaming to the bore, the edges are quite sharp. I think the soft points might be grabbing it when it tries to feed. There seems to be quite a bit more friction than should be when charging it...which probably is a bit of an issue when it tries to be semi auto.

I have been tempted in the absence of the dang tool to just give her a blast of Rem oil and try cycle the action to shake the crud loose...but I have been a good boy and will await a full teardown before wasting anymore ammo. If these come from the factory packed in a little heavy grease that should be cleaned off...there is a strong possibility it wasn't cleaned before the previous owner shot/shat a brick through it. At the very least...they were a little over exuberant with lubrication.

The gopher population is getting out of hand...hopefully soon the vermin will be brought to justice.
Title: Re: Savage A22 22 WMR
Post by: running-man on June 11, 2018, 03:12:42 PM
Dang, do your gophers ever stick their heads out long enough for you to take a shot?  Down here in the high desert they stay underground almost exclusively.  The only two times I've seen gophers above the surface was when I was irrigating and they were flushed out of their holes because of the water.  Both times I was able to walk right up to them and dispatch them with a shovel before they knew what was going on.  I've been trapping them at my place since '04 as their holes can cause bigtime damage to my berms if left unchecked.  I've got 30 tails in the freezer from this season and have turned in many 100s of them over past seasons.  The most I ever had was 168 tails in a single season.  You'll never eradicate them, you can only hope to slow them down a little.  The irrigation district here has a $3 bounty per tail.  Gopher holes usually cause one incident a year where a house floods and it becomes a story the local paper. 

These things are worth their weight in gold by the way:
(https://preview.ibb.co/j0P57o/70085_lrg.jpg) (https://ibb.co/dq2sno)
Title: Re: Savage A22 22 WMR
Post by: Greasemonkey on June 11, 2018, 03:41:24 PM
Dang, do your gophers ever stick their heads out long enough for you to take a shot?  Down here in the high desert they stay underground almost exclusively.  The only two times I've seen gophers above the surface was when I was irrigating and they were flushed out of their holes because of the water.  Both times I was able to walk right up to them and dispatch them with a shovel before they knew what was going on.  I've been trapping them at my place since '04 as their holes can cause bigtime damage to my berms if left unchecked.  I've got 30 tails in the freezer from this season and have turned in many 100s of them over past seasons.  The most I ever had was 168 tails in a single season.  You'll never eradicate them, you can only hope to slow them down a little.  The irrigation district here has a $3 bounty per tail.  Gopher holes usually cause one incident a year where a house floods and it becomes a story the local paper. 

We had a county bounty on coyotes a few years ago.. $5 bucks per head or tail up too a $500 max per calendar year for county residents.. the county paid for quiet a few weapons in my collection  banana time They quit the bounty after a while.... cry1 came down to raise county taxes or quit the bounty, guess them useless bastard mutts cost'em too much chuckles1   There is a year round open season on them... the unwritten county rule... terminate with extreme prejudice bat1 thumb1
Title: Re: Savage A22 22 WMR
Post by: Justin Hell on June 11, 2018, 09:25:39 PM
our gophers are as dumb as a box of rocks from the mountains they live within....it's like they are either comin' right for us...or just asking for it.

Wife and child do not condone the culling of these forest vermin though...vegetarians...go figure.

If the wife ever complains about PAYING for targets I will have to reprimand her.

Seriously, our gophers are too dumb to have made it this far...the only thing they have going for them is they are cuter than ticks....I am gonna have to get a 17HMR for ticks though.....problem with tick hunting is that they vaporize if you hit them....wait...that isn't really a problem.  I detest ticks.
Title: Re: Savage A22 22 WMR
Post by: Justin Hell on June 11, 2018, 09:36:00 PM
I would have a hard time with coyotes though...I have three huskies and a malamute. They are a little close to home.
I actually used to sell gophers at the local Petland in the mall....but that was a completely different life. Mall chicks were cute enough to warrant it....and Nirvana was still a band when that happened...do please don't give me to much guff about it. :)
Title: Re: Savage A22 22 WMR
Post by: Greasemonkey on June 11, 2018, 10:39:57 PM
We don't have too much in the way of gophers.. we have alot of their big brothers, ground hogs.  They are another...exterminate with extreme prejudice pest.  They don't dig holes, they dig craters that break livestock legs, snap trailer axles, even undermine building foundations.

My record is a fat gluttonous corn and silage eating 23 pounder.  A 17hmr is a plenty for them, I've been hammering them for a few years with one.
Title: Re: Savage A22 22 WMR
Post by: Justin Hell on June 12, 2018, 11:22:59 AM
We don't have too much in the way of gophers.. we have alot of their big brothers, ground hogs.  They are another...exterminate with extreme prejudice pest.  They don't dig holes, they dig craters that break livestock legs, snap trailer axles, even undermine building foundations.

My record is a fat gluttonous corn and silage eating 23 pounder.  A 17hmr is a plenty for them, I've been hammering them for a few years with one.

23 POUNDS?  :o

That is a hog indeed!   We call them ground hogs too...I didn't think there was a difference...apparently I am wrong. I would love to see the eagle that would be required to cull that sucker off the planet.   I have been chased by badgers smaller than that.   

There is a local pasture a buddy keeps his horses at that I could spend ALL DAY LONG dropping those things....heck he might even buy the beer for me to do so.  My folks live in a valley with hundreds of the lil buggers between the porch and the makeshift range we have there. Free targets.  Heck I should get night vision and a flash suppressor...and get the pack rat population a little more manageable....smelly bastards...stealing our stuff.
Title: Re: Savage A22 22 WMR
Post by: Loose}{Cannon on June 13, 2018, 05:14:20 PM
What kinda gophers?     There is like 20 dif types in North america it looks.   ???
Title: Re: Savage A22 22 WMR
Post by: Loose}{Cannon on June 13, 2018, 05:20:23 PM
The scope wont have an adjustable eye relief. The distance in which your eye is away from the scope for the sight picture to be clear is something that is set from factory.    All you can do is focus it to your eye until the crosshairs are clear.  Then adjust the objective lens until your target is in focus. 

When adjusting the focus on the eyepiece.... avoid looking through the lens for extended amounts of time. Your eye will attempt to correct the parallax automatically....  you dont want that.  If you move your head around behind the scope and see the crosshairs wobble around....  you have parallax. 

If your natural cheek position on the stock is not allowing a clear/complete sight picture through the scope..... move the entire scope back or forward in its mount until it is.
Title: Re: Savage A22 22 WMR
Post by: Greasemonkey on June 13, 2018, 07:37:00 PM
What kinda gophers?     There is like 20 dif types in North america it looks.   ???

Do they list.. gopherthis and gopherthat?  Those 2 are pretty common here. rofl2 rofl