As you may or may not know, in Australia most semiautomatic firearms are not available to the civilian population – this surprisingly includes rimfire rifles. Thanks to an email from John of Firearms Owners United, we are getting a look at a series of new Savage Arms rifles that are classified as manual actions, but operate similar to a semiautomatic action. Upon firing, the Savage A22R bolt locks to the rear and a lever on the underside is used to close the bolt and chamber another round. It looks like a little practice will get shooters into rapid fire heaven fairly quickly using this new lever action repeater.

For those that may never have lived in a firearm intolerant area, the A22R may seem gimmicky with a hint of a defeatist air. I disagree; innovation is a wonderful thing and can be the bridge that is needed to get younger shooters involved in the shooting sports. The A22R looks like fun and I’d gladly pull the trigger (and lever) on one if it were available.

Preliminary details and specifications can be found below.

Savage A22R .22LR Lever Action Repeater

Savage’s new A22R Repeater is the most convenient and easy to use rimfire rifle on the market. The A22R Repeater combines modern ergonomics with a handy latching repeater action that is intuitive and simple to use, leaving you free to concentrate on your target not on the rifle.

The A22 series has a well deserved reputation for tack-driving accuracy and for good reason. The unique zero-tolerance headspacing design mates the barrel to the action with a barrel locknut just like on the centrefire models. This allows headspace to be set exactly to minimum with zero tolerance on every individual firearm, resulting in superb accuracy.

The A22R’s accuracy, reliability and light weight make it an ideal option for a variety of rimfire roles, including small-game hunting, target shooting and casual plinking.

Features:

• Calibre: 22LR
• Latching repeater action
• 10-round rotary magazine
• Zero-tolerance headspace system
• Comfortable wide trigger shoe
• Hand straightened button-rifled barrel
• Lightweight aluminium receiver
• Ergonomic synthetic stock
• Factory fitted Weaver scope bases
• Barrel Length: 20″
• Weight: 5lb (2.26kg)
• $699 AU

Credit: Suffolk Sports – https://suffolksports.com.au/product/savage-a22r-22lr-blued-synthetic/