The $400 cap on the budget puts some restrictions on your choices. Not a lot but it does limit it somewhat. And I'm guessing that if we could keep the price lower that you won't complain, right?
You said that you don't mind the idea of a revolver. But I think you'll find that your budget and your insistence on 8 rounds minimum limits your choices.
The three main semi auto handguns for .22 shooting would be the Ruger MkIII or 22/45, the Browning Buckmark and the S&W 22a. We don't hear a lot about the 22a in threads similar to this but it's one of those guns that shoots well, seems to be very reliable for those that own them but for some reason doesn't get a whole lot of internet respect. But they are worth looking at.
The Ruger isn't HARD to clean. It's just a little tricky until you learn the order of the steps. But once you've done it a few times it's actually faster and easier to field strip than the other popular guns. But you need to work on learning the correct order before you get to where you can do the job with your eyes closed.
It's actually far less work to strip for cleaning than most of my other .22 semi auto pistols and only "just" as easy as the easiest other one I've got.
For out of the box performance where you don't want to mess around with aftermarket parts or tinkering with the insides I'd suggest the Browning Buckmark. The STOCK trigger is enough nicer than the STOCK Ruger trigger to justify this. So if you simply want to buy and shoot with no tinkering other than cleaning I'd have to say go with the Browning.
Truth be told I liked the rental 22a that I shot for about 500 rounds. I rented it and used it as a flinch buster gun between magazines of 9mm. It shot well with good accuracy (better than me
) and worked with a variety of ammo. Being a rental gun it got used lots and cleaned seldom. I was enough of a regular at the range that when the staff was busy one day and I wanted to get the gun working that they took me out in back to clean the gun myself. The 22A was easy enough to strip and clean and re-assemble. The trigger was nice on this well used and therefore well broken in example but it wasn't as nice as the trigger of the Browning. But it was at least as good as the triggers on the stock Ruger I've got.
If you like the idea of a 1911 the GSG gun is worth consideration as well. The trigger isn't as nice as the other three options in stock form. But it's a 1911 setup so it's easy to get it slicked up either by doing it yourself or having a 1911 smith do the work. Mind you that may take it out of your budget.
For 8 or more shot revolvers you'll need to decide if you want DA or SA. The folks I know that are recovering from strokes have SOME effect even on the supposedly unaffected side. So being able to operate the gun in DA with good control over the sight picture will need to be addressed by you and based on your own condition.
But in SA mode they all work really nicely. But one of the nicest guns, the Ruger Single 10, is over your budget. But not by much. For classic bullseye shooting it's an option that might just tickle your fancy. And really over the next few years of use the extra cost to buy whichever gun you really like won't amount to a hill of beans. So don't get locked in TOO strongly if you see something that is over but only by a little.
