Whats your favorite 22 pistol and why?

[Ny700]

Ok some one school me on the differences and difference in accuracy of the ruger markIII and the 22/45. I had a mark III hunter had to sell it. Was looking at a 22/45 cause it's cheaper and lighter but wondering if I should expect the same level of accuracy and how the feel is with the plastic lower.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[itchin]

Your mkIII probably feels more solid. I have a couple 22/45s and they're fine for the price. I'd really like a 10.5 stainless mkii. The Ruger mk pistols are my favorite.

 

[Charlie]

Colt Woodsman

 

[Byrd666]

I don't own a .22 pistol anymore. Had a SR22 but, it just didn't quite work out for me as well as I would have liked. So now it's a Taurus mod. 84 snubby. And I don't care what anybody says about, it's just plain FFing FUN to shoot. And to scare off the squirrels, and the...

 

[Sugar Land]

Ruger 22/45. With the aim point on it it feels like cheating.

 

[Saltyag2010]

Reposted just for you. You've shot this one, haven't you?

I shoot this one about as well.

Those (well, maybe I should include my Hammerli 120, too) would be my favorites. Or at least in the top 5.

Ben,
ive never seen guns like this before. Can you please tell is about them and some history on them? They look like art

 

[Saltyag2010]

Ok some one school me on the differences and difference in accuracy of the ruger markIII and the 22/45. I had a mark III hunter had to sell it. Was looking at a 22/45 cause it's cheaper and lighter but wondering if I should expect the same level of accuracy and how the feel is with the plastic lower.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Same upper different frame. All the accuracy is on top. You may be able to switch to an aluminum frame and keep a mark III upper. What trigger did your mark III have?

 

[franzas]

Newest acquisition:

Imma gonna check it out at the SA shoot Saturday.

How do you like it? I've been lookin at gettin one. I've heard they kick the shit outta the Walthers

 

[Ironhorseromo]

Browning Buckmark. Never go to the range without it

I'm also in the process of buying a Ruger SP101 in .22LR.

 

[robertc1024]

How do you like it? I've been lookin at gettin one. I've heard they kick the shit outta the Walthers

I love it and it does a pretty good job of handling just about everything I feed it. It even likes sub-sonics.

 

[benenglish]

ive never seen guns like this before. Can you please tell is about them and some history on them? They look like art

OK. I've covered these guns on this forum before so I'll be brief. (What follows is, by my standards, brief.)

The top gun is a Tompkins. It was an attempt to build an all-American single-shot .22 target pistol that could compete internationally against Hammerli, et. al., for the Olympic Free Pistol (nowadays re-named Men's 50M Pistol) event. About 200 were made from 1947 to 1953. The action is a trapdoor, just like an old Springfield rifle. It has the best trigger of all my pistols except for my bolt-action guns with benchrest rifle triggers.

Originally sold with a simple saw-handle grip that made the pistol look, at first glance, like an early 19th-century dueling pistol, this particular example has an elaborately fitted stock that clearly indicates it was used by a serious competitor. I have searched but not been able to find anything about who may have owned it in the past. Nevertheless, I had it appraised by S. P. Fjestad and his opinion was that the fact that it was obviously used at high level competitions means it has a value roughly double the "book" value. Since he wrote the book (the Blue Book of Gun Values), I'll defer to his opinion.

The pistol was a complete failure in the market. Remember, this was right before the Russians showed up with the first free pistols using electronic triggers. This throwback design is seriously cool and easy to shoot but it didn't stand a chance against the postwar wave of Eurasian innovation.

Along with Tompkins, High Standard and Green also attempted to make all-American free pistols in the latter half of the previous century. They all failed. Americans are just not good at this particular specialty.

As a casual target pistol, though, the Tompkins is a good as it gets. It's very, very easy to shoot well. If you look at that group on the target, notice that the bullets passed through the paper from back to front. I just hung a target backward and pointed the pistol into the middle of the big, blank sheet. After firing off more than a box of ammo without really concentrating, one-handed off-hand, at a little more than 15 but not quite 20 yards, I brought the target in and turned it around. That's a laughably poor group by Olympic standards but I was happy with it.

The next pistol is a Britarms 2000. I've talked on the phone extensively to the maker, a guy in England who, along with his daughter, made them. Similar to many ISSU-specific target pistols, the 5-shot magazine drops in from the top. I believe the first iteration of the Britarms was a re-design of an earlier Unique or Domino pistol; it had a reputation for being fussy and unreliable. The MK2 version I own was re-designed and improved in every way. It's a reliable, adjustable, and just plain easy-to-shoot pistol. It's also very outdated and reliable new magazines are impossible to get so it's sufficiently obsolete that it's worth nothing as a competition piece. Sure is fun to shoot, though. I went so far as to get some custom adjustable grips for mine. I have the standard grips similar to those shown in the photos but the ones currently on the pistol are twice as massive and fit me like a glove.

The maker really doesn't want to have any more to do with the pistol. He's more profitably making blackpowder pistol parts that are still legal in England, as well as classic car parts for restorers. Nice as he is to people who call him up and want to talk about the pistol, he really has neither the time nor inclination to provide much support for it any more. Luckily, my pistol came with a complete set of spares so, if I choose, I can keep it running for a very long time.

If you ever make it to Hicksville, let me know in advance. I'll be happy to bring them along for you to shoot.

That offer is open to everybody, btw.

 

[Charlie Foxtrot]

Buck Mark 5.5 Field. Beautiful, accurate and reliable. From the Browning website: Field 5.5

 

[AustinN4]

Buck Mark 5.5 Field.

Glad to see someone else that knows Buck Mark is 2 words. Rare, indeed!

 

[Stukaman]

The Colt Huntsman currently in my cousins safe it's also about the only gun o have that is for sale lol.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk

 

[majormadmax]

I may have to modify my reply, I just ordered a GSG 1911-22; and if it's anything like the one I shot before, it may well easily become my favorite .22 pistol!

 

[Chilidog]

I bought a Ruger MKII with a bull barrel back in the early eighties and never looked back. Super accurate, reliable and fun to shoot. Put many a brick through her before ammo became hard to come by.

 

[Bozz10mm]

Well, I've got a Ruger MK I Target Model, 678 and a Rohm 63 in .22 Cal. Not hard to pick my favorite.

 

[Army 1911]

My favorite is a Colt 1911 made in 1919 with an Ace upper on it. Custom trigger job. The Ace is prewar with the floating chamber. Not real accurate but it is fun to shoot. And pretty. That prewar Colt blue is just a hair less spectacular than their Royal Blue on the Pythons. The Frame is USGI but has been refinished and its original slide was modified so it has no collector value. Paid $400 for the 1919 and more than that for the pristine Ace upper with all paperwork box etc.

I have owned a Ruger standard with target sights (early version) and a Browning Medalist with the target configuration.

 

[puma guy]

I may have to modify my reply, I just ordered a GSG 1911-22; and if it's anything like the one I shot before, it may well easily become my favorite .22 pistol!

I got the SIG Sauer version a few weeks ago and have only been able to shoot a few rounds but I LIKE IT!

 

[CrazedJava]

From what I've shot and/or owned I would recommend -
Beretta Neos - Accurate, Reliable, but funky ergonomics. Love mine, decent price on them.
Heritage Rough Rider - Cheap, love the SAA styling. I don't find mine as accurate as an earlier poster attested but it also has ammo flexibility (Came with a .22 WMR cylinder)
S&W MP22 - Rented, but shot great. Absolutely loved it and would definitely buy one if I had the money.
H&R 949 - 9 shot revolver owned by my Father-in-law. Probably my favorite I've fired so far. Just a cool gun but out of production.

I would avoid -
SIG Mosquito - Jam-o-matic. Just a terrible gun. Not only was it ridiculous ammo finicky but inaccurate as well. What's really weird is that the same company that actually manufactures the S&W MP22 manufactures these as well. No idea how one can be so great and the other so terrible.
S&W M22A - Another jam-o-matic. Horrible internals with parts that easily break and just an oddball design. I like the external looks better than the Neos and it feels great in the hand. Was lucky if I got through a whole magazine without an issue. Ammunition brand did not seem to matter. Happily sold away.
ANYTHING by FIE/Tanfoglio - They made a Single-Action Army style revolver but they were super cheap and literally fall apart. Was so happy to replace this with a Rough Rider. Depsite the name this company is not THAT FIE or THAT Tanfoglio. The "Buffalo Scout" was the model I had.