.22 Semi Recommendations

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hotajax

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My gun club has indoor shoots on a 50-foot range every week. I am looking for recommendations from you .22 guys. I am not looking to become a great marksman, just proficient. Budget max is 250-300. Doing it mostly to get in the club at night and BS with other members.
 
Ruger Mark II or Mark III is always a good choice. Cheap, reliable, accurate and more available parts than you can shake a stick at.

Another option (from an admitted Browning fanboy) is a used Browning Buckmark. IMO better build quality and out-of-the-box accuracy.

I own one of each, and both are excellent choices, but my biased opinion will point anyone willing to listen to the Buckmark every time.
 
Ditto to what Kzoo said. I too have owned both and prefer the Browning. I had a Ruger MK2. 22/45. Good gun but a pain to strip and clean. With the Browning,according to the manual, all it needs is a ****** job. The trigger reset is better on the Browning.
 
Buckmark, eh??

Are there any models that standout or are they all pretty much the same? Thanks for the info.
 
I'm honestly not up on all the new buckmark models. I've had my 5.5 Gold Target for over 10 years.

If I were you, I would look for one with adjustable sights, 5.5" or 7.5" barrel, and a weaver rail.

Like the previous poster said, all they need is a trigger job. After the trigger is worked over, add a red dot sight and you've got a great Bullseye gun.
 
I agree with the Buckmark idea. I really like mine and am getting ready to buy another.

As far as price, you can probably buy a Ruger a tad cheaper than a Browning.
 
I would also recommend either the Browning or the Ruger. I have a MKIII, but I will admit that it took an aftermarket barrel to get really superb accuracy from it. At 82' it's a Rolaid-Killer. I've shot several of the Brownings and would recommend them as well. I think the Ruger (Bull Barrel) is a little heavier and it is definitely muzzle-heavy compared to the Buckmarks I've shot. I think the Buckmark might use a steel liner in an aluminum barrel? Some one who is more familiar with them than me correct me if I'm wrong. I think they make better ladies or kids guns than the Ruger does for that reason. I like the muzzle weight myself. Accuracy of the Buckmarks I've tried has been very good though.

John
 
i use a smith and wesson 22a for hunting/varmint control. its a bit bulky buts its been pretty rugged so far. I have the 5.5" barrel version. i would go with a smaller barrel.
 
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If I were you, I would look for one with adjustable sights, 5.5" or 7.5" barrel, and a weaver rail.
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I wouldn't. 5.5inch barrel on my smith and wesson is a bit much, unless you are only gonna carry it in a case, to and from a car, 5" or bigger is to big for a 22lr. Just my opinion. you loose the compact package that makes a 22lr pistol so handy to have. I like my smith but another 22 thats a bit smaller is definatly something i will look into at some point.

one last thought. If its gonna be your only 22lr pistol go with a more compact than 5.5inch barrel like the sig or walther. more verstile than owing 1 22lr that is only good for punching paper at a range.
 
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I shot a SS Ruger MKII with a 5.5" bull barrel for over 10yrs. at my clubs Monday night bullseye league. Excellent shooting gun with no issues. I did have a custome trigger job done to it and installed a set of Volquartzen target grips. In the price range you posted I would suggest the Ruger.
 
Since your budget is 250-300 I would go with the S&W 22A. It cost me $252 shipped from budsgunshop.com and has a 7" barrel with picatinny rail along the top. Shoots dime sized groups for me at 30' and have had no problems with it. Also the take down is incredibly simple. There is a button on the front of the trigger guard that you press and the barrel comes right off. After that the slide slides off and its field stripped.

I know when I was shopping for it I read a lot of reviews and if I had a little extra cash I would have gone for the buckmark, but given that i wanted to stay around $250 I went with the 22A and am very happy with it.

Also worth mentioning is I have tried tons of ammo thru it and it eats it all. Winchester brick, Federal brick, CCI mini mags, stingers, velocitors, it shoots them all perfectly.
 
Ruger or Browning is the best recommendation. Personally I have 2 Rugers, an old RST and a newer Mark II. I prefer Ruger, but Browning is better for some. Can't go wrong with either.
 
I have owned MkIIs (Govt Model and 22/45), MkIIIs, and Buckmarks, and I vastly prefer the Buckmark for its superior trigger and ergonomics.

As far as I know, all the Buckmarks start with the same basic platform and substitute different finishes, barrels, and grips. I have a 4" Micro that I think well of, but the 5.5" is also a nice shooter...
 
As far as I know, all the Buckmarks start with the same basic platform and substitute different finishes, barrels, and grips.
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I dont own one.... however, I believe they have a couple different frames and the UDX and URX grips dont fit the standard frame of the Camper/Micro etc.

Rimfirecental.com is the place to be for this info.
 
Hotajax: if its serious shooting, the Ruger may be the best, other than the onerous task of putting one back togather after its been field stripped for cleaning. Been there, done that. If you don't shoot scads, don't field strip it; pull handles off, blow it out iwth brake cleaner. My Buckmark was particular about ammo which annoyed me. It didn't last long. Let me say I'm a plinker..no more, no less, just want a gun to shoot anything. I've now got a Sig Misquito....ammo picky but works good on quality stuff. Big gun, doesnt' suit me. I have an Older High Standard...fantastic trigger, accurate, but requires Standard Velocity only, mags cost a lot. I have a Walther P22 which was picky as hell until I did the Mod described in the Rimfire forum; now it shoots bout anyting and is more fun than any of the rest. Untill a couple days ago when I got a new Beretta U22 Enos, 4 1/2 in barrel (come in 6 also) and just like the guys on the forum said...and I wasn't sure I believed them...that thing will shoot any brand ammo. It handles the low power Standard velocity or high velocity crappy Rem golden and Win SuperX; Fiochii, CCi Minimags, and Blazers that go for about $20 a brick are very accurate. I've put about 250 rounds of the above thru with not a single misfire, or failure. The looks of the Beretta is not for everyone...but the dam thing does shoot good and is incredibly easy to field strip to clean. My others, except the little P22 fun gun are gonna be sold when I do a show in Feb.
 
There's no lack of really nice .22's. Guns that I have shot and enjoyed, plus found to be far more accurate than me THAT ARE IN YOUR STATED BUDGET are ;

New-
  • S&W 22A - seems to have a mix rep but lots of the owners like them. I rented mine and found it to be very good for overall reliability and accuracy.
  • Ruger Mk II and III - Nice guns, highly reliable for many, many thousands of rounds and just don't seem to wear out. The rental range has three or four of them. Sure some springs go here and there but all the major parts of the guns and magazines are still going strong long after many other guns were worn out in some manner. For my part I prefer the 22/45 version just for the more "normal" grip angle.
  • Buckmarks - Another "you can't go wrong" gun. The ones I've shot feel marvelous in the hand. All but one guy's gun seem to be highly reliable. The one guy has no end of jams. But he's the only one out of 5 or 6 of them.
  • GSG 1911-22 - The nicest .22 caliber 1911 version I've seen of the ones available today for not a crazy amount of money (did someone say Kimber?). This thing is sweetly made, has really nice magazines that lock the slide back when empty, the slide fits with out any detectable play that I could feel yet slides like it's on bearings. The trigger is decent out of the box and there's already aftermarket bits you can get to lighten it up. A superb gun. I'm likely going to get one fairly soon.

The fancier models of Ruger and Brownings are out of your budget but that still leaves you a few options from the bottom of the price list. And you won't go wrong even with these.

Used-
  • S&W 422 and 2206 - I have one of each and these have been my "go to" .22's since I started out shooting about 2.5 years ago. I can count the number of jams I've had on the 422 on the fingers of one hand despite having put about 5000 ruonds through it in the time I've owned it. The short stainless 2206 is fairly new to me but I've put about 1000 rounds through it. And I honestly don't remember it ever jamming other than with one magazine which turned out to need a minor tweak of the lips.
  • Iver Johnson - Here's proof that you can find a nice shooting gun that is deadly accurate for under 150 bones. Mind came to me complete with a funky feed issue that took a while to iron out due to not having come with the original IJ magazine. But since I corrected that fit issue the gun has performed well. And oddly enough it's amazingly accurate. It's a copy of the Colt Woodsman. So if you can find either an IJ or Colt version for cheap I'd suggest that it's an OK deal. And the raked back Ruger Mk like grip angle is sweet for shooting one handed bullseye style events.
  • Hi Standard Double 9 - If you come across one of the 9 shooters for a good price I would not turn away. The one I had after a mainspring swap did really nicely in single action mode and has a nice cowboy gun look and feel. I only sold it when I obtained a S&W 17, which is WAY out of your budget, and found I wasn't shooting the D9 anymore.
  • Harrington & Richardson Sportsman - Another 9 shot double/single action revolver. I'm still messing around with this one and at first glance the consistency of groupings don't appear to be there. But it may be the high trigger effort or perhaps the muzzle crown is damaged. Still working on fine tuning. But if you can get one and get to shoot it before purchasing to see if it suits you this could be another decent enough plinker for you.
  • old 3 screw Ruger Single Six - Just got one of these for myself. THe 3 screw models are older and lack the adjustable sights of the newer ones so you should be able to find one well within your budget. Mine came to me with only the .22 cylinder and a rather worn but not abused outer finish. But the gun was in top shape where it counted. I've only shot it at one session but all indications are that it's a keeper. It's a bit of a pain to load and unload due to the single action gate style but the gun is definetly worth the extra work. A really nice shooting iron.
 
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Don't let stripping and reassembling the Rugers scare you off. I shot many a thousands of rounds in mine and stripping to thuroughly clean was a must. Like anything else practice,patience and repetition is the key to getting the hang of it.
 
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