.22 pistol shooters
- Thread starter Joe-ker
- Start date
I have a 22/45, what some call a MK II 22/45, but it was the first 22/45. It eats anything.
I haven't had anything jam in my MK II Government Target either.
I've heard good things about reliability of Buckmark pistols as well.
I do know High Standards are finicky, and should only get SV ammo, but it is mainly the magazines there- if all else is good.
I've heard S&W model 41 is finicky.
But most .22lr revolvers with factory hammer springs seem to have no problems [other than heavy DA trigger pulls, when DA/SA revolver].
I haven't had anything jam in my MK II Government Target either.
I've heard good things about reliability of Buckmark pistols as well.
I do know High Standards are finicky, and should only get SV ammo, but it is mainly the magazines there- if all else is good.
I've heard S&W model 41 is finicky.
But most .22lr revolvers with factory hammer springs seem to have no problems [other than heavy DA trigger pulls, when DA/SA revolver].
If you can find .22 ammo that is accurate and will function reliably ALL THE TIME in your pistol you have found one of the Holy Grails of shooting...happily, you have a LOT to choose from...
The only .22 auto-loading pistol I have owned that was reliable ALL the time was a Beretta 70S which I no longer have, and Ive owned a bunch of Rugers, Mks I, II and III...of these, the best as far as dependability, MOST of the time, was an old Mark I Standard six inch.
The only .22 auto-loading pistol I have owned that was reliable ALL the time was a Beretta 70S which I no longer have, and Ive owned a bunch of Rugers, Mks I, II and III...of these, the best as far as dependability, MOST of the time, was an old Mark I Standard six inch.
Most .22LRs will shoot more accurately with LRN. Not sure if it's due to the softer projectile, or that they are usually loaded down to "standard velocity", or both. For me, that's an excellent reason to shoot plain lead in my 22s.
.22 autoloading pistols are a separate category of .22s...not only do you search for an accurate load but one that will cycle and function reliably. This is true for 22 rifles also....a 22 revolver is a different animal.
Usually, 22 revolver malfunctions are caused by a faulty 22 cartridge and not the weapon. Failures to fire come to mind. Dented rim but no ignition. Often the cartridge will fire on the second try or just trigger the weapon double action to bring up a fresh round if in a hurry.
I cannot remember a 22 revolver malfunctioning on me that wasn't ammo related but I'll never trust any 22 auto pistol excepting an older SA Beretta I used to own...luckily most 22 shooting is recreational and not generally depended upon for self-defense.
Usually, 22 revolver malfunctions are caused by a faulty 22 cartridge and not the weapon. Failures to fire come to mind. Dented rim but no ignition. Often the cartridge will fire on the second try or just trigger the weapon double action to bring up a fresh round if in a hurry.
I cannot remember a 22 revolver malfunctioning on me that wasn't ammo related but I'll never trust any 22 auto pistol excepting an older SA Beretta I used to own...luckily most 22 shooting is recreational and not generally depended upon for self-defense.
I haven't got any new generation guns but Ruger OM autos, Hi-STDs & Colt pistols had no problems with any ammo. My old 10/22 Rugers from 60s only acted up with Rem Yellow Jackets, but so has other good 22 repeaters. In 41 S&W plinker ammo is CCI St-V. Most of jams I've had were functions of the mags.
Here is a caveat but rather embarrassing. Someone said there are two kinds of shooters in this world "those who have had an accidental discharge and those who will" Scary, but whether you believe this or not here goes...
About 20 years ago I read in a gun mag that CCI Stingers would be ideal for a 22 auto used for SD. This may be a good suggestion for some 22s but not this Ruger.
A 22/45, 4.75" stainless which I still have and although Ruger warned in the manual against it, I had to fool around with this ammo in my pistol. The problem is the case is longer and bullet smaller in order to gain the velocity advantage. After a shooting session I retracted the slide believing that the chamber was empty. When I got home I aimed at the floor, squeezed the trigger, and put a stinger through my bedroom carpet!
Luckily, the observance of rules #2 and #4 prevented what might have been a catastrophe as I didn't check the chamber before squeezing!.... Needless to say, I learned from it big time. The longer case probably combined with higher pressure caused the live round to stick and the extractor failed to pull it out. Although the Stinger might work fine in some pistols it is probably best to READ THE MANUAL and heed the manufacturers recommendations!
About 20 years ago I read in a gun mag that CCI Stingers would be ideal for a 22 auto used for SD. This may be a good suggestion for some 22s but not this Ruger.
A 22/45, 4.75" stainless which I still have and although Ruger warned in the manual against it, I had to fool around with this ammo in my pistol. The problem is the case is longer and bullet smaller in order to gain the velocity advantage. After a shooting session I retracted the slide believing that the chamber was empty. When I got home I aimed at the floor, squeezed the trigger, and put a stinger through my bedroom carpet!
Luckily, the observance of rules #2 and #4 prevented what might have been a catastrophe as I didn't check the chamber before squeezing!.... Needless to say, I learned from it big time. The longer case probably combined with higher pressure caused the live round to stick and the extractor failed to pull it out. Although the Stinger might work fine in some pistols it is probably best to READ THE MANUAL and heed the manufacturers recommendations!
indie_rocker
New member
My Beretta M9-22 has been absolutely reliable. It has fed, fired and ejected every garbage and premium round I've tried. From the Federal lead round nose $.98 a box stuff I found amongst my uncles stuff after he passed to high velocity Stingers and Velocitors.
I mainly run Blazer, picked up a bunch for cheap and its not the most accurate, but I can run hundreds upon hundreds without failure of any kind.
I mainly run Blazer, picked up a bunch for cheap and its not the most accurate, but I can run hundreds upon hundreds without failure of any kind.
SGW Gunsmith
Moderator
I decided I needed something like a ruger mark 4. I thought I knew what I wanted, but, as I researched it, my ideas got modified a bit, anyway. My question is this: Is long long rifle Hollow Point fine to shoot in a pistol of that nature? I just don't see where hollow point is specified anywhere. 
Jim Watson
New member
Yes.
Not a problem
Be Safe !!!
Please clarify; Do you mean LR only or L&LR? As for Hollow-Points, some shooters feel that they are more accurate and that's fine. Competition shooters are very particular and dedicated about what they shoot, regardless of cost. For the most part, the Ruger MK-family will shoot just about anything. When I can pick up LR's for a good price, I buy them and work with what I get. …
Be Safe !!!
Oh good Lord! Sorry I just meant to say Long Rifle Hollow Point. Hollow Points from different mfg's are readily available in my area for a change and I was just wanting to make sure that they were OK. I thought they were but everywhere I looked on the internet just talked about Long Rifle. Thanks Pahoo and Watson for the help!
I haven't shot 22 pistol in a while but after this thread I took two weapons to the range. A 22/45 MK II Standard 4.75" that i've had for 20 plus years and a more recent SP101 4.25" Revolver.
I wanted to experiment with WW Hyper Velocity (1400 plus fps) in both weapons. The 22/45 had a stove pipe jam on the 9th and last round in the first mag. Also, there was one dud in that first mag and I ejected it, re-chambered it, and it fired.
Talking about hollow point LR, the 22/45 shoots Federal AE 36 grain HPs the best as far as accuracy but has never been 100% reliable with this ammo or any other for that matter.
The SP101 shoots Remington Yellow Jackets better than about 6 or 7 other brands/styles of bullet I previously tried. They have been hard to find until recently so I shot the second best performer in that revolver, Remington Vipers. It shot the WW Hypers acceptably well but not as good as the Vipers. The SP101 has never malfunctioned for any reason.
Those Vipers, a 36 grain, truncated cone solid, is a somewhat hyper velocity round, and will probably be my standard in the SP101 even though Yellow Jackets, which are also "hyper" velocity, shoot a bit better.
In a hand gun, and lower velocity, I'm not sure if hollow points will expand but I have never tested so don't know for sure. As was pointed out earlier, they may be more accurate than solids in your pistol whether they expand or not.
I wanted to experiment with WW Hyper Velocity (1400 plus fps) in both weapons. The 22/45 had a stove pipe jam on the 9th and last round in the first mag. Also, there was one dud in that first mag and I ejected it, re-chambered it, and it fired.
Talking about hollow point LR, the 22/45 shoots Federal AE 36 grain HPs the best as far as accuracy but has never been 100% reliable with this ammo or any other for that matter.
The SP101 shoots Remington Yellow Jackets better than about 6 or 7 other brands/styles of bullet I previously tried. They have been hard to find until recently so I shot the second best performer in that revolver, Remington Vipers. It shot the WW Hypers acceptably well but not as good as the Vipers. The SP101 has never malfunctioned for any reason.
Those Vipers, a 36 grain, truncated cone solid, is a somewhat hyper velocity round, and will probably be my standard in the SP101 even though Yellow Jackets, which are also "hyper" velocity, shoot a bit better.
In a hand gun, and lower velocity, I'm not sure if hollow points will expand but I have never tested so don't know for sure. As was pointed out earlier, they may be more accurate than solids in your pistol whether they expand or not.