.22lr Pistol?

[Guest dboonekilledabearhere]

After the recent event in a previous post on TGO MY Mother-in law wants to purchase reliable .22 pistol w/ laser sight. I explained to het the laser could almost cost as much as the handgun (depending on brand). I know.22??? however, this is what she is comfortable with.

Any suggestions. Thanks in advance

[USMCJG]

For reliability, the only .22 pistols I would really trust are the Browning Buckmarks and Ruger Mark 1,2,and 3. These have the best reputation of the common .22 pistols. That doesn't mean that others aren't as good. I have a Mark III and it is extremely reliable. The biggest reliability downfall of all .22 pistols is the .22 rimfire cartridge itself.

[Guest The Highlander]

I second the above. My first handgun was a Ruger Mk II, and it has been so good for so long I bought a second as a spare. It has never been out of the box though, well, except to fondle and wipe down.

Hard to go wrong with the Browning or the Ruger, and they have so many models you are sure to find one she likes.

I have a Walther P22 that is technically my daughters, I hate the trigger, its accuracy is questionable and spotty too. But it is small and easy to carry, and there are quite a few accessories for it as well. Not my first or even second pick though.

[Reg]

As stated by others, the Browning or Ruger will be very reliable. If this is a defensive gun and you're concerned with rimfire FTFs, then an alternative to a pistol would be a revolver. She could quickly squeeze off another round without clearing a jam or FTF. S&W and Taurus both offer .22's with at least 8-round cylinders.

[Guest cheez]

Walther P22 is a great little gun. Accuracy is plenty good enough for self defense. Reliability in the new versions are as good as any .22 pistol out there. Lasers are readily available for them. You can even buy one with a laser from the factory.

[graycrait]

Small short barrelled handguns are harder to get good hits than longer barrelled ones especially under stress.

I've had a bucket load of .22s.

1. If this is to be a home defense .22 and she wants a laser then I would get a Walther P22 and attach a Streamlight light/laser combo on the rail. I'm not real high on P22s but if a reliability check is done periodically and the break-in period was long and flawless then the Walther P22 with rail & light/laser would be useful, along with a couple of extra magazines. I would not recommend any other of the "new" .22 pistols other than for plinking.

2. However, as much as I think she needs a good weapons light along with her handgun I really would recommend that she get a Ruger MKIII (has mag disconnect safety) standard barrel with Crimson Trace grips. Run 500 - 1000 rds though it to get it settled in. Just use CCI Mini Mags for Self-Defense but whatever ammo it will shoot while breaking it in. Watch for leading in the barrel if you use lead round nose. Make sure the mags work flawlessly. Get her one of those little gizmos that assist her to reload the mags, cost is around $3.00. Don't worry about crazy hot Aguila ammo or Velocitor other high speed ammo. CCI Mini Mags work pretty well in any handgun, are probably more reliable and will do whatever a .22LR can do. I am not high on .22mag handguns other than specialized ones for paper or hunting that have long barrels and even then I have some doubts on utility.

.22LR revolvers are great as trail or plinking guns. I would only recommend S&W & Ruger .22 revolvers for self defense and then I am not really crazy about that idea. I'm not enamored with the new S&W 617. I've worked on a couple. The discontinued Ruger SP101 in .22 is great, hard to find and expensive. I will not recommend Taurus or Charter revolvers in .22LR, not for a defensive .22 revolver. An older S&W or Ruger would be my choice for a revolver but .22 revolvers can be tricky to reload if that is necessary and why not have a 10rd mag to slap in as opposed to fumbling with a speed loader or indivual rounds when adrenalin and fear have disabled fine motor skills.

Can't you steer her to a .38 revolver like one of the new S&W Bodyguards or LCR? snubbies take practice but the new S&W Bodyguard in .38 or even the new Bodybuard in .380 have integral lasers and cost would be about what a MKIII standard with Crimson Trace grips would cost. I would lean her towards the .380 Bodyguard.

Can she shoot now and is she reliable with a handgun. She is going to have to get hits on target, as many as she can, and then the perp will have to bleed out, which means that could take a while.

Here is an example I recently got from a friend. This is the second person I have heard of who primarily used .22LR handgun to dispatch treed mountain lions "back in the day":

Jay Bruce, an oldtime California mountain lion bounty hunter, killed 200 plus cougars with a .22 pistol. Never had one survive long enough to injure any of the dogs. All of them shot in the lungs while treed, I think. They did not jump out, just stayed there in the tree for a few minutes until the lungs filled with blood. They were dead when they hit the ground. Shows you what a .22 LR round can do. Sometime I will copy and send you a couple of paragraphs about that from Bruce's book "Cougar Killer." He had lost the use of one hand in an accident and of one eye when a piece of brush swung back and hit him. Had one hand to handle dog leashes. Went to a .22 pistol or revolver because could carry it on the belt and use it with one hand when needed. In many cases big bore revolvers and rifles caused the cougars to jump from the tree into the midst of dogs, which they would kill or seriously injure before dying themselves. That did not happen with the small .22 bullet in the lungs.

[I_Like_Pie]

Wow gray....that was well thought out and written. Thanks for sharing

[strickj]

After the recent event in a previous post on TGO MY Mother-in law wants to purchase reliable .22 pistol w/ laser sight. I explained to het the laser could almost cost as much as the handgun (depending on brand). I know.22??? however, this is what she is comfortable with.

Any suggestions. Thanks in advance

I do believe the Wqalther P22 has a model with the laser included for just a few clams more.

[TN-popo]

For reliability, the only .22 pistols I would really trust are the Browning Buckmarks and Ruger Mark 1,2,and 3. These have the best reputation of the common .22 pistols. That doesn't mean that others aren't as good. I have a Mark III and it is extremely reliable. The biggest reliability downfall of all .22 pistols is the .22 rimfire cartridge itself.

Big +1 (I own or have owned both and they are/were problem free).

I happen to have a Walther P22 that works...but I've seen too many that don't.

Edited September 19, 2010 by TN-popo

[Rebels010]

If she can wait until 2015, she should get a Kel-Tec PMR 30.

[Guest Al56]

I have the P22 3"er and is very reliable but only with CCI minimags anything else you would be taking a chance. Mine came with the factory laser.

[mikegideon]

I do believe the Wqalther P22 has a model with the laser included for just a few clams more.

The walther laser is a piece o' crap. Elevation adjust is spring loaded, with a set screw into cheesey pot metal. Screw strips out, and the spring pushes the laser to the stop. I have one... haven't tried to fix it yet.

[R1100R]

I have a P22 with the Factory laser and it works great. Feeds any ammo I put into both that I own. Both use the updated mags.

One is a 2006 and the other a 2009. I know others had problems with their P22's. I guess i have been lucky.

[mikegideon]

I have a P22 with the Factory laser and it works great. Feeds any ammo I put into both that I own. Both use the updated mags.

One is a 2006 and the other a 2009. I know others had problems with their P22's. I guess i have been lucky.

It does work great until it breaks. Just be careful with the adjustment screws.

[Guest Glock23ForMe]

My dad has a Browning Buckmark .22 and it is amazing. I love it. We went and shot it the other day for the first time in probably 3 or 4 years, he doesn't shoot much, and it shot just fine.

[Tempest455]

I have the Ruger MK III and it's great. After 5,000 rounds, its jammed maybe 5 times and that was at first. With some break in, I have not had a problem in a long time.

Just bought a Taurus stainless, 4" revolver. Now it's awesome. I had a problem initially, which is good for a separate topic. In short, Taurus customer service was amazing, quite different from what I had heard.

[graycrait]

I don't recall all the .22 handguns that I have had and certainly don't remember all that I have shot.I am interested in the following for a .22LR pistol: 1) Value 2) Durability 3) Accurate enough 4) Reliability 5) Weight 6) Ease of Maintenance

The picture is of the .22s I have kept. The top and bottom Rugers have Volquartsen triggers, Clark Bushings and other Volquartsen parts that make them have pretty crisp actions. The three S&Ws, 2x422 6" & 1x622 6", as well as the 4" slab Barrel MKIII 22/45 are stock. The Ruger with the optic is my Franken .22 or has been described as Bubb'd Up. That is multi dot Matchdot Ultradot on top of a Weigand scope rail, with a portion of a Hogue mono grip cemented to the grip.

If I were to only keep one it would be one of the 6" S&W 422s.

My wife prefers the 422s over all other .22s that have gone through the house in the last year or so.

However, don't overlook the S&W 22A for mom. It already has a rail on top where you could mount a holographic sight or some sort of inexpensive red dot, which might make more sense than a laser. Weight isn't too bad, the grip is a nice fit for many people. It is highly under rated INMHO.

Plinker .22s that have come and gone in the last 20 years that I can remember:

1. S&W 22A that a friend talked me out of.

2. Buckmark URX that another friend talked me out of.

3. 5 other Ruger MKIIs, 1 standard, 1 6&6/8" target and 3 other 5.5 bull barrels that I did aftermarket work to that other folks wanted badly.

4. Walther P22 - worked ok, but was too small and I didn't like the pot metal.

5. Sig Mosquito - terrible gun and poor design. Sig makes a real .22 pistol for considerably more money.

6. ISSC M22 (Walther like design with Glock like furnishings). Good training pistol but not one I like to punch paper with.

7. S&W 1951 5-Screw Pre 17 Target Masterpiece 6" I should have never taken that gun to be reblued.

8. H&R Sportsman later ones are model 999 I believe, 9-shot simultaneous ejectiong, great gun, the older the better.

9. Ruger Single 6 .22/.22mag good gun, but no fun for me

10. H&R 629 .22/.22mag(I think that was the model) good gun for field work

I have friends who have the other usual suspectsL High Standards, S&W 41, Browning Challenger, etc.

So, I have some experience with plinkers. Here are the ones I like. Why 22/45 vs steel Rugers? Weight. I no longer like the notion of heavy .22s and the 22/45 with 5.5 bull is pushing the limit. I like the 6" 422 or 622 better than other plinker. Too bad S&W discontinued them some years ago. I've been collecting small parts for the 4222/622 and springs to keep them running till I can't shoot any longer.

Craig in Clarksville, TN

[Mad_Squirrell]

You might also consider a revolver chambered for .327 you can shoot the lower powered .32 cal cartridges to get her used to the gun .I used to own an old H&R .32 revolver and the recoil was not significantly more than a .22lr-.25acp with .32 longs it would be a sight better defensive pistol than a .22lr