[Brownbear]

Well, it's light, so that can make it less accurate if you're not good at steadying it, but it's a lot easier to carry around all day.

If you want a semi-auto, go for either a Ruger 10/22 that's been rebuilt with different barrel and action, and re-engineered trigger, but whatever you do, don't go for the Walther G22. It's for sad men who want to pretend to be in the special forces, it's plastic rubbish.

Of the bolt guns, the best is the Anschutz, no question. The Sako Finnfire was a superb rifle, and if you can find one in good condition or new, grab it as it'll last you a lifetime. Sako Quad has replaced it, and it's supposed to have interchangeable barrels in different calibres, but the changing system isn't much good. There's a wood stock and a plastic stock, the wood's nice but a bit heavy; the plastic feels a bit flimsy to me.

If you want a superb rifle at low cost, the CZ Varmint with a heavy 16" barrel is a beautiful rifle, one of the most accurate I've ever owned - headshots at 100m. The blacking is poor so the barrel tends to rust, and the bolt-action can be rough. If, however, you find a friendly gun shop, get them to sort through the boxes as about one in five has a beautifully smooth, easy bolt. If you find one and don't mind a bit of rubbing off the rust on damp days, you couldn't do better except with the Anschutz.

[Brownbear]

With mine, they kept the receiver and binned the rest. American rifles tend to have very heavy triggers. European rifles have about a 4-lb pull, American ones about 10-lb. They make the triggers heavy to reduce accidental discharges and the lawsuits that would accompany them, but the extra strength required is enough to put your aim off. My triggers are set to about 2.5-lb which is as light as is safe for field shooting. Target rifles are often set to a pound.

[vegplot]

Adequate for plinking unless you're lucky and get a good one.

Try www.rimfiremagic.co.uk the 10/22 specialist in the UK. You can build an accurate 10/22 without using any original Ruger parts, if you have a suitable sized wallet. Or buy a second hand one which the previous owner has already done the work on.

[Brownbear]

Shooting like that on the range is one thing. What people often forget is that the field and range are not the same. If you only engage targets in your range of accuracy, there's no problem.

[vegplot]

Shooting like that on the range is one thing. What people often forget is that the field and range are not the same. If you only engage targets in your range of accuracy, there's no problem.

[Brownbear]

I think it's still blacking they use on CZs. Yes, you can, but the cost of doing so is such that you'd find it cheaper to just buy a more expensive rifle with better rustproofing.