.22 Handguns

I have an old Colt Woodsman and a cheap double action revolver my dad got me when I was a teenager, High Standard I think. The Woodsman is a literal tack driver. The High Standard is surprisingly good in its own right with fixed sights. They're both a lot of fun.

Photos IdaD, photos! Always liked the clean stylish lines of the Colt Huntsman, Targetsman, and Woodsman. High Standard made some decent .22 revolvers too!

The daughter of some close friends will be married this Saturday. Her fiancee always loved talking guns with me so today I took him to the range. The trip home consisted of a stop at a local gun store I have liked for years. Nothing really tripped my trigger but I did notice and like a nice little Ruger 22/45 MK II stainless bull barrel. Damn gun was stuck in my head so after getting home I called my buddy and asked Jimmy how much out the door? Jimmy said bring me $200 I said OK so tomorrow I'll go get my new (new to me) 22/45. Kept thing about this thread too. My wife was even thrilled as it is not often I buy a gun for $200 as most times I am north of $1500.

Ron

Those 12 shot, full size uberti SAA are calling me.

DDDWho said:

I currently own two .22 handguns. A Rossi Plinker revolver and a Ruger Mark III 22/45. I use the Rossi for woods carry in a shoulder holster I modified to fit it. The Ruger is my porch gun. The red dot is absolute zeroed. I hit a ground hog at 35 yards with it. Neither are expensive guns but thats the way I live my life.

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Is that a Bushnell TRS-25? I did the same with my 22/45. Drives nails at 15 yards.

Got a scoped Ruger MKII with a 7 inch bull barrel, what they call a "slabsides". Very accurate past 50 yards, a favorite range pistol, and I have done some pest control with it.

I enjoy shooting my Browning Buckmark, nice trigger out of the box, very accurate, reliable with any brand ammo, and I think it looks pretty good. Not the same quality of a High Standard Victor I foolishly sold, but close.

Tayne said:

Is that a Bushnell TRS-25? I did the same with my 22/45. Drives nails at 15 yards.

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Yes it is a TRS-25. I don't like the factory sights on the 22/45. My nephew hit a 1 1/4 inch wide fencepost 5 out of 10 times with it at 35 yards.

My favorite is my MKIII with Lite upper with an Octane 9 suppressor. The stapler to put up targets is louder than this combo, love it.



Another favorite is my Pre-Lock 617 10 Shot but the damn thing was nearly $800 used.

Nothing fancy, just a 22/45 and Heritage Rough Rider 6 inch, but I'm a plinking fool with both.

I have a few of various different flavors...


I really like my revolvers, but I think I could get by with the Ruger Standard (pencil barrel) 6" that I have. It has been a good all purpose .22 for me that I could recommend if you don't mind the fixed sights. Mine is a MKIII, but they made them for all of the generations thus far and aren't particularly hard to find.

I love my .22s. The ammo is cheap enough to shoot a lot and I can easily shoot a bunch off my back deck when I need some trigger time.
Self defense? Plenty to choose from. Fun? A good .22 is just a lot of fun.

Kimber 1911 Conversion


Llama XV


M1911 Officers w/Ciener upper


HP22a


&W 422


Astra Cadix 223


Ruger Charger


PSA AR22

There's nothing wrong with having a few .22 handguns, I have... lemme think... six, three revolvers, 3 semi's, and I plan to get the CP33 when they become available for under $450.

I just got a Phoenix .22 this weekend and for $120, it's the best $120 you'll ever spend and is probably the best small .22 semi auto you'll find for the money. After you understand how good a .22 pistol is, step up to something larger and holds more rounds. We're fortunate we live in the times we do as prior to a few years ago, a .22 semi auto that held more than 10 rounds was unheard of. Now we have Taurus holding 15 rds, a new Kel Tec with 17 rds, the CP33 that holds 33 rds and maybe 50 in the future.

There are bound to be some in this thread that will yammer about the Ruger Mark, Browning Buckmark, or S&W Victory being "quality" because they're steel... you don't need a steel frame .22 to be your first .22 pistol. I also don't think conversion kits are worth messing with, instead of having two guns, you just have one that shoots different calibers.

That's great for a .40 to 9mm conversion because they're so close in size all it requires is a barrel change, but the .22 is as small as it gets and is not as simple or cheap; I'd rather have a pistol built from the ground up to be a .22.

My recommendations to start are go with a Phoenix semi auto and a 6 shot Heritage with 6.5" barrel and adjustable sights:

https://gun.deals/search/apachesolr_search/753733102236

https://gun.deals/search/apachesolr_search/RR22MBS6AS

If you like these guns and want to step up to something better, the SR22, Mark's, Buckmark's, Victory, or Kel Tec's are good options depending on what your intended use is.

film495 said:

.... I don't see the .22 having any other purpose than range practice, so - maybe the PPK/S in .22 LR isn't the best choice....

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If you want to use a rimfire handgun for target practice to improve accuracy, then a longer barrel with its longer sight radius will give you better results and more satisfaction. Many rimfire pistols that serve as entry level target pistols can be found for just a little bit more than a Ft. Smith PPK/S. The Ruger 22/45 and S&W Victory are some of those and fall into your budget range.

I went a different route and sampled widely ...






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And while a lot of people will consider a S&W 22A a poor choice for a plinker, I had used one to teach my kids to shoot. Over the course of a few years we had put about 110,000 rounds through the gun. The ammo cost was not just a little bit higher than the initial purchase price and the Nills actually did cost as much as the whole gun did cost new .



Over the course of the 110,000 rounds, the gun needed three new firing pins, sight rib replacement, frame replacement and all springs changed. All taken care of by S&W's great warranty. That gun is now mostly retired but is still accurate and functioning flawlessly.

PzGren

I went a different route and sampled widely ...

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I like your navigating ability as well as the choices you've made along the way! Have to say the S&W 22A with Nill grips on it was a bit of a pleasant surprise!

Forgot to include the two .22 conversion kits I have:



TacSol 2211



CZ Kadet

Sometimes ya just need a few .22s!

frogfurr said:

I have two excellent .22 caliber range pistols. A Ruger Stainless Mark II target and a S&W K22 Masterpiece. Both equally accurate. The K22 s my favorite.

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Same here, except my Mark II bull barrel is the blue 5.5" version. Very accurate, and would probably be even better with a trigger upgrade.

My .22 handgun journey has evolved over the years, now it's a S&W Model 41 and I couldn't be happier

PzGren said:

If you want to use a rimfire handgun for target practice to improve accuracy, then a longer barrel with its longer sight radius will give you better results and more satisfaction. Many rimfire pistols that serve as entry level target pistols can be found for just a little bit more than a Ft. Smith PPK/S. The Ruger 22/45 and S&W Victory are some of those and fall into your budget range.

I went a different route and sampled widely ...

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Wow.

TTv2 writes:

I just got a Phoenix .22 this weekend and for $120, it's the best $120 you'll ever spend and is probably the best small .22 semi auto you'll find for the money. After you understand how good a .22 pistol is, step up to something larger and holds more rounds. We're fortunate we live in the times we do as prior to a few years ago, a .22 semi auto that held more than 10 rounds was unheard of. Now we have Taurus holding 15 rds, a new Kel Tec with 17 rds, the CP33 that holds 33 rds and maybe 50 in the future.

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I agree about the Phoenix, as a plinker and trainer, at least. If someone were to want a carry pistol in .22R, though, the HP22A is just too complicated (SAO, numerous safety features, etc.) The Taurus PT22 or PLY22 could be a better option. I have the PT and the HP, and enjoy them both a lot.

Yes, the rimfire pistol market offerings are exciting now. I can't wait to put those P17 Kel-Tecs in my hands.

I've posted this pic elsewhere on THR, but thought it fit on this thread...

My .22 rimfire handguns are comprised of:

-- The G1 T/C Contender with 23", 14" Super-Match (my absolute favorite of all), and 12" .22 LR barrels
-- Off to the left, the NAA 3" Earl (.22WMR/.22LR), NAA Black Widow (.22WMR/.22LR), and NAA Mini (.22LR)
-- Below those, on the left side, are an S&W 22S (.22LR) and Walther TPH (.22LR)
-- To the right of the autos are the S&W 63 kit gun (4" barrel, .22LR) and S&W 317 kit gun (3" barrel, .22LR)

I love my Buckmark. It's a laser at plinking distances.