Thread: JW15 yeah or nah

Mate and I have done 25-30 of these JW15s - polish the action, chop to 16" and tidy up. All but one were well under 1" for 5 shot groups at 50m, and most could drop under 1/2" for groups at best. Cheap little rifles but often with surprisingly good barrels. Consistently outperform alot more expensive units in full bench test. Occasional duds - eg the polytech stuff as timandtalon noted.

The chopped, polished JW definitely has its place and after owning maybe 100 22s of most makes the little JW is a great favorite as a worker. Here's a 'how to' for Norinco JW15s from nzrimfire:

JW15 modifications and setup ideas

Other useful bolt action 22 models - Marlin, Toz 78, Savage, Zastava - good worker 22s that won't break the bank and it won't matter if they get a few marks. Some need a little polishing but will prove very effective on the bunnies. Some of the little Euros like Voere and Krico are also good but risk is with parts supply. Make no mistake the little JW15, its cousin the EM332, and the Marlin 22s (very good rimfire barrels) will match anything on the bench and often beat 'name' brands.

My favourites - Marlin 925 (0.37" for 5 shot groups at 50m), JW15 (0.34" at 50m), Norinco EM332 (four consecutive groups at 100m averaging 0.6"), Toz 78 (0.7" at 50m) and CZ/Brno at 0.4" at 50m.

Quite a few good options as worker 22s.