"Wyizzat 22 so expensive?"

Some people are just of a mindset that "things ought to be cheap/free".

"Back in the day" (which I would hazard a guess many such people never actually lived in), many of these were actually "cheap" only in comparison to modern pricing of firearms, period. And for the guns which were actually cheap compared to other calibers, it was likely due to popularity and market demand...in other words, they were "cheaper" because there were a lot of them being produced, as a common firearm.

A precision built firearm is often worth the market price.

Those that aren't precision built...aren't worth any amount of money.

FlSwampRat said:

Reading @Riomouse911 's thread about his scoring a great .22 Mag revolver and the cost thereof made me remember a couple of conversations I've had in the shop with a few customers who seem to think that quality .22's, mag or LR, should sell super cheap.
A quality firearm has a lot of engineering that went into it before it ever hit the prototype stage, then the raw materials have to be quality, the manufacture process precise.
What do they think goes into a center fire handgun that somehow can be left out of a quality double deuce?
People....

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They have some intuitive sense that price of the gun and price of the ammo should correlate in some way. That's patently false, of course, but lots of people "feel" it.

They would have kittens if they knew how much most of my airguns cost.

People don't understand that it costs roughly the same to manufacture a .22 as a .44 magnum.

I recall pining for a Feinwerkbau single stroke pneumatic rifle back in my Just out of high school and “ I wanna shoot Olympic match” period... Those weren’t (and still aren’t) inexpensive at all. Sanity ruled the day though, I never would’ve had the patience, skill or funding to devote myself full time to Olympic level airgun shooting.

I do have a Beeman /RWS piston pistol though. That gun is scary accurate.

It looks like the 10 meter guns are all Pre-charged air rifles now

https://www.airgundepot.com/feinwerkbau-800-universal-air-rifle.html


The workmanship and quality of the older S&W revolvers have always impressed me... which is why I’ll save for months and search all over to find a good used Smith in the model and caliber I want rather than settle and buy two new Armscor and one used Rossi .38’s for the same amount.

Stay safe.

I have a friend who couldn't understand why 22 caliber guns cost so much, revolvers in particular. I pointed out to him that my S&W model 617 took pretty much the same materials as my 686, has the same internal parts, is shaped the same so they take equal time to produce and equal man-made hours to assemble. There is probably a different heat treating process but that's about it for differences.
Molds to make a polymer frame are very expensive, regardless of the caliber.
I think people figure the ammo is 1\4 the cost of centerfire so the gun should be too

When I was young people only made $55 a week. As a teen I made less for 60 hours a week. Walked to work every day and had a 4 digit social security number. That's how old I am! Guns were cheap because labor was cheap.( The guns would be cheaper back then if plastics and nylon was invented to make frames out of)
We all have to roll with the high cost of living today and the shrinking power of the dollar to buy anything. I have both cheap and expensive 22's in my collection. Give me accuracy and I will pay for it!

I wanted a S&W 351c or whatever their .22 mag J frame snubby is, but the cost was too high so I went with the LCR .327 Fed Mag. why isn't the 351 in the same ball park as the 442?

I would blame part of it on the price of 22 rifles. You can get a good quality 22 rifle for $200 but a quality 22 pistol that isn’t mostly plastic is going to run you at least double that and even more so if you want a double action revolver that isn’t a pocket gun. I have to admit that I am in the camp that would not pay for a quality 22 revolver. If I can get a 357 for the same price I’ll take the 357 every time.

I haven't done the math but I suspect the cost of revolvers 'back in the day' was similar to what they cost now in terms of buying power. Someone with a middle class income back then would still have to save up for that K-22 or even a Single-Six. As far as the cost of 22 handguns, the folks who think they should cost less because they use a less powerful round need to learn about manufacturing costs. (That doesn't keep me from wishing a new Ruger Single-Ten only cost about fifty bucks.)

Jeff

There ARE cheap SA .22 revolvers out there (Heritage, Wrangler), and there used to be tons of cheap DAs too (H&R, Iver Johnson, etc.)

Fact is, the cheap ones mostly wore out over decades of use and abuse, and the M17s and their ilk keep on going- granted usually with a better degree of care and maintenance.

People will pay for quality like that-

I know I will!

Sweet! That Model 17 sure is a looker!

I bought my 17-2 from an LGS on consignment from an estate. He said he previous owner was a female shooter of some fame back in the 1960's-70's and owned the gun previously. It was her "practice" gun, as she shot matches at the Big Bear Lake events (Like Leatherslap) with the K-frame .38-.357's that were popular in those pre-IPSC days for shooting. The trigger is amazing, but the bluing is worn in a couple of spots from a lot of honest use (especially on the ejector rod). Since the 17-2 was from the 1960's era, the story the seller told me isn't truly provable...bit it is certainly plausible.

The Magna grips that came extra with the Model 48-4 I brought home last week are just like those on your 17 .

Stay safe.

This is a very good thread. I actually used to be one of those people who thought a .22 should be less expensive. The lightbulb didn't come on until it was pointed out to me that the difference between a good centerfire and a good rimfire was nothing more than the size of the bore. That's how I explain it to people now.

If nothing else, I probably have learned more about handgunning from my S&W model 41 than from any other handgun. I suppose that might make it the most valuable handgun I have ever owned.

And as long as we are adding gratuitous .22 pictures...



My teacher and master.

I get it. It's tough when you see some Taurus, Browning Buckmarks and/or S&W Victory's .22 for a great price, then there is almost a "Jeezus!!" reaction when a high-quality rimfire revolver is in the case next to them and the price tag is visible.

My first rimfire revolvers were a 9-shot Taurus 94 .22 LR and a 8-shot 941 .22 WMR...both stainless with 4" barrels. Back when I bought them, that was all I could afford (I had a 4-year old and twin toddlers then). Now that I'm a bit pickier and have a bit more $$ to play with than in the past, I prefer to save and spend more on the ones I think my kids would like to have for their kids someday. And yes, the cost of making a .22 revolver is probably much more than the cost of a comparable .38/.357 to make due to the smaller numbers of production and slimmer machining tolerances in the smaller bores and chambers, so the prices of those revolvers will be commensurate to the effort and numbers.

I still have both of the Tauri and I do shoot them occasionally, but neither really compare in fit, feel, trigger pull or accuracy to the M-17 and M-48 I have.

Stay safe.

Oh, I did spring for a Wrangler, which was on sale for about 180 bucks around Black Friday, so I'm certainly not adverse to lower price-point guns. I found it just as fun, but not as versatile, as my Single Six (due to the WMR cylinder). I also added some $20 Black Friday special wooden grips from Altamont to spruce it up a bit. It's a fun toy that'll probably be my son's first handgun soon.

Stay safe.

As an owner of a ruger mk4 and a volquartsen scorpion I will say the scorpion is worth every penny I paid for it. Im really curious about pardini .22s now. Lord help me.

Trashyshoots said:

As an owner of a ruger mk4 and a volquartsen scorpion I will say the scorpion is worth every penny I paid for it. Im really curious about pardini .22s now. Lord help me.

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Lol!

Ya, I just paid what most would consider a ridiculous price for a Dan Wesson .22, but with my appreciation for finely crafted rimfires, I think it was worth it. Besides, you just dont really ever see those guns in .22 and the condition was choice.

Full pics and range report as soon as I get to pick it up (its on a 30 day police hold.)

DW’s are awesome! I wish they’d make the new ones in other calibers like .22, .327, .41 etc.

Stay safe.

I own a MKII and a 17-4 - both, while different, are awesome in their own way

Blame the cheapo mass produced trash guns. Think about the cheapest gun in every category.

Rifle- it’s a 22 of some sort and a bunch are in the $129 ballpark for a semiauto.

semiauto pistol- Phoenix hp22 for $149

SA revolver- Heritage or Chiappa

DA Revolver... hmmmmm... Taurus or Charter most likely, maybe EAA gonna run similar price to a 642 smith or Taurus 856 and there is definitely an economy of scale situation going on there.

So, the cheap and functional 22 guns are out there. 22 ammo is $30 a brick (occasionally less) and they truly are cheap. BUT we are seeing the same thing creep into other guns. Complete AR for $400 is easy now. Budget bolt rifles for $300 or less are really common. Shotguns are dirt cheap. Same prices I remember in the late 90s. It’s not your average person who will look seriously at a Ruger Single Six when a Chiappa is next to it for 1/3 the price. And with that mindset, why would a person not expect a 22 to be cheaper because a lot of them are. Just not the really nice ones.

I thought that my first year, in the box K22 was expensive. But I remember shooting one as a youngster and I wanted one, so I bit the bullet and bought one. Then... I started looking at Korth 22s. Yeah, I couldn't resist. Now if I can just convince the K22 and the Korth to get going and reproduce so I can have a new line of quality 22 revolvers!