.22LR Semi Pistol 100% reliable for 1000 rounds?

[spencerhut]

Just wondering if anyone has thoughts on the most reliable (ammunition failures not included) .22LR pistol.

We shoot Steel Challenge so the gun must run 100% for at least 1000 rounds as my wife and I would like to share one gun.

Right now we've used or seen the following.
Walther P22
Browning Buckmark
Smith and Wesson 22A
Ruger MK II
Marvel Conversion

All of these seem to fail on a regular basis no matter what ammo is used. I know, yours works 100%. But will it work 100% for 1000 rounds?

Hell, I'm even considering a 10-Shot S&W revolver at this point.

 

[cdrt]

I have a HS Victor that will go 100% and the good news is, they still make them down in Houston.

www.highstandard.com

 

[jmorris]

1000 .22’s without any maintenance is asking a lot for any rimfire semi auto. Then add the fact many run low buck bulk ammo and your odds for 100% reliability get very poor. The key with most all rimfire semi auto pistols (and rifles for that matter) that I’ve seen is that you need to find what ammunition that the machine prefers for both accuracy and reliability (they are almost always different) and your problems are greatly reduced.

 

[taliv]

can you shoot 22lr in steel challenge?

 

[Justin]

Try a Smith & Wesson Model 41 with CCI Standard velocity. I've found that combination to be exceptionally reliable.

 

[Mike OTDP]

For pure reliability, I would be looking at a Hammerli 208S, older High-Standard, Izh-35, or maybe a Walther GSP.

 

[rifal]

Just bought a new Ruger MKIII Target on 2/21/08 and of course only my luck the pistol wouldn't eject reliably. I tried several brands of ammo from cheap to very expensive and 14 different magazines and still no help. Shipped the pistol back to Ruger for repair and now the wait.

 

[Zeede]

My Beretta U22 Neos has been 100% reliable with Remington Golden Bullets, although I've never shot 1,000 rounds in one go. I just bought two 550 round packs of it, so maybe I'll try next time I go out, hehe. Mine is the 6" barreled version.

Cameron

 

[spencerhut]

Yes, you can shoot Steel Challenge with rimfire.

Oh, forgot to mention, I live in the PRK so that rules out anything not on "The List" i.e. High Standard, Walther GSP, Hammerli

The S&W 41 is on the list and was already a consideration. Never seen someone put 1000 rounds through one. The seem pretty tight, well built. Too tight to get dirty from 1000k rounds and keep working?

Beretta U22, had not considered that one. We're back to the 1000 rounds without a failure. Can it do it?

I can back off on the 1000 rounds a bit to ~600 since that is how many the wife and I would shoot together in a full one day match before the gun would get cleaned.

The S&W 22A we have was working fairly well for a while, now it won't stop light striking. One light strike at least every other mag. There seems to be no amount of cleaning or lubing that will make the light strikes go away.

The Walther P22 is failing to feed on a far too regular basis. I lubed the hell out of it and it started feeding. But the lube attracts fouling and gums it up long before you get to 250 rounds and it starts failing to feed again.

 

[jlbraun]

My CZ Kadet .22LR will fire 1100 rounds of Golden Bullet with no failures, no lube, and no cleaning. At 1100 it starts to hang up a bit when chambering.

Keep hitting it with CLP every 1000 rounds or so and the gun will run and run.

 

[spencerhut]

The CZ-75 upper is on my short list. My wife has a CZ-75SA she uses for run and gun. Already has a trigger job.

That just made the short list.

 

[The_woodsman]

It's not the gun, it's the ammo...at least from my experience. I've owned a sig/hamerli trailside, both ruger models, the P22, a Llama model XV and a buckmark (which is the only one I still own). I'm not sure that any of them have fired 1000 rounds without a malfunction, but in every case (except with the buckmark, which is my own fault - highly modified and not tuned quite right), it was the ammo that was the culprit.

Almost any rimfire gun that is tuned properly will not have a problem running through 1000 rounds without a failure. However, I have yet to see ammo like that. I have experienced a high rate of failure with certain federal h.p. bulk rounds (up to 15%).

I have even seen a 1/2% failure rate on CCI ammo (and they are a high quality outfit) - 1 dud in 200 rounds. You are talking about having a failure rate of less than 1/10% which is a lot to ask for even modern day rimfire rounds. If you want to spend the big bucks on green tag or pistol match or some of the higher end Eleys, Lapuas, etc. you might be able to get that - but we're talking almost centerfire prices for rimfire ammo...

 

[spencerhut]

I'm trying to ignore ammo related failures for the moment. My 22A won't even strike 100% so I can't really blame the ammo for not going off when it was not struck.
The Walther P22 will not strip off the next round quite frequently. Little oil and it will start to work for a while. Maybe Mini-Mags would give it enough slide speed to function, not sure.

 

[lil ski]

I would stay away of the 41 Smith I have one I use for bullseye and it shoots very well but I have never put 1000 rounds through it with out cleaning it like was said before it is built to tight for that. I also have a Ruger Mark 2 I had some work done on it from Clark Custom and I would bet you would have a good chance with that gun to run your 1000rds. Now you have to find the ammo that can do it with out taking out a second morgage. CCI std seem to do the best for me. Good Luck.

 

[Jenrick]

If you're not talking ammo issues, then my Buckmark and my S&W 622 have both run well over that without cleaning. A little CLP on the slide every now and again when it starts to feel sluggish and it's back to new. I think I got about 2K rounds in my Buckmark before the feedramp had enough gunk on it to cause mis feeds. I don't think I've ever put enough rounds through my S&W to have it jam up before I clean it.

My wife has on more then one occasion shot an entire brick of Fed HP auto match (the cheap fed bulk stuff) through my S&W in about 90 mins at the range. A few ammo problems, but the gun ran fine.

-Jenrick

 

[ArmedBear]

My 22/45 (older Mark II version) has proven to be 100% reliable for 1000 rounds without cleaning. 2000 actually; accuracy starts to fall off around 1750 due to extreme fouling buildup (this was all done using unplated lead PMC ammo -- cheap and dirty).

With a rag and some Rem Oil, the fouling can be kept down to a reasonable amount; just reach through the ejection port, wipe out the buildup and put in a drop or two of the thin oil. Work the action a couple times, and it's like new for a while at least.

 

[Zeede]

spencerhut: I'm also in California, so don't worry about the Beretta U22 Neos, it's legal here

When the gun was brand new it did over 600 rounds of Federal bulk with only one FTE. I didn't bother cleaning it, just took it to the range.

I've cleaned it thoroughly just last night, but I don't usually shoot 1k rounds on an outing. While I have 1,100 rounds of Remington Golden Bullet in my safe, I'm not sure I want to leave the gun dirty for three trips to the range

Cameron

 

[SDC]

The odds are, you'll run into a bad round before you'll run into a jam with a lot of modern 22 LR pistols; I've seen several Rugers that worked 100% for at least that long, but it can be difficult to get through 1000 rimfire rounds without getting at least one that's missing part of the priming compound.

 

[JackOfAllTradesMasterAtNone]

Ruger MKII legal in PRK?

I think you'll have to go with the MKIII with the loaded chamber indicator. And I would suggest that. But you'll have to find some clean burning ammo. I'd stay away from any bullets that are lube/wax coated. They'll gum up most any action eventually. I would also run the gun virtually dry. That many rounds will ceartainly leave deposites that will be attracted to any lubricants. That leaves the .22/45 out of the mix. And I wouldn't do this with any of the aluminum upper guns. 22a, etc.

There is a GREAT thing to do to a Ruger MK series pistol. On the opposite side of the ejection port, two or three 1/4" holes drilled where the rollscript is, or a 1/4" x 1" hole milled in the left side will evacuate 80% of the debris, allowing the gun to run much longer. Between rounds/matches, -a bore snake type cleaner could be run through the chamber/barrel after every couple hundred rounds.

I have a friend that's done this to his. He ran is pistol a whole winter Bullseye league without so much as cleaning a bit of the gun. Still shot reliably.

-Steve

 

[Nuke8401]

Ruger MKII, Federal bulk ammo

I have a ruger MKII, early 1980's vintage. I shoot federal bulk 550rds/box ammo. I can easily shoot a 550 box without cleaning. I suspect 1000 rds would be no problem.

The only gun I clean less is my Glock.

 

[bdutton]

Pardini SP.

I do not count the first 20 rounds put through a clean gun as there is a fouling period that is required. After that, you don't need to worry.

 

[P-32]

I have a 41 and a 5.5 Target Buckmark. Out of the two I would say the Buckmark would make the 1000 rounds with CCI without a problem.

 

[SwampWolf]

I have to side with Justin. Yes, the Smith 41 is built "tight" but, with the right ammunition (and I agree that CCI Standard Velocity is the right stuff), the 41 should go 1,000 rounds and more without a stoppage. At least, that's been my experience. My Ruger Mark II "Government" model can also be counted on to go the distance.