what is your goal in this , heirloom quality 22lr
how many kids do you have? are you looking to pass this on through family or you just want a extra special 22 ?
the down side of many 22s for long term use is going to be parts , so it has to be popular enough that parts will be available for a long time
isn't the Browning A5 heirloom quality by it's self
just wondering what your looking for in this gun , what is it's purpose?
This will be "dad's gun" the gun they remember dad shooting squirrels with, rabbits, pest on the farm. Parts availability is why I shy away from some of the rarer stuff.
Basically I want a gun to use, that the kids will remember and want someday, not a collector piece but a very nice functional gun that will last multiple lifetimes.
The A5 has no sentimental value to me. My beretta 391 however will be something I hope to pass down.
that is sort of what I was thinking.
what makes a gun special isn't that it was perfect , it is that you made memories with them and that rifle.
I recently bought an Ithaca M37 20ga featherweight deerslayer , because it was as close as I was ever going to get to my great uncles deer gun , we hunted together for 27 years before he passed a few years go. his son has the gun.
mine has a different serial number the same in every other way.
I plan to hunt with it next season , the importance isn't the gun but the memories it brings back.
I would suggest you look first at a good user a good tool almost any decent 22lr will last a couple generations if you can get a spare set of springs and a few magazines for it.
if you were not set on a bolt action ,a 10/22 is a handy farm gun you can get it with the deluxe stock in walnut and there are parts everywhere for them you could have spares of everything and they can run forever.
what I would not get is just one , I would find that user you like and buy one for you and each of your kids then go make the memories with them they can fight over who gets "yours" but they will have their own and their own memories to go with them also.
don't worry about it being heirloom quality , just good quality 22s are tools
Ruger American rimfire , it uses 10/22 mags
The CZ 457 is still made and available
Savage makes the MKII they are very accurate the magazines are a touch of a weak point , just don't sit on them and have some spares.
make the memories with what you think is a good user that fits your needs.