.22LR Anschutz R22 MSR Semi-Auto Stock # 251113/005

Specifications

Stock # 251113/005

The term “modern sporting rifle” (MSR) is important because it denotes the progression of the semiautomatic rifle. For close to a century manually operated rifles dominated sport shooting whether it was competition or hunting, but a lot of shooting consumers in the 21st century are not interested in designs with origins from more than a century ago.

Some really do want a modern sporting rifle, and while Americans tend to think the term describes the classic AR-15/M4 style of semiauto rifle, Anschutz believes it is the perfect term to describe the company’s .22 Long Rifle semiauto that was designed for club shooting in Germany. Fortunately, it is also being imported into the United States, and Shooting Times obtained the review sample carbine through Steyr Arms Inc

Called the MSR RX22, this .22 LR rifle is like nothing Anschutz has previously brought to the U.S., yet it remains a high-quality .22 rimfire sport rifle. The big difference is that it mimics in appearance and layout another well-known rifle that was originally developed as a military centerfire rifle: the SCAR-16 from FNH.

The MSR RX22 is a joint development of three companies: Anschutz, German Sport Guns, and ESC Ulm. ESC Ulm is a division of ISSC, an Austrian firm that specializes in high-quality rimfire firearms. ISSC developed the gun, but it is manufactured in Germany for Anschutz. I first noticed a sample of the MSR RX22 during a visit to the Anschutz booth at the 2012 IWA trade show in Nuremberg, Germany. It caught my eye because it looked so much like the SCAR-16.