I want a new .22 rifle my savage is almost time to retire. Mainly I was thinking about lever action and I was wondering if Henry was still best for that, and should I go with lever action if not what should I go with ?

What are you using it for? I have a Henry 30-30 and it had a bad loading tube. Called Henry and they sent me out a new one that week. Amazing customer service and 100% made in America, love the company. The 22s are extremely well made and shoot great. Only gripe I have is the sights, if I were to buy one today, tomorrow I would order a set of skinner ghost ring sights and send in the front sight to be replaced.

My current take on 22's

Leveraction Henry is very good with smooth actions
Semi Auto, still a huge fan of the Remington 552 speedmaster
Bolt hard to beat the CZ bolt rimfires, great shooting rifles

I do agree as a general principle that one must think about what they want to use a particular firearm for.
That said, when it comes to 22 rifles there isn't much a 10/22 couldn't do for you. The only exception to me is if u said u want a precision/target 22 OR wanted to use a suppressor. Especially when u consider cost. For the price of a Henry lever, u could get a 10/22 and modify it to whatever u want. A simple trigger job will instantly turn that rifle into a glorious squirrel slaughtering machine.

Get a 17hmr. You can find ammo and it will be a lot more accurate.

So many choices of quality rifles, it's gonna be personal preference.

I like 10/22's for the vast choices available.

22Mag and 17Hmr have great choice in bolt actions.

Henry lever actions in all of 'em if that's what you want.....

If I had the funds I'd buy one of each from every manufacturer. Rimfires are soooo much fun.

Okay, back to planet earth.

10-22. Proven performer and tons of accessories available.

Henry lever action. Another excellent choice and the action is smoother than a baby's butt.

I'm a big 10/22 guy, but I also own a Win52. I'm spoiled. The last time I was at the range, I shot a Henry lever gun right beside a brand new CZ bolt gun, a 597 maybe, don't remember. The Henry was beautiful and the action was buttery smooth. The trigger was nothing to write home about. The CZ was also beautiful, the bolt was OK, but needs to smooth out, and the trigger was about 40 pounds of pull.

That little CZ put the Henry to shame at 50 yards using several types of ammo. With some work, that CZ could earn a place in MY gun safe, but it belongs to a buddy. OH, my buddy is selling the Henry.

i like the marlins bolt actions with the tube feed, the cz's are nice, rugers, savages are good i think the henery's are over priced even though they are nice, marlin has a lever action, you might check out HAMMERLI i have one and i am very pleased with it, when i first seen it i was not sure about it then did some research and went a ahead and purchased and was very surprised with it and now glad i purchased it good luck on your search

Marlin 39a's are the best 22 lever actions IMHO

I recently bought a Remington 541-S.

Marlin 39 top choice in a lever, Henry would be second.

Henrys are smooth as silk, and customer service is as good as it gets...maybe even better. IMO, the way a company backs their product is almost as important as the initial quality of the product. I own a Henry .22 blued version. Not the most accurate in my stable, however, it is my favorite in the .22 class. The fit and finish on their golden boy is excellent (I don't own one, but have fondled a few that my friends own). A lever .22 is a lot of fun. If you are looking for a fun, plinking Dr. Pepper cans all day rifle, the Henry would make you happy.

The Henry is probably your best bet. In the past five years several friends have bought them for thier kids and themselves. Everyone I have shot is a good fun gun.
If you have the money you might look at a Browning lever action .22 It's a Browning.

but these are real purty.....

Purty

IMHO the best .22 for the money is the CZ 452 (recently discontinued but they are not that hard to find). As for their triggers you can buy a $2.00 spring from Ace Hardware that changes a 5-6 lb trigger to around 2 lbs. If you want a great looking lever gun I like the Browning BL-22, but my favorite is the Marlin 39, I prefer the shorter barreled M or D models. My rimfires are my favorites, sure hate to ammo shortage. Surely nothing wrong with the Henry's.

Find a few people with a Henry that have put a couple thousand or more down the pipe before getting one. They are smooth but made of silk (actually lots of plastic and cast/pot metal) but hey, my 10/22 used to have plastic too. They're warranty service is great too from what I hear....something you hope not to experience.

The nice thing about a .22 is they are not terribly expensive so why not buy a few and see which you like and either sell the rest or keep me for plinking

I bought the Henry .22 youth model for my wife last year and she's very happy with it.