Hello and welcome back to another edition of The Rimfire Report! This weekly series is all about rimfire firearms and their various related topics. This week we’re talking about rimfire takedown firearms and some of the best ones I’ve seen throughout the years. Takedown firearms are great tools to have on hand for hiking, backpacking, camping, or even just adventuring in any location. The ability to collapse an otherwise almost 3-foot long firearm by half of its own length is a very convenient and efficient way to transport a non-combat ready firearm. So today we’ll be taking a look at 3 great rimfire takedown guns I think are some of the best in the industry.

The Rimfire Report: 3 Great Rimfire Takedown Guns

The rules for this list are simple. My criteria are that these firearms need to have the takedown ability built into them. While this means something like an M&P 15-22 would technically qualify, I don’t feel that it would be 100% honest of me to include firearms like the M&P 15-22 or other 22LR AR-pattern rifles in the mix since the bolt would fall out if left inside any sort of bag or carried on the side of a backpack. Today we’re strictly speaking about rifles that were specifically designed to be taken down and reassembled as part of their normal operation.

Springfield M6 Scout Rifle – .22 Magnum/.410 Bore

Featuring the not-so-common .22 Magnum cartridge, the M6 Scout rifle brings a friend to the table in the way of a .410 bore barrel alongside it allowing the user to make an administrative decision about which type of ammo to use for each situation. Although the original versions only were able to fold in half, later versions that were designed for the USAF included a takedown pin which allowed the rifle to fit inside of a standard USAF Survival Kit for pilots flying over the Arctic.

What is funny about this to me is that in my rules above I made a specific decision not to include AR-style rifles. Now the United States Air Force is starting to include takedown M4 rifles as part of the same USAF survival kit, although the modern ones are taken down from the barrel/receiver instead of the upper and lower. Either design allows the user to deploy and use the rifle within 60 seconds.

The M6 Scout rifle can still be found in various configurations on Gunbroker and sometimes in pawn shops. Most commonly the rifle will be found today in the .22 Hornet/.410 bore configuration as the majority of the .22/.410 configurations were made for the United States Air Force. The rifle itself was stated to have excellent accuracy out to about 200 yards and the intended use for the rifle was geared towards downing small game for survival and defending against hostile predators in the wild. The rifle featured storage for 15-rounds of .22 magnum and 4-rounds of .410 bore ammunition.

Savage Model 42 – .22 LR.WMR/.410 Bore

Following a similar path to the Springfield rifle above, the Savage Model 42 is a combination rimfire takedown rifle that sports two barrels giving the user access to different types of firepower. While the M6 Scout rifle was created many decades ago, the Model 42 was released more recently in 2012 as an offering to the niche market of shooters who wanted a backpacking, truck, survival gun that could be stowed away waiting to be used.

The Model 42 was designed from the ground up to be a takedown rifle and thus it does not fold in half like the M6. Instead, the rifle features a single button press to break the two halves of the gun in half which can then be stowed in the provided case and or stuffed into a bag or backpack for later use. One feature that I would have liked to see on the Model 42 is the inclusion of some onboard ammunition storage.

There is plenty of room in that giant synthetic stock to hollow out some spaces for ammunition but Savage thought it was good enough that they gave you a “bug out bag” to tote the rifle in which does feature a separate pouch where you could store your ammunition. Instead, you will have to furnish your own ammunition holder, many of these have been on the market for a while and let you store extra rounds on the outside of the stock of the gun.

Volquartsen Fusion – .17HMR/.22WMR

I’m willing to bet that most people outside of the rimfire junkie community probably don’t even know this rifle exists. The Fusion Takedown rifle is available not only in the super hot .17 HRM loading but also in the more traditional .22 WMR.

Like anything Volquartsen does, the fusion not only sports a highly polished and aesthetic look but also claims superior accuracy and craftsmanship. The rifle takes down much in the same way a Henry AR-7 does by removing the barrel but instead of a small threaded collar to lock the barrel in, the Fusion features an integrated handguard/barrel shroud that holds it in place. This particular rimfire takedown gun also features a 32 hole compensator which can be removed to attach a suppressor to its 1/2×28 threaded barrel and even includes a super-light 2.25 lb trigger pull.

The biggest downside of the Fusion rifle is its price. While the other two options on this list can be had for under a grand in most cases, the Fusion is going to set you back a cool 2 grand and that is assuming you can find one as I haven’t seen them on the Volquartsen website in awhile. But I know they exist and I am still looking for one!

What are your picks?

These were three great rimfire takedown rifles I picked out. Which ones would you have picked? Despite its price, I think my favorite on this list would have to be the Volquartsen Fusion as it features a solid design, is semi-auto, magazine-fed, and still comes in a lightweight takedown package. Either way, thanks once again for stopping by to read The Rimfire Report and we’ll see you next time!