Most reliable 22 pocket pistol

[Okiecruffler]

First and foremost, the first person who posts anything along the lines of "those things are useless" or "well if you want a POS" is a closet Hellery Klinton supporter.
I would like a reliable small 22LR to play with. I had a Pheonix that worked very well, but I'd like something with only one safety since I plan on using it to practice mosambique drills until my fingers bleed.

 

[ShunZu]

TRUE pocket .22, the little 5 shot Freedom Arms stainless 5 shot revolver is hard to beat. Never had a mis-fire, if you have average-size hands, you can palm it completely concealed by simply making a fist. A really nice feature is the little notch in between each round, which allows you to seat the hammer without being behind a live round -- just in case you drop it. I love a .45 like most guys... but if you can't dismiss the capability of 5 CCI Stinger hollow points in the palm of your hand or the front pocket of your jeans.

ANY hole in the bad guy will probably take his attention off you by making him focus on the mess all that blood is making on his designer tennis shoes....

 

[kjeff50cal]

TRUE pocket .22, the little 5 shot Freedom Arms stainless 5 shot revolver is hard to beat

You mean the North American Arms Mini Revolvers don't you???

 

[hobgob]

i own a walther p22, its pretty small, kinda sucks to put back together but its a great concealable gun.

 

[Halo is for Kids]

Try these...
http://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog/product_info.php/cPath/21_50_495/products_id/31390

or
http://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog/product_info.php/cPath/21_52/products_id/25072


I have a 422 that's been reliable, it's the full size version of the
2214:

and 2213:

 

[sm]

Okie,

Gee your son sure has a want list of late.

My recommendations from experiences:

Semi-Auto:
Beretta 21A - .22lr
Beretta Minx, .22 short.
This is the neatest thing! Just cuter than all get out. If you can find one, you will have a ball with this reliable, accurate thing.

Revolver: NAA Mini, 1 1/8" bbl , .22 lr

This thing just "is". Made like a Swiss Watch, good looking, reliable and just darn handy and too darn fun.

My trick for first time folks, is to have two, shoot both and comment "Sure neat how these speedloaders work".

 

[Jimmy Newman]

The problem with pocket .22's is that in my experience, .22 rimfire ammunition just isn't reliable (even the expensive kind). I have had orders of magnitude more misfires with .22 rimfire than with any other cartridge.

So if I were going to get a .22 with the intent of EVER using it for any kind of carry or defensive purposes, it would be a revolver...

Just my opinion.

 

[Halo is for Kids]

Revolver's ok?

The new S&W 351 is exclusively available in 22 Magnum. MSRP is only $735, but it can be found for $531.57

If you can live without the Scandium Frame try the 22lr S&W 317 at 10.5 oz. Makes for good jframe practice at a lower price.

 

[grimjaw]

Maybe it's just me, but I can't remember the last time I pulled the trigger on a rimfire and the gun didn't go boom, AND it was due to the ammunition. I know everyone says that rimfire is unreliable, but I haven't seen it be less so than the centerfire stuff I shoot.

My experience with the Taurus PT22 is: make sure the magazines don't get fouled up. All the malfs I experienced with that and the Beretta 21A were due to the rims getting hung up. Also, don't bother with low powered ammo. They seem to feed the higher velocity stuff more reliably.

jm

 

[Halo is for Kids]

They seem to feed the higher velocity stuff more reliably.

+1, That's true for every .22 auto I've had the pleasure to shoot.

 

[ShunZu]

KJeff, you're absolutely correct. I stand corrected.. it's late, a couple of rum & cokes, Full Tilt Poker running in the background and I -did- mean North American Arms. Thanks for the wake-up.

 

[makarovnik]

I like the Walther TPH and the Beretta 21A.

 

[Robert Hairless]

Years ago I was one of those who bought a Smith & Wesson Model 61 (the "Escort") when it first came out. It's a tiny semi-auto. I don't think that it has ever failed, at least not with factory magazines and decent .22 LR ammunition. I still shoot it once or twice a year just for kicks, because I've always liked that little gun, and I keep looking for additional factory magazines for it. The aftermarket magazines are junk.

It was produced 1970-1973 blued or nickel plated. The frame is aluminum alloy. Here's a photo from a good page on it:

I see them for sale at gun shows and every one I've ever seen has been in at least good condition. Price varies from about $275 up to about $375 on those I've seen. The nickel plated version is at the higher end. One thing to look for is the presence of the loaded chamber indicator and its spring: they're sometimes lost in disassembly. The gun functions perfectly without it though.

(My idea of "decent" .22 LR ammunition is Remington Thunderbolt, by the way. Whenever I say that in front of people who know what they're doing they snicker and show me to the door. But that's what I use. Might give you some idea of the gun's reliability.)

 

[usp9]

The afore mentioned Walther TPH. I like it because it has double strike ability. Mine has been very reliable.

 

[Kimber1911_06238]

I've always though the NAA mini revolvers were kinda cool......I may just get one to throw on my keychain

 

[Ala Dan]

Iver Johnson TP-22, if you can find one~? Back in the early 80's, they were
made in Jacksonville, Arkansas; and sold NIB for 'bout $115. Most relaible,
small .22LR auto I ever owned~!

FWIW, Too bad mine with S/N AE23221 was taken from my wife during
a violent car-jacking on October 13th, 1994. The perp was apprehended, and
its currently doing 32 years in a State Of Alabama pen~!

 

[mjrodney]

My bride and I go thru a 550 bulk pack of .22LR almost every weekend.

We have had a number of rounds take a good primer hit and still fail to fire.

Not every box, but enough to be memorable.

If you are going to rely on .22LR, make sure it's the premium stuff.

Assuming that the premium stuff is more carefully made.

 

[obxned]

Most of these .22 pocket pistols are not really any smaller or lighter than a KelTec in .380, but much, much less powerful.

The real exception here is the Mini-revolver. I owned one for years and shot it a lot. I even used it on occasion to shoot rabbits and prairie dogs. They were very tasty.

I'll be getting a new one as soon as the budget permits.

 

[deputy tom]

I like the NAA mini-revolver .22mag. with the convertible .22 lr. cylinder.Nice and easy to carry in a front pocket holster stoked with magnums.Cheap to practice with using the lr. cylinder and bulk-pack ammo.If pocket carry doesn't appeal to you try other methods.YMMV.tom.

 

[KevininPa]

I have a NAA MINI Mag in .22 mag. Once I put the holster grip on it, I don't do too badly with it. I've learned to ignore the front sight and just put the bore on what I want to hit. At approximately seven yards I can plug that DANGEROUSLY, VICIOUS coke can pretty regular. .
I like the size of the .22mag revolver over the .22 lr. Just a little easier to handle the larger version. I still want to get the .22 lr cylinder for it. Just never get around to mailing it out to NAA. Well built items though.

 

[Pancho]

A most interesting thread. After getting my CC permit my next thought was what would I carry. I chose the North American 5 shot 22 mag for six reasons:
1) The off chamber safety notch seems the most safe.
2) Being small I can carry it in my front pocket and barely feel it's there
3) Being stainless I consider it merely a pocket ass. like a pocket knife and oil it regularly but clean it rarely (unless shot)
4) At $200 it is cheap but still well made.
5) Cheap is important for another reason, if you must use a gun for selfdefense the police will hold your gun in there property room until they're darn good and ready to give it back. Do you want your expensive firearm sitting in some cop station property room?
6) Lastly, at the short ranges selfdefense happens 22mag will do a lot of damage and the gun is LOUD!

 

[Okiecruffler]

Nope Steve, this one ain't for the son, this is a toy just for me. I had forgotten about the little 22 short pistols, that may be just the ticket.
Perhaps I should have been more specific about my needs. I'm a huge fan of a program on Showtime called Dexter (strange since I watch maybe 2 hours of TV a week). On this weeks episode a guy killed his wife classic Mozambique style, 2 to the chest one to the head. I've always been interested in this style of reactive shooting and thought I'd see if I could learn to do it supper fast. Therefore the NAA minis would not work. Althought they are quite cool. AFWIW, Freedom Arms did make a mini, I had one, but when they had such a sucess with the 454 Casull, they stopped production of the mini (they called it the Patriot). As an interesting side note, the original Mini revolver was made by a company called the Rocky Mountain Arms Corp which was founded by one Mr. Dick Casull.
Now if I was actually considering this as a carry option I'd probably consider the 380, or at least the 32, but I figure I'll stick to my old 45 for toting about.

 

[Pancho]

I wondered what the Mozambique style was. You're right a single action revolver wouldn't work for that maybe on a pumpkin but not a resisting human let alone a wife.

 

[ShunZu]

I have a .380 P3AT Kel-Tec too.... but in terms of TRUE, easy concealment (palm-size), the tip of my hat still goes to the .22 NAA revolvers with CCI stingers. Nice thing, ultimately here, is that the buyer has options and is not getting bad advice from anyone (so far).

 

[bannockburn]

I would definitely second Ala Dan on the IJ TP-22. I had one back in the early eighties, and it was one of the most reliable "little" .22's that I have ever used. Don't remember for sure what I traded it in for, (might have been a Beretta M21), but that's one I wouldn't mind getting back.