.22 budget friendly handgun

Although the Pistols and Revolvers forum might bring more responses, many folks here can give some suggestions.

If you're looking for budget friendly, the GSG 1911 is one of the most popular and affordable semi auto rimfire handguns available. There are many others to consider, including Ruger Mark II, Browning Buckmark, and Smith and Wesson Victory, to name a few.

Sometimes very good deals can be found on the Equipment Exchange, where patience can really be rewarded.
 
Either a GSG 1911 or a Browning Buck Mark. Started out on a GSG 1911 and am still using one.
Buck Mark has better accuracy and has a better trigger and allows lots of sight attachments on the top rail.
 
You need to be more specific than "Budget friendly"... To one person, $800 is budget friendly, to the next $300 is.

Can't go wrong with a browning buckmark or Ruger Mk 2/3. Browning has a $25 mail-in rebate so you can get one of those for under $500 taxes in right now.

The GSG 1911 is supposed to be one of the better 22lr 1911s, and its basically the cheapest too.

If you want something that'll eat any ammo you can feed it, get a revolver. Alpha Proj makes nice ones for just over $400.

If you get lucky, you can find the Norinco copy of the Ruger mark II on the EE for about $200. (m93 I think its called?)
 
GSG 1911 is probably the most dependable and most affordable listed so far. Cheap up front, feels pretty good. Only real problem is that the slider tends to damage at the catch/release easily as it's made of some kind of soft/thin aluminum.

I also have an ISSC M22 and while it looks nice and feels good it's highly unreliable and finicky on it's diet. My M&P22 is the most comfortable and dependable but it's expensive up front.

I'd love a revolver, but haven't found one in my price range and the competition style .22lr handguns are generally aesthetically unappealing, to me at least.
 
Just speaking to my own experience, here, but I've always liked the Ruger MK II. Like Suther said, the "budget friendly" thing is subjective, but it's a nice pistol for its price. It's easy to disassemble and clean (I took one apart to clear a jam and reassembled it long before I knew anything about guns, and it worked just fine) and can take more abuse than you would expect.
 
if you shoot alot the Ruger mark 1 or 2 is the best work horse for the money. you can pick one up for around 300$ used. there was a recent thread on this. they are practically indestructible. that's what I'd choose.
 
I've got a Chiappa 1911-22 and it's not a bad pistol. The magazines however are a different story. Two come with the gun, and one is usually bad - meaning it won't feed properly. The gun itself eats any ammo I feed it, but seems to like American Eagle 38 gr the most.

I'm still kicking myself for selling a Browning Buckmark Camper that I had. Great little gun, accurate, easy to clean, ate anything I fed it, and the magazines were reliable.

The GSG 1911-22 usually is cheaper than the Browning, though, and has just as good a reputation. Can't go wrong with either it or the Browning.
 
I would agree with the other OP's, get a dedicated .22 pistol like a Ruger or a Browning, they eat pretty much anything and are quite dependable. Other Semi's can be ammo specific, my GSG 1911 only liked stingers which added a lot to the shooting bill. Good luck in your search.
 
I have two .22LR pistols: the GSG 1911 with the ZRTS Performance Package and the Grand Power K22S. Both are excellent pistols but the GP K22S really excels. The GP22S is the only .22LR pistol on the market that has a full-length STEEL slide. It has a reinforced polymer frame and ordnance steel internal inserts. It comes with four interchangeable back straps to fit any size and shape of human hand. Both the GSG 1911 with a ZRTS Performance Package and GP K22S eat any brand of ammo you feed them without a hiccup. The GSG 1911 without the ZRTS Package may, indeed, not like some ammo brands and the ZRTS Package completely eliminates that problem. The Package also make the GSG 1911 more accurate. If one buys the GSG 1911 it’s very advisable to buy the ZRTS Package at the same time. In addition, starting from a model year 2014 the GSG 1911 has now steel inserts in the aluminum slide (lock-up notch) and couple other places. Both my pistols, and especially the GP K22S beat hands down all the Rugers and Buckmarks.
 
I also have a M93 Sportsman and indeed it's a very good, all steel, pistol for the price. I've found it incredibly accurate (20 yards). I bought it a few months ago from Questar where they had a few brand new from the 1990's for sale ($200). Unfortunately, nowadays it's very difficult to find one. Also finding a spare mag is a dream. Fortunately, Questar was selling the M93's with two 10rd mags!
 
If you buy a Ruger MK on the EE, you can sell it again for what you paid for it. Luckily, most 22LR pistols are decent guns, you can't go too far wrong unless you get a lemon.
Ammo is a good point, the Rugers shoot well with any cheap ammo I've tried.
A local sale can save you on shipping, significant on a cheaper gun.
 
While not the most budget friendly I recently picked up a Walther PPQ m2 .22. After roughly 1500 rounds through it I am quite impressed! The nice part is the 9mm M2 uses almost the exact same lower and only weighs 1/2 an oz more so IMO is the perfect training setup!
 
You really can't go wrong with a Ruger Mk II or III, they are dead nutz reliable with almost any ammunition, there are lots of them available used and as previous posters have mentioned you can always sell them for what you paid if you've picked it up used. I had a S&W Model 22A for few years it was just meh, I mean it was ok but the Ruger is much nicer and more reliable.
 
I depends on your budget and your preference : pistol or revolver.
On my side I've got 3 22.LR:
= Chiappa SAA 1873 as a revolver, ammo specific, prefers Federal ammo, easy to clean
= Rock Island Armory XT22, a colt 1911 clone in 22LR, full steel body but prefers Federal ammo (too), easy to clean and feeling like a 1911 in 45
= Ruger Target 22/45, shoots all kind of 22 LR, reliable but not easy to clean
 
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