Ask experienced shooters which rifle they'd keep if they could keep only one, and a surprising number say the .22. The rimfire rifle is where trigger control, sight alignment, position, and follow-through are actually learned, because ammunition costs pennies and recoil never teaches a flinch. It's also the most-used rifle in most safes: small game, pest control, casual steel, teaching new shooters, suppressor fun. The market splits into semi-auto workhorses, heritage lever guns, and packable takedowns — and the right answer is eventually "more than one."
The three families
| Type | Character | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Semi-auto | Fast, modular, endlessly upgradeable | Volume shooting, small game, first rifle |
| Lever/heritage | Deliberate, beautiful, heirloom-grade | Teaching fundamentals, keeping forever |
| Takedown/packable | Breaks down small, lives in a pack | Travel, trucks, camps, survival kits |
The current field
Ruger 10/22 Takedown
.22 LR · splits in seconds · 10+1 rotary magazine
The definitive .22 platform in its most practical form: legendary rotary-mag reliability plus a backpack footprint. If you own one rimfire, this is the default.
Henry Golden Boy
.22 S/L/LR · brass & walnut · 16+1
The heirloom: octagon barrel, mirror-polish brass, and a lever stroke that makes every round deliberate — the rifle grandchildren argue over.
Kel-Tec SU22
.22 LR · 26+1 · threaded, folding-friendly
The modern volume gun: 26-round magazines, rail space, and a suppressor-ready muzzle — the .22 as a lightweight tactical trainer.
Henry U.S. Survival AR-7
.22 LR · stows inside its own stock · floats
The famous pack rifle: barrel, action, and magazines stow inside the waterproof stock. A niche the AR-7 has owned since 1959.
Chiappa LA322 Takedown
.22 LR · lever + takedown · 15+1
Two families at once: lever-gun manual of arms in a break-down package, at a friendlier price than the heritage guns.
Ammunition is the real system
Rimfire rifles are sensitive to ammunition in a way centerfires aren't — semi-autos in particular have favorite loads. The strategy: buy a small assortment, find what your rifle cycles and groups, then buy that load by the case. High-velocity 36–40 grain fodder from the bulk .22 LR category covers plinking and small game; match and specialty loads live in the broader rimfire ammunition selection. A case of proven ammo is the single best accessory a rimfire owner buys.
The 500-round rule: before judging any semi-auto .22's reliability, run 500 rounds of quality high-velocity ammo through it. Rimfire priming is inherently less consistent than centerfire, actions need break-in, and most "lemons" are actually ammo mismatches.
Common mistakes
Judging a semi-auto on bargain bulk ammo it hates; scoping a .22 with more magnification than its trajectory can use (a 2–7x or fixed 4x is plenty); neglecting the bore because "it's just a .22" (rimfire wax and lead build up); and stopping at one — the takedown in the truck and the lever gun in the safe solve different problems. It remains the cheapest branch of the sport to explore widely.
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