.22LR Auto Pistol - Recommendations?

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The Buckmark is a great gun. It was the first gun I ever bought for myself just for shooting. It acts and feels like a full sized gun and is more accurate than I will ever be.
I love the look of the Ruger MK and enjoy shooting it almost as much. It has that "Nazi" look to it.
I have a Walther (pink even) that I bought for my daughter. While I like it and it is as accurate as I need, it just doesn't "feel" as solid as the others.
I do not own the M&P.
The Browning is the only one that is ammo sensitive. It prefers HV ammo but is okay with bulk stuff. The others eat anything. I don't think I have ever had a single FTF in the Walther albeit with only maybe 1,500 rounds through it so far.
 
M&P .22 Compact

Today I tried out my brand new M&P .22 Compact. Just traded in a Ruger SR22 on it. I like the Smith MUCH more than the Ruger. Mainly the grip shape and angle just works better for me. Both guns were quite reliable, but the Smith is a little better than the Ruger. I started out with some Winchester M22 ammo and had 1 or 2 misfires per magazine (10 shots). Loaded Federal Bulk Pack HP's and had 1 misfire out of about 100 rounds.

The Smith is just a bit bigger than the Ruger, but it just feels more like a real gun. I have a 9mm Shield too, so the grip shape is almost identical - good feature as a practice piece.

I must say that S&W is back in the game with producing great pistols and revolvers!
 
I have the SR22 threaded and also the sparrow. Very fun to shoot but not as accurate as the Buckmark. The Buckmark I have is a S.S. slabside URX. I replaced the barrel and put a tactical solutions 4" threaded on that.
On top is a Ultradot Match dot which makes shooting very fast and fun along with the quietness the suppressor adds. The Sr22 is a very small gun so medium and small hands it would fit great. It does come with ability
to change the backstraps but it doesn't change much. The Ruger with the URX grips just feels like it was molded to fit perfectly in your hands but you also have many options for a new grip out there.

I'd go with the Buckmark over the Ruger Mk just for the whole serial number on the Ruger Mk II thing. That's why I flipped the coin but it came up Buckmark. The SR22 was just for a fun gun that felt like a "normal" semi-auto to plink with.
I was just outside a couple days ago with the Buckmark shooting roughly 15 yards. I never shot it with really slow/quiet ammo since I had the new barrel put on. I was putting the shots in the same hole shot after shot with
Aguila Super Colibris that have no powder and just the primer. They are by no means accurate out of anything I have but they were a laser with the buckmark. Most ammo out of a short gun with a suppressor is quiet but that
combination I was using was just silly how quiet it is, think snapping your fingers quiet. Most likely the barrel helped the accuracy as the tactical solutions barrels are known to be pretty accurate. The red dot probably helps too.

Also, thank you skeptical_in_Ohio. I just sent off for my free mag and ammo.
 
Impureclient said:
Also, thank you skeptical_in_Ohio. I just sent off for my free mag and ammo.
Click to expand...

Pleased to be of service. We just received our mag & ammo a little over a week ago (around the 8th-9th of October), having completed the online registration and mailing in the documentation on September 4.
 
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Ruger or Browning. Are there any others?

I don't own one but am intriged with the idea of an easier take down in the Browning, and they have earned quite the reputation among their owners. With the mag interlock on the Ruger it is a bit of a chore at times to tear down.



FYI, That SR22 is one fun little gun. Not as easy to shoot accurately but very fun. My daughters is purple but once you shoot it, you don't care much.
 
I went through this whole thing about 4 years ago. I found that the best thing to do, and I'm not joking, buy both the Browning and the Ruger. You can find the MarkII's used for a fair price. They both are great guns for accuracy. The Walther and SR22 are great for plinking. The SP101 8 shot revolver is another option. With the speed loader and ammo stand you can go through 80 rounds real quick.
 
I'm very pleased with my Ruger MKIII 22/45. Affortable, tops in reliability, tops in accuracy, tons of after market goodies and easy to find.

What more could you want?

loosenock
 
I have four Ruger MK II's in various barrel lengths and configurations, so you know what I recommend. However, I also have had a CZ Kadet Kit .22LR conversion that I use on my 75B mostly. It is a fantastic .22, and just today I found a used CZ Kadet Pistol, which is the same gun as the Kadet Kit on the 75B frame. I like the platform that much. If you can find a used Kadet, (CZ no longer sells the dedicated Kadet pistol) or a new Kadet Kit, and 75/85 series pistol it is worth it.
 
Snooperman said:
A good used S&W 41 will shoot better than most for about the same price.
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Show me where you can buy a Model 41 for the price of a Mark III or BuckMark. Why do people even post rubbish like this?
 
At my club's 22 matches its mainly Ruger and Buckmark.
Interesting that many of the Rugers have had many (most?) parts replaced by aftermarket items.
They both shoot about the same.
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I have seen the same thing in my club's matches.

My wife just acquired an older Colt Challenger with a remarkable trigger. If I had to replace the Ruger 22/45 I have I'd look for a Challenger, Woodsman or older High Standard.
 
OP from your list, I'd say the Ruger and Buckmark as well.
I own a Walther P22 that is my main suppressor host, but it's not as accurate as the Ruger/Browning or as much fun when not suppressed.
I own a Mark II 22/45 with the PacLite upper and it's a lot of fun too. A buddy owns the Buckmark and I think I'll get one some day.
As to another poster's question
Sig Mosquito... and wish I hadn't. The bad reviews about unreliability came true in my case. Isn't the Walther the same gun.
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No, the Walther is very different from the Mosquito. I find the Walther to be pretty reliable and have had 2 issues with mine documented elsewhere. Basically after many thousands of rounds the trigger spring broke. A bit later the slide cracked. Smith & Wesson replaced the gun for me.
I own a Mosquito as well and find that they can be finicky with ammo even when changing springs. They come with an additional recoil spring which should be used unless you intend to shoot the gun only with CCI Stinger$$.

Another option not on the OP's list is the Smith and Wesson 22A series. The one I have has digested every bulk pack ammo I've fed it reliably. It's my normal range gun.
 
I grew up shooting a Ruger Standard 22 and a mark 2. So naturally I carried on the family tradition and picked up a mark 3 22/45. Other than the mag disconnect and lci I love it.

Ive since removed those 2 useless pieces and its basically a mark 2 now.
 
Yeah the first thing I do to a MKIII is get a BAM or Sam Lam bushing and remove the magazine disconnect. Very easy to do, and you get to know how your pistol actually works. I personally don't have a problem with the LCI; it's not great, but I like it for helping new shooters understand that the bolt has picked up a round to the chamber.
 
I have several .22 pistols, the most accurate one was a Ruger with 5.5" bull barrel that I regret selling, but the one I was most surprised by was a Bersa .22 that I bought on a whim. It was inexpensive, accurate, and I've run every brand of ammo in the safe through it without a hiccup, even when mixing several brands and weights of different kinds in the same mag. It became a game of sorts trying to make it jam. If you just want a good field plinker for a good price, I cant recommend it highly enough. I guess it really depends on what you are going to use the pistol for. If you want to target shoot then get a Ruger or Buckmark. If you just want a reliable carry gun, get a Bersa. (Alot of "experts" who have never held a Bersa will probably tell you all sorts of horror stories, but the truth is, they are good guns for the money, I own a .380 Bersa exactly like the .22 as well, and have had no problems at all with it either).
 
Charger442 said:
The P22 got a bad rap when it was first introduced because some people had ammo issues. Those have been fixed. Now, consider that i have owned one from the end of 2003 and have never had any issues with ammo and ive shot just about all of it.

Now i shoot it suppressed and it is a great gun.

since i own a few 22 pistols, my next venture into one will be a Ruger Mark II.
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The P22 got a bad rap by being $400 and made of zamak. The 2009 model (I believe) I had sucked. Every malfunction I can imagine with every ammo type and brand on the market. I also tried switching mags and doing the mods from the P22 bible. The guns look extremely nice but there's a reason they only cover the gun under warranty for a year. There are also plenty of pictures of broken slides all over the web.

If you want a gun that'll outlast you, the clear options are the Ruger MK series and the Browning Buckmark.
 
You can find the MarkII's used for a fair price
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Not around here! Scarce and priced higher than new MK III pistols.


My wife preferes:

Buckmark
S&W M22A
Ruger 22/45
Neos

I prefer
S&W M22A
Buckmark
Ruger MK II
Neos


IMHO can't go wrong with any of these, assuming you can find ammo at a decent price.
 
Glad to see Neos show up, even at the bottom. I got mine because I used one to qualify for my CCP. We had to shoot 50 rounds (6 yrs ago) and my target was a ragged hole exceptional for 3 that rose during a rapid fire of 10 rounds. It is fun to shoot golf balls hung on string, and I'm getting better at it. My son let me shoot his S&W M&P 22 and it's accurate and fun as well. I love my Ruger P345 but never liked the looks of the Marks. I've found a thousand rounds at Academy online and Walmart for $.075 a round so I'm happy to be able to shoot .22 again. I'll be even happier to see $.03 a round :)
 
SR22... great little pistol. Eats everything, <$300. Aftermarket extra capacity mags coming out. Very accurate
 
fortyniner said:
Today I tried out my brand new M&P .22 Compact. Just traded in a Ruger SR22 on it. I like the Smith MUCH more than the Ruger. Mainly the grip shape and angle just works better for me. Both guns were quite reliable, but the Smith is a little better than the Ruger. I started out with some Winchester M22 ammo and had 1 or 2 misfires per magazine (10 shots). Loaded Federal Bulk Pack HP's and had 1 misfire out of about 100 rounds.

The Smith is just a bit bigger than the Ruger, but it just feels more like a real gun. I have a 9mm Shield too, so the grip shape is almost identical - good feature as a practice piece.

I must say that S&W is back in the game with producing great pistols and revolvers!
Click to expand...
Also, it is made here in the USA, unlike the non compact version. Guns and Ammo had a most positive review, if that means anything. I'm trying to talk myself into one of these new compacts...we'll see.
 
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