Best 22lr Pistol for getting into shooting

To the OP you are on to something with the PPQ .22LR. Everything I have heard about the gun has been positive. It is pricey but quality sometimes costs. It is one of the few .22LR you can dry fire apparently which is huge for teaching. The polymer frame will be a blessing for youngsters who might struggle with the steel/alloy pistols.

I came close to becoming a statistic when a young lad was left alone on the firing line with a c&l 1911 .45acp so please spend your time with your son at arms length when he is handling the pistol. Youngsters no matter how trained are still youngsters and handguns unlike rifles can sweep a wide arc with little effort. You are here so I am sure you know that.

Good luck with your son, I know he will remember his time with his dad on the gun range all his life. Most of us here do.

Take Care

Bob
 
I picked up a Sig 1911-22 from Tenda, it’s my 2nd pistol after a M&P 9mm. I prefer to shoot the Sig because obviously .22lr is cheap to feed. Size and weight it’s almost identical to a .45 ACP 1911. You can pick them up at Tenda for sub $400 (when they’re in stock). As for a review. BUY BUY BUY IT!!!! Hands down an EXTREMELY fun gun to shoot. Can’t go wrong with a good .22. On a side note, ammo can be picky with .22lr. I run Blazer 22 long rifle ammo. Over 1,000 rounds and only 3 weak loads (didn’t cycle slide fully). Tight crimp coated lead round nose. Best ammo for semi auto .22. Have fun and safe shooting!
 
My M&P 22 has run flawlessly with lots of different ammo, Blazer 22LR is especially good and cheap. It is a breeze to field strip, no tools required and is essentially just like its bigger cousin the 9mm version, great pistol.
 
Sochi said:
My vote is for new Ruger Mk IV 22/45 Tactical.
- Eats any bulk ammo - tested - not problem.
- Super Easy to clean,
- have 1911 ergo,
- rails for optics/red dot and light
- thread for muzzle compensator.
- Nice and heavy metal feels like a "real gun".
- Very accurate.
- Tons for accessories and upgrades available (Tandemcross)
- My daughter loves it
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weight and price tag?
 
GreenBob said:
weight and price tag?
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The Ruger MKIV tactical weighs 2 pounds empty.

You can find them for $570-$600. Buuuuut...you will need to put more money into it to make it a decent shooter.
To me it seems like they put out an unfinished product. The grip is too square at the front, making it uncomfortable to hold tightly. The black front sight against the black u-notch rear sight makes it impossible to aim accurately at a dark-coloured target. The plastic trigger feels like it came off a squirt gun. It has a lot of takeup, and it feels really cheap. The left-side safety lever slides up and down rather than clicking into place as it should. This results in accidentally engaging the safety while shooting. Happened a bunch of times to me even when I was consciously trying not to do it.

Now once you fix all of those things, she becomes a really fun pistol to shoot. You just need to be decide if the extra money and effort is worth if to you.

Fixes:
Tandemkross Victory trigger - $45 USD
Hogue rubber grip with finger grooves - $27 USD
Red or white paint for the front and rear sights
Stretch out the detent spring in the safety so that the lever doesn't slide easily

So after currency conversion and shipping costs, you're adding more than $100 to the advertised price tag.
 
GU4RDI4N said:
The Ruger MKIV tactical weighs 2 pounds empty.

You can find them for $570-$600. Buuuuut...you will need to put more money into it to make it a decent shooter.
To me it seems like they put out an unfinished product. The grip is too square at the front, making it uncomfortable to hold tightly. The black front sight against the black u-notch rear sight makes it impossible to aim accurately at a dark-coloured target. The plastic trigger feels like it came off a squirt gun. It has a lot of takeup, and it feels really cheap. The left-side safety lever slides up and down rather than clicking into place as it should. This results in accidentally engaging the safety while shooting. Happened a bunch of times to me even when I was consciously trying not to do it.

Now once you fix all of those things, she becomes a really fun pistol to shoot. You just need to be decide if the extra money and effort is worth if to you.

Fixes:
Tandemkross Victory trigger - $45 USD
Hogue rubber grip with finger grooves - $27 USD
Red or white paint for the front and rear sights
Stretch out the detent spring in the safety so that the lever doesn't slide easily

So after currency conversion and shipping costs, you're adding more than $100 to the advertised price tag.
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I totally agree with all the above but plus on top I added:
- "Game changer" muzzle compensator
- "Blast shield" magazine disconnect replacement
- Titanium firing pin
- "Eagle talon" extractor
- Wilson firesight FO sights
- "Titan" extended mag release (my daughter needed it for her small hands)
- "Halo" charging ring (best upgrade for this gun - again my daughter needed it)

so as you see don't really bought this gun to "save" money :)
it's my small "lego" family project which I enjoy so much myself plus teaching my daughter how to tinker with mechanical things and have fun next day enjoying results of your labor.
We already started working on our next project - .22lr rifle with scope...
Cheers.
 
jckstrthmghty said:
Hard to reassembled after cleaning which would be often. The mk4 is the way to go if you must have the Ruger. A bit pricey for a first 22lr pistol imo but very nice for sure.
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I found that stripping down and re-assembling the Mk III is tricky but not difficult at all. It's more about remembering all the steps in the right order. When they are followed the gun slips together super easily. If even ONE step is forgotten then it starts looking a lot like a Rubic's Cube in a hurry.....

Removing the magazine safety sure does help a lot both for turning the Mk III into something more like a Mk II as well as slightly improving the trigger pull.


On the topic of cleaning and lubricating any .22 handgun. I don't think there is any handgun that gets filthy inside faster than a direct blowback style handgun. But a big part of the filth is the lubrication needed and the sticky nature of that if it's a wet product.

Based on writeups and glowing reviews of EEZOX over at Rim Fire Central I bought a can a couple of years back and used it as directed on my rimfire handguns. I have to say that this stuff really works. The guns do not need to be stripped and cleaned as often. I get probably twice the use from them before cleaning is needed now. But the downside is that I can't add a little to get by for just one more day as the product needs to be used then somewhat wiped away and allowed to dry before re-assembly.
 
Canuck44 said:
To the OP you are on to something with the PPQ .22LR. Everything I have heard about the gun has been positive. It is pricey but quality sometimes costs. It is one of the few .22LR you can dry fire apparently which is huge for teaching. The polymer frame will be a blessing for youngsters who might struggle with the steel/alloy pistols.

I came close to becoming a statistic when a young lad was left alone on the firing line with a c&l 1911 .45acp so please spend your time with your son at arms length when he is handling the pistol. Youngsters no matter how trained are still youngsters and handguns unlike rifles can sweep a wide arc with little effort. You are here so I am sure you know that.

Good luck with your son, I know he will remember his time with his dad on the gun range all his life. Most of us here do.

Take Care

Bob
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Thank you for the info and advice. My spouse and I are both law enforcement and are amazed at how "trained" adults can be terrifying with a pistol in their hands. My son is almost 11 and will never have a pistol near him unless I can reach him. Regardless how safe he wants to be, I know that it takes just a second to become a target, even by accident. I also like the PPQ 9mm for me, and they aren't the cheapest pistols, either. They are comfy for my hands, however, and since I'll be doing most of the target shooting, I need comfy for me!!
 
He is 10, and about the size of an average 12-13 year old. So, hands that are on the smaller side, and I'm female and have small hands as well.
 
Wendell said:
The fact that you reference 'law enforcement' suggests to me that you'd prefer something that functions like a duty pistol, so - for me - that rules out single-action pistols like the Ruger, the Browning, and any model of 1911. Most police in North America are issued a Glock, so that'd be the obvious place to start, and irunguns usually has .22LR conversion kits that fit Glocks, but with most of those models - as you've noted - reliable function is far from certain.

Like you, I want a reliable .22LR trainer with controls and function that are as close as possible to a duty pistol (like a G19). I want to be able to introduce new people to pistols using a .22LR model that doesn't involve any complications, or explanations, or excuses. I don't want any manual safety lever, and I don't want any magazine disconnect. I don't want a weird grip angle, and I don't want a weird magazine release. I do want easy holster availability and just-like-the-centerfire operating controls (including a functioning slide-stop), but I don't want malfunctions, or ammunition sensitivity. Like you, the best that I've found in this respect is the Walther PPQM2 .22 SD Tactical; it's certainly not perfect, but (IMO) it's the best available (in this specific role) and it works as advertised.

For the purposes you've described, I'd suggest that you just buy a new Walther PPQM2 .22 SD Tactical.
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Thank you for the info! We use H&K pistols at work and my spouse and I are not fans of them. They fire ok, but Corrections ended up with them because they were a pistol made for someone who bailed on the order and we got them dirt cheap. To me that's always a red flag. I've been eyeing the PPQ for a while, and sadly the last one on sale sold at the place I want to buy from (my RPAL is taking its sweet time), so I will keep my eyes out for a new or used one. I like the idea of the revolver to teach good trigger control, but I fear that the 617 will be too heavy for my son and if he can't hold it properly or hit anything with it, his interest won't last long.
 
I have a walther p22. Got it on trade for a gun worth around $300. I like it, double action/single action, and a LOT of info online about them. No complaints here.

Its a pretty small gun. Would be good for people with small hands.
 
My lack of participation in the exchange thing here after all this time may partly be seen to reflect the fact that I haven't bought a hasty or entry level firearm since the age of 14, I in fact put a lot of heavy thought into each one I own. Therefore, my personal recommendation for a purely target shooting .22 handgun is the Ruger Mark IV. The earlier versions, esp the MII and MIII are just as good but they are a stinking thing to reassemble after cleaning (cue the people who claim to do it behind their backs, in the dark and underwater). The MIV OTOH is really simple to clean and maintain and by all accounts it retains the same mosquito killing accuracy as my own Mark II. The downside to this pistol is that it has a unique configuration of the safety and magazine release and operationally can't be used for cheaper cross training with a regular service pistol. But especially with target sights, a Ruger Mark can make you into a really dead on shot if you practice enough with it.

I do have a comparatively crappy M&P 22 for cross training BTW, I'm not saying all my guns are golden. But the S&W was inexpensive and serves to provide good practice in dealing with jams, misfeeds, and failures to fire of all sorts.

Ruger-Mark-IV-Target-e1482185413442.jpg
 
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i got the sig branded GSG just because its probably the only sig ill ever afford lol
installed the zrts upgrade kit for accuracy and well because and a Hogue insert fingers grip about 500 all said and i love it
3PajEmB.jpg
 
DarcyM said:
Thank you for the info! We use H&K pistols at work and my spouse and I are not fans of them. They fire ok, but Corrections ended up with them because they were a pistol made for someone who bailed on the order and we got them dirt cheap. To me that's always a red flag. I've been eyeing the PPQ for a while, and sadly the last one on sale sold at the place I want to buy from (my RPAL is taking its sweet time), so I will keep my eyes out for a new or used one. I like the idea of the revolver to teach good trigger control, but I fear that the 617 will be too heavy for my son and if he can't hold it properly or hit anything with it, his interest won't last long.
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Ruger has a single six revolver that is lighter and there are a few even lighter in revolver check it out..
 
S&W 617 is what I've been eyeing lately. Beautiful gun, and great reviews. Maybe a bit big and heavy for your son though. Is there a range nearby you can rent a few and try?...or at least bring him to the gun shop with you and hold a bunch...
 
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