Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns in a 22 pistol would you pick Browning Challenge, Ruger 22/45 or Ruger single six?

Smith or Browning.

All the supporters of the single six (and I own one) fail to mention one fact. The single six has it's barrel reamed out for the slightly larger 22 mag cartridge. Which means it will not shoot 22lr rounds quite as accurately.

Every auto .22lr I own shoots better than my single six. My Bearcat in .22lr is also more accurate.

O

Ruger 22/45 - have three and love them all.

Really ? With the right ammo, say CCI HP's, I get 2-2.5 inch groups at 25 yds. A really good, target grade .22 auto will, of course, best that, but nothing in a .22 LR comes even remotely close to the penetration and killing power of the basic .22 RF Magnum, 40 gr. loads. E

Ere..,

Bullet dia. for the 22lr is .224; dia. for the .22mag is .228. So a pistol firing both rounds must have a .228 barrel. My single six is more accurate with the 22mag round than the .22lr round.

You are entirely corrrect about the killing power of the .22mag. being superior. In my view the .22mag kills out of proportion to what I'd expect. And if a man wants the ability to shoot both rounds from the same pistol, the single six is the only game in town.

Believe it's Keltec that now makes a 30rd, 22mag auto. That should be very interesting.
O

I bought a new Browning Challenger in 1969, with the serial number 11xxxxU8. I have both barrel lengths for it, 4 1/2" & 6 1/2" plus three factory Browning magazines. Both barrels shoot very accurately when I do my part. I think it is one of the all time finest .22 LR pistols ever made. (And I've owned and shot several other brands and models.)

On the autopistols, I would go with the Challenge. I have fired one of the Field versions of the Brownings and really did like how it shot and how everything was laid out on it compared to any of the Ruger's I have fired so combining that with the weight of the Challenge and I would say it would be a good one.

I have owned a Mk II Ruger for years and have never liked the take down on it (I have not tried stripping a Browning so it may be as bad, but cannot recall seeing complaints) and the integral barrel/receiver assembly is almost beyong logic. That being said, if you go Ruger, I think the first generation of 22/45s would be the way to go after playing with the new mag safety version which has a horrible trigger by even my standards and the disassembly is even more of a PITA than the old pistols.

Re: in a 22 pistol would you pick Browning Challenge, Ruger 22/45 or Ruger single six?

No

I love my 5.5" bull barreled MkII. Put in the Volquartsen trigger, power custom hammer and sear kit and the Majestic Arms speed strip kit.

I highly recommend the speed strip kit as it replaces the bolt stop pin with one that has a allen bolt in the top. Instead of monkeying with the lever on the back the remove the bolt for cleaning, and then fighting it back in you simply unscrew the allen bolt and the bolt slides out for cleaning.

I see they now have a kit for the MkIII with a new hammer (also negates the mag disconnect) for $65 shipped.

seriously check out the speed strip kit its money:

http://www.majesticarms.com/id10.html

I really like this Mark III 22 Hunter, I have put close to 600 rounds thru the thing in less than a month. I don't know why I waited so long to get one...

jim..,

Ruger products have never had the accuracy/reliability I expect. You won't find a better 22 pistol than the High Standard unless you buy one. The S&W 22A and Buckmark come close. Forget about money , Buy a Smith or Browning and don't look back.

O

Re: cleaning the Ruger Auto's, seen a test report years ago on the MKII std. model, in SS. They simply removed the grips, and sprayed the internals out with brake cleaner/carb cleaner, then perhaps blow air into it to remove excess and crud.

No strip cleaning, if you have a Stainless FWIW....just a thought. Not a bad option. The re-assembly is a snap once you have done it a few times, and just follow instructions.

BTW, on the bore, you could use a snake, or fishing line and a patch w/o removing bolt. Just my .02.

Guys - y'all seem a little confused about the OP question. Browning hasn't made a "Challenger" model for years. The current lineup includes a Buckmark "Challenge" (no "r") that has the smaller grip frame and a tapered barrel.

I have had one of these since they first came out. it;s a great little pistol the has a good trigger and fits smaller hands, while being fine for medium mitts as well. It's accuracy is on par with my tricked-out Ruger MKIII Hunter. And it's lighter than the Ruger. Biggest drawback of the Challenge is that it doesn't accept barrels and other mods designed for the standard-frame Buckmarks, and last I checked there were no such mods available for the smaller-framed Buckmarks.

Jimmy - if you don't like the sight arrangement on your MKIII Hunter, it's no big deal to change out the front sight and/or the rear sight blade. Personally, I like the small front F/O combined with a rear "ghost ring" aka large "peep". You can buy such a rear blade (the blades are super easy to change out) or you can make your own easily with hacksaw blade stock. Standard front sights and rear sight blades can also be ordered from Ruger for a small cost.

I bought the MarkIII hunter with the short barrel and have found that the standard sights are minute of dragonfly at 5-6 feet or so. This is perfect for me as a copperhead snake's brain pan is a tad larger. I have lots of suggestions from Passport on tricking the gun out and am delighted that I got such a versatile and easily modified pistol. Its a bit heavier than the air weight 38 snub nose I used to carry loaded with birdshot but it does a lot that this pistol did not do.

I've had all of them before, and I realize it's a moot point for the OP. However, when true target .22 work is not needed, then I'd go with the Challenge, Single-6, and Ruger 'whatever'...in that order.



Free, I agree with what you posted. However, are you sure about that w/respect to the barrels? Even still, I'd go with the Challenge.



You remove the two screws that hold on the rear sight base, if you have to. Otherwise, I found that barrl cleaning could be done without having to bother. One of the advantages of the breech being open from either side. In any case, MUCH easier than the Ruger. Removal of the barrel is with one screw, after removing the sight and slide assembly.

For hunting/targets, the Mark II is my favorite 22lr but I recently bought a Single-Six and for pure fun, that gun has it goin' on!!!

I'd pick a Ceiner conversion unit for one of my 1911s.

>>I want to pick up a 22 pistol after shooting my friends old hi standard pistol.<<

I'm still fond of my 40 year old Hi Standard Supermatic Citation.

Just going by what I was told by the folks at Tactical Solutions. They offered barrels for the Buckmark for a while. I asked if they would fit the challenge - they said "no". I assume they would have liked to sell me one if they could. Same as you, I still like the Challenge.