Will very soon own a Sig P6 and a S&W 59 (both 9mm), looking to buy a .22 LR

J

jersey_emt

New member
I just was granted my Firearms Purchaser ID Card in New Jersey along with 3 handgun purchase permits.

The first handgun purchase permit is going to a Sig Sauer P6 (P225), a 9mm single-stack design with an 8-round magazine capacity. It has no manual safety, just a decocker, and can be described as a Sig Sauer P226 with a single-stack magazine, and, correspondingly, a thinner grip.

The second handgun purchase permit is going to a Smith & Wesson Model 59, a 9mm double-stack design with a 14-round magazine capacity. It has a manual safety on the slide, and due to the double-stack magazine, has a fairly 'chunky' grip.

So that leaves me with one additional unused handgun permit, which will expire in 90 days. I am thinking of adding a .22 LR handgun to my collection for some ultra-cheap trigger time and training. I know it's probably been asked many times before, but what would be a good .22 LR handgun for under $400, with under $300 being preferred? I won't completely dismiss revolvers, but after shooting several at the range, I just couldn't get 'into' revolvers. Does what I am looking for actually exist?

This .22 LR handgun would be solely for range use and plinking, so rock-hard reliability isn't a huge issue. I don't mind if it jams more than average, in fact that would have the advantage of helping me clear jams as quickly as possible, a skill that definitely would help with my 9mm handguns. As long as it is fairly reliable and doesn't jam after every other round even after working out which brand of ammunition it eats up best.

Thanks in advance for your suggestions and comments.
 
Under $400, I'd go with a Ruger Mark II, but here's a list of cool stuff to look into.....

Classics:
Browning Buckmark
Ruger Mark I/II/III

Just plain cool :
Walther SP22
S&W SW22a
Ruger Charger
Callico M110

New school (but not as burly):
Walther P22
SIG Mosquito

Other good picks:
CZ Kadet
SIG Conversion Kits

And of course revolvers are always a great choice, but you seem to have an affinity for autos. If I personally was going to buy myself a new .22 (to be my only .22), I'd go with the Ruger Mark III. Just my .02
 
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I concur with Carne Frio. Actually, ANY Ruger Mk I, II or III .22 autoloader. It's running with a 60 year track record, parts are cheap and available and tons of accessories are available for it. I've owned mine for 42 years now with tens of thousands of rounds put through it. Also, Ruger factory service is pretty decent.

Other makes are currently using pot metal parts in their construction. I don't recommend those.

The Ruger Charger, as far as I can see, is an answer to question that was never asked. Ruger took their 10/22 rifle action and made a "pistol" out of it. It's large and cumbersome and probably not what you are going to want for a "take to the range and have fun" handgun.
 
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You're gonna love the Sig, I've got one myself. What I'm wondering though is why two autos? Why not get an auto, a revolver and a .22. Round out the herd, you know?

You might want to look into the Sig Mosquito, since you'll have the P6. With the mosquito, you'll be able to build up muscle memory for the P6.

One question though, does new jersey issue "new gun permits?" or just general permits?" Cause, P6's are all used... and if you've only been issued 3 new gun permits, you're gonna miss out on the p6.
 
Mk III

I have a Mk III and I enjoy it a great deal. It has a few admirable features including a patented mechanism that let's you know when a round in in the chamber. My Mk III has a fluted barrel for faster cooling, and I have a red dot scope mounted on mine (the rabbits don't stand a chance).

A couple .22s I would not recomend are:

The Ruger .22/45 with the 1911 grip. It's sounds like a golden idea, but I don't think Ruger thought the feeding system and the 1911 grip angle through all the way. If the slide is forward when you push the clip in it pushes the bullet down and it feeds poorly. I DID have this gun

The other is the Walther P22. It's just bad. The barrel is far to short leaving unspent powder, and making it less accurate abd much louder than it needs to be. I didn't actually shoot it. It's my friends gun, but it jammed on him often so...
 
The P22s get a worse rap than they deserve. I've fired a couple hundred rounds in one with no feeding issues beyond the first 3 rounds (which was because I was limp wristing it). I was firing Winchester 555 out of it and it fired beautifully. With the higher front sight and the rear sight correctly adjusted, it was capable of much better accuracy than I thought it would be. The owner informed me that it has to be cleaned very well after every single firing session. Once you lapse on cleaning it, it starts to gum up and fail. It's a testy gun, for sure, but it's not the piece of junk that the internet will make you think.
 
Okay I may have been a little harsh on the P22, but still the barrel is way too short for my liking. It makes it less accurate and loud. I had my .22/45 at the time and my friend had the P22. Both were poor .22s, and I have another hunting friend with a P22 with a slightly longer barrel (1 inch longer) but it's has the same flaws. Needless to say between my 22/45 and his P22, we didn't kill as many rabbits as we could have.

But if you are looking for a small pocket pistol the P22 would be good for that, but if you're going hunting or planning on shooting 550+ rounds at the range without fail go for the MkIII. I did buy a bad clip for my MkIII that didn't feed well, but that's a crappy clip. Not the gun. The 4 other clips work awesome.
 
That's a great idea you have getting a .22 for cheap practice. Probably half the rounds I fire are .22. Be careful, though, they're addictive. I started with a single .22 semi-auto and soon added a revolver and two rifles.

+1 on the Beretta NEOS. I really like mine. I really like my brother's Buckmark too. The Mk III's are reputed to be harder to take apart for cleaning. That's something I'd look into before buying one. I'd download the manual from Ruger's site and search this site for threads before I made up my mind. Other than that they have a great reputation. The P22 and Mosquito have Zinc in the slides. That is a deal breaker for me but not everyone cares about it. I figure it's good to be aware so you can make an informed decision - esp. in a place that makes it so difficult to buy guns.

Whatever you decide on, be sure to come back and post pics. And be sure to enjoy! :-)
 
I've got a p22 so far 700 rounds through it (all CCI mini mags) and I think I have had 3 malfunctions. It doesn't like to have the magazine slapped in to hard. The first round tends to pop the business end up. I was used to slapping magazines into my .45. Had two of those once I softened up the magazine insertion it has had one fail to feed. yeah the 3.4" barrel is a little short but it shoots where I point it and it is cheap to shoot.
 
So I was able to try out a few .22LR pistols -- the Ruger Mark III with 5.5" barrel, Sig Mosquito, and Beretta Neos U22 with 4.5" barrel.

I liked them all. Accuracy on them are all better than my current capabilities. I understand how a Sig Mosquito is a good choice because it handles the same as my P6, just with an external manual safety that I wouldn't use other than putting the gun away. But I would like something different.

I also came across the Firestorm FS22 in my search. Any experience with this? It seems to have somewhat of a 'cult' following. I love the Walther PPK like look of this gun, and read a glowing review at http://www.gunblast.com/Firestorm.htm. The price is great too, $250 brand new, available locally so no FFL transfer fees or anything.
 

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