I posted this back in 2004, so I am just going to copy and paste it again.
Just about any 22 is alright by me, but my first 22 was my favorite. It is a Remington model 580 single shot bolt action rifle. It will take 22 short, long and LR. I bought it when I was 15 years old at a sporting goods store in downtown South Bend, IN. The salesman rang it up, then looked at me and asked "You want me to wrap it up or do you want to carry it out?". I carried it out of the store and down the sidewalk a block to my dad's car(imagine carrying a rifle in downtown today. Yikes!).:laughing: We promptly took it to a gunsmith and had some work done to it to lighten the trigger and we had Lyman peep sights put on the rear and a Redfield hooded front sight. Dad and I also put a sling on it. On the 50ft range I was able to achieve Expert with that $69.00 rifle. I was on my way to Distinguished Expert, but the instructor moved away, I turned 18(had to get out of the youth program) and the YMCA canceled the rifle programs all around the same time.
We still have that rifle. It will make a nice 1/2" group vertically at 300ft but is very susceptible to windage left and right. Even a mild crosswind will produce a pattern a foot wide!
It is a beautiful firearm as well. Nice looking stock, light colored sling and I now have a Bushnell Sportview 3-9 x 40 scope on it with Weaver see through mounts so the peep sights are still functional. The problem with the see through scope mount is the scope sits so high over the barrel. I really only use it for a spotting scope as I like to shoot with the peeps.
On a side note, many YMCA's had youth shooting programs back in the mid '70s. YMCA ranges were common and they probably had a couple hundred rifle teams back then. Two of the guys on our team were ranked in the top 10 in the nation, one was about 15th, but I only managed 38th in the nation.
I attribute the success of our team to our instructor, a nice young man named Dan. He taught us proper positioning, breath control and timing our shots to our heartbeats. You knew when you were on target when you could line up the target in your sights, close your eyes and relax for 5-10 seconds, open your eyes and you were still on the target.
That kind of stuff is hard to teach a punk kid. But he had a way with us. It was a very fun time and I encourage people to get their kids into the shooting sports because of my positive experiences as a teenager. :thumbsup:
