The 22 needs to be first. If you get something else later, that's fine, but the lowly 22 is the true working man's rifle. It can be used for pest control, small game hunting and even deer hunting in a survival emergency. I have a friend who used a 22 Anschutz for "discreet" deer hunting. One shot to the head and they all dropped like a stone using quiet standard velocity match ammo. If you get a 10/22, while not recommended by experts, it can be quite a potent self or home defense weapon. You can get 25 or 30 rd mags for it. Lots of cheap firepower that is deadly at close range.
Best reply on this subject yet...IMHO the 10/22 is the best semi-auto .22 on the market today, in terms of reliability, cost, function, etc. I have other brands both old and new and this one is the berries. In terms of a first gun, and perhaps an only gun the .22 is the truest "survival" weapon (read firearm) one can own. You can carry more .22 ammo on your body than anything else and hide small caches of large quantities in very small places....Everyone should have a .22 for the SHTF secnario... but what do I know?...
DocSavage <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />
