Need Recommendation for a .22 auto pistol

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I own a MKII, SR22, 22/45 Lite, Beretta 71, Sig P226, and a Mosquito.

I would recommend the Rugers. They are great shooters.

After I removed the fake suppressor the Beretta 71 is the most fun to shoot.

I bought the P226 to help learn my weak hand shooting ( I CCW P226, P228, & P229).
I don't even remember what made me buy the mosquito.

No one has brought up the S&W M&P22. These are great shooters too!!
 
I have a Ruger Mk III, a Browning Buckmark and a Beretta 70S. For me the Buckmark is a bit more accurate than the Ruger; I'm sure others would say they've found the Ruger to be more accurate. The little Beretta is a very reliable, accurate and fun gun to shoot. I love them all!!

None of those three pistols is as accurate as my S&W model 17 revolver!!!
 
Lol, I'm getting a good chuckle out of this Dogtown. By the way, does Dogtown refer to Plano TX?
Nope.
Dog Town was the name the fine citizens of Little Rock called the other side of the Arkansas River in the 1800's. Before it was incorporated as North Little Rock it was a pretty lawless and wild place.....and where folks would dump stray dogs. I grew up in NLR.


….. I had a vision of what it must be like going the local FFL in Plano and the dealer calling the guns of folks he does business with as "A piece of Junk". How is that working out for ya?
1. I don't denigrate my customers purchases, but if asked I'll give an honest opinion.
2. I merely related the experiences my customers AND myself have had with Phoenix pistols. It's an opinion MY CUSTOMERS SHARE.
3. I don't stock inventory, only do transfers.
4. It's working out pretty darn great. I've been a kitchen table FFL for almost eleven years and do over 2,000 firearm transfers a year part time.

Any more questions?:D
 
5-SHOTS



Great choices though my favorite would be the Model 70S. Incredibly reliable, extremely durable (all steel construction), and amazingly accurate, my Model 70S is my go-to .22 whether I'm at the range or out hiking around.

In a used .22 I would also recommend the SIG Trailside, Ruger Mk.II, Browning Buckmark, and Beretta Neos.

The CZ Kadet and TacSol 2211 conversion kits make for decent .22s if you already have a CZ 75/85 or 1911.

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Dang, bannockburn, you have one really nice collection. Love that Model 70s. Down right elegant.
 
Jeb Stuart

I have trained a lot of beginners with that Beretta! It's almost the perfect size for most shooter's hands, has a great single action trigger, decent and easy to acquire sights, and being all steel (yet still fairly small being built on a medium size frame), recoil is virtually non-existent.
 
dogtown tom

I originally got my Trailside with the thought of using it like my Beretta: part time training pistol for new shooters/part time backwoods companion. The one problem with the Trailside is that the trigger is scary light. Not really a problem for me while hiking as I'm use to the trigger now but I worry that it might be too light for beginners. The gun itself with CCI Standard Velocity ammo is capable of some very nice accuracy, as the accompanying factory target can attest to!

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...….and the Beretta 87, Pardini, Hammerlis sure as heck don't run $500 do they? Heck, right now at Bud's the Beretta 87 is $928!!!!! By anyone's theory of relativity...that's expensive compared to other .22 pistols.
Recently there were a bunch of NIB Beretta 87 Targets selling on GB in the $550 - $600 range. None there now at that price, but if someone wants one they should keep an eye out.
 
I used to have a Ruger MkII before I graduated to an original High Standard for competition

That reminds me there IS one little warning I must give with regards to High Standards, if you get your hands on a well maintained original HS, or like me learned to shoot with one... They will ruin you for other .22 pistols!! with ammo it likes my Citation will out shoot many .22 rifles. best trigger of any gun I've ever owned. I think mine needs a new spring set, but then again it is 54 years old and I doubt they've been changed yet.
 
Deanimator

I use to know a couple of dedicated .22 target shooters who also started out with Rugers before moving on to High Standard pistols. Only problem was finding magazines that would work properly in each gun they had. They would buy just about any High Standard magazine they could find, in the hope that it would prove to be reliable in one of their guns. And when they did find one that worked they would number it to that particular gun so as not to get them mixed up with other guns.
 
Ruger MK II 5.5" over the longer tapered barrel I got. Never much liked mine, though it will shoot. Ruger service is great. Have to say the SR 22 4 1'2" with fiber optic sight is a lot more fun, easier to shoot accurately and way more easy to carry around. Bouncing beer cans and wiffel golf balls more fun than paper to me now. Silly thing is pretty accurate for a toy even on paper. I want fiber optic on any pistol.
 
Deanimator

I use to know a couple of dedicated .22 target shooters who also started out with Rugers before moving on to High Standard pistols. Only problem was finding magazines that would work properly in each gun they had. They would buy just about any High Standard magazine they could find, in the hope that it would prove to be reliable in one of their guns. And when they did find one that worked they would number it to that particular gun so as not to get them mixed up with other guns.
Triple-Ks are garbage, but new Texas High Standard magazines can be made to work.

Most High Standard magazines require some tweaking. The easiest way is to cut a feed lip size slot in a hex head bolt. You can then use it to carefully bend the feed lips to adjust the timing of the magazine. This doesn't work with Triple-K magazines because the feed lips are so soft, they quickly deform again in use.
 
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Surprised no one mentioned S&W M&P .22
Great for plinking and inexpensive.
 
tommy.duncan:
M&P .22: in remarks # 51 it's good that you mentioned it. The reason I waited for somebody else to suggest this excellent gun is because the only other .22 LR handgun I've owned is the new Ruger Mark IV Standard.

I bought both of these last winter.
Both are excellent guns and quite frankly, haven't owned any other types of .22LR handguns.
 
“If you have a CZ-75 the Kadet kit is a good idea (but nearly as much as many complete guns).”

True.

But you end up with an accurate, reliable, fun to shoot .22 worth the money.
 
As much as I would have loved a Kadet kit when I waz carrying a PCR, there's another vote for Ruger from me.
Of course I may be a little biased because it was a birthday gift from my dad (late; he missed the traditional 18th or 21st birthday), but my mk3 22/45 is almost everything I want in a range pistol.
Decent sights, nice bull barrel, and anything I don't like can be upgraded. Except the grips; this was before they were replaceable on those.
Of course it's still a Mk3. The safety features don't particularly bother me but they're not for everyone. I'll move out the trigger disconnector eventually; that's a $5 bushing. If you want different grips and easier takedown, the Mk4 fixes that.

Of course, can't go wrong with a Buckmark or Victory if you want that style, and there's plenty of other things out there if you want something of competition (nice, but not my thing) or old unusual things to ogle (totally my thing).
If I had been shopping for my own, I either would have gotten exactly what I did or splurged and got the 7-1/4" Buckmark with full-length scope rail and contoured barrel. Mmm...
 
5-SHOTS



Great choices though my favorite would be the Model 70S. Incredibly reliable, extremely durable (all steel construction), and amazingly accurate, my Model 70S is my go-to .22 whether I'm at the range or out hiking around.

In a used .22 I would also recommend the SIG Trailside, Ruger Mk.II, Browning Buckmark, and Beretta Neos.

The CZ Kadet and TacSol 2211 conversion kits make for decent .22s if you already have a CZ 75/85 or 1911.

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bannockburn, what a nice collection you have!
Kinda regret selling my Beretta 71... At least I sold it to a great Beretta/Galesi/Bernardelli collector.
 
My Buck Mark was lightly used and I got it for roughly $300 in trade at my LGS. The trigger and sights are superb. It's extremely accurate. After my friend shot it, he bought one for himself. My only complaint is that the allen-head bolts on the top of mine will work loose if I don't check them every once in a while. Maybe the previous owner over-tightened them or something. I just need to get off my lazy rear and put some clear nail polish on them next time. The pistol is absurdly accurate. I will never be able to shoot it to its full potential.

My main shooting buddy is my FiL. His eyesight is starting to bother him a bit lately. We always used to shoot at 15 yards, but now we shoot at seven. Shooting the Buck Mark at seven yards is kind of silly, IMHO. I ran across an old Ruger Standard (basically a Mark I) with fixed sights and a 4" barrel. Its finish wasn't that great, so I got it for a bit over $250. It has a very nice trigger, decent sights, and an extremely nice balance. It's probably not quite as accurate as the Buck Mark (smaller sights and shorter barrel), but at seven yards there probably isn't much difference. It's a bit of a pain in the rear to field strip, but NBD after you've done it a few times.

As you can tell, I like both of these pistols a lot. I doubt if I am a good enough shooter to benefit from anything fancier or more expensive. I have heard lots of people say that the Victory is comparable. I think it's awesome that 22 pistols as nice as these are easy to find and reasonably priced. :)
 
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“If you have a CZ-75 the Kadet kit is a good idea (but nearly as much as many complete guns).”

True.

But you end up with an accurate, reliable, fun to shoot .22 worth the money.
exactly, the comment on price was "fair warning" and not a complaint. Not everyone understands that a good .22 conversion kit should cost about the same as a complete entry level .22 pistol. after all such a kit contains almost everything that's important to a accurate and reliable .22 pistol, only a good trigger and comfortable grip/frame are separate.
 
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With the admission that the overwhelming majority of my experience is with the Ruger Mark line (a couple of standards and a couple of Mark IVs), I'll admit that I'm partial to them. Mine are very close to the top of The Never-Sell List.
 
Wow! If I count the multiple models under the same brand, there are about 40 recommendations! I appreciate your feedback and now I must start sorting out from this number what I want to look into further. A lot will depend on what I can get my hands on at the next gun show.

Also I realized that when I said not "expensive" that I used a very relative term. In my mind that meant not more than the mid $400s. I have looked at a YouTube video on the S&W Victory and was very impressed. It seems they can be had in the mid $300s but also upgraded ones can be had in the mid $700s!

So lots to do on my part to research and get my hands on. My thanks to you all for your responses!
 
Detritus

When I was buying my P01 the sales clerk (also a CZ fan), mentioned that the Kadet conversion kit would work on the P01 as well. I wasn't really thinking about getting one but he gave me a deal on it that was so amazing, I had to get it!
 
Lol, I'm getting a good chuckle out of this Dogtown. By the way, does Dogtown refer to Plano TX? I had the pleasure of visiting Plano on a business trip some years ago. Regardless, I had a vision of what it must be like going the local FFL in Plano and the dealer calling the guns of folks he does business with as "A piece of Junk". How is that working out for ya?

Is there an ignore button on this site?
 
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