.22 pistol choices

[Holleta]

The Neo is UGLY IMHO that leaves the Bull Ruger or SW. I have a few Rugers and love em'...great shooters. The non bull SW's are also great shooter but not as accurate as the Ruger bull or target (vomit) Neos .

[pghplr]

At the same price, the one that "feels" better is the "best" one. .

I ended up getting the Smith 22A. Thanks for the replies. Hopefully I can try it out tomorrow.

[Favabean]

pghplr, was that sale only for that week?

I'm annoyed that I think I missed it.....

[JohnUSCG]

I have put about 5k rounds thru my Neos and I love it. Very accurate, very easy to break down and clean and it just keeps going and going.....
Have recently started having my 8yr old daughter shoot the neos and she is even hitting the 9 and 10 ring at 21ft. Good and reliable as are all Berettas IMHO

[RimfireRat]

The Ruger is by far the most popular,and will hold value better. I have a 10" Ruger with work done to it and i also have a 22-A I bought for an inexpensve field carry /plinker.The S&W 22-A was a good gun for the bang. it's almost as accurate as the tuned Ruger at most practical shooting distances.In fact I purchased a 4" bbl for carry for fishing etc.It is as simple as it gets to strip and clean.Some have had trouble with them ,but mine has a few hundred rounds thru 'er with not one FTF or FTE to date. I even put a propoint red dot on the 5.5" bbl. Just my experience. --JMJ--

[billt]

This is my latest, "Ruger Luger" that I picked up from Davidsons a few days ago. It's the last of the Ruger Mark II's and comes in a really nice Red Presentation case with Cocobolo Grips and the NRA Logo and Bill Rugers signature rollmarked on the receiver. The cost of these guns is just a few dollars more than the standard Mark III's. I don't care much for the Mark III's. The mag release on the side is a nice touch, but I don't like that "Loaded Chamber Indicator". Besides, All chambers are ALWAYS loaded! Davidsons still has about 40 or so of these left if anyone else is interested. I also have the Stainless Competition Mark II. This makes a nice companion piece. Bill T.

[Jay5oh]

Ruger MKII or Browning Buckmark. I've had one of each because I couldn't decide..

[DeepbluePA]

I just picked up a Browning Buck Mark Standard SS URX with a 5 1/2 bull barrel

It looks GREAT and shoots GREAT too.

It would be nice to have a third hand on reassembly but thats my only gripe

It has fixed front and ajustable rear sights, i think I might swap out the front sight for fiber optic.

It comes in about 20 different varriants.
I love it

[bloomautomatic]

I like the Browning Buckmark. I have the Bullseye model with 7" bull barrel. I use it for bullseye competition and I've probably put close to 10k rounds through it. Replaced the hammer spring last year. Very reliable, very accurate, and not picky about ammo.

I also have a Ruger Mk II, but I like the buckmark much better. The MkII is harder to field strip, and it tends to gunk up faster than the Buckmark. When the buckmark slide comes back, it's open on both sides, giving fouling and crud a bigger chance to escape. The ruger only has the smaller ejection port.

BUT - Ruger's tend to be less expensive than the Browning, and since it's more popular there are more accessories available.

Vince

[Fitch]

.22 handguns are great practice and fun to shoot. We have 4 of them. 3 revolvers and one semi-auto. Maybe the best .22 semi-auto made is the S&W Model 41. They are a bit pricy, but "very" nice to shoot.

The best one to get is the one that feels the best to you. If you can find a place that rents them, try them out.

It isn't one of your choices, but I really like my Browning Buck Mark with a bull barrel. The trigger is wonderful. Shooting ammo it likes it is reliable as gravity. It likes hot ammo best. Winchester Super X, the hotter CCI ammo work best. It will shoot Remington Gold Dot but it doesn't like them very much. It doesn't like the some what lower velocity Federal econobricks from Wal mart, but I've put maybe 2,000 of those through it.

It is much easier to take apart for cleaning than the Ruger, although the Ruger is a very good gun as well.

Another excellent .22 semi-auto is the Walther P22. It comes in two variations and it has a rail so it can be fitted with a red-dot sight or a laser sight. The range I visit regularely rents one of these. It gets shot a whole lot. According to the range master it averages 250 rounds a day of what ever is the least expensive .22LR then can get at the time. Seldom has a failure to fire or jam. Gets cleaned once a week. It appears to be about indestructable. It comes in two barrel lengths, and can be converted between them depending on the package you get.

Cleaning:

I clean my Browning after every range visit. I clean all my guns after every range visit. It is a habit. The Browning gets 200 rounds minimum through it during a typical range trip, sometimes more, lots more. I take it apart for a thorough cleaning every 4 or 5 range trips. The rest of the time I clean it from the muzzle using a carbon fiber rod and swab out the receiver area (ramp, bolt face, etc.) and clip with #9 soaked Q-tips.

Most of the .22 semi automatics need some break-in, and might be a bit fussy about ammo.

For a fun shooting .22 revolver, it is hard to beat an S&W 617 10 shot revolver, or an S&W Model 17 six shot revolver if you can find one. One advantage of the revolvers, in PA, is that you can hunt varmints with them. Can't do any hunting at all with the semi autos.

You can also have a lot of fun with a Ruger Single six convertible (.22LR/.22 magnum) shooting varmints, targets, soda crackers lined up on a 2x4, and other active targets.

Soda crackers stood up in a dado cut along the edge of a 2x4 (with legs like a saw horse) make great bio-degradable targets. Stand them about 6" apart and try to take out 6 of them with six shots rapid fire at 10'. When you can do that, move back. Its also fun to roll pop cans if you have a good back stop. Did that a lot with my Colt Frontier Scout when I was a kid.

Fitch