hutoftung wrote:The advantage of a .22 that's not semi-auto is that you can more easily use rounds like the subsonic (nearly silent) CB shorts, and you won't have any real reliability issues cycling. In semi-autos, if a cartridge fails to fire, it can be a pain to dig the cartridge out if the extractor won't grab it.

My philosophy is that if you want an inexpensive .22, get something manually cycled like a bolt-action or a lever action. And if you want a semi-automatic, just get a Ruger 10/22. They make nice 25 round magazines for them, and you can customize them in any way you can imagine. I haven't seen anyone really deliriously happy with something like a Marlin semi-auto .22. But I've seen plenty of people who swear by a 10/22 or grandpa's old bolt-action. There really isn't much use for a semi-automatic .22 except fun, anyway, so might as well go with the bolt gun IMO.