Browning SA-22 .22 LR
Model: 021001102
Browning SA-22 .22 LR
Model: 021001102
Full Specifications
About This Firearm
The Browning SA-22 is a walnut-stocked semi-automatic .22 LR built for small game and plinking. It has an MSRP of $869.99. The barrel comes off at a knurled takedown knob, and the scope base mounts to the barrel, not the receiver, so an optic and its zero come apart with it and go back on together.
An adjustable rear sight is fitted and the receiver is drilled and tapped, with Browning selling the base and the rings for it separately. The magazine is a tube inside the buttstock, so there is no detachable box to carry or lose. The safety is a crossbolt, nothing on the rifle adjusts, and the pull is a fixed 13.75 inches.
If you're cross-shopping, the Ruger 10/22 Takedown does the same trick for a pack at 4.60 lbs against this rifle's 5.19 lbs, splitting at the action instead of mid-barrel, and it is out of production. The Henry Golden Boy has an MSRP of $670 and 6.75 lbs of walnut and brass, with no takedown joint at all.
Best For
Strengths & Limitations
- The knurled takedown knob adjusts play out of the barrel fit as the joint wears, so a loose rifle can be tightened up again.
- Nothing has to be bought before the first outing but ammunition, since the sights and the magazine are both built into the rifle.
- Browning sells a scope base and rimfire rings cut for this model, so the mounting hardware exists as a factory part.
- Filling the tube is a round at a time through a port in the stock, and emptying it means running every round through the action.
- That base and those rings are a separate purchase and the pattern is specific to this rifle, so a mount bought for another rimfire will not fit.
- Polished blued steel and walnut want wiping down after a wet morning, where a synthetic and alloy rimfire does not.
Ballistics Calculator
Calculate trajectory, drop, and energy for .22 LR ammunition.
.22 LR Ballistics →Where to Buy
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is it left-hand friendly?
Yes. Brass leaves the bottom of the receiver instead of the side, so nothing crosses either shooter's face and the ejection port stays clear of a scope.
What twist rate is the barrel?
1:16, the standard rate for .22 LR.
Who designed it, and when did this version arrive?
Browning credits the design to John M. Browning, and its own timeline puts the introduction of the 22 Semi-Automatic rifle at 1956.
