Of all the guns that went across my hands, my switch barrel 96/22 wmr 17 hmr combo is the one I miss the most...

 

That and my Remington Nylon 12 22lr (lever Nylon 66)

 

I always admired these rifles but never owned one.

 

Another Ruger with a short life.

 

Short life because it had the worst trigger pull in the history of American rifles and it could not be fixed.

RIP

 

How so? i have a 96 that i sent the trigger to todd at TTshooters years ago and it breaks like a glass rod at 2.75 lbs, just how i like in a hunting rifle. Mine has worn a 20inch GM bull barrel for years and continues to shoot the lights out as long as i do my part. I'd buy another 96 in a heartbeat if i saw one.

 

I have two and their triggers are very usable but not light, one is a custom built 96/22 converted to .17m2 with a Clark Custom barrel, stock reworked, it will embarrass many bolt guns, the other a 96/44. The absolute extremes.

 

I have two and their triggers are very usable but not light....

Indeed.

Not light is being too POlite.

 

Too bad Ol' Cletus Hungwell passed on or he could tell you how to tune 96 triggers. He guided me thru my journey with mine. He had a mag rifle that he made it he could run it switch barrel between 4 calibers, 22lr, 22wmr, 17hmr, 17hm2. He was the guru on these fine little rifles.

 

Is there anyone still around that works on these?

 

Specializing? Don't know, but they're not awfully complicated so a real gunsmith should be able to help you out. The Gunsmith who did the .17m2 did a lot of work and very well on it.

 

But, my bad, I shouldn't have said they can't be fixed.

Searching here, it does appear that they can be fixed to a certain extent, but still not as light as I would prefer.

 

I had a 96/17 (HMR). I traded it for a Win Super Grade + some cash. It was my 1st rifle in 17 HMR. I just didn't like the cartridge that much.

 

I have one and it is probably the most accurate 22 I own. That, despite the terrible trigger. I'd love to have a better trigger. Too bad the Ruger BX trigger won't work for this. I have the BX in my 10-22 take-down and it's a pretty good trigger. I should probably ask some local gunsmiths if they can do anything with it but I don't want to risk somebody screwing it up even worse.

 

Brothers 96/44

My younger brother has the 96/44..I couldn't say how many deer have fallin from that rifle...

 

I have the .22 and .22wmr , got them a year after the quit making them . They bring big money these days ..

 

Am hoping that Ruger sees fit to return the 96 to production once they see their investment in Marlin paying off.

Of course, if I wasn't the *only* one going to Ruger.com and bugging them to bring back the 96, it might help!

 

I too would like to see them made again, so I will request as well ! :t

 

I have 3 in 22lr, 1 in 22 wmr and 1 in 17 hmr. Two of the 22lr triggers have been worked on by TTshooter. He did an excellent job on them. Not a light trigger pull but very crisp. I like them more than my marlin lever actions. Model 39a and model 56's. But that is my personal preference. I am sure that I will get chastised for liking the 96 more than my 39a.

 

I have a 96/22mag. Nice handling, but it fails to fire about 5 out of 50. The firing pin occasionally strikes too far out, on the rim of the cartridge. You can't get a firing pin, either. The trigger is pretty heavy as well. Not a bad rifle, but nowhere near as accurate and reliable as my Marlin 57M.

 

Had one come into the gun shop I worked at, never seen one or heard of them before. I needed another 22 like a hole in the head, but it was in great condition, takes 10/22 mags, and the price was good so I grabbed it…then found out how much they’re going for now. Manager was on vacation that week and they priced it ridiculously low. It’s a shooter for sure.

 

I had a GM 17m2 barrel on my 96/22 for a while, then swapped it back to 22lr.

My trigger also had some work done on it. And yes, initially when I first got the gun, it was indeed bad
It's NOT terrible now. Not light by any means, but it's ok.
May have been TTShooters who did the work, can't remember, it's been a long time.....

Fun plinking rig
I'd like to get one in 22Mag

 

I would've bought the whole set had they been walnut instead of birch. Now I wish I had.

 

I have never seen one in the wild. Read about them seen them on sale online etc. Prices pretty high. Glad to see folks have them and enjoy them. I think I would buy a levermatic marlin first. They seem pretty cool. Again noticed since marlin went away they are fetching rather ambitious prices. If I started collecting 25 years ago, I might have more skin in the game....

 

I had both the .22 and .22 WMR to these I added a .17HM2 for the .22 and a beautiful Tapered octagon in 17 HMR for the .22 WMR rifle from Green Mountain barrels all were accurate for their platforms, I sold them cause someone offered me so much more than I had in them. I don't miss them.
The one I should have bought and kept was the .44 mag.
Interesting models but another Ruger that failed to sell well.

 

I had a .96/22 in .22WMR, which I found for a song. My example was surprisingly smooth.

Much to my surprise, I really liked it… I just didn’t have much use for a rifle in .22WMR.

Since I bought it to “flip,” flip it, I did! 😎

If it had been in .22LR, I would have kept it… 👍

 

I have been bugging them, to make one, in .17 Winchester Super Magnum Rimfire.
They already have the Rotary .17WSM Mag, for the Ruger 77/17
And they have made the 96 in .44 Magnum.
Making one in .17 WSM should be easy. And without the issues, of the Semi Auto .17WSM Rifles.

I Own a 96/17.

 

Great platform but Ruger will not make the 96 anytime soon, It didn't sell when they made them only a few affectionados bought them myself included I think I've got a couple mags for the 22 left.

 

I've had mine since they first came out, it was to replace my 10/22 in 1996. I have put many rounds through it. When I first got it the best groups I could get were about 3-4" at 50m as a result I fitted a Whistle Pig 20" fluted barrel to it, no improvement!!! turned out the scope had gone bad, replaced with some decent scope and it is a tack driver. In regards the trigger, they run twin coil springs, by dropping one of these and fitting a little bush to support the trigger pin (I think as it was many years ago now..) cleaning up all the edges and a bit of a polish to a few bits the trigger is vastly better than stock, around 2-2.5 lb with very little creep. I also had a play with making the stock a bit more target based. nothing fancy and I still need to fit a proper but pad (it's one the shelf and I'll get there one day..)

the photo below is just after I had sighted in a new scope, walking back from my own range this little guy jumped out in front of me at about 20m, what else was I supposed to do

 

I bought an m 96 for my kids when they were little, neither took to shooting so the gun say in my closet for years. Found that gun in the back of the closet several years back and took it to the farm were we ran several boxes of shells through it. It was horrible in the trigger but great everywhere else. Took it back home and polished the ugly machine marks off the trigger and sear cleaned and pulled it, now it is a favourite little plinker. Trigger is glass smooth and breaks at 2.5. love these little guns