Mark III or 22/45

[ford8nr]

Bought the 22/45 for the wife to take a Basic Pistol course with. She likes my 1911 with the .22 conversion on it but has a hard time minipulating the controls. Plus the tight hammer spring on the 1911 makes racking the slide hard for her unless she cocks it first...not a good situation in a classroom setting. I was unsure of the polymer/nylon frame until I thought about all the centerfire pistols with them. The ruger 22/45 is actually a nice set up, more like a composit AR. Grip frame is 'plastic' and the whole upper is steel, no steel sliding on plastic or on steel 'inserts'. She likes the lighter weight of the 22/45 over the MKIII. Pick a few up and see what feels good, you can't go wrong with a Ruger .22

 

[mdauben]

Bought the 22/45 for the wife to take a Basic Pistol course with. She likes my 1911 with the .22 conversion on it but has a hard time minipulating the controls. Plus the tight hammer spring on the 1911 makes racking the slide hard for her unless she cocks it first...not a good situation in a classroom setting.

Is she going to be using the 1911 for HD/SD? Training with the 22/45 might make things easy for her, but it will be of questionable usefulness if she can't learn to operate the gun she will actually be relying on. On the other hand, if this is just the first step in introducing the wife to the world of firearms, the Ruger .22 is probably a nice choice.

Also, is she trying to rack the slide on the 1911 "correctly"? Many women and older men with weaker grips find it difficult if not impossible to "slingshot" the slide on a semiauto (pull backwards, gripping the rear end of the slide with the fingers). Gripping the gun properly with both hands alows her to use the strenth of both arms to work the slide.

You can find a number of videos on the subject on YouTube.

 

[ford8nr]

She WON'T be using the 1911 for HD/SD. The purpose of the course is to get her a good set of basics without me having to do it. I've taught her how to shoot rifle and pistol but for her to listen to me through 6 hours of classroom would be nearly impossible. Her and her sister-in-law are both taking the course for general knowledge.

 

[mdauben]

She WON'T be using the 1911 for HD/SD. The purpose of the course is to get her a good set of basics without me having to do it. I've taught her how to shoot rifle and pistol but for her to listen to me through 6 hours of classroom would be nearly impossible. Her and her sister-in-law are both taking the course for general knowledge.

Then the Ruger is probably an excellent choice and I wish her good luck with the course.

 

[bill3424]

I like the 22/45 due to the grip angle.

 

[farm23]

The one I have is marked; Target Model
Ruger 22/45 Mark III
It has hi-viz sights and 1000's of rounds thru it. I think it was a Davidson's special and some day I may change the sights as they are not as good as I thought they would be. The gun has been flawless and the family loves to shoot it.