Savage A22 Review (2026): 900 Rounds of .22 Tested

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Table of Contents

Review: Savage A22 – The 10/22 Alternative Nobody Talks About

Our Rating: 7.8/10

Every conversation about semi-auto .22 rifles turns into a conversation about the Ruger 10/22, and the A22 gets left out of it. That is a shame, because Savage put two things on this rifle that the Ruger does not have at the same price: a genuinely adjustable AccuTrigger and a rotary magazine that sits flush. We ran 900 rounds through one, and we also found a pricing decision in Savage’s own catalog that should change which version you buy.

Specifications: A22, SKU 47200

• MSRP: $359
• Street Price: $245.99 (Use our live pricing for the best up to date deal)
• Caliber: .22 LR
• Action: Semi-auto, straight blowback
• Capacity: 10 round rotary magazine, ambidextrous release
• Barrel: 22 inches, carbon steel, sporter contour, high luster blued
• Rate of Twist: 1:16
• Barrel Threaded: No
• Overall Length: 41 inches
• Weight: 5.6 lb
• Trigger: AccuTrigger, adjustable 4.5 to 6 lb
• Stock: Synthetic sporter, matte black, recoil pad, 2 QD studs
• Length of Pull: 13.5 inches, fixed
• UPC: 062654472008

Quick Take

This is a better rifle than its reputation, and the reputation problem is entirely about the Ruger it stands next to. On the things that matter for shooting well, the Savage is ahead: the trigger is adjustable and breaks cleanly, the rotary magazine drops flush so the rifle sits flat on a bag, and the 22 inch barrel gives you a longer sight radius than a 10/22 Carbine.

Where it loses is everything that happens after you buy it. The 10/22 has fifty years of aftermarket behind it and the A22 has almost none. If your idea of owning a rimfire is building it into something else, buy the Ruger. If your idea is shooting it as it comes, the Savage is the better tool.

Best For: Small game, pest control off a fence post, teaching people to shoot, and anyone who wants a semi-auto .22 that is good out of the box rather than good after $400 of parts. A poor choice if you want to suppress it or customize it.

The Magnum Costs $250 More for 0.03 Pounds

Put Savage’s own two spec sheets side by side and the pricing stops making sense.

Spec	A22 (47200)	A22 Magnum (47400)
Caliber	.22 LR	.22 WMR
Barrel length	22 in	22 in
Rate of twist	1:16	1:16
Threaded	No	No
Magazine	10 rotary	10 rotary
Trigger	AccuTrigger, 4.5 to 6 lb	AccuTrigger, 4.5 to 6 lb
Length of pull	13.5 in	13.5 in
Weight	5.6 lb	5.63 lb
Savage price	$359	$609

Every dimension that matters is identical and the weight differs by three hundredths of a pound. The price differs by $250, which is a seventy percent increase for a change of chambering. On the street the gap is wider still: we found the standard rifle at $245.99 and the Magnum at $509.99, a difference of $264.

None of that means the Magnum is a bad rifle. .22 WMR out of a 22 inch barrel is a genuinely useful pest and small game cartridge and it reaches a lot further than .22 LR. It does mean you should decide you want the cartridge before you decide you want the rifle, because you can buy the standard A22 and a very good scope for what the Magnum costs bare.

Worth adding: neither one comes with a threaded barrel. In 2026, on a rimfire, where a huge proportion of buyers own or want a suppressor, that is the most obvious thing missing from this rifle. A Ruger 10/22 Carbine can be had threaded from the factory for less than the standard A22 costs.

Eight Versions, $246 to $945

The A22 name covers a much wider spread than most people realise. These are the live in-stock street bands across the retailers we track, new guns only.

The two worth a second look are the Takedown, which splits in half for a pack or a truck and costs about $170 over the standard rifle, and the Precision, which drops the same action into an MDT chassis. If you want the chassis look, buying the Precision is far cheaper than buying a standard A22 and a chassis separately.

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Range Testing: 900 Rounds of .22 LR

Our test rifle was a standard A22, SKU 47200, wearing a 3-9x rimfire scope. We shot it across six sessions between March and July at 25, 50 and 75 yards, in temperatures from 44 to 86 degrees. Nine hundred rounds, which a semi-auto rimfire eats through faster than you expect.

Reliability

Fourteen stoppages in 900 rounds, which sounds worse than it was. Twelve of the fourteen came from bulk pack ammunition, and eleven of those were failures to eject where the case did not clear the port. CCI Standard Velocity and Federal Automatch produced two stoppages between them across 500 rounds, both in the first fifty while the rifle was still tight and dry.

A straight blowback rimfire runs on cartridge pressure and nothing else, so weak or dirty ammunition shows up immediately. That is true of every semi-auto .22 ever made, including the Ruger. Feed it decent ammunition and keep the bolt face clean and this rifle is dependable.

Accuracy

This is where the A22 earns its money. Off a bag at 50 yards, five shot groups with SK Standard Plus averaged 0.9 inches, with the best at 0.7. CCI Standard Velocity ran about 1.1 inches and Federal Automatch around 1.6. At 75 yards the SK load held roughly 1.7 inches. For a $246 semi-auto with a sporter barrel that is very good shooting, and it is noticeably better than a stock 10/22 Carbine in the same conditions.

Two things are doing that work. The 22 inch barrel is four inches longer than a 10/22 Carbine’s, and the trigger is a real trigger rather than something you tolerate.

The AccuTrigger

Savage specifies a range of 4.5 to 6 pounds and ours arrived at a measured 5 pounds 2 ounces. Wound down to the bottom of its range it broke at 4 pounds 9 ounces with no creep and a clean, glassy release. That is a good trigger. It is also, and this is the honest criticism, heavier at its lightest setting than most people want on a target rimfire. The same AccuTrigger on a Savage centerfire goes considerably lower. On a rifle you might shoot at squirrels at 50 yards, 4.5 pounds is more than you need.

The Rotary Magazine

Ten rounds, sits completely flush with the stock, and drops free on an ambidextrous release. That last part matters more than it sounds if you shoot left handed or teach anybody who does. The flush fit means the rifle lies flat on a bag or a pack without rocking, which is the sort of thing you only notice when a magazine sticks out and it does not.

Ammunition Log

• Federal Automatch 40 gr: 300 rounds
• Bulk pack 36 gr copper plated hollow point: 300 rounds
• CCI Standard Velocity 40 gr: 200 rounds
• SK Standard Plus 40 gr: 100 rounds

What This Means for You

• Ammunition: Twelve of our fourteen stoppages were bulk pack. Buy CCI, Federal or SK and the rifle behaves.
• Trigger: Wind it down to the bottom of its range straight out of the box. Nobody needs six pounds on a .22.
• Optics: Bases are already fitted. Put the money into the scope rather than the mount.
• Suppressor: The barrel is not threaded. Budget for a gunsmith or buy a Ruger instead.
• Magazines: Buy spares when you see them. A22 rotary magazines are much harder to find than 10/22 magazines.

Technical Deep Dive

Straight Blowback, and Why the Magnum Is Not

The .22 LR A22 is a straight blowback: the bolt is held closed by its own mass and the recoil spring, nothing more. It is the simplest self loading action there is and it is why the rifle has so few parts. Savage lists the higher pressure .22 WMR versions with a delayed blowback action instead, because straight blowback does not scale safely to magnum rimfire pressure. That is a genuine engineering difference between the two rifles, and it is the honest justification for at least some of the price gap.

The Barrel

Twenty two inches of button rifled carbon steel in a sporter contour with a 1:16 twist and a high luster blue. Savage headspaces it with the same thread-in system it uses on its centerfire rifles, which is a real piece of engineering carried down rather than a cheaper method invented for a rimfire. The twist rate is standard for .22 LR and suits 40 grain standard velocity, which is exactly what our groups showed. The length is the interesting part: four inches longer than a 10/22 Carbine means more velocity, a longer sight radius and a quieter report, at the cost of a rifle that is less handy in a truck.

The Stock

This is where the money was saved. The synthetic sporter stock is plain injection molded polymer and it flexes if you squeeze the forend hard. The 13.5 inch length of pull is fixed with no spacer system, which suits an adult of average build and is slightly long for a younger shooter. It has a proper recoil pad and two QD studs, and it is entirely adequate. It is not the part of this rifle you buy it for.

Component	Specification	Why it matters
Action	Straight blowback	Almost nothing in it to go wrong
Trigger	AccuTrigger, 4.5 to 6 lb	Adjustable, which the Ruger is not
Magazine	10 round rotary, flush	Rifle sits flat on a bag or pack
Barrel	22 in, 1:16, not threaded	Accurate, but no suppressor without work
Weight	5.6 lb	Light enough to carry all day
Stock	Synthetic, 13.5 in fixed pull	Where the cost saving lives

How It Compares

Ruger 10/22 Carbine ($200-$349)

The rifle everybody buys, and the comparison that decides this. The 10/22 is cheaper, shorter, lighter and available threaded from the factory, and its aftermarket is effectively infinite. What it is not is better out of the box. The stock 10/22 trigger is heavy and mushy where the AccuTrigger is adjustable and clean, and our A22 outshot a stock Carbine at 50 yards without much argument. The honest framing: buy the Ruger if you intend to modify it or suppress it, buy the Savage if you intend to shoot it as it comes.

Savage A22 Magnum ($488-$729)

The same rifle in .22 WMR, with a delayed blowback action to handle the pressure, for roughly double the money. It reaches considerably further and hits considerably harder, which matters for coyotes and does not matter at all for tin cans. Magnum rimfire ammunition also costs several times what .22 LR does, so the running cost follows the purchase price upward. Buy it only if you have a specific job that .22 LR cannot do.

A bolt action .22 ($200-$400)

Worth saying out loud, because plenty of people buying a semi-auto .22 would be better served by a bolt gun. A bolt action of the same money will outshoot this rifle more often than not, will not care what ammunition you feed it, and teaches better habits to a new shooter. The semi-auto is for volume and for follow up shots on moving pests. We ranked the field in our best .22 bolt action rifles guide.

Verdict: the A22 is the better shooter and the 10/22 is the better platform, and which of those you want is not a close call once you are honest about it. For rimfire handguns rather than rifles, see our Taurus 942 review and our best .22 revolvers guide.

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Upgrades Worth Making

Upgrade	Recommended	Why it matters	Cost
Scope	Any 3-9x rimfire scope with parallax set near	A centerfire scope will not focus at 50 yards	$90 – $250
Spare magazines	Factory A22 10 round rotary	Far harder to find than 10/22 magazines, buy early	$25 – $40 each
Better ammunition	CCI Standard Velocity or SK Standard Plus	Removed almost every stoppage and shrank groups	$9 – $16 per 100
Sling	Any two point on the fitted QD studs	Studs are already there front and rear	$25 – $60

Common Problems and Fixes

• Failures to eject: eleven of ours came from bulk pack ammunition. Change ammunition and clean the bolt face before you suspect the rifle.
• Trigger feels heavy out of the box: ours arrived at 5 pounds 2 ounces and adjusts down to 4.5. Adjust it. That is what an AccuTrigger is for.
• Cannot find magazines: A22 rotary magazines are a fraction as common as 10/22 magazines. Buy two spares with the rifle rather than looking later.
• Wanting to suppress it: no A22 in the standard line ships threaded. Either pay a gunsmith to thread the barrel or buy a factory threaded 10/22.
• Groups opening up: a rimfire barrel fouls with lead and wax quickly. Clean it properly every few hundred rounds and the groups come back.

Who Should NOT Buy This Gun

• The suppressor owner: no threaded barrel, and threading one costs more than the price difference. Buy a Ruger 10/22 Carbine in the factory threaded version.
• The tinkerer: the A22 aftermarket barely exists. If you want to build a rifle rather than own one, the 10/22 is the only sensible platform.
• The precision rimfire shooter: a semi-auto with a 4.5 pound trigger floor is not a target rifle. A CZ 457 or a Savage Mark II will outshoot this all day.
• Anyone buying for a young shooter: the 13.5 inch length of pull is fixed with no spacers. A Savage Rascal or a youth stocked bolt gun fits properly.
• The truck gun buyer: 41 inches is long for a vehicle. The A22 Takedown solves that for about $170 more, or a 10/22 Carbine is four inches shorter to start with.

Final Verdict

The A22 is a genuinely good semi-auto .22 that most people will never consider, because the rifle it competes with has a fifty year head start and a parts catalog the size of a phone book. On the things you can measure, the Savage wins: 0.9 inch average groups at 50 yards, an adjustable trigger that breaks cleanly, a flush rotary magazine and four extra inches of barrel, for under $250 at a major retailer.

Buy the standard .22 LR version, wind the trigger down on the first day, and feed it something better than the cheapest brick you can find. Think hard before you buy the Magnum, because Savage charges $250 more at list for a rifle whose every published dimension is the same and which weighs three hundredths of a pound more. And if a suppressor is anywhere in your plans, this is not the rifle, because neither model comes threaded.

Specifications, SKUs, weights and pricing come from Savage’s own product pages for the A22 SKU 47200 and the A22 Magnum SKU 47400. Street prices are the live in-stock range for new guns across the retailers we track and will move.

Final Score: 7.8/10 – Outshoots the rifle everybody buys instead, and loses to it on everything that happens after the sale.

FAQ: Savage A22