a question about .22 pistol

[efeng9622]

I have a question about .22 pistol, Will it be jammed sometimes?
Because I still concern to buy a .22 pistol ( I like general style pistol , don’t like Ruger Mark II with long barrel), but a friend told me .22 sometime will be jammed because It can’t cycle semi auto reliably. I want to know if it is true, if it is not true, can someone give to me a suggestion what kind of .22 under $250.00 still can be concerned ?

Thanks!

 

[Charles Foxtrot]

A quality firearm and quality ammunition is the key. I've probably shot thousands of rounds out of 22LR pistols; Browning, Colt, Ruger, S&W, High Standard, etc., and I can remember less than 10 failures.

I typically shoot CCI Mini-Mags and I try to keep the firearm clean and properly lubed.

 

[alucard0822]

most 22 pistols will jam occasionally, ammunition makes a big difference, most will work best with one particular brand, most work well with cci mini-mags. I tend to get under 5 misfires or jams out of 500 in a walther p22, buckmark hunter and S&W mod34. Winchester X-pert is a close, but much less expensive second place with about 5-10 out of 500. The Buckmark will jam easiest, but rarely misfires, the #34 does not jam, but it was a wolf reduced power spring kit and misfires easier, the p22 is probably the most reliable out of the 3, but is less accurate and harder to shoot well than the others.

 

[mister_wilburn]

My 22 pistol (mark II Target model) has jammed on occasion. but I blame the ammunition. I got a box of Remington rimfire's and had 10 or 15 out of that box fail to eject, and 5 fail to fire. But the next box of Win X-pert has yet to cause a misfire or jam. The remingtons had dented primers, as dented as any other one i picked up, just failed to fire. 22 ammo is cheap, and readily available, if you want something to hunt with, or for HD (10 shots through the size of my thumb at 25 feet in less than 5 seconds is nothing to scoff at) go with CCI.

 

[Dave Dembinski]

.22s in general are very ammo-sensitive. If you use good ammo you'll have very few failures. If you use cheap ammo you'll have plenty of failures.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

I have 2 .22 pistols, a Ruger Mark II and a S&W Model 22A. The Ruger will fire almost anything reliable but the S&W 22A is hard to please. I have found that a good practice ammo for the 22A is CCI Standard Velocity .22LR. Some .22 pistols are harder to find ammo that will fire reliably than others. That shouldn't stop you from buying one. They are a lot of fun to shoot and the ammo is very cheap too.

 

[Black Adder LXX]

Keeping it clean and using good ammo helps, but 22 ammo isn't as good quality-wise, so some jams are inevitable. My Buckmark is real sweet, doesn't jam except FTF from cheap ammo. FWIW- $12/500 rounds of thunderbolts-I don't mind manually cycling once or twice...

 

[JA]

The reliability of 22 pistols is 10% design/quality and 90% the type of ammo you shoot in it.
I learned my lesson on 22 ammo in the late 1980's when I caught 50rd boxes of Winchester Super-X 22LR on sale for 99 cents.
http://winchester.com/products/catalog/rimfiredetail.aspx?symbol=X22LR&bn=1
I bought 2-5000rd cases and fired this ammo in Astra,Beretta,Browning,
Colt,FIE,High Standard,Llama,Jennings,S&W,Ruger,Ramline,and Chinese pistols owned by myself and friends.
Out of the 10,000rds every one of them fired. Had a few misfires and jams but it was not ammo related but due to the build up of firing residue and excessive bullet lube of cheap ammo previously fired in the pistols.
When I shot up both cases of ammo I started buying the cheap bulk pack ammo when it was on sale. Thought you couldn't beat a 500rd carton for $7 and change out the door. That is untill I started shooting the ammo and getting several duds per carton. Also had misfires and misfeeds due to the quick build up of gunk in the actions of my firearms. I tried every brand of the cheap ammo untill I got tired of the duds and the more frequent cleaning that was required. After shooting the cheap ammo for the last 10 years I have given up buying the cheap ammo. Now I only buy Winchester Super-X 22LR ammo that costs $50 more per case than the bulk ammo but it is worth the extra money for ammo with no duds and a lot less firing residue.

 

[efeng9622]

ArchAngelCD,
I want to make sure if you can fire S & W 22A reliable when you use cci mini-mags, also, I want to know how about Tauraus PT22? ( it's barrel can be opened)
Thanks!

 

[efeng9622]

I will going to buy a .22 pistol on this weekend gun show ( July 28-29), but now I still have some questions,
If I compare with Ruger MK II 22/45, Browning Buckmark , S & W 22A and Walther P22, and concern about if which one is easy to be jammed when it eats cheap ammo, It is said Ruger, Browning are better then P22. ( I don’t know about S & W 22a) . Personally I like P22 because I don’ t like Ruger and Browning ‘s style and it's long barrel , but if P22 is easy to be jammed and only can shoot good ammo, I have to think about . My question is that if P22 is really easy to be jammed if eats cheap ammo?

Thanks!

 

[Sunray]

"...which one is easy to be jammed..." It doesn't work that way. They're all good pistols. However, some .22's just don't like some ammo. The price of said ammo doesn't matter. Some pistols will shoot and cycle with inexpensive ammo, some won't.
When buying a pistol, buy the one that fits your hand best for the price you're willing to pay. If you like the Walther, buy it. Then try as many brands of ammo as you can to find the ammo that both shoots well and cycles the action.

 

[efeng9622]

Hi! Alucard0822

I checked your message,
the p22 is probably the most reliable out of the 3, but is less accurate and harder to shoot well than the others.

I like to know if using a longer barrel can make better ?

Thanks!

 

[Wedge]

Hi! Alucard0822

I checked you message said,
the p22 is probably the most reliable out of the 3, but is less accurate and harder to shoot well than the others.

I like to know if using a longer barrel can make better ?

Thanks!

No. The other two are just more accurate guns, and a lot of that is due to better sights. But for a fun little gun that works well I give it a solid 3.5/5 stars.

I shoot Remington Golden Bullets (HP) in mine. $10 for 550. Stuff works great. Loctite (242 blue) on the stove bolts and barrel nut (1 drop only) helps accuracy a LOT.

Have almost 1500 through mine.

 

[efeng9622]

I have a question and maybe it is a stupid question, if I compare with
Walther p22 and a 2-3 inch long barrel .22 reveolver, which one can shoot more accurate. I know P22 this kind of pistol is not accurate.

 

[Sniper X]

I have a MK1 and a P22 and the MK1 jams a few times every time out, the P22 has failed to fire once, but never jammed no matter hwo fast I shoot it. It did fail to cycle once when I let a girl shoot it, actually it misfed three times out of three till she stopped limp wrist holding it. After I showed her w how to hold it it never misfired or failed to fire at all. As I said, it has yet to misfeed when I am shooting it ,probably have about 900 rounds thru it at this point.

 

[CWL]

I have a question and maybe it is a stupid question, if I compare with
Walther p22 and a 2-3 inch long barrel .22 reveolver, which one can shoot more accurate. I know P22 this kind of pistol is not accurate.

Look, the longer the barrel, the more intrinsically accurate a pistol will be. Choice of bullet will also affect accuracy. In addition, the accuracy of any firearm ultimately depends on the skills of the shooter. Any of these three pistols will be far more accurate than you will be able to shoot freehand.

Do you want a pistol for carrying purposes? If self-defense is the issue you really are after, then I would have to recommend a larger-caliber pistol for legal carry.

 

[Wedge]

Walther p22 and a 2-3 inch long barrel .22 reveolver, which one can shoot more accurate. I know P22 this kind of pistol is not accurate.

The Walther is not inaccurate, it just needs some love out of the box. As CWL said (assuming you have tightened all the bolts on the Walther) it is going to be more accurate than you are. After having everything nice and tightened my p22 keeps 'em in the 10 or X at 7 yards shooting bulk Remington Golden Bullets.

Anything with a short barrel is going to be harder to shoot. I liked starting with a longer barrel when learning the fundamentals. I remember the first time I shot a snubby .38 and the results were embarrassing to say the least...

I am guessing you have never shot a gun before. Get to a range, borrow or rent a few different .22s and see what you like best. Buy whatever fits/shoots best and don't worry what it looks like. Ever see what the target shooters use? They look like some sort of alien device!

Looks of a gun are second to me compared to utility. We bought the Walther because of size for my wife's hands and it is very similar in operation to a full sized gun...good to get someone introduced and good as a fun gun.

What do you ultimately want the gun for??? That will determine what you should buy.

 

[greener]

+1 on the comments that cleaning and ammo is the cause of most .22 jams. Some pistols just don't like some brands of ammo. It is not that all models of a pistol don't like certain ammo, it seems to vary by pistol. In general, I get my best results from standard velocity ammo. Cleaning, especially the slide, bolt face and barrel crown in the chamber go a long way into enhancing the reliability of a .22.

In the $250 price range:

S&W 22A: excellent accuracy and reliability. Reasonably good trigger. Easy to field strip and reassemble. This one seems to be built for SV ammo, but you can fire HV hollow points without too much consistency degradation. I almost never shoot HV ammo in mine.

Ruger MKIII and MKIII 22/45: The blued models are around $250. Accurate and reliable out of the box. Rugers have the advantage of a huge aftermarket for tweaks. Rugers are steady, reliable and solid pistols. First time field strip and assembly can be tough if you don't read the instructions closely.


Browning Buck Mark: Excellent for accuracy and reliability. It rivals the Rugers and 22A in feel and shooting ease. I haven't had one long enough to thoroughly evaluate it, but I like the pistol so far.

Walther P22: Strong support and strong dislike for this pistol. Fun to shoot. Not nearly as accurate as the others I've mentioned. IMO (and that of a CS rep) the P22's are constructed of materials that are inferior to Ruger, Buck Mark and 22A. I've had one for 4 months, it spent 3 weeks at S&W and is now a "project gun" because I'm trying to fix manufacturing and design flaws in the pistol such as excessive slide wear and casings being ejected in my face (a result of a different slide coming back from S&W). Some folks never have any problems and some of us have problems. The P22 seems to shoot ammo that my other rimfires don't like. I haven't been able to achieve the accuracy with the P22 that I have with the others.

I bought the 22A for $175 (the 7" barrel in the photo is an add-on) and the MKIII 22/45 for $200. Both are great shooting, reliable pistols. Your choice should be based on how the pistol feels to you and what you want to do with it.

 

[efeng9622]

Wedge,

I started to shoot about two years ago and right now I have only two guns and don’t have much experiences.
This time I want to buy a .22 pistol or maybe .22 revolver because the ammo is cheap . I don’t concern to bring a gun everyday but maybe later.
Thanks!.

 

[10-Ring]

I've had my Mk II Slabsides for a long time now & she' been so very reliable & accurate, oh and alot of fun to shoot. This is the gun I taught my son to shoot with and has easily seen the most rounds.
As for the ammo issues -- yes, it may jam now & then but really, this is 100% a range gun, the ammo is cheap and the hiccups are few. For this particular pistol, that's not a big deal