Let' Talk Rimfire Handguns

Stew0576 said:

I vote for the victory, my best with it so far is 6 out of ten in a 3 inch bullseye from 70 yards

Edit: with factory open sights

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Behind your back or standing on your head?

Im just using junk .22 ammo, suppose i could get better results with better ammo but at this point have not seen the need

Sounds like you don't believe me, that's your choice my friend

Stew0576 said:

Sounds like you don't believe me, that's your choice my friend

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Not at all. Just pulling your leg. I couldn’t resist. But you could hardly have made it sound more difficult. I can’t even see a 3 inch bullseye at 70 yards. And my 3 MOA red eyes would almost cover the whole target at that distance.

It is hard, like i said my best, my norm is 3 out of 10 at that range, it helps to have a good target

Started with one like the one on the left, as my march shooting got better it got changed till it is the one on the right. You don't have to or really need to do it all at once.

I vote for the MKII with a 6 inch barrel .I had mine since they first came out in the early 1980's.

when in doubt buy several...my .22 handguns

I'll share the S&W 2206 that I'd recently snapped a pic of. Have had this since the mid 80's. I'm hesitant to spend at the Model 41 prices. Unaware of the level of support S&W would have for this series like the 422, 622 and 2206 variants these days. I see on GB they start in the $300's+. Trigger breaks crisp similar to a 1911, this one comes in at 2.4#.


150 rounds at 12 yards.

D.B. Cooper said:

I jut finished my second club-level pistol league. I've been my shooting my Redhawk with 44 Spl handloads. I've had a lot of fun and made a lot of gains in competency with the gun. The 9 mil and rimfire semi-auto guys are killing me. I swore off all rimfires "never again" I said during the ammo shortage (which still exist to some extent in my area.) But I'm considering buying a rimfire handgun for the summer league.

What's my best option?

I can go with a Ruger GP100 in 22LR. Pros: I think this will be the closest thing to my Redhawk. HKS even makes speed loaders for it. This would help me un-train the flinch I've acquired. Cons: MSRP is $829 (nearly as much as my Redhawk 44.) I'm reloading at 15¢/rd so, at the rate I'm going, I could shoot 44 for two years on the same money.

The only other option is some sort of autoloader. Browning Buckmark and S&W Victory seem the most popular. I once owned both a Ruger Marksman (I forget which "MarK" it was, but it was in the late 80's) and a S&W 22S (the olympic-looking one with 5" bull barrel and the massive wood grip.) Both were supremely accurate. The S&W had a POS plastic recoil buffer that broke like every month. I regret selling both of them. Pros: Cheaper to buy. A Victory is like $400, the Ruger is around $700. 10 rd mags = less reloading. (I'm losing 10 seconds every time I reload, and I have to reload a LOT more than the other guys.) Much easier to shoot accurately in rapid fire or weak-handed. The other "con" I can think of, is that most of the rimfire guns (and a few of the centerfire autoloaders) I've seen on the range turn in to jam-o-matic POS when then the temp drops down below about 20˚F.

So I'm kind of at a loss here. None of these options are a slam dunk for me. What are your thoughts?

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I have a Ruger Mark IV because I was tired of the reassembly hassle of the earlier models. It is very accurate, but it does have some Volquartsen additions. I would put this .22 up against anything under $1000.00 for both reliability and accuracy. Revolvers are another story in my opinion. I absolutely hate any double action revolvers that Ruger builds. So, if I were going to buy a Ruger revolver it would have to be a single action with extensive gunsmithing. (Which is exactly what I did for cowboy shooting.) I own a Ruger SP 101 in .22LR that I wish I had never even seen. So, my revolver recommendation in .22LR is a S&W 617 or the Model 17 for a little more money.

rws_53 said:

when in doubt buy several...my .22 handguns

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WOW!

My first pistol was a S&W 622. Wish I still had it, but I got rid of it long ago.

Does anyone have one? If so, what can you say about it?

A buddy had the 622, shot just like my 2206. I'm tempted now-then to call him and see if he would sell it. I suspect if he has it that this pistol is good father-son time.

I see that GB has a 622 people are bidding on:
https://www.gunbroker.com/item/774823437

ChanceMcCall said:

I have a Ruger Mark IV because I was tired of the reassembly hassle of the earlier models. It is very accurate, but it does have some Volquartsen additions. I would put this .22 up against anything under $1000.00 for both reliability and accuracy. Revolvers are another story in my opinion. I absolutely hate any double action revolvers that Ruger builds. So, if I were going to buy a Ruger revolver it would have to be a single action with extensive gunsmithing. (Which is exactly what I did for cowboy shooting.) I own a Ruger SP 101 in .22LR that I wish I had never even seen. So, my revolver recommendation in .22LR is a S&W 617 or the Model 17 for a little more money.

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Can you explain a bit more what you dislike about the SP101 in 22LR? My main defensive handgun is an SP101 in 357 Magnum, and I kinda wanted a 22LR range gun, and was debating between the MkIV and the SP101.

ColtPythonElite said:

Off a sandbag....I have a blue and a stainless 10" with open sights. I was testing them against each other to see if one or the other was better suited for rimfire silhouette matches.

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Whichever one had less coffee that morning, I'll bet!

Can you explain a bit more what you dislike about the SP101 in 22LR?

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I am not ChanceMcCall but I bet I can answer for him and be pretty close to his reasons. The Ruger SP 101 .22 has a very hard to cock action in either single or double action. It can be made better with a spring kit but requires finding one that will still fire your prefered .22 ammo. They are fitted a bit more sloppy than the similar S&W IMO. My SP 101 was very accurate which I have seen several say their's were not. I replaced my SP 101 with a new S&W 63 and have not regretted my decision. The S&W action is at least a 50% improvement even after putting a spring kit in the Ruger. The S&W with it's 3" barrel is also as accurate as the SP 101 with it's 4.2 inch barrel. The S&W fit and finish is superb. In short I could have lived with the Ruger if I had wanted to limit myself to only certain ammo as I still got snaps with some brands after putting the spring kit in. If I had went back to the factory hammer spring it was not a fun revolver to take to the range as it would make a thumb sore just cocking it and the double action was extremely heavy. I tried hard to like the Ruger and invested some time and money trying to make it user friendly. As they say life is short so I went with a Smith & Wesson and could not be more happy!

Very helpful, thank you!

D.B. Cooper said:

I dislike the idea of buying an expensive (compared to the Browning and S&W) gun and then having to spend MORE money to make it useble. That's not right.

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EXACTLY!!!

I got in a range trip this morning to shoot my MK IV. It was equipped with a dovetail mounted Burris Fastfire clone sight but my 10 year old GG daughter stole it for her Crickett rifle. I replaced it with the real thing, a Fastfire III, which is a very nice piece of machinery by the way. Sighting in took a bit but after I got it on target at 25 yards I was getting 1 1/4-1 1/2" groups off a bag using CCI SV ammo. That probably doesn't sound like anything great to most of you. However, being on the plus side of 80 years of age and being blessed with intension tremors and cataracts I was quite happy with my results.

Next trip I'm going to move up to some Wolf Match Target ammo that's been sitting on the shelf for sometime and see what transpires. If I get the same results as I have with other guns I'll see an improvement.

PS: I sighted in the Crickett with the stolen sight and got 1' groups with it with the same ammo. It's only modification is the trigger trick to lighten it's pull. That little thing is sorta hard for an adult (this one anyway) to shoot.

rws_53

Awesome .22 handgun collection! Liked the H&R Sportsman 999 and the High Standard Camp Gun Convertible; two golden oldies revolvers! Many fine looking Rugers to choose from and I really liked the Beretta Neos with the green grip inserts and barrel and the M9 .22!

Mitlov said:

Can you explain a bit more what you dislike about the SP101 in 22LR? My main defensive handgun is an SP101 in 357 Magnum, and I kinda wanted a 22LR range gun, and was debating between the MkIV and the SP101.

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Sure. The SP 101 has a heavy and gritty trigger pull that even one of the best gunsmiths (Bill Oglesby) has not been able to correct and he did all of my Ruger single action work flawlessly. In addition, at lease two of the chambers in the cylinder were bored badly and the revolver cylinder often jams unless the errant cylinders are vigorously scrubbed with a brass brush before reloading. Because the casings stick in these cylinders, the extractors have become damaged. Now I realize this gun should be sent back to the factory, but I also know that the Ruger of old is not the Ruger of today when it comes to customer service and warrantee work, so I have just cleaned the gun and packed it up in the back of one of safes. I just don't want the hassle. I have never had a Ruger double action that didn't need an action job, but this is far more than that. For a $500 gun, this kind of problem is unacceptable to me. I have also heard on another forum devoted to rimfires that the 101 problems are fairly common in .22, even though the 101s made in center fire do not experience some of the problems.

All of that said, I actually like other Rugers. I love their single action handguns once they have had an action job and own a number of them including a bearcat in .22. I own a .44 magnum carbine bought new in the 1960s that I will never sell, a .22 WRM bolt action "paddle tail" that I use quite a bit, and two 10-22s along with a Mini 14. I used to own an older Mini 14 and replaced it with a newer one that is far more accurate than the older one. Ruger has apparently greatly improved this gun over the years.

The MK IV is another story. I have one of the new hunters and with some upgrades as mentioned in the previous post, cannot recommend this gun highly enough. It replaced a Mark II only because of the changes that made it easier to reassemble after cleaning and it is every bit as accurate as the Mark II and possibly better. I love this gun!

If you are making a choice between the two - the MKIV is the best choice by far. If you want to buy an SP101 I would certainly sell the one I own and it has had an action job on it by Bill Oglesby but I would not recommend it.

" I also know that the Ruger of old is not the Ruger of today when it comes to customer service and warrantee work"
Quite true: today, they are BETTER than the "Ruger of old". What other gun maker will send out replacement parts, without question, for free? What other maker will turn around a repair in less than two weeks? NOBODY!

What kind of leaague? What discipline? I grew up shooting at the local gunclub where the push was bullseye. I never understood guys wanting to compete or play as newbies and wanting to reinvent the wheel so to speak. In bullseye ya learn about trigger-grip-sight-breathing-stance and follow through which can carry over to many other shooting disciplines. A good custom trigger on the cheaper guns isa WISE investment and a great improvement on all but the high end stuff- including the smith 41's etc.... If the .22lr semi auto's are shot in the discipline ya shoot and you want one I would think the ruger mk series "tuned" whether you like needing the additional work or not would be a great competitor at a reasonable cost that will take a long time to be able to outgrow or out shoot. Regular or 22/45.

But look around and see what the winners or cometitive guys are shooting... you answers should lie there don't "cheap out" on sights/scopes etc or other gear they are using... most impotant thing- HAVE FUN! starting at the cheapest or going against the proven often just gets frustrating for a beginner and there is no reason to do that to yourself starting out... afteryou figure it out a biy more then ya can experiment etc...