Thompson-Center .22 Classic?

[LH2]

Held one of these for the first time today and was really impressed. Fiber optic sights are easy to see, and the walnut stocks were nice with all the plastic stocks out there. It felt substantial, which alot of .22's fail to do.

Anybody have experiences with this rifle? How's accuracy?

Only thing I don't like is the 5-round magazine. Are there larger capacity mags available?

It's coming down to the Thompson or the Marlin 60 which costs less, but also had nice sights. Holds 14 rounds in the tube though.

[makarov]

Check out http://www.rimfirecentral.com for reviews of almost any .22 - do a search for what you are looking for. The Thompson's have gottem mixed reviews, some were reporting problems with the extractor impacting the chamber and causing early damage. The Marlin 60 is a great gun and much cheaper. If you are interested in a bolt gun, I swear by CZ's. There is also the ever popular 10/22.

I too was interested in the Thompson's since they had steel receivers, but after reading the reviews have not purchased one (yet....)

[LH2]

The Thompson's have gottem mixed reviews, some were reporting problems with the extractor impacting the chamber and causing early damage. The Marlin 60 is a great gun and much cheaper. If you are interested in a bolt gun, I swear by CZ's.

Hey thanks for the link. I did quite a bit of searching & reading @ rimfire central - a guy could spend a couple days there.

I'm undecidecided on the Thompson for the same reasons. Not a whole lot of owners means not a lot of feedback. Looks like quite a few happy owners at rimfire central, but a fair amount of guys who got sick of feeding problems they attribute to the super-tight match grade chamber tolerances.

I was initially put off by the 5-round mag, but it'll also take the 10-round T-C mags though you have to order them.

I can get a nice Marlin for about $100 less. I know there are Marlins for even less but I'm looking at maybe a stainless 60 with the nicer Hi-Viz sights for about $200.

I'll probably start another thread about this but I'm thinking of getting into smallbore silhouette, looks like alot of fun for not alot of coin. Which leads me to wondering wouldn't a longer barrel than the 18-19" frequently found on semiautos be a good idea for silhouette? And would bolt action be better than a semiauto? Seems like it would.

I think I need a Marlin 60 for my plinker/fun gun to battle my buddy with his 10/22, then a bolt action with a scope for SB silhouette.