Dave, I don't think you could really go wrong with any of those actions for a fine .22 competition gun.  I'm in the finishing stages of my second Stevens 44 rebuild in the last couple of years, and I kinda like them for .22's.  There is way more than ample leverage in the swinging breech to easily seat rounds in a full-match chamber, they have a rather dainty hammer fall that doesn't upset the aim badly, and a pretty good single trigger.  The one we built for .22 silhouette has a sweet 12 oz trigger job (thanks, Glenn!)

The 44 1/2's have the advantage of a removable trigger unit...I think that a set of CPA double-sets can be fitted to the original action pretty easily.  Since you appear to be flush with those actions, a matched set stocked for bench and offhand would be REALLY neat. 

And of course, the Ballard is a "legendary" platform for an accurate .22...

Greg

Joe, interesting comments re: barrel manufacturers.  I have in hand a Douglas .30 caliber tube that is going on the schuetzenRuger project, I hope it shoots as well as yours!

I helped (did the stock-work) build a pretty neat CPA with a back-bored barrel system (sorta).  On this one, the outer shell was a Green Mountain #5 weight octagon barrel, in .50 caliber, that was pulled from the production line after drilling/reaming, before rifling.  The inner tube was a second Green Mountain .22 caliber blank, that was turned to fit inside the .50 caliber tube.  The trick part is, the liner only firmly attaches at the breech with, IIRC, a couple of small fillister screws (kinda like the breech face of a M-N firing pin bushing), and the tube of the insert rides on several rubber "O" rings.  With this system, the gunsmith can try various barrel manufacturers, barrel lengths, etc...tuning the gun from the inside out, as it were

This rifle was a purpose-built O/H gun, and has several 250's to it's credit in gallery matches already...but of course the owner is an exceptional shot  .

Greg

ssdave;
            I don't think you could go wrong with any of your choices, I shoot all of these actions in 22RF but my first choice would be the 44.5 Stevens because of the parts available for this action, its also takedown.  I have a Ballard in 22RF that I use for OH IS rimfire, they make a dandy 22 until you drop a spent case down in the action, if your action does not have the rimfire extractor I'd use it for another project. I have a couple nice 44 Stevens 22's but I don't think they compare with the other's.
            I've spent several hundred dollar's on 22RF singleshots and after I put all these expensive parts together they WON'T outshoot my BSA  MK 1V Intl.--I know their ugly but they work.   leadball

remeber if you back bore to get the backbore large enough - I have always heard a minimum of 3X grove dia - but I am thinking .75 or larger wouldn't hurt - does anyone know for sure? - you have a great day now - the rimfire - cdpersons

There's of course the obvious option - buy a good Martini, best would be one of the offhand models  like the Int'l Mk IV ISU.  Good barrel, fine (and fast!) trigger, good sights...  Hard to fault that combination, and probably a whole lot cheaper than any of the other options.  And remember - beautiful is as beautiful does!

Ballards and low walls also seat ammo in a match chamber quite handily, and low walls also have the advantage of incorporating the kicking ejector if wanted. The Stevens rifles are nice for 22s but I personally would want a drawbolt buttstock attachment. I'm currently experimenting with a different extractor/ignition system for the low wall since I consider the factory setup to be inferior, kinda like the cheesy wood screw buttstock attachment on some Stevens rifles. IMO both need improvements that can easily be incorporated during the rework of the rifles. The two-piece Ballard 22RF extractor is easily accessible and, if properly constructed, will hold the extracted cartridge in place for removal by the shooter's finger or nail.

I personally believe that accuracy with a 22RF will be greatly enhanced by having a shorter effective barrel length, to reduce any wandering/vibration between the time of the priming ignition and the bullet's exit from the end of the rifled portion of the barrel (barrel time). I also believe that this wandering/vibration explains the well-known phenomenon of almost all 22RF target rifles, that they will almost always shoot much more accurately, that is, produce smaller groups, from the prone position than from the bench. I believe the tight sling somewhat dampens the unplanned movement and wandering/vibration; at any rate this accuracy anomaly is well-known to many Smallbore shooters, and I believe that a shorter rifled portion can only improve matters. Experiments continue.
Regards, Joe

If Smallbore Silhouette is any judge offhand accuracy in rimfires is enhanced by short barrels.  It's barrel time in my opinion.  Having said that and owning a short barrel T/C  that I shoot Silouette with would not want one for Schuetzen.   Too ugly

Boats

So then, if we can get by an ugly rifle, I still say its very hard [not impossible] to build a 22Rf  rifle that will out-shoot a BSA Intl.--- I've discovered that if you win a few matches they become less ugly. leadball