Someone asked about rimfire handguns that are actually shot.
These are the rimfire handguns I still have and shoot:
* Ruger 22/45 (mk3) with a 4" barrel. I've upgraded some parts and removed others. It was purchased new and has 19,765 rounds through it so far; mostly Federal, Winchester, and CCI bulk packs. It is the third most reliable rimfire handgun I have owned.
* Ruger 22/45 (mk3) with a 5.5" barrel. This one has the exact same upgrades and removals as the 4" version, except I did all of the mods before I ever fired it. It was purchased new, and I have 2,863 rounds through it so far with no malfunctions of any kind using only Federal, Winchester, and CCI bulk packs. It is tied for the most reliable rimfire handgun I have owned.
* Ruger SP-101 4.2" with adjustable sights (the new one). It was purchased new. I've done some action work and spring replacement, in addition to Dremel-ing the edges of the hammer to smooth them out a bit. The 12-lb Wolff hammer spring caused light strikes, so I put the stock 14-lb hammer spring back in. The lighter Wolff trigger spring works fine, so I left it. I have 11,904 rounds through it so far using the same bulk pack ammo mentioned above. It is tied for the most reliable rimfire handgun I have owned, as long as it has the stock hammer spring.
Rimfire handguns I no longer have/shoot:
* Ruger 22/45 (mk2) with no modifications. I had about 2,200 rounds through this gun when I gave it to a friend. It had problems feeding and ejecting, and I suspect it needed to be sent back to the factory.
* Ruger MK2 Target Competition model. I bought it used and then put 3,213 rounds through it before sending it back to Ruger to fix a loose barrel. Ruger could not fix it, and they replaced it with a...
* Ruger MK3 Target Competition model. I put 10,829 rounds through this new gun and also made some modifications before I sold it to buy the 22/45 5.5" listed above. I dislike the grip angle of this gun as compared with the 22/45, so I decided to standardize with the 22/45.
* Firestorm .22. I bought this gun barely used and put 13,527 rounds through it before I gave up and sold it. It was very reliable with certain (more expensive) ammo for approximately the 8,000 rounds in the middle. On the front end and back end, it was really finicky with every other kind of ammo. The ammo that worked in the beginning was not the ammo that worked at the end. Too much bother.
(Edited)
Almost forgot:
* Ruger SR22 "Pistol" -- I shot 1,944 rounds through this gun with some failures (not a lot, but it was far from perfect). It was way more reliable than my old Firestorm, but it wouldn't work reliably with Stingers or Velocitors (the only rounds I would consider if I were to carry it), and the barrel leaded badly with CCI bulk pack. Plus, I thought both the double action and single action triggers were pretty bad compared to my 22/45s. Sold it.
These are the rimfire handguns I still have and shoot:
* Ruger 22/45 (mk3) with a 4" barrel. I've upgraded some parts and removed others. It was purchased new and has 19,765 rounds through it so far; mostly Federal, Winchester, and CCI bulk packs. It is the third most reliable rimfire handgun I have owned.
* Ruger 22/45 (mk3) with a 5.5" barrel. This one has the exact same upgrades and removals as the 4" version, except I did all of the mods before I ever fired it. It was purchased new, and I have 2,863 rounds through it so far with no malfunctions of any kind using only Federal, Winchester, and CCI bulk packs. It is tied for the most reliable rimfire handgun I have owned.
* Ruger SP-101 4.2" with adjustable sights (the new one). It was purchased new. I've done some action work and spring replacement, in addition to Dremel-ing the edges of the hammer to smooth them out a bit. The 12-lb Wolff hammer spring caused light strikes, so I put the stock 14-lb hammer spring back in. The lighter Wolff trigger spring works fine, so I left it. I have 11,904 rounds through it so far using the same bulk pack ammo mentioned above. It is tied for the most reliable rimfire handgun I have owned, as long as it has the stock hammer spring.
Rimfire handguns I no longer have/shoot:
* Ruger 22/45 (mk2) with no modifications. I had about 2,200 rounds through this gun when I gave it to a friend. It had problems feeding and ejecting, and I suspect it needed to be sent back to the factory.
* Ruger MK2 Target Competition model. I bought it used and then put 3,213 rounds through it before sending it back to Ruger to fix a loose barrel. Ruger could not fix it, and they replaced it with a...
* Ruger MK3 Target Competition model. I put 10,829 rounds through this new gun and also made some modifications before I sold it to buy the 22/45 5.5" listed above. I dislike the grip angle of this gun as compared with the 22/45, so I decided to standardize with the 22/45.
* Firestorm .22. I bought this gun barely used and put 13,527 rounds through it before I gave up and sold it. It was very reliable with certain (more expensive) ammo for approximately the 8,000 rounds in the middle. On the front end and back end, it was really finicky with every other kind of ammo. The ammo that worked in the beginning was not the ammo that worked at the end. Too much bother.
(Edited)
Almost forgot:
* Ruger SR22 "Pistol" -- I shot 1,944 rounds through this gun with some failures (not a lot, but it was far from perfect). It was way more reliable than my old Firestorm, but it wouldn't work reliably with Stingers or Velocitors (the only rounds I would consider if I were to carry it), and the barrel leaded badly with CCI bulk pack. Plus, I thought both the double action and single action triggers were pretty bad compared to my 22/45s. Sold it.
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