I have a tube fed Remington 550. I like it because it will shoot shorts, longs or long rifles without any fuss. That is a cool .22 rifle.
Exactly. Some people like Ruger 10/22s because they can get all kind of crap to put on it, even big, big magazines. No contest, it’s a great gun. I like my Marlin because it is simple and cheap - one of Marlin’s best selling models.
A good tube-fed 22 is compact as it’s gonna be, let’s you get close to the ground and cover as you can without some bulky magazine poking down, and snags on clothing, brush,etc. less easily. And, as you say shorts, longs, etc are an option. The only round they won’t shoot are 22 WMRs
I have a Remington 552 which I don’t think they make anymore. I guess I have had it for maybe 30 years. During that time it has never even thought about jamming and like your 550, it shoots shorts, longs, and long rifle.
It is also way above average in accuracy.
One of those rifles I wish I had back was a Remington Nylon 66, Apache Black with a chrome barrel and receiver. I typically don’t care for flashy rifles but this one just seemed right with the chrome against the black nylon stock.
Probably the consistently most accurate common .22 auto is the Marlin model 60. I have no idea why but every one I have owned or shot has been uncommonly accurate.
The Ruger 10-22 is probably the next .22 I buy. They are only fairly accurate (yes I know many have been made into high quality target rifles but I am talking out of the box accuracy) but they are good enough and all those high capacity mags is a real plus. Now Ruger sells their own brand of 25 round mags for it.
Speaking of accuracy, I have a Marlin bolt action .22 mag which will out shoot most centerfires. It is not particularly well finished and it looks like the mag does not align properly since it just seems to leave the top round sticking out in space but the bolt picks it up every single time. Did I mention it shoots like a house on fire? It does.