Browning SA 22, the high end plinker

[North Country Gal]

I couldn't pass it up. My local shop got it cheap and made me a great deal, plus I just happened to have the perfect scope for it. Not my first SA 22 and probably mot my last, but had to grab this one. It's a 2014, so recent manufacture.



Okay, given the usual price tag, not many folks would call the classy little Browning SA 22 a plinker. The SA 22 with its small size and trim lines really is a superb plinker, though. These little Brownings fit me, perfectly. The sights/scope are right there instantly when I throw the Browning to my shoulder and at under 6 pounds, scope and all, I can shoot an SA 22 all afternoon long.

As for accuracy, the Browning SA 22 may look like it's only good for plinking. Wrong! Having owned several of these in the past, I promise you that SA 22 accuracy puts a 10/22 to shame. In fact, the SA 22 is one of the most accurate out of the box semi auto 22s you can buy. Very nice trigger on this one, too, about half the pull weight of the Browning BL 22 lever 22 that I recently traded off.

The scope is actually the legendary steel 3/4" steel tube baby Redfield 4x rimfire. Just happened to have one in the scope drawer waiting for this rifle. Yes, Redfield made some of these for Browning way back in the day. Oh, the SA 22 is accurate enough to make good use of a large, high mag scope, but a large scope on this slim rifle is a total mismatch as far as looks and handling. The little 4x is just perfect, though.



I also picked up some of the new semi auto CCI Quiet that is supposed to cycle with semi-autos, but it just didn't work with this one. Will have to take this little Browning SA 22 to the club range for a workout, soon. More to come. Stay tuned.

[daytime dave]

Congratulations on a beauty. The scope looks right at home on top.

[The Happy Kaboomer]

I've owned one since 1967......To me best .22 auto ever made.

[rickhem]

Very pretty rifle, always liked those Brownings. They all seem to have that extra level of finish and detail.

I'm sure that you could swap out a spring, or get a spare spring to clip, and make that cycle with the CCI Quiet, but I'd want to be able to return it to 100% original if I did that on mine.

[North Country Gal]

Thanks, guys.

What I've learned about the Quiets is that for my situation, I need a rifle with a 24" barrel for the Quiets to be quiet enough for my backyard shooting. Barrel length really makes a difference. Had high hopes the Semi auto Quiets would allow me to shoot a 10/22 or the SA 22 in the backyard, but they are both still a little loud with standard Quiets and even louder with the Semi auto Quiets. Oh, well.

[Hatchdog]

What a gorgeous rifle. Browning sure knows (or at least did know) how to build a beautiful firearm. My wife used to have a BL-22 youth and it fit here perfectly. I don’t have any pics of it on this IPad but I know she has some pics on her computer. Enjoy that beauty.

[North Country Gal]

browning still makes both the BL-22 and the SA-22 and I haven't been able to tell any difference between the new ones and the used ones I've seen and owned, except for the price, of course.

Interesting bit of trivia, here.The Browning SA 22 was, of course, invented by John Browning and it was the first commercially successful semi-auto 22 LR rifle, introduced in 1914. By my reckoning, then, it is the oldest model of 22 LR rifle still in production. That honor used to be held by the Marlin 39, but the 39 is now out of production and has been ever since Remington gave up on Marlin. The SA 22, today, is still the same gun as far as basic design as that 1914 version, though the stock design and sights have varied over the years. It's never been offered in a budget version, though I've heard the Norinco version is pretty decent.

It is a take down gun, as were most 22 rifles of that era, but not for just the sake of packing and portability. Given the rimfire ammo of that time used a wax bullet lubricant that gummed up actions pretty quick, a quick take down for cleaning was a must have feature in order to clean the action and keep on shooting. When better bullet lubes were introduced, Browning, of course, used the take down feature as a marketing selling point from the point of view of portability, even offering some nice wooden cases for the SA 22.

And if you like wood and steel in your gun, the current SA 22 still remains all wood and steel and I do mean steel - no plastic or even aluminum parts. Even the butt plate and mag tube are steel. How many 22s today can make that claim?

[Vaquero]

Nice score there NCG.
I've never had the pleasure of fondling one much less shoot one.
That one looks pretty nice, Congrats!!

RP

[North Country Gal]

Thanks. They are unique little rifles, for sure.