Inexpensive .22 rifles with Threaded Barrels – Surprisingly Good Values

If given the option, should you buy a .22 rifle with a threaded barrel or one without?

Rossi RS22 with threaded barrel, top; Rock Island M14Y, bottom

U.S.A. – If you have ever thought you might want, need or find useful a suppressed firearm, there is good news. .22 rifles with threaded barrels are available for very little money.

There are several reasons why you might consider buying inexpensive .22 rifles with threaded barrels:

  • Affordability: .22 rifles are generally less expensive than other types of firearms, and a threaded barrel can add versatility without significantly increasing the cost.
  • Versatility: A threaded barrel allows for the attachment of various accessories such as suppressors, compensators, and muzzle brakes.
  • Recoil: .22 caliber firearms have less recoil than larger caliber firearms, making it ideal for beginners and those who want to reduce recoil while shooting.
  • Training: A .22 rifle with a threaded barrel can be an excellent choice for training, practice and target shooting.
  • Hunting: .22 caliber rifles can be used for small game hunting, the threaded barrel can add versatility in the types of ammunition you can use.

Many years ago, traveling in a land far, far away, a close friend and “poacher” (hunting was forbidden altogether in that location) obtained a .22 single-shot rifle. Someone smuggled the rifle into the country, and ended up in a friend’s hands. He showed me how he made an improvised suppressor in about 30 minutes, which worked surprisingly well.

The tricky part was lining up the hole in the suppressor with the rifle’s bore. This was done by eye, centering the hole while looking through the suppressor, down the bore, and tightening the hose clamp which held the suppressor to the barrel.  It worked well but had to be checked frequently.

The most challenging part of making a practical, improvised suppressor is making sure the bore and suppressor are aligned.


Fast Links to .22 rifles with Threaded Barrels:


The easiest way to ensure the bore and suppressor are aligned is to have the muzzle of the firearm properly threaded.

Anyone with a modest amount of mechanical ability, access to a lathe, and a few specialized tools can do this minor machining. This correspondent has done it. The time, energy, and tooling it cost to do so was easily the equivalent of purchasing two of the three rifles to be discussed in this article. The end result worked satisfactorily. What is a minuscule extra effort in the manufacturing process takes much more to do as an add-on by a hobbyist.

Threaded muzzles are used to attach a variety of accessories. Muzzle brakes and flash hiders are common. It is not a good idea to fire .22 shot cartridges through a suppressor, but a reverse paradox tube doubles or triples the effective range of these minuscule shotshells. Bloop tubes can extend the sight radius.

A thread converter is handy for attaching homemade reverse paradox tubes and is currently available for about $5-10. They are highly recommended. They make suitable thread protectors.

The bad news is: to legally own a suppressor in the United States, you are required to be fingerprinted, photographed, fill out copious numbers of forms, go through months of waiting, and pay a $200 tax. This is a worthwhile endeavor. I suggest people do it before the desire for a suppressed firearm becomes urgent. The legal process to make your own has become more complicated under the Biden administration.

Procrastination is challenging to overcome. Spending money on a nice little rifle, you would like to have is easy.

Rock Island Armory YTA Bolt-Action Rimfire Rifle vs. Rossi RS22 Semi-Auto Rimfire Rifle

The two least expensive .22 rifles with threaded barrels this correspondent has seen on the market are the Rossi RS22 Semi-Auto Rimfire Rifle with the threaded barrel, model RS22L1811TH, and the Rock Island Armory YTA Bolt-Action Rimfire Rifle, which comes with a threaded barrel. The Rossi is a semi-auto with a 10-shot magazine. The Rock Island is a bolt action that also has a 10-shot magazine. When firing subsonic ammunition through a modest suppressor, both are very quiet, but Rock Island has the edge. The Rossi produces a little action noise with each shot.

This correspondent picked up the previous version of the Rock Island YTA, the M14Y (with a wood stock) for $110, as recalled from a couple of years ago. A Rossi  RS22L1811TH was picked up on sale, a few months ago, for about $140, out the door.   The Rossi weighs less than five lbs with scope and suppressor installed. The Rock Island is a little more at five lbs, ten ounces, with the same scope and suppressor.

The Rock Island Armory YTA Bolt-Action Rimfire Rifle are .22 rifles with threaded barrels.
The Rock Island Armory YTA Bolt-Action Rimfire Rifle are .22 rifles with threaded barrels.

Savage Rascal FV-SR Single-Shot Bolt-Action Rimfire Rifle

A close also-ran for an inexpensive .22 rifle with a threaded barrel is the Savage Arms Rascal FV-SR Bolt Action 22 Long Rifle with a heavy barrel and threaded muzzle. It was spotted at a local Cal-Ranch store on sale for $199.  It looks like a delightful little single shot with the famous Savage AccuTrigger, weighing only 3.5 lbs. (without sights, scope, or suppressor).

Savage Arms Rascal FV-SR Bolt Action 22 Long Rifle
Savage Arms Rascal FV-SR Bolt Action 22 Long Rifle

All three rifles allow for easy removal of the action and barrel from the stock. This makes the two groups short enough to pack into common luggage.

.22 rifles with Threaded Barrel Opinion:

Having shot .22 rimfire rifles and pistols with and without suppressors, this correspondent would require significant reasons to acquire a .22 that did not have the barrel threaded. The additional cost is lost in the manufacturing noise when done at the factory. Unless one is a skilled machinist with readily available tools, the cost of threading a barrel, in time and effort, will quickly pay for one of these rifles. The most basic and inexpensive commercial suppressors, or legally homemade suppressors, do a decent job when mounted on a .22 rifle using subsonic ammunition. .22 pistols require much more to reduce the noise level to where they can be fired without threatening the shooter’s hearing.

How-to videos to improve the trigger are available. Put a fraction of the hours of work required to thread a barrel (competent machinists excepted) into improving the trigger of a factory rifle with a threaded barrel. The end result will be a .22 rifle with a threaded barrel that is a delight to carry in the woods and shoot.


About Dean Weingarten:

Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer and a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of Constitutional Carry was attained. He has meteorology and mining engineering degrees and retired from the Department of Defense after a 30-year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.

Dean Weingarten

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Hazcat

The bad news is: to legally own a suppressor in the United States, you are required to be fingerprinted, photographed, fill out copious numbers of forms, go through months of waiting, and pay a $200 tax. This is a worthwhile endeavor.

Sorry Dean, I have to disagree. The government takes too much of my time and money as it is. A much better solution is to restore the Second Amendment as written.

Last edited 1 year ago by Hazcat
DarthKur

The $200 is not a tax, it’s extortion, Plain and simple.

Arny

So is property, school taxes for some.