What rimfire .22 would you recommend?

[Jim Watson]

What I see are a lot of Rugers, Buckmarks, and a number of S&W Victories, plus some higher end target pistols.

If it hadn't been cold and wet yesterday, I was going to shoot my Nelson/1911.
My Kadet Conversion is a good shooter, but you need either good trigger control or a better trigger.
Can't speak to other conversions.

I wouldn't expect much out of my Plastic M&P .22 Compact, even though it is my most reliable .22 auto.

Since Steel Challenge is under USPSA, there are a multitude of Divisions, anything you would take to USPSA or IDPA, plus the .22s.

[BillSWPA]

Not much I can add to OlongJohnson’s thorough response except to say that my Buck Mark has been one of my best purchases. Not only does it provide me with inexpensive practice (paid for itself multiple times over), but I have used it to train multiple new shooters. It is the only handgun my 11 year old daughter currently enjoys shooting.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Duelist]

I guess the first question you have to answer is if you want to be competitive, or if you want to use an understudy for your carry gun.

Either way sounds like fun, but getting a gun with competitive potential and getting it set up will likely cost more money.

[Jim Watson]

Why an "understudy?"
Shoot the real thing.

Get your wife and kid a solid .22 that they can get hits with, I recommend the Buckmark.

[Crusader]

I own a handful of .22 handguns, I’ll list them in the order I like them.

Ruger Mark II with a five inch barrel. I’ve owned this gun for over 20 years, it just works and is so accurate and easy to shoot well. Both my kids learned how to shoot with it and still love it till this day. Highly recommend.

S&W 617, big and heavy with a four inch barrel and 10 shot cylinder. Very accurate with a great trigger, love shooting this almost as much as the Ruger. But most likely too heavy for your kids.

Ruger SR22, great little semi auto. Nice trigger and very reliable, again easy to shoot well and surprisingly accurate. My kids like this one also, only drawback is it’s backward safety (up for fire).

Ruger LCR-x, good little ‘kit gun’ light and durable. Problem, I can’t shot it for crap. Between its stiff trigger and light weight, it takes a lot of effort to shoot it accurately. Do not recommend.

Taurus PT22, cheapy I picked up many years ago. Stiff double action only trigger, tiny sights and oh yeah it breaks a lot. Twice I’ve had to have them send me a part that broke on the gun while shooting it. Stay far far away ha ha.

[farscott]

If it is a new rimfire for fun matches, the S&W SW22 Victory is hard to beat. All stainless steel construction with one screw needed to be removed for field stripping, good accuracy, good adjustable sights, and a very nice trigger for about $350. While I am partial (after shooting it for more than forty-five years) to the older Ruger Standard design with its vast aftermarket support, a new Ruger has a less than good trigger. One needs the aftermarket to get a decent Ruger trigger on a newer pistol. The older Ruger pistol with better triggers are available in only carbon steel, lack a last-shot bolt hold-open, have the magaziner release located at the heel, and require a somewhat unique field stripping and assembly process. The Victory is a good choice for a new rimfire shooter in that it is an easy gun to own and shoot. It is also easy to change the barrel on the Victory, needing to only remove one additional screw whereas the barreled receiver of the Standard is legally "the gun".

The only negative on the Victory is it cannot be dry fired whereas the Standard can.

[mtnbkr]

https://www.brownells.com/firearms/h...rod117131.aspx

I have a version of this gun (MKIII, different color, different shape ports). While my M17 is more refined, the Ruger is more fun, especially with the can.

A range-buddy of mine has one I've shot several times, with and without an optic. I don't have much frame of reference for magazine fed .22 pistols, but I like shooting it enough I've kicked around getting one.

They're lots of fun. I've used a red-dot on mine, but my eyes turn dots into smeared curls, so I prefer shooting with irons. That said, I have a cheap red-dot that offers a "crosshair" as an option and that works much better than a dot (no smearing). If I ever find a quality red-dot sight with the same option, I'll consider it.

Chris

[SD]

Possibly a pistol and rifle that use the same magazines. Buckmark is one that comes into mind, rifle is pricey. Both weapons follow the same controls for use assisting a beginner with the learning process.

[OlongJohnson]

The only negative on the Victory is it cannot be dry fired whereas the Standard can.

That is one issue with Buck Marks. The peen on the breech face is semi-jokingly called the "buck mark" over on RFC. New-in-box guns are found with it when opened at the dealer. The factory checks result in each pistol being dry fired. There may be no mark, it may be significant. The firing pins need to be fitted for length so they don't strike the breech face. This is a simple procedure, and once done, eliminates the problem permanently. There are several posts with various methods of establishing the amount of material to be removed over on RFC.

Brownells should commission PTG to start making the chamber ironing tool that's fairly recently gone out of production.

[hufnagel]

@Crusader touched on two I have; the 617 and SR22.
the 617 is a hoot to shoot, but it is a meaty gun so those with smaller or weaker hands/wrists might find it too much to hold up. on the plus side because of its size it's also the softest shooting .22lr handgun I have.
the SR22 is just plain fun to shoot for all ages and sizes. It's my go-to newbie gun when I take people.
finally I also have a Beretta M9-22. It's as close to identical as you can get for an M9/92 gun short of the .22lr conversion kit. It also is a ton of fun to shoot.