Practising with a .22LR pistol.... do the skills really transfer over?

CanuckShooter

CanuckShooter

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I am looking to buy a Ruger .22LR pistol in the hopes of being able to shoot a lot more and hopefully improve my pistol shooting skills.

I have a feeling I will end up getting the Ruger 22/45 with 5.5" Bull Barrel. The grip angle of this gun is designed after the 1911 (which is the centrefire pistol I will be shooting... and hopefully improving with), and it is nearly the same length and weight as the 1911 as well.

Has anyone here actually found that the skills you develop while shooting a .22LR pistol DO transfer over, and ended up improving your centrefire skills?
 
Same techniques of breathing, sight picture and trigger control for any pistol. The only thing you don't get is the balance and felt recoil.
 
if you want to see how well you can shoot, get a SMALL framed 22- one of the "pocket pistol" varieties- get good with that, then you'll be superb with the larger weapon- pity the darned things are PROHIBITED
 
The skills do transfer over for the most part, esp for slow fire, however if you are shooting in a rapid fire event like IPSC then you don't get the practice of recoil plus quick re-aiming. I really enjoy 22 handguns. No reloading ammo, cheap shooting, no picking up brass.
 
I found shooting my 22LR's has really improved my trigger control. I shoot a lot better now with my .40 and .45 without having expended the expensive ammo for training. With the bigger calibers I can now work on handling the recoil without worrying about the rest.
 
does it work the other way around too?
starting bigger then if you step down a bit to 22lr you'll be better?
 
not necessarily- a larger gun may develop a thing called mr flinch, which you can learn to compensate for- it's actually forcing the barrel down BEFORE THE SHOT IS DISCHARGED- that may carry over into 22 as well, which is not a good thing, nor necessary
 
Why not buy a conversion kit? Sure, there just as much $$ as Ruger 22/45... but you'll get to practice with the exact same set of commands.

And yes, skills to carry over... there's no real secret to shooting, you just need to be able to line up the sight and squeeze the trigger... the same way, shots after shots.

Shooting 22lr allows you to build muscle memory whitout having to worry about
- the cost of ammo
- extra noise
- devlopping bad habits because the recoil makes you flinch...
 
If you have a 1911 and want to shoot 22 look for a 22 conversion kit then you will have the same trigger and close to the same weight as you will with the 45 ACP. I think that there is one conversion kit out there that will lock open on the last shot (I think that Freedom Ventures handles them) but there are a few that don't. At this point I don't have one for my 45 ACP but I do have one for the CZ 75 that I have and it works great, you get the feel of the trigger without using up your center fire ammo and to swap between the two doesn't take very long.
 
I picked up a conversion kit for my G20C. I love it, I can use the same holster, so when I go to a speed steel match I can go .22lr or 10mm, or .40cal. I found that when I used the .22lr I was very fast and accurate. Then I shot .40cal and I ended up missing a lot more, but it wasn't the just the amount of recoil that was the problem per say. It was the trigger. I was slapping the trigger, and to a lesser extent anticipating the recoil. Once I realized what I was doing wrong, I forced my mind to slow down and make each shot perfect (squeeze trigger, don't anticipate, front sight...front sight...front sight...)before continuing on to the next shot. One afternoon, once I realized what I had been doing wrong, was enough to put me firmly on the right track. Anything that helps you spot your flaws will help you, if you can fully realize and understand them.
 
Good points made in some of these. Mr. Flinch may be most obvious with a centerfire gun, but believe me he can be there with the .22 as well. Anticipating the gun going off is the biggest problem with accurate shooting for the vast majority of people, regardless of caliber. If you don't know -- and don't care -- exactly when the gun goes off, you can't flinch. Much easier in concept than in practice, but continuous, smoothly increasing pressure on the trigger is vital.
 
This is a great question: I once asked the same question to a tactical pistol instructor in the middle of a tactical course. He said to stay with 9mm and stay away from 22 cause "it will screw you up" because of the lack of recoil. I was surprised by that answer but accepted it at the time. Now I kinda wonder how bad it would be to have a 22 pistol to practice with. You could really put lots and lots of rounds down the range at much much less cost than 9mm (or larger calibers). This should be good, especially for a novice.
 
I agree with you Mercury;
More rounds down the range the better. I also think you should strive to be proficient with multiple handgun calibers. So why not get a 22 handgun for more practice, cheaper than running your 9mm or 45.
 
Buy yourself a real good .22.....S&W 41....not cheap...but .22 is addictive. You may never go back because they are fun and cheap to shoot....5000 rounds $200.00/$300.00. Then the next problem comes up....nice .22 rifle etc... You will learn to shoot and c.f. guns just become louder...
 
I firmly believe that the .22 cal that you fire LOTS of, will continue to drive forward the correct holding, aiming and firing techniques needed for larger caliber handguns.
 
Sorry to poach a bit, but I was looking to do the same thing....is the 22/45 the same mechanically as the Mk2, just with the grip angle changed a bit?
 
Buying my first .22 to shoot between magazines of 9mm was a huge help in learning to avoid associating with Mr Flinch. I still enjoy shooting the .22 as it provides more trigger control practice and reduces the cost of my range sessions yet lets me pile up the rounds downrange. It also really let me work on my trigger motion follow through which I'm pretty sure I'd missed out on totally on the 9mm.

But because of how I use my own .22 pistol the converson kits would not work for me unless I were to buy a second pistol to mount the kit onto. The momentum is totally broken if you have to swap out the kit after shooting a couple of magazines of .22 and then swap the top end so you can shoot a magazine of 9mm or .45 or whatever and then switch it back again to shoot some more .22. If you want to shoot the .22 and CF alternately this way then you may as well buy a dedicated .22 rather than a conversion.
 
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