Best shooting .22 pistol

P

postmaster

New member
I'm considering buying a new .22 pistol for target shooting. Don't want to spend more than $800. Ive been looking at Sig 220, 226. They both can be converted to full power center fire guns. Does anyone have one of these? Do they function without misfeeds? Also the Sig 1911 .22 looks good. Any help or advice is appreciated.
 
Good .22s (Accurate, Reliable):
1. Browning Buckmark
2. Ruger MKII or MKIII
3. Ruger 22/45

I strongly recommend adjustable sights with a 5" to 7" barrel.
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I have a 5.5" S&W 41 - nicer than the Rugers or Buckmarks but expensive and picky on ammo.
 
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You have it backwards. Buy the centerfire pistol, then get the 22 slide.

I have a CZ 75BD and got the Kadet kit used for ~$200, but that was a few years ago.
 
What do you mean by "target shooting"? Casual fun plinking or serious competition?
If casual I would go with the Ruger Single Six, mostest funnest gun to shoot you can imagine. I love mine.
For serious work, one of the Ruger SAs or S&W Mod. 41 or one of several others designed for competition.
 
About those Sigs,,,

A buddy of mine has one of those Sig-Sauer Classic 22 pistols,,,
I can't remember the model number of his gun,,,
It's the one that converts to a 9mm pistol.

A fine firearm it is,,,
No doubt whatsoever.

I own a CZ-75B in 9mm and her little sister CZ-75B Kadet in .22 LR,,,
My Kadet (the pistol, not the kit) is equally as accurate as his Sig,,,
Or you could say his Sig is equally accurate to my Kadet,,,
Both are extremely fine pistols.

So you want to buy a quality .22 pistol?

These are the 5 most common target style .22 pistols out there,,,
Any one of these 5 will give you many years of excellent performance.

I've not listed them in any order of preference.

Browning Buckmark = Great pistol but I found the grip to be funky.
Ruger 22/45 Mk II or MK III = Great pistol with a 1911-ish grip.
Beretta U22 NEOS = Great pistol with a very slender grip.
Ruger Mk II or MK III = Great pistol with a luger-ish grip.
S&W 22A = Great pistol with a very fat grip.

Any of these will serve you very well,,,
They are all reliable firearms that aren't ammo picky,,,
Rather than sweat over which one is better, get the one that fits your hand.

For those who want a non-target style DA/SA .22 pistol,,,
That is a reliable shooter but at an affordable cost,,,
There are two that consistently get great reviews:

Bersa Thunder 22 or the Firestorm 22,,,
Virtually identical pistols made by the same company,,,
These pistols are very similar in size and shape to a Walther PPK.

Two other pistols I will mention out of fairness to their brand names,,,
The Sig-Sauer Mosquito and the Walther P-22 are pistols that get very mixed reviews,,,
People who own them either absolutely love them or adamantly hate them.

The main concern of these guns is that the slides may (and sometimes do) crack under normal use,,,
Both have slides made of Zamak which is a Zinc alloy,,,
Commonly called "pot metal" or other bad names,,,
I can not verify or deny these assertions.

Then there are the high-end (high dollar) models.

CZ-75B Kadet - With the exception of the Kadet having adjustable rear sights,,,
It is virtually identical to the CZ-75B in 9mm.

Sig-Sauer Classic .22 - There are 3 models to choose from,,,
They start as a full frame .22 semi-auto that is convertible to their centerfire counterpart using what Sig calls the X-Change Kit,,,
They are the only production pistols that are designed to convert up to a centerfire pistol.

Beretta 87 - The .22 counterpart to the Beretta 84/85 in .380 ACP.

Last but not least are the .22 Mouse Guns.

Phoenix HP-22
A small inexpensive .22 pistol that people either love or hate,,,
The main gripe is too many California lawyer features,,,
The little pistol has too many safeties.

The Taurus PLY.
A very small semi-suto pistol with a polymer frame,,,
It is based on their Model 22B Beretta copy,,,
Very lightweight and easy to shoot,,,
It has a very nice grip.

I own, shoot regularly, and give a personal recommendation to these .22 pistols,,,
These six are all reliable shooters that aren't ammo picky (for me) at all.
Bersa Thunder 22,
Beretta Model 87,
CZ-75B Kadet,
Beretta NEOS,
Ruger 22/45,
Taurus PLY.

I also own a Phoenix HP-22,,,
It quit working after 150 rounds,,,
Two trips back to the plant in California.
As far as a functioning pistol goes, Mine is a very cute paper-weight.

I hope this helps,,,

Aarond

.
 
I did it the other way around. I bought a centerfire pistol Sig 226 9MM and got the 22LR conversion kit. The 22LR conversion works great and cycles cheap ammo as well as higher quality CCI Mini-Mags. To switch calibers, all you do is pull off one slide and insert the new slide (different magazine of course). I wanted a 22LR pistol that felt like a real centerfire gun to train my son when he gets old enough to transition from 22LR to 9MM. I don't think this Sig 22LR setup is as accurate as dedicated 22LR target gun with the barrel fixed to the frame (i.e. S&W 41) but I didn't have that need.

The only downside I see is that all SIG products are pricey$$$ including the magazines.

I have heard great things about the CZ75 Kadet conversion kit too but I don't have personal knowledge and CZ dealers are not popular in my area.

Most dedicated 22LR pistols in my experience feel like toys (too much plastic parts, difficult breakdown compared to centerfire, poor quality). I have heard of nothing good about the SIG 22LR Mosquito (plastic parts, unreliable). I got rid of a Ruger 22/45 MKIII because I found it nearly impossible to field strip to clean despite watching Youtube videos and internet instruction.

Remember, 22LR is very dirty by nature, much worse than centerfire. Easy to field strip is something to consider in a 22 LR purchase. Most 22LR guns function by blowback. The newer designs are better in the disassembly aspect like the new 1911 22LR models on the market and the SIG conversion kit.
 
How serious about this are you? If you are looking to compete in a local bullseye league, about the only pistol mentioned that is commonly used is the Ruger Mark series, ok out of the box to start, but usually heavily modified. That's also about the only thing in this price range. The good single action trigger is a must in order to be competitive. S&W model 41 is the US made standard. High Standard models are another option, but reliability because of poorly manufactured/designed magazines is sometimes a question. There are even higher priced foreign made options. A Ruger with modifications should be less than the $800 quoted. You might find a High Standard or model 41 used under $800. Check out Rimfire Central for more info.
 
I thank you all for the feedback. I confess to being one who buys a gun, keeps it, shoots it, carry it, and then maybe trade or sell. I have owned a Mark 11 with bull barrel. I even had a scope on it. It was deadly accurate. However I sold it 12 years ago. I want one that looks either like the Sig 226, 229 220, or some 1911 varient. My carry gun is a Glock 26 so I will mostly just plink cans bottles and shoot and see targets. I have a Walther ppk/s .22 now that I love, its a fun gun, but Im going to sell it.

I JUST LIKE GUNS!!!
 
If you like the Sig, there is also the Sig Trailside. A little on the upper end of the price range. Should compete with the Brownings and the Rugers.

I have both, Browning and Ruger. The Rugers have more add ons available. I see it as a Ford vs Chevy thing.

bull bob
 
I have a Sig conversion kit on my Sig 226 ...and its accurate ...and it feeds very well with a variety of ammo.

I think the conversion kit was about $ 300 ...the base gun ( about $1,000 ) ...

---------------
I have conversion kits for a couple of my 1911's ...I have one from Kimber and one from Wilson Combat. Both of them are real finnicky on ammo - running reliably on CCI Mini Mag ...but that ammo is costing about $ 12 for 100 these days ...and I can reload 9mm for about $ 9 for 100 rds...

and I'd rather shoot a 1911 in 9mm than in .22 .../ so I don't use the conversion kits too much honestly ...except for one of the younger grandkids.

The kits were around $ 300 ...the base guns $ 1,500 - $ 3,500 ...
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I also have an old High Standard .22 ...and a newer Buckmark ....both very good guns ..very good triggers ...and nice guns ...for under $ 750 ...
----------------

I guess it comes down to what you want ...but nothing wrong with any of the options. Personally, I train with a 1911 in 9mm a lot ( 5" barrel ) and carry a full sized 1911 in .45 acp ...identical to the one in 9mm ....and its far better practice for tactical shooting than any .22.

But the .22's are fun to shoot as well ....just for different reasons...

I have a variety of Sigs ( 239's, 226's, an X-Five ...) but they're all just fun guns / or maybe backup carry guns ...and the conversion kit for the 226's was just a buy when I found a good deal ...
 
Postmaster, when my permit arrives I will most likely be ordering the p226 classic with a 9mm exchange kit. I'll let you know how it goes, so far I've only heard good things.
 
Something 1911-ish?,,,

You might want to consider the CZ-75B Kadet.

It's identical (almost) to the CZ-75B in 9mm.

czechs2.jpg


I own both pistols but there is another way to go,,,
Buy the CZ-75B in 9mm and then purchase the Kadet Adapter Kit.

Sigs are fine pistols,,,
I'm not knocking them a bit,,,
I'm just presenting an option I found suitable.

I believe the CZ-s are less expensive than the Sigs.

Aarond
 
best shooting 22....
well that's a hard choice between

hamden ct high standard supermatic ciation model 103

smith and wesson model 17

cz kadet kit on a 85 combat frame single action trigger...

all of them shoot extremely well, and hard to say which one is best..
 
I found a sig 229 with a conversion kit included, all for $850, and a sig 220 same price at gunsamerica. The CZ looks good also and it runs about $675 just for the .22
 
I have a bunch of 22 pistols that I use for precision target shooting. Without a doubt, I would recommend the sig trail side!! I have rugers and Browning's and even the smith model 41. The trail side will out shoot them all. However, that model 41 is definitely hard to beat. The model 41 is a bit out of your price range and the trail side is going for in the $600 range.

-George
 
I own the SIG P226 22 Classic and like it. It was a little fussy at first and the slide's finish is a little lacking but over all a reliable and reasonably accurate pistol. I've purchased the 9mm X-Change kit, .357SIG X-Change kit and .40S&W barrel for mine giving me a 4 caliber P226. Handy indeed.

Aarond mentioned the CZ-75 Kadet of which I own one and find it a better pistol than the SIG P226 Classic.
 
Here is another option that's less expensive,,,

EAA Witness 9mm/22 kit,,,

Both slides in one package.

The gun is made by Tangfolio in Italy,,,
imported and marketed by EAA.

Some people swear that it is a clone of the CZ-75B,,,
I handled one at a gun show 3 weekends ago,,,
It felt a lot like my CZ-75B

The EAA Witness in 9mm consistently gets good reviews,,,
I don't have any actual experience with the .22 slide,,,
But it has five 5-star reviews at Buds gun shop.

The price has gone way up in the past month,,,
4 weeks ago they were $397.00,,,
Now they are $480.00

Just another option.

Aarond
 
The Ruger MKIII is the best .22lr pistol in the world, period! Anything else is junk, although I could be highly biased since I like mine so much. Definitely way better than the Walther P22 I used to own.

My Ruger MKIII will eat any type of ammo I feed it without a single jam, and it is extremely accurate up to 30 yards. If my hands were any steadier, I am sure it would be capable of even better accuracy at longer distances. Some people get the target models, put a scope on them, and shoot them accurately at distances up to 50 yards.
 
Postmaster

Depending on how much you have to spend the sig and cz are about equally priced when looking at the specific set up of having .22 and 9mm on the same frame. The path to having both is reversed however.

CZ(major caliber first then .22)
Get a 75b for ~$500 then add a kadet kit for around ~$350 for a total of ~$850. Factor in any shipping tax and or transfer fees.

Sig(.22 First then major)
Get p22x Classic, again ~$500 then add the caliber exchange kit for ~$350 again ~$850+shipping, tax and or transfer fees.

Sig Option 2(Same as CZ route)
Get p22x in a major caliber ~$800, then add the .22 conversion for ~$300, ~$1100+shipping tax and or fees

The big difference between the options being that with the Sig, if having a .22 is your primary consideration and having a mirror in a major caliber secondary, it allows you to start in at the lowest price. However if you intend to get both calibers immediately the sig and cz are about equal in entry price.
 
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