Gun manufacturers understand that for the proper purposes, those who swear by the rimfire round know that there is nothing better. Having stood the test of time – approximately 130 years, to be exact – the .22 and its offshoots are still being fired today. Browning, SIG and Smith & Wesson are among a long list of manufacturers with some amazing tricks up their sleeves for the upcoming year. Rimfire shooters who want great new products for 2014 needn’t look any further than our list below.

Anschutz 1727 in .17 HMR

With its straight-pull action developed primarily for Biathlon competition, the 1727 sporting rifle from Anschutz is quicker to cycle than any rifle with a traditional hand-operated mechanism. You never take the rifle from your shoulder or your eye from the sight. Use your index finger to flick the bolt open, a touch of your thumb to close it. The two-stage match trigger adjusts down to 1 ¼ pounds. The checkered walnut stock, of European profile, is well fitted, nicely finished. Anschutz rifles are known for fine accuracy (my 1413 won many matches), and this repeater in .17 HMR will shoot half-minute groups. The 1727 joins a long line of match and sporting rifles.

Browning T-Bolt Maple Sporter

The T-Bolt is one of my favorite .22 rifles. With a receiver machined from steel bar stock, it has a cat-quick straight-pull action, a clever 10-shot “double helix” detachable box magazine that fits flush. The three-lever trigger breaks cleanly; the tang safety is convenient and positive. Both Sporter and Target/Varmint versions come in synthetic and walnut stocks. For 2014 you can also choose a Maple Sporter. But there’s a catch: This strikingly handsome 5-pound T-Bolt will be made only to satisfy dealer orders. It’s not a catalog item. By mid-year, I’m told, this limited run will be distributed to dealers. Treat yourself to a superb .22 in lovely wood.

Browning Commemorative Semi-Auto 22

No rimfire rifle has a more distinctive profile than this self-loading, bottom-ejecting takedown of John Browning’s own design. Its tube magazine is contained in the butt-stock; the slim 16 ½-inch barrel can be easily and quickly removed (with forend) by hand. Beautiful checkered walnut and a receiver as taut as a wasp’s waist make this every boy’s dream. In 2014 you can choose not only a Grade 1 or a Grade II, but a 100th anniversary model with gold inlays, deep engraving and exceptional wood. It will be manufactured only this year, in limited quantities.

Browning 1911-22

There’s no more popular handgun design in the U.S. than that 1911. Conceived and developed by John Browning, it was first manufactured in quantity by Colt. Now this self-loading pistol comes from many sources, in .38 Super and 9mm as well as the original .45 ACP, with many refinements.

It’s even offered in rimfire versions. Browning’s is scaled to the .22 Long Rifle cartridge. After reducing the pistol’s dimensions incrementally to as little as 75 percent of the original, Browning settled on 85 as a proper scale. This year the 1911-22 comes in two new versions, with a Desert Tan frame and black grips under a black slide. Choose 4 1/4- or 3 5/8-inch (Compact) barrel. Like the first 1911-22s, the slides are machined alloy, with fixed sights. But unlike the original rimfires’ alloy frames, these new 10-shot pistols have composite frames, which trim 1 1/2 ounces, to 14 and 13 1/2 ounces.

Chiappa 39

One look, and you’ll know why it’s “39.” This Italian-built lever-action .22 is a dead ringer for the Marlin 39, successor to rimfires used by 19th century sharpshooters like Annie Oakley. True to its namesake, the Chiappa rifle is of one-screw takedown design, with steel receiver and walnut stocks. It has an 18 ½-inch barrel and full-length magazine, with barrel bands at fore-stock and front ramp. You can get the receiver case-colored or “black.”

Chiappa M6

This O/U hinged-breech survival rifle/shotgun has a .22 barrel under a 20-gauge barrel. It collapses into a compact (18 ½-inch) package. Compartments in its synthetic stock hold cartridges and a cleaning kit. With an under-lever opener and double triggers, this combination gun is easy to operate with cold fingers. Rails just in front of the breech let you mount accessories, from scopes and red dot sights to auxiliary lights. Rugged iron sights are adjustable.

Mossberg 715P pistol

An offshoot of the AR-style 715T rimfire rifle, the five new 715P pistols feature six-inch barrels, and a mechanism that ends just behind the rear sight. The guard, grip, quad-rail forend and a 10- or 25-shot detachable box magazine are recognizably AR. Front and rear sights are adjustable; there’s a flash-hider/muzzle brake for cosmetic effect. You can get the 715P in standard matte finish, with or without a red dot sight. A new Duck Commander version, in marsh camo, comes with a red dot sight and 25-round magazine only. Incidentally, Mossberg’s new partnership with the Duck Commander crew has also put a new 702 Plinkster in the .22 autoloading rifle line. It features an 18-inch barrel, a 10-shot detachable magazine and that signature DC marsh camo.

Read more about the 715P line from Mossberg in our list of 25 New Rifles for 2014!

Savage Mark II FXP, scoped

For 2014 Savage offers a new version of a box-fed bolt-action .22 rifle. Like many of its stablemates, it comes with AccuTrigger, which makes accurate shooting a lot easier. The Mark II FXP wears a medium-weight 21-inch barrel without sights. Savage furnishes instead a 3-9×40 Bushnell scope, already mounted. At $291, this combination may cost more than Grandpa’s .22 did just after the war. But many young shooters will find it a good buy. This rifle features an olive-drab synthetic stock, blued steel. There’s also a Magnum version, in .17 HMR and .22 WMR (the 93R17 FXP and the  93 FXP) with the same scope package but a black stock, for $344.

Savage 64 FV SR and 93 FV SR rifles

Heavy barrels threaded for muzzle brakes are no longer limited to powerful rifles used for long-range combat. Brakes reduce the report of .22 rimfires to an air-gun snap.

Savage has just announced this option on its popular Models 64 autoloading and 93 bolt-action .22s. Each wears a black synthetic stock and a 16 ½-inch threaded barrel; each is equipped with a receiver-length rail in lieu of iron sights. The 64 FV SR has a 10-shot detachable magazine, the 93 a five-shot. Only the 93 is furnished with AccuTrigger – and instead of the 64’s .22 Long Rifle chambering, the 93 FV SR comes in .17 HMR and .22 WMR. Price of the autoloader: $231. The 93 lists for $358.

SIG 522 SWAT and 938 conversion

In 1853 three men in Switzerland started a wagon factory. Seven years later they decided to grow the business by bidding for a government rifle contract. They got it and tooled up to produce 30,000 muzzleloaders. The enterprise was renamed Swiss Industrial Company; in English the acronym is SIG. The firm came Stateside in 1985, bringing P220 and P230 pistols through its import house in Virginia. In 1990 it established headquarters and a factory in Exeter, New Hampshire. European affiliates (Blaser and J.P. Sauer & Sohn in Germany, and Swiss Arms AG) give the SIG-Sauer brand exceptional breadth. Rimfire offerings in the U.S. include blow-back .22 rifles in several versions, including, for 2014, a SWAT P522 with full-length rail and 10-inch barrel. There’s also a .22 conversion kit for the 938 autoloading pistol – which you can still buy as a .22 or a 9mm. Switching is easy.

Smith & Wesson M&P 15-22

OK, the rifle isn’t new. Eight versions of the M&P 15-22 have returned this year. But there are four new ones. Actually, make that two, but each comes in two new camo finishes. Both AR-style rifles feature a 16 ½-inch barrel and adjustable A2 post sight with adjustable dual aperture rear. Both weigh 7 pounds and fire only .22 Long Rifle ammo from a blow-back action. One version has a threaded barrel with a flash suppressor and a six-position adjustable stock. The other is “compliant” (for sale in California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland and New Jersey). It lacks the brake and stock adjustments. Both come in Tan and Black matte finish and in Pink Platinum Matte Finish (which isn’t as garish as you might think).

Volquartsen .17 Winchester Super Magnum

No company is better able to wring the potential from the hot new Winchester .17 Super Magnum rimfire than Volquartsen Custom. Since 1986, a dozen years after Tom Volquartsen opened a gun bluing shop, his rifle- and pistol-building enterprise has specialized in firearms of the highest quality. The actions have familiar profiles, but the machined and wire-EDM-cut components boast extraordinarily tight tolerances and fine finish. Their one-hole accuracy has made these rimfires the top choice of many competitors. This new .17 HMR features a Ruger 10/22-style receiver that Volquartsen CNC-machines with an integral rail. Like the heavy 20-inch barrel, it is of stainless steel. A tungsten alloy bolt with center-mounted recoil rod and spring smoothly strips cartridges from the 8-round flush-mounted detachable box. Available with a gray or brown laminated stock, this exquisite rifle is not cheap. But squeeze that crisp, adjustable trigger once, and you’ll not view other rimfire rifles as charitably again!

Winchester Model 1885 Rimfire

John Browning came to Winchester’s attention in the early 1880s, as in a small Utah shop the young prodigy and his brothers built a single-shot rifle on John’s dropping-block action. The Model 1885 became the first of many Browning-designed Winchesters. This year it returns in “low-wall” rimfire form. Available in .22 LR, .22 WMR, .17 HMR and .17 Winchester Super Magnum, it has a button-rifled 24-inch barrel, a checkered pistol-grip stock. The sliding vertical lugs in this and beefy “high-wall” 1885s saw service in Browning’s most famous lever rifles, the Winchester Models 1886 and 1892. With the 1874 Sharps and Remington’s Rolling Block, the 1885 Winchester ranks among the most celebrated single-shots of the post-Civil War era. Though most rimfire cartridges are much more recent, the .22 Long Rifle chambered in this new Model 1885 dates to 1887!