what .22 to get?

**ByAnyMeans** · April 19th, 2010, 12:08 PM

I got a Ruger MKIII 22/45 with the bull barrel and four magazines for three hundred a little over a year ago. It has been flawless but learning how to reassemble quickly took a few times.

I also have a Marlin 795/975 (?) ten round clip fed semi rifle. It has a set of Tech-Sights on it and is perfect for Appleseed and cheap plinking. This with tech sights ran me about $200.

**Metz** · April 19th, 2010, 12:08 PM

Originally Posted by QuackXP

I'm torn between that and something that has a body, grip, and controls more similar to higher caliber pistols like the Sig Mosquito and the Walther P22.

I did not try Mosquito myself yet, but as of P22 it does give a feel of his bigger brother P99. However, it's way to picky. Mine takes only CCI MiniMags, which are quite expensive, and jams on any other ammo, which kind of kills the fun. So if it comes to [budget] plinking only, then Ruger is indeed the biggest bang (pun intended) for the buck.

**rwb1500** · April 19th, 2010, 12:29 PM

Originally Posted by QuackXP

Ruger MK III Seems to be the standard entry level target pistol.

I'm torn between that and something that has a body, grip, and controls more similar to higher caliber pistols like the Sig Mosquito and the Walther P22.

Ruger 10/22 all the way for an entry level rifle. If your not in a hurry I see sales of the 10/22 with a cheap scope all the time.

This is solely my opinion, take from it what you will...

I bought a Ruger MKIII about a month ago. It has been absolutely amazing. Its tons of fun to shoot, it never jams, eats all types of ammo, and is a solid hunk of steel. The construction screams reliable. It just feels like a gun that will be around for a looong time. That being said a buddy of mine bought a Walther P22 last week. He bought it mainly because he has a P99C in .40. I advised him not to, because I had researched them quite a bit before buying the Ruger. The P22 has a slide that is made of zinc alloy, essentially crap metal. It isn't a durable gun, essentially a gun you'll have to get rid of at some point because of wear. Also, his was extremely ammo picky. I hear most of them are, another reason I didn't buy one. We shot 700 rounds or so between us. We had Remington Thunderbolts, Winchester Super X, and CCI Minimags. The CCI ammo was the only thing that fed well in the Walther. Even that had a jam every other mag or so.

IMHO you'd be better off buying a pistol with a great track record, like a Ruger or a Browning. I think you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who'd say anything bad about these pistols. You really can't go wrong with either. I'm not a big fan of the Neos. That being said I've never owned one, only seen others with them at the range. I've seen lots of jams... My biggest problem is a small caveat though... I think they look ugly. Like something out of Star Wars. Just my two cents.

**crlovel** · April 19th, 2010, 12:36 PM

"Best .22" is definitely one of those threads that everybody will have a different opinion on. Personally, I've owned a Sig Mosquito, a Walther P22, a Beretta NEOS, and currently a Ruger Mark III.

The Mark III is awesome, but it's a pain to disassemble and clean the first few times. Also, they're about a $100 more than the NEOS. Mine was $379 new. The NEOS is great, if you want a solidly built but inexpensive .22 (about $250 new) that will eat garbage ammo and be fun to plink with all day long. While accurate, the NEOS is not as accurate as a Mark II or III.

**rwb1500** · April 19th, 2010, 12:36 PM

Originally Posted by Don1972

What I want is a decent .22 to take to the range and just plunked with nothing to expensive any suggestions?

If you're ever near the Harrisburg area I'd be more than happy to let you shoot my MKIII. Send me a PM if you're interested. I'll even pay for the ammo. I've got a cheap little red dot on mine and can shoot 2 or 3 inch groups off hand at 25 yards. It even shoots well at 50 yards. If you can find a P22 or Mosquito that can do that I'd be amazed. Plus the aftermarket for the Rugers is awesome. You can get all kinds of upgrades and accesories.

**Wise10** · April 19th, 2010, 01:47 PM

Someone (wink wink) has a Sig Mosquito up for trade in the classifieds. http://forum.pafoa.org/firearms-6/97...ts-trades.html
If you have anything interesting to trade, you should check it out. It runs extremely well with Mini-Mags, and very well with regular .22 ammo as long as its kept well-lubed. It also feels much more like a real gun than most of the other .22 pistols out there.