What Gun Should I Buy?
I’m thinking of shopping for a handgun in caliber .22 LR, and I’d love to hear recommendations. This is just going to be a plinker, something fun and cheap to shoot. Here are the loose criteria I have:
1. Auto-loader
2. Not picky about ammo
3. On the inexpensive side, ideally <$200
Of course, there's a little give in those, especially in the price range.
Suggestions?
March 3rd, 2004 at 9:50 pm
I’m pricing 10/22s now (yeah, they’re rifles so what). Les likes his browning and rich likes his walther.
March 3rd, 2004 at 10:14 pm
Well, of course I’d love to have a 10/22 as well .
Browning and Walther are definitely high on the list. Anybody familiar with the Ruger Mk II?
March 3rd, 2004 at 11:08 pm
Browning Buckmark, Ruger MKII, or Ruger MKII .45, depending. I (barely) prefer the Buckmarks but your hands are different than mine.
March 3rd, 2004 at 11:27 pm
The walther shoots well, and fits my hand perfectly. It comes with a replaceable backstrap so you can get the best fit.
The only drawback is when reassembling after cleaning, you have to use a small (2 inch) auxilary guide rod to get the spring back onto the guide rod. It’s a little clumsy.
other than that, I’m completely satisfied with it.
March 3rd, 2004 at 11:43 pm
Avoid a S&W model 622. My wife’s never worked good and the day UPS lost it and replaced it with a model 22s I was happy.
Go Ruger. It was what I first shot as a kid and love them to this day. Plus they have a lot of after market items to make it what you want if you decide to improve it.
March 3rd, 2004 at 11:44 pm
Thibodeaux, do you live in the Knoxville area? If so, you’re welcome to shoot my Buckmark, and Guncraft Sports rents the Ruger Mk II and 22/45 for comparison.
I shot all of them before deciding on the Buckmark. (I also shot an early production run of the Walther which I didn’t like, but they seem to have fixed most of the problems now.) Of the three, the Buckmark was my favorite. The Ruger Mk II is better if you have small hands or want your kids to shoot it, or if you want to extensively customize it (more exotic aftermarket parts are available). For the average shooter who wants to shoot the stock gun, I think the Buckmark is the best.
March 4th, 2004 at 1:43 am
After a few days of watching CSPAN, I just had to go out and get a pistol just to piss off DiFi. As it happens I picked up a Walther P22 today.
I love it. I got a black L serial number series, with a 3.4″ bbl. I burned a couple of hundred cheapo 25 year old ammo thru it, and did have a couple of misfeeds (3 or 4 per 100). Walther recommends Stingers or Winchester Thunderbolts.
Very, very, accurate…much better than these bleary old eyes can handle any more. Fun to shoot…not so much a target piece as a plinker. Although it did put ten shots into a quarter at 15 feet offhand. Fits your hand like a dream, and is built to take a suppressor if you’re lucky enough to live in a state that allows them.
Threaded barrels, and easy to add a 5″ barrel, built-in trigger lock, adjustable rear sight, replaceable front sights, mag lockout, excellent fit and finish. The reviews I had read showed people got good ones and loved them, or lemons and hated them.
It was used for $225, but looked new. I did spend about 2 hours cleaning it when I got home…somebody burned a lot of ammo thru it without a good cleaning. Reassembly required using a dowel-like jig to fiddle the spring back in. Mine didn’t come with a trigger-lock key, so I need to pick one up.
I also have an old Ruger STD 22 that I love, but I wanted another 22 auto. My wife prefers to shoot the Walther now, the Ruger is too big for her. The Walther is much more concealable also.
The search for the right gun is almost as much fun as shooting the damn thing once you get it, isn’t it?
Luck with your hunt.
March 4th, 2004 at 2:43 am
If you budget is this tight, consider a used gun. Try gunbroker.com and gunsamerica.com.
BEN
March 4th, 2004 at 8:32 am
Everybody, thanks for your comments.
Les, I live in Raleigh, but there is a gun store/range that rents handguns. I’ll have to check what they have in .22 caliber next time I’m there.
Thanks again!
March 4th, 2004 at 10:47 am
I bought a Beretta Neos and I’m happy with it. It is a little more than $200 (I paid $240) but it has a built in rail for a red-dot and is pretty comfortable. I bought it because it appeared that it was all machined upper with a polymer lower.