.22LR Handgun for targets / plinking - any favorites?

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Originally Posted by CT8
One thing about ruger I had to Add a few years ago I did a strip and inspection and foundsever alparts I a\questioned the life remaining on the parts. I priced the parts and called Ruger to order them. The rep took the order and said the Ruger warranty covers the parts and there will be no charge. Some companies are above and beyond when it comes to customer service.


This is great to know. I've read reviews on Ruger gear and have noticed several people praise Ruger's customer service a lot.

I'm in the almost exact same boat you are 92Saturn, and after shooting a Mark IV and all the praises about their gear and customer service, I'm leaning heavily toward a Ruger Mark IV 22/45 Lite .
 
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I would LOVE a little Ruger.

Alas, Oz you know what....hmmmm that might be a challenge....find out what I have to do to get through the system.
 
I like my Ruger SR22. It gets a tad finicky with cheap ammo once it gets dirty, but it sure is fun to shoot. My 8 year old daughter plugs clay pigeons like a champ with it.


:To clarify, the clays are placed on the dirt backstop...........not launched in the air.
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Hopefully there are some good Black Friday deals to be had. I'm leaning toward the SW Victory, Ruger MkIV and the Buckmark.

As far as looks go, I think the Ruger wins by a hair, but there is the price to consider- the Mark IV being about $100 more expensive so far as I can tell.

I'll have to get all three in my hands to really decide. Anyone know of any Black Friday sales as it pertains to .22LR handguns?
 
Also, can someone elaborate on the different versions? I suspect "lite" means just that, but bull-barrel, threaded barrel, and a few other details I haven't full researched yet. Other than finish (stainless / blued, etc.) what other variables should I be seeking out?
 
I have a Ruger MKll 5.5" Bull barrel for about 30 years
Great gun. Very reliable. Very Accurate.
Probably 30,000+ rounds through it. Just broken in.
Buy a Ruger MK ll , lll or lV you will be very happy.
 
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I've put a few rounds through a Ruger SR-22. Nice little gun. Accurate, reliable, ergonomic, about $350 new, I think. A bit odd/finicky to clean, but not a big deal. An excellent choice.

My recommendation, though, would be a Ruger Single six. I bought mine used* for about $500, and while used, it was flawless, not even a turn line on either cylinder. It's got a nice trigger and shoots very accurately. I enjoy taking it to the range and it's a great gun for teaching the fundamentals of shooting.

Mine is very accurate with .22LR. More knowledgeable/experienced folks than me have said that because it has a .22 Magnum cylinder, that the bore is sized/optimized for .22 Magnum and it's rare to get a Single Six that is accurate with .22LR.

Maybe I got lucky. It sure is a nice little gun.

A single action is so simple to load and fire that it's great for teaching, anyone can handle it, and because you load rounds individually, I believe that you tend to value/conserve each shot, making each one more effective as a debrief/teaching tool.


*Ruger will update older used ones to the transfer bar safety system for free, so if you buy an older one, check with Ruger to be certain that your gun is updated.
 
Favorite .22 handguns:

Ruger Super Single-Six Convertible 4-5/8" barrel
Ruger Bearcat 4" barrel

Ruger Mk I Target 6-7/8" tapered barrel
Ruger Mk II Target 4" bull barrel

Have no use for the Mk III or Mk IV. It's a personal preference.

Yes, I have a penchant toward Rugers. Total round count - lost track 30 years ago !
 
Originally Posted by HouseTiger
Favorite .22 handguns:

Ruger Super Single-Six Convertible 4-5/8" barrel
Ruger Bearcat 4" barrel

Ruger Mk I Target 6-7/8" tapered barrel
Ruger Mk II Target 4" bull barrel

Have no use for the Mk III or Mk IV. It's a personal preference.

Yes, I have a penchant toward Rugers. Total round count - lost track 30 years ago !

You're happy with Ruger products and customer service?
 
I went with the S&W Victory after looking at it, the Buckmark & Ruger MkIV. I liked them all, the Ruger and s&w just felt better in my hand and IMO looked better than the Buckmark. All are nice guns, in the end it came down to the fact that the S&W Victory was available locally with a $265.00 Black Friday sale at a nearby sporting goods store. Ruger would have been at least $250 more for a comparable model and I'm nearly certain it doesn't shoot $250 better! Well according to various review sites it shouldn't. Too good a deal to pass up. Saved enough money to buy another gun, wife picked out a Taurus G2C 9mm.
 
Originally Posted by Eosyn
Originally Posted by HouseTiger
Favorite .22 handguns:

Ruger Super Single-Six Convertible 4-5/8" barrel
Ruger Bearcat 4" barrel

Ruger Mk I Target 6-7/8" tapered barrel
Ruger Mk II Target 4" bull barrel

Have no use for the Mk III or Mk IV. It's a personal preference.

Yes, I have a penchant toward Rugers. Total round count - lost track 30 years ago !

You're happy with Ruger products and customer service?



Actually, I have never had a negative interaction with Ruger's customer service. I've also never had a negative interaction with Smith & Wesson customer service either. I have only had to send two guns back to Ruger in the last 45+ years.

One was a second generation (181 series) Mini-14 that was recalled over heat treating issues of some sort. It was returned to me in about a week. I later sold it because it couldn't hold a decent group at 100 yards if you tried (and this is on a bench rest).

The last was around 1993 I sent my 4" stainless GP-100 back because I had put so many full house .357 reloads through it (used it in IPSC, bowling pins, steel plates, etc - and thank you Mike Dillon! ) that it was starting to misfire. Ruger put all new innards in it, sent it back in about 10 days with zero charge and it's been spot on ever since.

Otherwise, any parts I have needed to pimp out my Single Actions, I could order from Ruger or of late from Brownells and that was that.

As for Ruger products, I've had my 10/22 since @ 1967, and there hasn't been zip done to it except put a scope on it and put .22 lead downrange. Still have my first Mark I .22 target pistol that has also put more than its fair share of lead down range. I've bought, sold and horse-traded a bunch of Rugers (along with Colts and Smiths) over the years, but never out of quality issues. It was me getting bored (and in the case of .44 and .41 Magnums, along with .30 Carbine, I didn't need the recoil) and wanting something else. I still have the two stainless GP-100s that I bought when they first came out (4" adjustable, 3" fixed) and they keep on working.

Having said all that, I have never been able to warm up to any of Ruger's centerfire autoloading pistols. From their P85 forward, they seemed to change models faster than one could keep up with them. I'm still not a particular fan of their American series pistols. But I do love their .22 revolvers, pistols and rifles, along with their double and single action revolvers.

Considering what has been coming out of Smith & Wesson and Colt in the last 18-20 years in the way of cylinder guns, I'll take the Ruger.
 
Took the Victory out for some very informal target practice, just some paper bullseye targets, cans, and miscellaneous stuff to shoot at. I bought a few different brands (Blazer, aguila, CCI, Winchester Super-X) and types of ammo to try and all worked well except the "quiet" low velocity CCI rounds, which I'm not terribly surprised about- Those I had to eject manually. I had two or three FTE using the CCI standard velocity when I first started; after 15-20 rounds all was fine. Feel of the gun is surreal like it's molded to my hands, after taking it apart a couple times (just for practice) it's pretty easy and straightforward, the whole gun seems like a quality piece.

I lack the knowledge and experience to give an in-depth range-report, but the results thus far seem very positive. My father in law was able to make accurate shots within 3 or so inches of each other at 10-15 yards (we didn't measure) and he'd never shot the gun before. Me, I need more practice and that's exactly what this gun is for.

Thanks all for the input, it proved valuable especially in giving me ideas and different guns to research.
 
sounds like a perfect day at the shooting range with the perfect pistol for you, thanks for your impressions.
 
I have a Buckmark Micro Bull 4" and a S&W Victory- both fantastic guns. I put a red dot on my Victory and it's perfect for getting rid of red squirrels at my cabin.
 
A red dot for Red Squirrels who would have thunk it ! A Grey dot for Grey Squirrels!! All teasing aside the red dots work great on pistols!
 
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