Best (reliable) .22LR handgun?

From reading many forum posts about the G44 I think that the bad reports are over blown. The discussion gets less than friendly very quickly due to the pro-Glock/anti-Glock factions. It really reminds me of the PC/Apple fanboys days in the computer forums. The bad reports about the G44 with credibility seem to point to problems with hollow points or less than 40 grain ammo.

I also think that some of the venom pointed at Glock is due to the price. Anything less than absolutely perfect performance is less than acceptable because, well, it's a Glock (Perfection?) and it's not inexpensive.

1) You already own a G19.
2) Your daughter has professed a liking for that G19.
3) The G44 is about as close as it gets to a G19.

Unless you go with a Ruger Mark or Buckmark type pistol the G44 sounds like a great match for what you want to accomplish.

The first advice I got when I wanted to buy my first gun is still the best. Don't buy anything you haven't pulled the trigger on. Find a G44, a Ruger SR22, M&P 22 compact, a TX22 and any others you want to consider and take your daughter and pull the trigger on a few rounds. It sounds like you have a few guns to shoot in the meantime, including other 22s. Take your time and get what you want. You only need to make you and your daughter happy, the rest of us are spectators.

I will say that the first thing I thought after shooting the G44 was that it is an absolutely fantastic gun for people who are new to shooting and to semi-autos in particular.

I have a Mark IV and SR22. Neither has had a malfunction. My youngest son is 13 and prefers the Mark IV by far, FWIW. It sounds like betwen the two your daughter may lean towards the SR22 as it's closer to a common service type gun.

https://palmettostatearmory.com/s-w-m-p-22-compact-22lr-pistol.html

Great buy on a really reliable compact .22 pistol. I picked one up a few months back, and while it isn’t as precisely accurate as my 22/45 MK III Ruger, it is accurate enough to be a lot of fun. Reliability is just as good as my modified 22/45, and better than my 22/45 as it came from the factory. Maybe grab this deal, then decide if you want to add the a Glock. My bet is you and your daughter will be quite happy with the S&W M&P 22 Compact.

I have a Buckmark, Ruger Single Six, Ruger SR-22 and a S &W 17-3. The Buckmark has the best trigger, the Single Six is the most durable, the SR is the most fun and the Smith is the most treasured.

All mine are, except one, are no longer available new at least in the original form. My Walther PPK/S is a nice pocket pistol and is quite reliable. My favorites are a MKI Ruger .22LR, a Colt Woodsman Sport and a High Standard Victor. It the round goes "bang" they don't jam. It's been over half a century since I bought a .22 pistol.

You don't say how young your daughter is. It's small, but I can't imagine the Ruger LCP-22 being anything but fun to plink around with.

My other "likes" have already been covered here in the thread.

I have owned a lot of them and didn't like most of them. The ones I liked I've kept. In no particular order...

Browning Buck Mark
Ruger Mark
Ruger Single Six
S&W K22 (I think the modern version is a Model 17)

They are all excellent. The rest kinda came and went.

I am kind of a Ruger guy, I think I own more of them than anything, but two that disappointed me were the SR22 and the LCRx in 22lr. Maybe it's just me, or maybe I ended up with poor examples.

All four of the above are way more accurate than I am. I probably shoot the Buck Mark the best on a consistent basis. The S&W is the most fun to shoot and my favorite. Occasionally I will shoot it better than the Buck Mark, but just occasionally.

Here's the Ruger Mark. Actually it's technically a Ruger "Standard" from around 1982-83. The balance is particularly good.

Here is the K22 Masterpiece. It's got possibly the best DA trigger I've ever felt on a revolver. It's from around 1951-21, IRRC.

I got the Single Six for next to nothing because the finish was ruined and it was missing a $10 part. I bought the part and cold blued it. It shoots as good as new.

Here's a poor-quality picture of the Buck Mark. My friend was looking to get a 22 handgun. After he shot it with me, he bought himself one.

Detailed initial review of GSG 1911 by Military Arms Channel



Here's Hickok45's review of Sig 1911/GSG 1911 22LR



Here's 3000 round update review of GSG 1911 22LR in reference to other popular 22LR pistols

I may be too old and I don't know the age or experience of your "young shooter." I have never been comfortable with young shooters and semi-auto handguns (or rifles). I taught my kids and my grand kids with a single action revolver before advancing them up to the Ruger Mark series semi-autos. With rifles they began with bolt action or lever actions before stepping up to a semi-auto.

Steve51 said:

single action revolver before advancing them up to ... semi-autos. With rifles they began with bolt action or lever actions before stepping up to a semi-auto.

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No longer necessary as we can start them off with semi-auto pistols and rifles. My son and daughter have never shot a revolver, lever action or bolt action before they were started on semi-auto pistols and rifles. (They actually went backwards and learned to shoot revolvers/lever action/bolt action after semi-auto. Son did start off with multi-pump internal BB magazine/pellet rifle and CO2 pistols)

FYI, there are new generation of match shooters (like me) who never fired a revolver or lever action/bolt action rifle and successfully compete in rigors of competition, particularly 3-gun matches (I actually started out shooting M16s, M60s). When I shot USPSA in the 90s, we often took new shooters who just came to watch the match and never shot before (They often came as guests/girlfriends) and successfully trained them to shoot up to high percentile level of club ladder - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...-help-me-speed-up.824618/page-4#post-10902245

My sister had only shot 22LR semi-auto pistols and Ruger 10/22 but later in her life (40s), decided to "steal" my full size M&P40 (I ended up gifting it to her since she liked it so much) and shot pistol matches with it. Her coworkers got inspired and without having shot any guns before, jumped right in and started shooting semi-auto pistols and rifles without issues (She taught them all in the same manner I trained her and her family).

When I was in the Army as medic in the 80s, there were many in boot camp who never shot a gun in their life and many did well qualifying as sharpshooter/expert.

To me, it's all about proper training, starting with shooting safety and basics - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/trigger-control.834737/page-2#post-11245640

And I taught/shared defensive point shooting (sighted and unsighted) with a lot of people and many never shot before (I now do this as my retirement "Pay It Forward" with me supplying all the ammunition). No problem, I told them and by the end of 4 hour initial session, they were effectively producing tight smaller than fist sized groups at 5-7 yards at multiple targets point shooting using various 9mm/40S&W/45ACP pistols from compact M&P Shield 9mm to full size 45ACP 1911 - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...endence-from-work.853305/page-2#post-11175698

DustyGmt said:

Thanks. Lots of good input. I especially appreciate these posts because alot of folks described their own experience with many makes/brands. She likes the glock, I may just have to give it a try. Nothing stopping me from buying multiple .22's either. I think I got good advice here. Thanks guys

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FWIW, my wife and I ran the "2nd" 100 rounds through my new Glock 44 this morning (50 CCI 40gr Mini-Mag RN, 40 Remington 22 GBs, and 10 Federal 40gr Game Shoks) and had no failures of any kind.
I posted in that other thread, "What will the Glock 44 eat?" about my wife having 2 failures to feed (out of 50 rounds) using CCI 36gr Mini-Mag HPs when we ran the 1st 100 rounds through my new Glock 44, but it seems to "eat" the 40gr Mini-Mag RNs just fine.
And dang, is it accurate or what? After we used up the last 10 rounds in that 50 round box of Federal 40gr Game Shoks this morning, I tossed the box down-range 10 or 12 yards. By the time I had fired the 10 rounds of CCI Mini-Mags in the magazine at the box, it was a good 20 yards down-range, and shredded.
At any rate, I've never been a Glock fan. I've never been a Glock hater either -- I just didn't care much one way or the other about them. But now, with just 100 rounds through my new Glock 44, I'm pretty sure that within a couple of months I'll have a Glock 19, and I'll be using it for EDC.

DustyGmt said:

What is the best .22LR handgun on the market right now, for a young shooter?

I was looking at the glock and wanted to buy it so it would be similiar for the sake of the fact that most of my other handguns are glocks and that's the platform I wanted my daughter to be comfortable with but as of now the G44 seems to be plagued with horrendous feeding issues and I dont want that.

Dont even mention Walther P22, I wont have one. I know .22's are prone to finnickyness, especially in handguns but what is the current top performing .22LR handgun out there right now? I was considering the Ruger SR22 or American .22 handgun. Any suggestions......

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If I were you I would go with your first instinct, get the Glock. (And stay away from the Walther!) I have fired over 700 rounds of 16 different varieties of .22lr and only one was not a good fit for the G44. Part of your choice depends on how old and mature your daughter is too.

With the Glock you get a reliable trainer for yourself since you own Glocks and it would also train your daughter for moving up to more powerful variations of Glock that you own. There are problem Glocks out there apparently but my Ruger MK IIIis so far less reliable than my G44.

If you decide to go for the G44, the Ruger SR22 is also a good choice. It is reliable, compact, high quality, fun and adaptable to different and smaller hands than the Glock. Only issue I had with it is the safety operates opposite to most other guns. Great Gun, wish I hadn't sold mine.

All the other regular guns people mentioned are great as well, Ruger MK IV, S&W Victory, Browning Buckmark, Ruger Revolvers. You could also find a used SR22 AND a new Ruger Wrangler revolver and it wouldn't cost you as much as some of these other guns each cost new if you're lucky.

I have a cheapo Phoenix Arms HP22A which has been extremely reliable. I've got 2000 rounds through it without a problem. The multiple safeties are annoying, but my 11-year old daughter enjoys shooting it.

1) Beretta Model 70S
2) Ruger Mk.II
3) Ruger Single Six

Here’s a link to the topic What will the new Glock 44 eat
https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/what-will-the-new-glock-44-eat.864193/
I think I have fed my G44 more different types of ammunition then any one here on the forum. I can say this, my G44 is not a picky eater.
It shoots great with standard velocity ammo. I also found that it really likes Armscor 36 gr Hollow Point ammo. And you can get that ammo for right at .03 cents a round.
Every kid is different when it comes to the type of guns they like. My oldest son loved the Ruger MKI and my Kimber 1911 in 22lr. He wasn’t to fond of the Ruger Single Six.
My youngest son didn’t care for the autos, but loves the Ruger Single Six.
If your daughter really likes the Glock, get her the G44.
My daughter is 37 years old and has been trying to talk me out of my G44.

The largest factor is how a semiauto .22 runs is what you feed it, #2 is how you maintain it.

That said, a .22 revolver will chamber, hit the primer and eject even dud rounds without malfunction. For DA pull the trigger again or cock and pull the trigger again (SA) and you have another round, no need to clear, drop the mag etc.

marvin02 said:

I have read the reports about the G44, but I shot a rental at my local range yesterday and had no issues.

The magazine was easy to load, it felt great in my hand and I put 100 rounds through it with no issues. I shot 50 rounds of Aguila high velocity CPRN and 50 rounds of CCI SV. Not one hiccup. Almost no felt recoil. There have been few, if any, reports of issues with 40 grain round nose ammo and there is plenty of that type available at plinker prices.

I think it would be a great gun for a new/young shooter. Shoot one before you eliminate it.

I really liked my M&P 22 compact and it is a great first gun also. No issues at all. I sold it to buy my first Mark IV.

The other gun to look at that would fall into the trainer category is the Taurus TX22. I have also shot one of these as a rental and had no issues.

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Here, a gent tested the Glock44 thoroughly and had ZERO issues.
https://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=604732&page=5-Jeff22 post..
A couple of gents, one a guy known to not like Glocks and the other with limited knowledge of Glocks, had 'reviews' that got a lot of traction..but more than a few reviews show the G44 had zero issues.
BUT, rent the various offerings and then decide.

DustyGmt said:

She will be 12 this year. She has shot my .22 rifles and a few of my 9mm Glocks, AR's, very well too. She is kind of a shy reserved kid but it surprised me how not scared she was to shoot, flinching wasnt a big problem surprisingly.. I had her watch me for a while and we went over safe handling and she is very comfortable with guns.

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The Glock 44 makes sense since you own a Glock 19. I still suggest have your daughter check out as many different models as she can to see what she likes and fits her. Sounds like you are on the right path with teaching your daughter.

I can only speak to what I have: rounds shot:
BERETTA M9-22 7670
RUGER SR22 6795
S&W 617 2595

safety lever axle broke twice on the M9-22 so far, but beretta has replaced it both times, no charge.
the SR22 just runs. it can get dirty pretty quickly, but it runs.
.22lr ammo is really the more deciding factor in terms of "reliabillity" than anything else.

I do not regret getting any of them.

A lot depends on the size and weight of the pistol you are looking for. I’ll deal with full size pistols since that is what I see the most of. I shoot a couple of different match types that are timed and require a rim fire pistol that is accurate and reliable. I personally shoot a Nelson conversion on a 1911 lower. It is superbly accurate and 100% reliable with good ammo. The others I see on the firing line most often are Ruger Mk’s and Browning Buckmarks. There are a smattering of other pistols such as High Standards and S&W 41’s but both of these can be problematic on reliability and require standard velocity ammo only. One other that is becoming popular is the S&W Victory. They seem to be reliable after a little ejector tuning.
All of this is just my observation from 40 years of gunsmithing and match shooting.

DustyGmt said:

And if I'm bragging not only does she shoot well for a beginner she also has been doing karate 3 classes a week for the past almost 4 years (junior black belt). She also gets basically straight 4's (A's) in school.


Its like a dream come true

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I am thinking it's a case of "Apple does not fall too far from the tree"?

My honor/gate program daughter who graduated from High School almost 2 years early spent most of her toddler years playing around the reloading room (I am sure she lubed many .308 brass with her slobber) and around 6 years wanted to help me so I had her play the game of "Let's sort brass by caliber" and afterwards learned to disassemble all of my guns, clean and reassemble. As she got older, she made a game of how fast she can disassemble and reassemble Glocks blindfolded. She is quick.

When I took her to the range and started her off on 22LR pistols, she gave me a funny look as she was already proficient with CO2 BB pistols (We had already worked on proper grip/trigger control and not moving the front sight) and proceeded to do a fast mag dump on 7 yard target and asked, "Can I shoot something bigger?" When I handed her Glock 17 saying she needed to compensate for recoil, she proceeded to produce tight groups and smiled saying, "Much better ... What is there to compensate?" and quickly progressed to point shooting .380Auto/9mm/40S&W/45ACP and then onto carbines/rifles.

I met my wife in our 20s (she grew up shooting guns) when I was shooting USPSA matches and I taught her fast defensive point shooting as she wanted to hit anything inside the house day or night as I later traveled the state away from home for government work. When daughter saw her mom proficient with unsighted point shooting, of course she wanted to do the same. Now at 20 and 5'10" and proficient with firearms, I look forward to the day she brings home a boyfriend and goes, "Hey, you wanna see me shoot blindfolded?"