22lr pocket plinker

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couldbeanyone

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Recommend a DURABLE 22lr pocket sized plinking gun. Tired of having my plinkers break on me. I am looking for something that might actually last 50,000 rounds. Have had both a Ruger Bearcat (still a little big) and a NAA mini both break in less than a thousand rounds. Also had a Walther tph that kept loosing its double action ability.
 
The small semis are quite the jammers.

Interested in a revolver:

SW 63 and Ruger LCR-22.

Taurus - yeah, but I'm not a fan. A model 94 I had - :barf:
 
Have had both a Ruger Bearcat (still a little big) and a NAA mini both break in less than a thousand rounds.
Click to expand...

WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU DOING TO THEM ? ! ? ! ? ! There's just no way that these guns will break down that soon unless you've had the worst possible luck of anybody on the planet! Are they being exposed to harsh weather and then you don't clean and oil them or is it something else? Until you figure this out I really don't think there's anything at all that anyone could suggest which would meet your needs if those guns aren't surviving.
 
Just bad luck I guess. I shoot my guns a lot. I will usually shoot at least 500 rounds each time I go shooting. My guns are not exposed to abuse, most of my guns aren't even shot rapid fire. The most exposure to the elements they get is a ride in my pocket. They do get cleaned and oiled.

A little flat spring attached to the hammer (I think) on the bearcat failed, making cylinder lock up. Don't know what is wrong with the mini as it hasn't been back to NAA yet.

Get this, I also have had a Ruger Single Six fail in less than a thousand rounds. Same symptoms as the bearcat, but was a broken piece in the hammer mechanism. It wasn't fanned or even rapid fired.:(
 
Well I don't know if anyone can recommend a more durable 22lr than the Ruger Single Six. Did you send the 2 rugers back to them? What did they say
 
The Single Six had a broken hammer plunger. The Bearcat had a small flat spring fail in the trigger hammer mechanism. I don't remember its name.
 
Try a phoenix HP-22. Seriously. Cheap POS looking little gun, but ACCURATE with the 5" barrel, and stone simple. I have always had Rugers and S&Ws, but bought this one for my wife to take her CPL class (.380 is expensive), and was amazed at the accuracy! After she shot a bunch of quarter-sized 10 round groups at 7 yards, I loaded the two (10 round) mags up and proceded to punch the three thumbtacks through the backboard, one handed. I was getting lots of edge hits, but you gotta hit those tacks square in the center to drive 'em through that OSB...Still had a couple rounds left, too.

Gun, 3" & 5" barrels, two mags, locking mag, cleaning kit all in a locking blow-molded case, under $200.00.
 
Walther PPK or even smaller TPH will serve well and last as long as you want to keep it.
The price is high and the quality makes the money well spent.

Since you had a TPH that went south on you, you probably don't want to spend money on something you don't have confidence in So I would suggest locating one of these S&W 2214 "Sportsman" pocket .22s
I have owned mine for years and fired thousands of rounds through the gun, it has been reliable and suprisingly accurate for a small pistol.
They are now discontinued and spare magazines can be a challenge to locate but the standard Model 41 10 and 12 shot magazines will fit and function fine though they do project from the bottom a little bit.
These guns can be found and bought for less than $250 with some searching. HTH
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Onmilo, thanks for the input. I have seen one of those before. I was leery of it as I never new anyone who owned one. This is the kind of first hand input I am looking for. I really liked the looks and feel of the one I saw. I think I may just start looking for one. Thanks again.
 
Pocket plinkers... S&W M317, SW M63 (3"), Ruger LCR-22, and I guess the Taurus M94. Of those, I recommend both the Ruger LCR-22 and S&W M63.

I don't recommentd any of the tiny semi-auto 22 pistols, but I am very interested in the new Ruger SR22 which is a little larger than "pocket sized". If Ruger comes out with a 22 version of the LCP, I might look at it as well.
 
You got bad luck with the Bearcat amigo...... I've shot over 5,000 rounds each through 3 different Bearcats and never had a problem with any of them.... I love them.

The Dove
 
A little flat spring attached to the hammer (I think) on the bearcat failed
Click to expand...
There are no flat springs in any model Ruger Single-Action..

And I agree with the others.

If you can break a Ruger Single-Action or two in less then 1,000 rounds?

You probably should find another hobby.

Shooting just isn't gonna work out for you.

rc
 
rcmodel,
There is a piece of flat spring steel in a Ruger Bearcat attached to the side of (I think) the cylinder bolt. It is what moves the cylinder bolt to disengage the cylinder allowing the cylinder to turn. This is what broke.
Neither Ruger was fanned or rapid fired in any way.
 
Ruger just introed a .22 auto that's quite small, probably fit a large pocket. I'm thinkin' about one, called a "SR22 Pistol". I've got a little Rossi that shoots fantastic and has seen many thousands of rounds, but it's a 4" J frame S&W 63 type gun in stainless. It's a bit much for a pocket. I think you'll be looking at autos like the new Ruger or perhaps a Bersa or some such which are plinking accurate in a small blow back pistol.

But, if you broke a Bearcat, you must be hellatough on handguns. :rolleyes: It BROKE, though, right? It didn't wear out? A broken spring or part can be fixed. I wouldn't worry a whole lot about that sort of thing, personally.
 
Couldbe' I say this in mostly in jest but it really seems like you're one of those rare folks that just can't wear a watch or carry a cell phone around because something about their "aura" just makes stuff fail all the time. Up to now I've never heard of this same "curse" affecting guns.... :D

I've had excellent luck with my S&W 422, which is the bigger of the two in the picture in Onmilo's post. I've go up somewhere around 3 or 4 thousand rounds through it and all it ever asks for is an occasional cleaning. And I do mean occasional. .... but in your case... :D

I know you're not big on Ruger just now as a result of your Bearcat and Single Six. But they DO have two really nice compact revolvers coming out. One is the brand new on the shelf SP101 8 shot .22 with a 4.2 inch barrel. The other is the very compact LCR in .22. But that one has just been announced and I believe it hasn't quite shipped out to dealers yet.

For semis I really don't know what to suggest.
 
The LCR-22's are at the dealers now. Got one. Have not seen a SR22 yet, but I suspect they will be arriving very shortly to many dealers shelves.
 
"Twice" you've mentioned fanning or rapid fire, why? That is about the only way I can think of to mess a Ruger revolver up! Why would any person bring that word into the conversation, "Fanning"? Guilty conscience maybe?
 
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Take a look at the new Ruger SR22. It's a little bit big for pocket, but could work and should have the quality you seek.
 
You could always just get the guns fixed and continue using them.

The Phoenix HP22 is a small little pistol, but I'm not sure how durable it is (ZAMAK frame I believe). Apparantly they have a no questions asked life time warranty though.

I have no personal experience with it but maybe the Bersa Firestorm? There's also those small Beretta (and I think Taurus) tip up barrels. Maybe a .22 conversion kit is for you? I think you can get one for the Kel-tec guns now. Is size or durability more of the concern?
 
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