Every hunter and shooter benefits from a good .22. Ammunition is a fraction of the cost of centerfire, recoil is almost nothing, and the skills you build carry over directly to deer season. Here are four new rimfire rifles for 2026, with prices reported by NSSF’s Let’s Go Shooting and American Hunter.
Tristar KR22, $289
A semi-automatic with a synthetic stock, adjustable comb, fiber-optic front sight, Picatinny rail and an 18.6-inch threaded barrel. It accepts Ruger 10/22-pattern magazines and has a reversible bolt handle for left-handed shooters.
Savage RXR22, $299
Savage’s new semi-auto uses a 16.5-inch button-rifled threaded barrel, a Picatinny rail and Ruger 10/22 rotary magazines. A rear cleaning port makes it easier to clean the bore from the breech end, which is better for the barrel.
CVA Cascade Rimfire, $399 to $499
A bolt action designed in Spain, with an 18-inch threaded barrel, a two-piece Picatinny rail and a 10-round rotary magazine that is also 10/22-compatible. A bolt gun is often the better teaching tool for new shooters: one round, one deliberate shot.
Savage Timber Tactical A and B Series, $599
These step up to a green laminate stock and a heavy, spiral-fluted, threaded barrel. The B Series comes in .22 LR, .22 WMR and .17 HMR, which makes it a capable small-game and varmint rifle as well as a target rifle.
The 10/22 magazine standard
Three of these rifles use Ruger 10/22-pattern magazines. That is good news. The 10/22 magazine is the most common rimfire magazine in America, so spares are cheap and easy to find.
Getting the most from a rimfire
- Practice field positions. Shoot from sitting, kneeling and off shooting sticks. It is the cheapest deer-season practice you can do.
- Try a suppressor-ready setup. Every rifle here has a threaded barrel. With federal suppressor rules changing in 2026, a rimfire can is a great first suppressor where your state allows it.
- Teach the rules first. A .22 can be lethal at more than a mile. Teach new shooters to keep the muzzle in a safe direction, treat every gun as loaded and always know what is beyond the target.
