H&Rs are plentiful, inexpensive, robust, double action, accurate, etc, etc, etc. Browse Gunbroker.
"All of the below guns can be had while keeping within your budget. They all perform flawlessly and, the convertible, magnificently. The 922 on bottom only cost about $100, I think. Except for the convertibles, most hold 9 rounds. I'd take a well-used 50 year old H&R over pretty much any new gun in its price range. I'll admit that I would like to get my hands on a nice, old S&W .22 revolver some day but, until I can plop down a lot of money for one, I'll be content with these:"
A 2"bbl H&R .22 served as my wife's "house gun" for several years when we lived in FL. The only intruder she ever shot with it was a 5' rattlesnake that she found lying on our front door step one morning as she was going to work and I was out of town. She fired one round that struck the snake in mid-body, and the wounded snake then crawled under the AC unit and was later dragged out by a county wildlife officer and taken away. I think that should qualify as a 1-shot stop in Evan Marshall's book. After all, the BG was also armed with a deadly weapon.
My first handgun was also a 4" .22 H&R that I bought when I turned 18 and became legal to buy a handgun with parental consent. And yes Virginia, that was once the law in at least one state before LBJ and his '68 GCA. Given my two experiences with H&R revolvers plus favorable comments by others who have owned them I have a lot of respect for their durability and quality considering the very low price they sold for. IIRC my first one set me back about $35 plus 3% sales tax. My advice, if you find a used one in decent condition at a fair price, buy it.
