The gun was provided to the author for review by Springfield Armory.
Soon after Springfield Armory announced its Model 2020 Waypoint, I snared one for range trials.
It was and is an impressive rifle!
The author took the wood stocked Springfield Model 2020 Classic Rimfire for a full workout. He found that the trigger broke with little creep at 3.5 pounds out of the box.
Its no secret the .22 Long Rifle is the best-selling cartridge in North America.
So, the Springfield 2020 Rimfire shouldnt surprise anyone.
On the other hand, the mechanism of a .22 has little in common with centerfire actions.
Springfield’s 2020 Rimfire Classic comes in four grades of walnut, from a Select Satin to a Grade AAA.
Nor are rimfire rifles cheap to design.
While the .22 LRs modest breech pressures do trim manufacturing costs, those savings can be meager.
Many fine .22s have vanished since the 1950s, victims of rising tabs for labor and materials.
TheModel 2020 rimfirerifle’s matte blue is really deep satin, well-matched to the finish of this figured Turkish walnut.
Of course, every .22 rifle carries design elements proven successful in others.
Re-inventing a wheel after more than a century and a half of development hardly makes sense!
Dual cocking cams make bolt lift easy.
The bolt has dual extractors and a centerfire-style release.
Dual extractors, offset to enhance feeding and direct empties at a convenient angle, grip case rims firmly.
A mechanical ejector kicks cases smartly clear of rifle, scope and trigger hand.
The bolt release is a spring-loaded rocker on the left side of the bridge, centerfire-style.
Cleanly cut checkering, in simple panels, is comfy in your hand. The capped grip has a comfortable sweep.
The Remington 700-pattern trigger came from the box with a 3 12-pound pull.
I felt no need to tinker with this trigger.
Mercifully, the triggers finger-piece is not gold-plated.
An honest rifle. Nice lines. Well built. Accurate. A .22 for people who deserve another. Who doesn’t?
Its smooth face and thoughtful curve complement the rifles conservative profile and detailing.
The two-position side safety is easy to reach but not obtrusive.
It can be thumbed quietly, but the detents are positive.
Eley Match from Wayne’s competitive prone days shot the tightest knots. All ammo cycled without fault.
It does not lock the bolt.
Lightweight bottom metal is nicely inletted.
In fact, its interchangeable with that magazine.
Guaranteed 1″ three-shot groups at 50 yards was easy to beat. The 20″ barrel is rifled 1-in-16″.
Only the logo differs.
Grip and forend have simple panels of machine checkering, 20 lines per inch.
The comb nose is set far enough back that it doesnt fight with the heel of my hand.
Twin extractors, offset, grab each rim for sure in-and-out. Ejection is brisk from a quick-shucking bolt.
A slight lift of the chin puts me on target through the middle of an optic in medium rings.
Im grateful Springfield spared us a Monte Carlo hummock and a plastic butt-plate.
The textured black quarter-inch rubber butt-pad on the 2020 Rimfire Classic is handsome and practical.
You’re hardly under-dressed with the 2020 Rimfire Classic. These days, too few .22s are this fetching!
The rifles 20-inch, chrome-moly, sporter-weight barrel on the Classic has no sights.
It floats in its channel; but the gaps to either side are even and modest.
Rifling pitch is 1 turn in 16 inches, standard for .22 LR bores.
Its adjustable objective seems to me a requisite for accuracy trials with .22 rifles.
An AO nixes parallax and sharpens focus at any distance you choose.
Most scopes without AO are focused and zeroed out for parallax at 150 yards.
Target focus is then acceptably sharp from around 75 yards to infinity.
Inside 100 yards, no fixed-focus high-power scope yields the crisp images needed for precise aim.
The .22 LR is a short-range cartridge.
A smaller optic might better have suited this rifles profile.
But the Springfield bore my 1242 gracefully.
A comely pair, to my eye.
Over sandbags, the tiny dot on the Sightrons thin crosswire permits aim fine enough to swat barn flies.
The ammo variable showed up immediately in my trials.
Of four loads labeled Match, groups with the Classic ranged from 1 inch to 2 12!
After a few groups, I sent 10 bullets into a 1-inch group.
With good ammunition, Im hardly surprised this 2020 Rimfire Classic outshoots its guarantee!
Conclusion
Any .22 is fun.
Ear plugs are enough to mute the snap outdoors, and theres essentially no recoil.
you’re able to fire a .22 where centerfire rifles would annoy neighbors.
A backstop still matters, because LR bullets ricochet more readily than expanding bullets from centerfires.
LR hollowpoints are effective hunting bullets.
Rasps of distant crows would come first, then the chirrs of fox squirrels and rustlings high overhead.
Springfield offers its Model 2020 Rimfire Classic Rifle at four price-points.
The metal is the same across this quartet.
Their heavier 20-inch barrels, threaded 1/228 at the muzzle, boost rifle weight to 7 12 pounds.
Stocks on these rifles are of reinforced polymer.
Theyre shaped like those of Model 2020 centerfire rifles steep grips, high combs and straight, substantial forends.
The Rimfire Target Rifle with a black stock retails for $434.
The price for its sibling in a sage-hued stock with black webbing is $499.
You already have one good .22?
Then you dont yet have too many.
Or, arguably, enough.
Go to forum thread
