.22LR with Restrike Capability for Dry Fire Practice?

Beretta 87 (standard "Cheetah" version, not Target) and Walther TPH. I prefer the Brettta, larger and the slide stays open after the last shot. Many American (Interarms) TPH's have serious reliability problems from what I hear, plus they've been discontinued for several years and are very expensive on the used market. You won't go wrong with the Beretta 87.

Any Revolver

The Walter P22 is DA/SA, this and the TPH and Cheetah already mentioned are the only .22 pistols with external hammers.

I don't think you will like the price of the Beretta 87 Cheetah.

--wally.

Almost all manufacturers caution against dry firing rimfire weapons. Without a round in the chamber, the firing pin may contact the edge of the chamber and peen it over, causing feed, ignition, and/or extraction problems. (Don't ask me how I know this.) It pays to keep an empty, fired case in the chamber when dry firing a rimfire gun.

Get a CZ75 with a .22 Kadet kit. You can dry fire the 9mm top end with snap caps to your hearts content, practice and gain proficiency with the same lower with the .22 top end, and go back to 9mm when you want to.

And you get restrike capability.

He initially said he planned on using snap caps, puts the revolvers at a disadvantage since he's need from 6 to 9 of them.

If he's got a Ruger, its one of the few the manufacturer rates for dry fire without snap caps as long as you don't forget to re-install the firing pin retainer cross pin.

--wally.

The Mosquito also has an external hammer.

Get a CZ75 with a .22 Kadet kit. You can dry fire the 9mm top end with snap caps to your hearts content, practice and gain proficiency with the same lower with the .22 top end, and go back to 9mm when you want to.

And you get restrike capability.

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+1 The Kadet conversion is top notch and the 75B is an outstanding 9mm.
Kadet kit installed:

If he's got a Ruger, its one of the few the manufacturer rates for dry fire without snap caps as long as you don't forget to re-install the firing pin retainer cross pin.

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A Ruger MKIII (or used MKII) would also be an excellent choice

BTW - The Beretta 21 and Firestorm FS22M6 also have external hammers allowing re-strike capability. The 21 is quite small though. That reminds me, the Taurus PT22 (another small one) may have re-strike capability (DA only).

Regards,
Greg

Be aware that .22 caliber "Snap Caps" are not the same as centerfire Snap Caps, which can be hit hundreds of times with no problem. .22 Snap Caps are good for only a few firings, and even then the round must be turned each time so the hammer hits a different part of the rim. Read carefully the information on the package.

That CZ Kadet conversion looks tempting, but I was leaning towards .45 as a defensive round.

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There are 22 conversion kits available for the various 1911 platforms.

I should add to my earlier post that the C75B can also be had in .40 S&W. The Kadet kit fits all the 75 series CZs. One of the things I like about the Kadet kit is that the unit and slide are steel.

Regards,
Greg