22lr pistols?

Bizarrely I have a Walther P22 that rarely has an issue, as in maybe five or six failures in a box of 525 rounds. I have put maybe 12 or 13K rounds through it. Hadn't fired it in two or three years until last month when I decided to see what was what with it. Another 50 rounds loaded, another 50 rounds fired no issues. I maintain that it's the fact that I use dry lube, not oil, on my P22. Mine even has the "A" mags which are supposed to be awful. I figure it's the only one in existence that works so well.

Conversely I have a nice stainless Ruger MKIII that will have a jam every third mag or so!

I would not recommend the Walther P22 unless you are OK with the inherent issues up front. I bought mine to exaggerate my aiming habits that were bad, didn't care if it jammed, kind of a bonus for what I wanted it for really. And then the damned thing runs like a champ...I would recommend that MKIII. Accurate, attractive, and fun pistol.
 
I have a buckmark and a ruger 22/45. Both eat about anything except federal champion. The champion ammo is suppose to be high velocity but it seems to be loaded lighter than standard velocity ammo. With it I get a lot of failure to extract and the next round not being picked up by the slide.
 
After a couple hundred rounds of break in, my Beretta Neos eats absolutely everything I feed it, the trigger sucks but you can pick them up for around $250, they're very accurate and the mags are so much smoother and higher quality than the rugers. I also recently got the barrel threaded and a new front fiber optic sight from www.ewkarms.com My 22/45 Lite is finally reliable after adding a Tandom Kross extractor and LCI delete plate. Before that it would have at least 2 FTE's per mag. Worst out of the box gun I've ever bought. After a complete overhaul from TandemKross I like it almost as much as my Neos
 
Iron rule of 22 pistols is that since you can't reload rimfire ammo (not yet, anyway) you have to find out what ammo they like.
 
I'm not sure the round count, maybe in the 2K+ range, but I had my first malfunction with my Browning 1911-22 the other week. Aguila Pistol Match failed to eject the first round in the magazine, the rest fed fine.
 
Depends on what you mean by, "really well". If you mean, press the trigger and it'll go bang, then any one of the available revolvers will do but not the automatics. If you're looking for accuracy as well as reliability, then maybe. My Smith M41 will function with anything that's in the magazine, but really perks with the target grade .22's. Accuracy with iron sights is down around an inch or less at 25 yds...I've always wondered what it was capable of with a scope of some sort mounted.

For revolvers, I've got a Colt Diamondback from the late 70's that'll do less than 2" at 25 with several of the bulk .22's available. And a Ruger Single-Six Convertible for the early 70's did as well until some dirt-bag SOB stole it during a break in. Our current Single-Six Convertible (a new model 2-screw) does as well with either the magnum or long rifle cylinder in place. The trigger, however, doesn't have that beautiful let off that the old 3-screw had achieved over the 10,000 rounds or so that had been fired with it.

Here's a pic of the old war horse Single-Six with a 5-shot target (an inch and a quarter with Remington Golden solids) from the 25 yd line in happier times. Gone but not forgotten. And the 2nd is of one of my Ruger .45's with a Marvel .22 upper on it...not bad from the 10 yd line and a two-handed Weaver Stance.

HTH's Rod



 
I have an old Buckmark 10" that works beautifully and accurately with everything I've fed it. 10 shots sandbagged at 25 yards into less than an inch with great regularity. It even likes the hyper velocity stuff. I've had it for decades, so not sure if the newer stuff is as good, but mine is a peach.
 
rodfac, I have a couple of S&W Models 41 that I've shot with the iron sights, Simmons (Prohunter) scopes and red dot sights (Burris and Ultradot 6). My eyes are the limiting factor. Red dot sights give me 1/2 to 3/4 inch groupings at 25 yards. When things are going well, I can put a round, or two, in a black dot less than a half inch in diameter. Just a few minutes of shooting results in my red dot sights blurring vertically, resulting in the group spreading. I shoot C-Mark red dots on other pistols with a minimum of blur. C-Mark sights won't fit the rail on my M41's; so far I've resisted buying other rails for the M41's.

As to scopes, I get slightly better groupings, 1/2 inch. If the scope cross hairs were smaller and I were a better shot, sub-half inch groups are likely possible with those two pistols.

I need to mention my age, 79; and, the fact I shoot from rest on a sand bag.

My Hammerli Xesse Sport is slightly more accurate, primarily due to the two-stage trigger. It forces me to be gentle so I can really feel the stages and not wiggle the gun.
 
Some of my experience -- YMMV:

The Good:
Beretta 71
Older Colts (Woodsman, Huntsman) and High-Standards (Model B)
Browning Buckmark

The above have all had broad-spectrum ammo reliability. The Beretta 71's in particular, are reliable from standard velocity up through hyper velocity. The Colts and High-Standards are also very close -- possibly a little more picky on the low-velocity end. The Buckmark is not quite as excellent, but close -- one can still find a wide range of reliable loads, with ease.

The Bad:
Wilkinson Sherry (an out-of-production pocket pistol) -- could not find a single reliable load
S&W M&P -- constant jamming with everything I tried (my experience was a single-time outing, so it's possible it was reliable with a load I didn't try)

The Frustrating:
Beretta 21A -- narrow spectrum of loads it liked, and was never quite 100% with any of them
Browning 1911-22 -- 100% reliable with mini-mag and nothing else. Close with others, but would fail just often enough to crush one's confidence. Okay for low-priority plinking operations.
 
Thanks rt11...that answers a few questions. I'm coming up on 71 pretty soon but have held back on putting glass on any of my short guns. And this deer season was the first for glass on my lever guns....oh to have those 20 yo eyes again...and still know what I've garnered about our sport over the years....alas, youth, like beauty, is wasted on the young! Rod
 
Chris B...yep, the OP did nix revolvers, but I'm at heart, an optimist, and never give up on those who've strayed from the path! :) YMMV, Rod
 
Is there at least one 22lr pistol that will shoot the cheapest 22lr ammo really well?
Click to expand...
Older High Standards will.

My S&W 22/s is unworldly accurate - 50 shots into a hole about the size of a dime from a rested position - indoors @ 25 yards using a 4X scope....isn't impossible for just about anyone to accomplish.
This gun makes people much better shots than they ever thought they were/are.
 
Ok I give up, "i have a S & W .22 Compact that is great and Bersa Thunderer that has yet to fire a full mag of ammo ( slight exaggeration but only slightly), and a Walther PPK that is very hit and miss when it comes to reliability. My llama XV is a minature .1911 in steel, feed it any Hi-speed and it will sing too you. I have another that Llama that is not picky, it hates everything. So conclusive evidence that you need to fire anything you wish to purchase prior to the commitment. Its the only way.
 
Another vote for MKII; mine has the 5.5" bull barrel - works great, even with the cheap Winchester and Remington ammo everyone complains about.
 
So conclusive evidence that you need to fire anything you wish to purchase prior to the commitment. Its the only way.
Click to expand...

Indeed it's the only completely certain way. However, it's very difficult to do it that way, unless you have the luxury of a long wait for the perfect buying opportunity. And if you tend to do most of your shooting alone, it may never happen at all.

If I was forced to bet my life on the reliability of my next Gunbroker .22 pistol purchase, I would head straight for the 50+ year old Colts (being careful to check for dry-fire damage of the chamber), or the Beretta 71's. In both cases, I've purchased multiple examples with excellent broad-spectrum reliability, and seen zero frustrating cases. Online reputation seems to square well with my own experience, so that's where I'd make my stand.
 
Over the years I've been mostly specializing on Ruger Mark pistols, but I am captivated with all firearms in .22 caliber. I've had the chance to shoot quite a few .22 caliber semi-automatic pistols before (if they worked OK) and then after any work was done. This array of pistols involved all of the domestically made .22 caliber pistols in one form or another, and even a bunch of foreign pistols I had never even heard of. Like this one:



Some, came along with prices I just couldn't refuse:








But those that I like the BEST, shoot the BEST!





 
Over the years I've been mostly specializing on Ruger Mark pistols, but I am captivated with all firearms in .22 caliber. I've had the chance to shoot quite a few .22 caliber semi-automatic pistols before (if they worked OK) and then after any work was done. This array of pistols involved all of the domestically made .22 caliber pistols in one form or another, and even a bunch of foreign pistols I had never even heard of...
Click to expand...

What did you find to have the least reliability problems, statistically speaking? Both in new manufacture and older?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top