I would suggest a Thomson Contender. A break open action, Great trigger right out of the box, Quality construction. You will pay though , but this quality is worth it, if you have old eyes add a fixed 4 power. Great thing about the Contender is if you want to try a different caliber you just buy the barrel and put it on yourself the scope mounts to the barrels, so you can have each barrel with a scope mounted to it and sighted in. It can shoot rim fire or center fire. The googler will find you all you need to know about them...Though if you do buy one in 22 PM me after and I will give you a real good deal on a bunch of spare barrels in a wide range of calibers that I have surplus to my needs.

Now don't be scared to buy a used single shot 22. There were lots of old quality ones made. Keep your eyes on the used racks. I found a old (maybe 1932) BSA model 12, single shot 22, martini action falling block. http://rifleman.org.uk/BSA_Model_12.html . the barrel has been bobbed down to 18 inches, and a scope added, but it is a fine quality piece, and there are lots of gems like it on the used racks.

That Thompson Contender looks pretty cool all right, I might go that way eventually. I think the way it breaks down and recombines is perhaps not what I am looking for, just yet though. For now, I'll look at the used rack, see if there's that fits the bill.
Doing a bit more googling, looks like I used to shoot a Winchester Model 67, I think.

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Put a few hours into the internet yesterday, here's what I've come up with, for single-shot .22LR, so far:

There are a couple of over/unders, that can be had as single-shot .22LRover/.410under. Savage Model 42, and the Chiappa Double Badger.
For plain old .22LR, there is the Crickett in both youth's & adult's size, the Savage Rascal (youth's), and the Chiappa Little Badger, which is marketed as a "survival" rifle.

I can't comment on the quality or usefulness of any of them, but if a single-shot is what you're after, that's what's there.

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I have a Savage Model 42 in .22LR over .410. The first thing you need to do if you buy one is to find a replacement for the sights; they're awful. Both sights (front and rear) are painted black, so your sight picture is black-on-black, which is very hard to see, even in daylight. It's even worse if, like me, you wear glasses with progressive lenses (there is only so far you can bend your head back to get a good sight picture).

There is a company called EGW that makes a Picatinny rail for the Model 42 (P/N: 41950), so there is the possibility of mounting a scope or Red-Dot on it. Just remember one thing, though, if you live in Canada it's not easy ordering aftermarket parts from the US. We're not much of a market compared to the US, so it takes a long time to get things shipped up here. I'm currently still waiting for two fibre-optic front sights I ordered during the Christmas holidays.

How do you like the Model 42? Does it say where it is made?

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It's a nice little gun, very light, but like I said, the sights are crap. The rear sight is plastic and does not show the front sight well (black-on-black coloration), so even in daylight it's hard to get a good sight picture. The shell extractor on it is is not that effective (it's plastic, too) but it's easy enough to flick-out expended shells with your fingernail.

It doesn't say where it's made, but Savage does have a manufacturing facility in Lakefield, Ontario, about a 15 minute drive North of Peterborough, so it could be made in Canada.

The nice thing about break-breach rifles is you can carry them pretty safely loaded with the breach open, and it only take seconds to unload and reload when crossing an obstacle. They're easy to field-maintain, too. All you'd really need to bring along is a coupe of boresnakes (.22 and .40 calibre) and a bottle of gun oil.

Unfortunately, I bought mine before they came out with the take-down model, so mine does not came apart to stuff in a backpack. I'm looking to get another (a take-down model this time) but in .22 WMR over .410. It's what I'll pack if taking a long hike in the back-country, or when fishing in a remote area. The .22 WMR packs a pretty good wallop, and the .410 is very versatile. In .410 I'd take along a box of slugs, some 3-inch 00 buckshot rounds, and a box of #4 shot, for small game. One thing I'm sad about is that they no longer make .410 caliber flares (I've seen some on the surplus market, but I'm pretty sure they're past their best before date).

If you dont mind me asking why .22? Why not a another caliber?

It's what I shot as a kid, ammunition is dirt cheap, for a first gun I'm just going small. It's just a cheap easy way to pull a trigger and have bit of fun with it, without breaking the bank. I still want a higher-calibre for "real" shooting, but for now, a .22 is more than enough to keep me occupied.

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ahh k a few friends and i have started to play king of the hill when using .22. theres a savage model 64 179+ tx a ruger 10/22 in an ATI folding stock about 400 all in [Bought it from me used ] and I have a few .22s but my preferred is a GSG 15 . they are all good for various reasons The first 2 are fairly reliable and shoot well and almost any ammo, The GSG is a tack driver compared to the other 2 BUT cost is way up nearly 500+. and its picky on ammo . if you want to spend some coins I also have a Ruger american rimfire and I really like it bolt action It shoots the aguilla sniper subsonic all the way to the fancy match ammo uses a Ruger rotary mag and if you want to shoot shorts with a minor mod to the mag it will function with those also. PM if you want to see some of my Youtube stuff on them

.22LR Ammo is ubiquitous, and probably the most produced round ever; a rifle is nothing more than a fancy club if ammo for it is limited. .22LR Is also great round for quietly taking small game. Let's be honest, if you're on your own trying to survive in the bush, you're not going to be killing a deer every time you get hungry, your best bet will be small game. As for the power of the .22LR, don't be fooled by its size. The .22LR is a very dangerous round. It doesn't blow straight though, it goes in and bounces around, creating wound channels.

I also have a Marlin XT-22TSR, which is a bolt action .22 rifle with a tubular magazine. The beauty of the XT-22TSR is - because of the tubular magazine - it can cycle .22 Short, .22 Long and .22 Long Rifle ammo. As long as any regular .22 ammo is available (not magnum) I can fire it. The tubular magazine holds 25 Short rounds, 19 Long or 17 Long Rifle. You can load it on Sunday and fire all week long!

Its a nice FA a friend has it on his to own list. I found a youtube on how to take a piece of abs pipe to mod a mag to accept shorts on my ruger rotary mag. I cleaned my C.T. out of mags so i could mod 2 for them. not 25 but ill take it. have you tried the Aguilla Sniper Subsonics GallowsHumour?

No, I haven't tried subsonics in it yet. I imagine it'll be a lot quieter, which is good if you need to avoid drawing unwanted attention while bagging dinner.

I'd tell your friend to order his XT-22TSR early. For some strange reason (not really, Canada IS a very small market compared to the US) it takes a long time to get firearms and accessories up here. If you're buying what the dealer has in stock, no problem, but if they have to order it, it seems to take forever. Case in point, my Truglo sights (2 months and still waiting), my Savage Model 42 (7-month wait (well, the model HAD just come on the market)), and my XT-22TSR (a whopping 11 months; the dealer was almost ready to cancel the order when he came across one in Quebec City). It ain't easy being a Canuk!

Gallowshumour, I use subsonic for one of my rifles and it's not much quieter than the regular or high-velocity..

Which sub sonic round are you talking about and are you using it in a semi or a bolt? when I use it in my GSG 15 it keyholes . but when I use it in my savage Rimfire I would have no need for hearing pro in the shooting cover.. If i was inclined to not wear any , as a note I always wear it . In the bush its real quiet .

on this video you will see how it works
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybIU-2Pidr8