.22 semiautomatic

[Guest rt_steve]

I'm looking to buy a semi auto .22 to save some money on ammo. I've shot the walther p22 and liked it. I look at a sig mosquito at the gun shop and really liked the way the grip set in my hand. I'm a little nervous about buying a model i've never shot before, but i've enjoyed other sigs i've shot and I'm leaning towards the mosquito. Does anyone have any experience with either of these guns or other semi auto .22's you would recommend?

[Guest TargetShooter84]

Had a friend ask me about it. After researching online, seems that Mosquitos are more problematic guns. They're too picky with ammo. You must shoot only CCI Mini mags (expensive ammo) for it to work well. Any other ammo like Remington or federal, it'll jam up a lot. Very very super picky gun with ammo. I'd go with P22. I have P22 and love it. Very easy and fun. No malfunctions.

[eapking]

Check out the Ruger Mark 3 (and 22/45 variant). Best shooting 22 you will find. Takedown is a bit of a pain at first. You'll get used to it.

[lowery100]

My son has a Berreta Neos. It has shot every brand of bulk pack .22. We have been very pleased with it so far.

[volfanatic72]

Anyone tried the Bersa .22s?

[JC57]

Anyone tried the Bersa .22s?

I have not tried one myself, but some report they are finicky with certain ammo types. CCI Blazer, Minimags, and Velocitor are reported to be reliable in them. Others report no problems with other brands of ammo, though, so who knows.

I keep toying with the idea of getting one in nickel finish to match my Bersa Thunder 380 (which is a very nice gun) but I'm all spent out for guns at the moment.

Bersachat has a sub-forum specifically dedicated to the 22s: Bersa 22 and Firestorm 22 Models

Edited March 4, 2011 by JC57

[Guest tripp]

i had a browning buckmark i loved it

[graycrait]

Ruger is a very good value and can be made to shoot nearly out of its class with some minor modifications. ruger makes a threaded model now also. Look at the variations. My FFL has 4" 22/45s, a nicely balanced pistol. The 5.5" bull in any variation is a proven winner. I would not waste the money on one of those SS fluted hunters, for a bit more money you are almost into S&W Mdl 41 land. Get a 300.00 Ruger and never look back. You can make that Ruger into a pretty amazing pistol at your kitchen table. If you get a Ruger and have difficulties with it let me know - it ain't rocket science

IMHO the Sig Mosquito is a waste of money. I would prefer a Jennings or a Lorcin .22 over the Mosquito. The Sig has great outward ergonomics hampered by a functional design that is reminiscent of one of my late 50's cap guns.

Walter P22 is a cute plinker that lends itself to suppression.

Buckmark is good, on par with Ruger, hard to get in the variation you want and does not surpass the Ruger

S&W 22S or A or whatever works pretty good

Want to have some cheap fun, get a Phoenix Arms HP22 and do the stuff to the action that the YouTube junkies tell you to do. Some will tell you its pot metal, but so is the Sig Mosquito, Walther P22 and ISSC. Not saying pot metal is necessarily bad, as you can see some companies place a hefty premium on their pot metal guns, it is in how the Zamak/zinc alloy or pot metal is used in a .22. In the Phoenix Arms HP22 it is used to produce a value laden firearm that works pretty well after redundant safeties are disabled.

[Jonnin]

We have a MKII and a buckmark w/ 7inch barrel, both are the great shooters, and and old S&W 22s or something (no longer made??). The MII barrel is 6 or so inches I forget the exact value.

My friend has a walther and while its reliable and fun, its not accruate compared to the above. The above can make a 1 inch hole for me over a few clips; I cannot do that with the walther and end up with a "shotgun" 2-3 inch group.

The phoenix we have is reliable and as accurate as the walther, and IMHO better looking (the walther looks like a squirt gun).

Ive only seen one sig in action and it jammed about once per clip on cheap ammo, as was said. That sort of crap is fixable, you can pull the springs out and such or get a gunsmith to do it (replace or cut a coil off), but I would not bother. Its a mistake by sig, not on par with their normal quality.

There is nothing wrong with the walther if you prefer it and are not trying to shoot a dime at 50 yards or something. It shoots anything and has a decent feel to it. But I would get something more accurate, I hate wondering if its ME or the gun when I miss, esp with a 22 where there is no recoil or other excuses.

[JPR1959]

I'm not an expert, but this has the best trigger I've ever felt. I wouldn't waste the money on a trigger kit for it because it's really light. It eats everything, and a bore snake makes for easy cleaning. I love it.

[Guest nicemac]

+1 on the Browning Buckmark. I picked up the Camper in SS at Academy for $299 last year. Tons of add-ons available to customize it any way you want it.

[Tncobra]

Mosquito = Waste

I sent mine back and sig couldn't fix it, Jam-O-Matic. My wife could hardly pull the 75lb trigger. No fix for that either.

Get a Ruger.

[monkeylizard]

I have a Walther P-22. I like that it works (mostly) like any other semi-automatic. That's really why I got it, so my wife could learn on something easy to shoot, where the mechanism would more or less translate over to larger caliber pistols. IMO, it looks the most badass of the little .22 semis. But the Walther doesn't have the build quality that I expected. I haven't had many FTF/FTE issues using CCI Minimags, but after about 1,000 rounds, I noticed during a cleaning that the trigger bar ears were cracked almost clean through. I sent it off to S&W for service, which was easy to work with. It came back with a new trigger bar, but even this one has small cracks in the edges of the ears. I expect to have to send it in again at some point. There are other issues too, like those same tigger bar ears digging into the slide. It's little things like that. I know those can be corrected by following setps in the P-22 Bible, but I don't like that I need to disassemble a new weapon and play gunsmith on it to make it work like it should. Others talk about how accurate the P-22 is, and I've seen someone be pretty accurate with mine, but I can't seem to get tight groups at all. I guess that's just me. Still, it is a lot of fun to shoot, even when I don't hit the target.

If I had it to do over again, I'd buy a Ruger Mark II/III or a Browning Buckmark for accuracy, build quality, and handling cheaper ammo.

Edited March 4, 2011 by monkeylizard

[Moped]

Look at Ruger first. Best bang for the buck out there.

[DWARREN123]

Ruger and Browning seem to be mentioned most. I had a Bersa 22lr semi auto pistol and it worked fine with most ammo. Semi auto 22lr pistols seem to be very ammo sensitive.

[Jonnin]

Ruger and Browning seem to be mentioned most. I had a Bersa 22lr semi auto pistol and it worked fine with most ammo. Semi auto 22lr pistols seem to be very ammo sensitive.

A lot of them are. Typically, the problem is the springs: they are often so strong on a few guns that they will jam up if you do not feed the gun the hottest .22LR round you can find, a well known source of which is the CCI mini-mags which are stouter than most. And expensive, at about $5 per 50 or so.

The ones you see over and over, ruger, smith, browning, walther .... those do not jam on cheap ammo in general. There are always exceptions but its a pretty safe bet that those guns will work on anything. I havent had a chance to try a bersa 22, but Ive yet to hear anyone say anything bad about a bersa.

[gregintenn]

For around $300 new, I'll say it's hard to beat my GSG 1911-22 for pure fun.

[Guest rt_steve]

I ended up buying a P22. Thanks for the input. I must admit that I was partial to the P22 before I started looking. I was tempted by the mosquito, but thanks to the advice here I went with the P22.

[mikegideon]

You won't be sorry. I have a P22 as well. Ruger always wins in these threads, and it must be well deserved.

[StPatrick]

You won't be sorry. I have a P22 as well. Ruger always wins in these threads, and it must be well deserved.

Sounds like you need to get one and find out. I promise, it's worth it, especially if you can get a Mark used...even after buying the Volquartsen ignition parts, you're still only out $300, and the next step up is going to be a $1k+ target gun.

[Mike.357]

Check out the Ruger Mark 3 (and 22/45 variant). Best shooting 22 you will find. Takedown is a bit of a pain at first. You'll get used to it.

this is the answer the OP is looking for. Except skip the stripping part, no need. It will run forever.

[Guest bkelm18]

I've got a S&W 22a and I really like it.

[Guest Tnbusarider]

Have the Walther p22, or I should say my teenage daughter has one! Great shooter, never had a jam, and handles CCI mini mag the best!

[R1100R]

Hammerli/SIG Trailside, now sold under the Xesse/Hammerli trademark. Used around 400.00. But as most said for the money a Ruger. I had one 30 years ago and sold it. I have about 15 .22 pistols from Walther P22 to Hi Standards. My kids love the P22 because the grip inserts fit many different hands.

Edited March 5, 2011 by R1100R

[tentiger]

I have Ruger Mark III stainless/bull barrell....honestly, very hard to beat. Much better quality feel and accuracy that you can expect from the plastic guns.