Best & Worst 22LR pistols

My first .22 handgun was a Sig mosquito, I put maybe 3000 rounds through it. It was picky on ammo and only liked CCIs, not very accurate and my buddies slide on his blew in half on day and hit him in the head at the range. I traded mine the next day and picked up a used Smith model 17 revolver, best deal I ever made. What a great handgun.

That Sig was the only time I ever purchased a firearm without doing my home work, I bought it simply because it was a Sig and I liked the looks of it, and I paid the price becasue it was a piece of crap.

The next .22 I did my home work and bought a Ruger MKIII target, not my favorite looking gun, but it is simply awesome, very accurate reliable and built like a tank, and mine will eat anything I put in it.
 
I had a pellet rifle as a kid and always wanted a real firearm most of my life but thought getting a licence would be a major pain so I didn't bother.
I finally jumped in with both feet and ordered an 1851 Colt Navy .36 Repro and while waiting for that to show up I took the safety course and got my RPAL. The 1851 was still on order so I bought a Browning Buckmark Camper because it was affordable and I liked the way it looks. Not knowing anything about .22 autoloaders I tried all kinds of ammo and finally settled on CCI Blazer. One day I was buying some ammo at Reliable Gun and saw a used Ruger Single Six in the display case and had to have it so out comes the credit card.
The Ruger Single Six didn't like the Blazer ammo and a serious amount of lead would build up in the barrel so I tries CCI Standard Velocity Target ammo and haven't had any trouble since. Now I buy bricks of the Standard Velocity and use it in both the Buckmark and Single Six.
 
####.. er shmit

.22 /.22 mag herbert shimit , decided to try the .22 mag cylinder -very lucky no one was hurt.this revolver had no issues whatsoever & I had made certain barrel was free & clear when I changed cylinders.timing was NOT the problem it was just incredibly poor materials/workmanship.
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I have a few .22 and all are fun. Cheap western SA, Colt SA 22.and 4 Ruger auto loaders. If you don't like one,sell it & move on. It is easy to get 80% for a used 22 and for 20% you get to play with a gun at the range. Win - win, You can also try different guns buddies have at the range. Have fun, that is what it is all about
 
BP7 if you find a good deal on a P22 get it,($300.00 would be a good deal) I stripped mine down to the pin and polished every internal part that was sharp or rubbed another with 600 grit black paper, I could careless 'bought the muzzle break, it is very accurate and dependable, also I must have bought one the earlier Norc Woodsman as mine came with 2 mags.
 
I have a Beretta model 89. First gun I ever bought, back in 1990.

It's a PITA to field strip, and it needs a thorough cleaning every 200 rounds or else I'll start getting FTF's from the firing pin gumming up. But it feels great in my hand (big left-handed grips) and the accuracy is great. I've never tried it off a rest, so I don't really know exactly how accurate it can be, but shooting off-hand I can get 1 inch 8 round groups at 25 yards if I do my part.

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I've owned several .22 pistols.
From worst to best.
Llama S/A - shot gun patterns, horrible accuracy and reliability
Browning BuckMark - Accurate and reliable, will shoot anything. [Best plinker I've owned]
S&W M17 - M617 - Very accurate and reliable
Two S&W M41's - Very accurate, ammo sensitive.
Unique DES 69 - Very + accurate and reliable.
Drulov Mod70 Bolt Action Free Pistol - Absolutely the most accurate, reliable, easiest to clean and my favourite.

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I would disagree about the H Schmit revolvers, i had one back when the earth was still cooling, worked fine sold it to a friend after 10 years. I also had a Ruger mark II target, very good. My only 22 pistol now is a old Browning Nomad, works just fine not super accurate good for plinking.
 
Surprised no one has mentioned the Russian Margolin pistol. Sometimes called vostok. They can be had for $250 - $300 used and are not hard to find. Extremely accurate, not fussy on ammo. Very easy to field strip. Mags can be had cheap if you look around, I have 4 of them now. I use this one for bullseye and it is as accurate as anything. I have added the palm shelf and grips from the rapid fire version of the pistol. A buddy made a barrel weight for it, which is relatively easy (for a machinist). I don't think there is a better value to be had in a .22.

It is ugly, probably where the term "spacegun" comes from. It was the pistol that was in star wars, I think they just extended the barrel a little and put a funky looking compensator on it.

Here is the basic pistol with the rapid fire grips. Most come with basic black plastic grips with no beavertail:

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Some people have done some very interesting mods to it for bullseye shooting

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This pistol was designed by a blind man, interesting article here:

http://www.toyfj40.freeshell.org/GunPix/Margolin.html

I guess that accounts for the very tactile nature of it. One complaint I have heard about these is that they have a very high sight line, but I don't know how that would affect ergonomics or accuracy.

I also have an original Colt Woodsman. It is also extremely accurate, but lacking in the ergonomics department. Not a bullseye gun, but it wasn't intended to be. It is a John Browning design, so no wonder it just plain works. I am baffled by all the comments that it is a nightmare to clean. It is very easy, so long as you are just field stripping it. Detail stripping is tricky. I think that people get in to trouble when they try and disassemble the slide, which is not necessary for routine cleaning. I wonder if those Norinco mags will work in my Gen2 1933 pistol.
 
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lumbdawg said:
My first .22 handgun was a Sig mosquito, I put maybe 3000 rounds through it. It was picky on ammo and only liked CCIs, not very accurate and my buddies slide on his blew in half on day and hit him in the head at the range. I traded mine the next day and picked up a used Smith model 17 revolver, best deal I ever made. What a great handgun.

That Sig was the only time I ever purchased a firearm without doing my home work, I bought it simply because it was a Sig and I liked the looks of it, and I paid the price becasue it was a piece of crap.

The next .22 I did my home work and bought a Ruger MKIII target, not my favorite looking gun, but it is simply awesome, very accurate reliable and built like a tank, and mine will eat anything I put in it.
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Did your buddy put anything more powerful than 36 gr/1260 fps ammo through it? Cuz if he did he probably wrecked the gun himself. CCI minimags or federal champion bulk are the way to go. I didn't polish the feed ramp at all, just shot about 1500 rounds of CCI through it and now with regular cleaning, maintenance and mild oiling it works like a charm. very happy with this gun as it is fun to shoot and easy for my wife and daughter to handle. accurate too.
 
The reason the slide broke is because they are made from zinc alloy (aka pot metal), much like the low quality pocket pistols made by companies like Lorcin, Jennings, Phoenix Arms, etc.
 
oneskilledshooter said:
I hope you guys can see the images inserted in my post, I can't for some reason. I am off to read the pic posting stickies - again.
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Your problem is you have http in there twice, once from you copying the link and then again from the auto fill. try making sure you remove the http that is already there.
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- All i did was remove one of your https
 
i'm gonna take my new buckmark stainless fiber optic ergo grip thingy to the range today, put the first few rounds through it and see how it shoots. from a purely handling point, it seems very nice and natural, though the mag release button is stiff and could be a challenge for small-handed shooters to reach. love the mags though - seem rugged, easy to shove in, come FLYING out nicely, and the baseplate sits below the bottom of the grip so it's easy to just use an open palm to properly seat it.

got me two of these:

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My Ruger MkII has been working flawlessly for 20 years now. Eats everything I feed it, and re-assembly is no problem once you know the 'trick'.
 
On the best end is my Ruger Mklll 22/45 and Beretta 76S. Both eat everything and are accurate.
On the "worst" end of the scale would be my Vostok MC2-3 Olympic pistol. Scary accurate, but I dread the day I need to fix anything on it.

(E) :cool:
 
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