22lr handgun for the wife?

[westside bengal]

We are an older couple and relative new to firearms. Although she handles them fine, for plinking and target she realy doesnt like shooting my 38 special revolver or 92fs 9mm. She thinks she would like a 22lr handgun.

I know that both the Ruger Mark (and 22/45) series and the Browning Buck Mark are the standards and have absolutely great reviews but not the easiest to take down and clean.

Ruger also has the SR22 and S&W has the MP22, both seem to get good reviews and folks say are easier to maintain etc.
And there is the Beretta Neos and S&W 22A but both seem to be hit and miss based on reviews I see.

Revolvers are not out of the equation, but appear to be much higher price than the pistols. But if there is comparable priced revolver I would consider it.

I guess my question is this what are the real pros/cons of the SR22 and MP22 (and the Neos and 22A) vs the the Ruger Mark series and Browning Buck Mark?

What revolver in the same price range could you recommend?

MOST IMPORTANT: although 22lr ammo is a little easier to find there is not much variety in my area at any given time. So it has to shoot anything from the bulk pack stuff on up.

 

[mom45]

The Taurus PT22 is a picky one. I have it and love it, but it will not shoot any ammo so I figured I would just toss that out there in case you look at that. It is very easy to shoot and conceal when carrying. It is my "yard gun" that I carry when out gardening, picking up trash along the road, etc. It will not shoot Remington Thunderbolts, but does well with Federal or CCI.

I read your note at the bottom so although I love this gun, it may not fit your needs and you will probably want to steer away from it.

 

[dhw9am]

I have a Ruger SR22. It is reliable with MOST ammo, and is very accurate. A range friend of mine, has a SW MP22. I would have to say, that
the MP22 is the better pistol. Great trigger, accurate and is less ammo picky than my SR22. His MP22 has functioned very well with standard velocity
CCI ammo, where my SR22 will not.
Just my experience.

 

[jamil]

The SR22 is small. Mine fits my wife's hands much better than mine. Ammo is usually an issue with .22LR autos but thSR22 Is not as picky with ammo as some, but still picky. Of course CCI Mini mags feed well and fire reliably. Thunderbolts, surprisingly, do well. I've also had really good results with Blazer and Federal lead round nose. Pretty good results with Federal bulk. Remington or Winchester bulk. Nope. I've learned not to even bother. YMMV.

I also have the Ruger MKIII 22/45 lite and it has proven to be more forgiving of ammo. It doesn't reliably feed Winchester bulk at all but I've had decent to excellent results with just about everything else. Again, YMMV.

I think the intended purpose matters a lot as well. If it's just for target shooting or plinking, I think a Ruger MKIII is great. I wouldn't worry too much about the difficult disassembly. Just clean what you can reach and do a detailed cleaning if you're having issues with it.

 

[XtremeVel]

Been awhile since I have priced revolvers so I might be off but would you be opposed to a single action ?

My first handgun was a Ruger single six and 30 years later I still enjoy shooting it... If it were to be in your price range, make sure it feels right to your wife and that she can comfortably pull the hammer back.

I don't know if they still make them new, but they also often times were offered with a second cylinder for .22 mag....

 

[Mr.Softball]

The best thing about a revolver in 22 is if it does not go bang you can just pull the trigger and it will turn the cylinder to a new shell versus pulling the slide and hope it ejects the shell and pulls another one up into the chamber on a semi auto.

 

[Nevernoluck2]

I'd go with a revolver if it's just for fun shooting, you can pick up a few el cheap revolvers new for $200, the name surpasses me at the moment tho, or if you look real hard you can find a used colt cadet semi auto for between $3-400, they have heavy barrels, easy to take apart but it'll be a search to find one sitting on the shelf too long, I have owned one in the past and never had any issues with any ammo I run thru it. The other guns you mentioned I can't speak for as I've never owned one

 

[blue2golf]

I've had a '58 Ruger Standard for 25 years now. Accurate, a joy to shoot, but reassembly after cleaning can cause loud, profane rants.

I recommend the SR22.

 

[wtfd661]

We have the Ruger SR22 and its a great gun, my daughters LOVE shooting it. One that always catches my eye is the Ruger SP101 in .22 lr, its definitely on my must buy list (but not at the top).

[video=youtube_share;2n4QRPECAEs]http://youtu.be/2n4QRPECAEs[/video]

 

[NHT3]

I have a couple of SR-22s that I use in my NRA basic pistol class. At this point I've never had one fail to function. They don't seem as accurate as the 22/45 MKIII that I have but in my experience they are very reliable. Also 2 different grips that can fit most shooters.. I don't think you can go wrong with the SR-22.
[FONT=&quot]NRA Life Member[/FONT][FONT=&quot]-- [/FONT][FONT=&quot]GSSF member[/FONT][FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]Ruger MK III, M&P & 1911mechanic [FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]NRA Basic pistol instructor[FONT=&quot] –[/FONT] Certified Glock armorer

 

[westside bengal]

We have the Ruger SR22 and its a great gun, my daughters LOVE shooting it. One that always catches my eye is the Ruger SP101 in .22 lr, its definitely on my must buy list (but not at the top).

That SP101 does seem nice. I will show my wife and see what she thinks. I have already checked it out and there are speedloaders available.

There seems to be a lot of love for the SR22 also.

 

[SERparacord]

BROWNING FIREARMS 1911-22 COMPACT 22LR PISTOL | Sportsman's Outdoor Superstore

 

[Darral27]

I have a SR22 and it is a great gun. I did have some trouble with it a couple months ago at the range but when I got it home and tore it down to clean I realized I had not cleaned it since I bought it. Put probably over 1,000 rounds through without a problem before that, feed ramp just got so gunked up it would not feed. Have not had another problem since cleaning. I had a Walther P22 but it was very ammo picky, I have shot some that run through anything without a problem, the one I had would not. I guess that is just a luck of the draw deal.

 

[looney2ns]

Another vote for the Ruger SR22.
Everyone that shoots mine, loves it.
No problems that cleaning doesn't cure.
500 rounds through it can sneak up on you pretty fast.

 

[Cameramonkey]

I'll also echo the revolver would be a nice idea due to simplicity. a failure to fire malfunction is going to be higher in rimfire, simply due to the design. They just arent as reliable as centerfire.

Given that high failure rate, the clearing action in a revolver is simply, "pull the trigger again until it goes boom". With an auto, you have to rack the slide, and hope the extractor does its job. (otherwise its drop the mag, cycle repeatedly until it extracts, and then reinsert the mag and cycle the slide again)

I would also suggest looking at something somewhere between the 38 and 22. 22WMR gives a bit more punch, and a 380 in a Glock 24 or PPK is VERY nice and VERY manageable. I own a 38 and even with my Pachmayer oversized grips its not pleasant to shoot.

IF you are stuck on rimfire, I'd strongly suggest the 22WMR vs 22LR. I wouldnt turn down the 22LR if that were my only choice, but the 22LR definitely would not be my first choice.

 

[Kirk Freeman]

The Ruger 22/45 is among the best values in firearms on the market today. I like them so much I have five of them.

For easier take down, call my friend Dino. I have these installed in all my 22/45s:

Majestic Arms Speed Strip for Ruger .22 Autos.AVI - YouTube

Speed Strip Kit

 

[singlesix]

Good gravy what's all this about a Ruger 22 being hard to clean or disassemble? To remove the bolt it's about 15 seconds, this is all you need for most cleaning. Ruger is a great pistol and I think many people miss out on this pistol because of all the hype about it being "impossible" to disassemble. It doesn't take much cleaning, every 5K rounds I take the bolt out and wipe it down. The key is to learn the steps required to disassemble this gun, and the are plenty of guides on the internet, I'll grant dis-assembly isn't intuitive.

 

[Cameramonkey]

Good gravy what's all this about a Ruger 22 being hard to clean or disassemble? To remove the bolt it's about 15 seconds, this is all you need for most cleaning. Ruger is a great pistol and I think many people miss out on this pistol because of all the hype about it being "impossible" to disassemble. It doesn't take much cleaning, every 5K rounds I take the bolt out and wipe it down. The key is to learn the steps required to disassemble this gun, and the are plenty of guides on the internet, I'll grant dis-assembly isn't intuitive.

Takedown isnt the the problem. Reassembly is.

And I've seen somebody put that pin in front of the proper hole and get it wedged behind the hammer. It was stuck GOOD! It was like a chinese finger trap. the harder you would try to pull it out, the harder the hammer would wedge against it. He worked on it for I dont know how long before he called me to look at it because I had one too. It took me another 30 minutes at least to get that sucker out.

 

[Cameramonkey]

And I can no longer resist...

22LR handgun for the wife? Not a bad trade really...

 

[Hopper]

Another big fan of the SR22 here. I've shot my brother's 22/45, *love* that gun, but re-assembly takes a little practice. The SR22 is smaller/easier to carry, lighter, fairly accurate IMO, extremely easy to maintain, and just really fun to shoot.