Most reliable .22 pistol?
- Thread starter capp325
- Start date
Most would agree that the original Hamden, Connecticut guns were the best. I could sort of split them up into two categories, depending on the sights and the grip style. My first gun was a Supermatic citation. It had an angled grip, similar to the Ruger pistols. My present gun is a Victor. It has the military grip, which is modelled after a Colt 45 auto. Here is a picture:
The main difference between the "quality" of the high standards is the barrel type and sights. The cheapest guns have the rear sight mounted to the slide. The Citation is a good target gun and has the rear sights above the slide, but on a bridge connected to the frame. The best gun, the Victor, has the sights on a rail what is mounted to the barrel. You remove the barrel by pressing a button on the front, and the barrel and sights come off as a single unit.
All the guns have good triggers. The Citation has a good trigger, but may not have all the adjustments of the Victor. The Victor you can adjust weight and overtravel, although I've never had occasion to adjust them on either gun as they were both perfect as received used.
You could probably buy a plain used gun for around $350, a Citation for more, and a Victor for $575-$650.00 or more used. But, I think they hold their value very well and probably require in the neighbourhood of several hundred thousand rounds through them to wear them out, if that even possible.
Smith and Wessons models 41 and 422 are very good. Although the Ruger Mk 1-3 and 22/45 are also built like tanks.
I have to say that the ultimate .22 pistol is now the ruger Charger.
Of course that would depend on what type of shooting you were intending to do because unless you get a lightweight barrel, its just a bit unwieldy for running around with.
But off a bench I can chase a golf ball around at 50m no problem. I bet that if I replaced my red dot with a decent LER scope, that I could do the same much farther off.
I have to say that the ultimate .22 pistol is now the ruger Charger.
Of course that would depend on what type of shooting you were intending to do because unless you get a lightweight barrel, its just a bit unwieldy for running around with.
But off a bench I can chase a golf ball around at 50m no problem. I bet that if I replaced my red dot with a decent LER scope, that I could do the same much farther off.
You seem to be after something more exotic than a Ruger MKII or III.
But i'll throw another vote in there for them.
Have at least 7 bricks through my MKII now,no broken parts or issues to date.
Fanciest? NO
Most reliable? without a doubt
But i'll throw another vote in there for them.
Have at least 7 bricks through my MKII now,no broken parts or issues to date.
Fanciest? NO
Most reliable? without a doubt
sillymike
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Nothing wrong with them
The grip is smaller then other pistol, but very comfortable nevertheless. Mine works great with standard velocity ammo.
Here's a pic of an aluminum barrel on a Charger. Its 8"
The factory barrel is 10" and fairly heavy. This one is pretty handy.
I am looking for an aftermarket stock for it though. I find the reach to the trigger a bit long on this one.
skeetgunner
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Burlington
The mags are no better or worse than any other on the market, but unless you find a mint mod 41, its likely gonna have a billion rounds on it. We've a couple of Mod41's in our safety program and they had a lot of rounds through them before we got them, and we run quite a few rounds too. Things just wear out. Mags can be found, but you may have to wait.
Reading the Ruger manual, I could never figure it out, but once I watched a video on youtube, the light went on.
sillymike
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
M41 magazine are readily available trough Rimfire Sports & Custom, $30US shipped.
The only gun I've ever had trouble with the magazine were HS... For that matter, the only problem I've ever had with a HS were linked to the magazine...
The only gun I've ever had trouble with the magazine were HS... For that matter, the only problem I've ever had with a HS were linked to the magazine...
Daehanminkuk
Regular
- Location
- Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, ROK
I have two Hi standards .. I MUCH prefer the Ruger MkIII.
See this webpage:
Jim Spacek's HI STANDARD Homepage
http://www.tm-techmark.com/jspacek.htm
You asked for "most reliable". Be advised that most Hi-Standard pistols are very dependent upon the magazine for reliable feeding. Most magazines must be tuned to the particular pistol. Tuning instructions are found here:
(See Magazine Adjustments)
http://www.highstandard.com/
Untuned, they are an exercise in frustration; once tuned, they are very reliable and also likely to be one of the finest shooting experiences that you will ever find.
Shot in a club where we used every sort of ammo that we could lay our hands on from Eley match to "no-name" DND issue ... saw everything from Walther to Pardinis and everything in between ... the High Standard were uniformally the most dependable and "idiot proof" pistols with the Ruger 22 (at least the older ones) at least as good. They were not fancy but they worked with everything... and we had the least number of "alibi's" with them. The Browning Medalist seemed pretty good too.
The S&W 41 was the "pistol to own" ... and was held in high esteem ... BUT I saw more FTF with these than any other handgun ... the longer barrel (7 3/8) seemed a little better BUT once the owner found a ammo that worked well in their 41 they stayed with it.. while Ruger and HS Supermatic owners took anything that was offered them and kept on shooting .....
if you looked at a '41' the wrong way it would hangup ... with a Ruger or High Standard you could drop a mag on the concrete floor and kick it across the room and they still functioned...
The Colts were beautifully made and very desirable ... but not competitive.
I never owned one and thought they were pretty chintzy BUT the Ruger in the hands of a capable shooter was as competitive as anything else on the market regardless of cost ... unless you were into the 22 short rapid events...
It used to piss me off that some guys with cheap Ruger's with very pedestrian sights could beat the pants off me!
(probably already been mentioned - Ruger and "most" HS have completely different grip angles ... try them and pick the one you are most comfortablel with)
The S&W 41 was the "pistol to own" ... and was held in high esteem ... BUT I saw more FTF with these than any other handgun ... the longer barrel (7 3/8) seemed a little better BUT once the owner found a ammo that worked well in their 41 they stayed with it.. while Ruger and HS Supermatic owners took anything that was offered them and kept on shooting .....
if you looked at a '41' the wrong way it would hangup ... with a Ruger or High Standard you could drop a mag on the concrete floor and kick it across the room and they still functioned...
The Colts were beautifully made and very desirable ... but not competitive.
I never owned one and thought they were pretty chintzy BUT the Ruger in the hands of a capable shooter was as competitive as anything else on the market regardless of cost ... unless you were into the 22 short rapid events...
It used to piss me off that some guys with cheap Ruger's with very pedestrian sights could beat the pants off me!
(probably already been mentioned - Ruger and "most" HS have completely different grip angles ... try them and pick the one you are most comfortablel with)
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Willy Tincup
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Owen Sound
My vote goes to the Belgium made Browning Medalist. You can pick up a good used one for about 500 bucks. With the m41's people seem to either love em or hate em.....if you get a good one thats fine but alot of them are problematic.....wTc
I recently picked up a Ruger Mk III, and while I haven't had the chance to put too many rounds through it, it has functioned perfectly so far. These little 22s are fun pistols! I wish it didn’t take me so long to decide to pick on up.
