Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns does 22lr handgun deserve a spot in your arsenal?

45 ACP is 30 cents a piece. 22 LR is under 3 cents. Do you even have to ask?

+1 Or three or four....

The only problem I have with shooting a good accurate .22 handgun is that it gets boring real quick.I would rather shoot a .357 or 9mm or other center fire.It takes longer to get my fill of shooting.
To answer your question,Yes all arsenals should have at least one quality .22 handgun.I have a Browning Buckmark and it is a fine and accurate pistol at a very good and affordable price.

Absolutely.
The guy with just one handgun can do alot with a wisely choosen .22 rimfire.
For instance, one of mine is a Ruger Convertible. With the .22 Magnum RF cylinder in place, it can take alot small stuff and even some not so small stuff.
A guy who packs a 1911, can get a .22 RF practice unit for it.
But, above all, they encourage one to shoot. And, since handgun shooting is alot tougher to learn and stay good at, that alone is enough of a reason to own one. E

I too have fallen victim to getting more excited by the bigger bores over the years and neglecting to add a quality 22rf or two. I plan to rectify that sooner than later.

Let's face it, to master the handgun you have to do that by a large quantity of quality practice with a mild recoiling gun. Even if you have a lifetime supply of lead and can ignore the cost of lead and brass as well, the classic 38 sp target load of a 148gr wadcutter and 2.7gr of bullseye is $45/1000, vs $40/1000-1100 for bulk 22rf ammo. A good 22rf handgun will shoot federal bulk into 1" at 25 yds.

So I'd highly recomend either the 617 or ruger sp-101 22rf.

Hell yes it does...Does one even need to ask the question???

Not every shooter has an 'arsenal', but if one does ...

Any arsenal would be incomplete without a .22 lr handgun.


(IMO)

A .22lr pistol is a great place to spend more than you normally would for a handgun. The real quality 22's are a joy to shoot and are very valuable learning tools.

One of my projects this year was to accumulate more 22lr revolvers so I could build my DA shooting skills. It's been a good year:

k22. don't leave home without it.

I love my Colt Woodsman. Wouldn't sell or trade it for anything. I used to have a K22 with the 8" barrel. It shot like crazy but I just couldn't handle that long barrel.
I would love a 4 inch 617 but I have never seen one at the local dealer. Just might have to settle for the 6" one of these days.

Get the 617 and a good .22 pistol, like a Ruger MK(1,2 or3) or a Browning Buckmark. A single six is nice too. .22s are great to have around, IMO.

Ernie

Yep,

Get yourself a good 22 handgun! If you really want to be a great handgun shot, the 22 LR is THE way to learn.

Myself, I own more 22 handguns than all others combined.

Virgil B.

IMO - a 22lr handgun should be be the 1st spot in your arsenal!

If you like autos, try the new Ruger SR-22. Mine has yet to jam after 500 rounds without cleaning & is pretty doggone accurate. If you all ready own a 1911, the Kimber .22 lr Conversion kits work really well, but you can throw in a litte more money & buy the Ruger SR-22 or a used Ruger MkII.

If you like revolvers, it's awfully hard to beat a Ruger Single Six. You couldn't wear one of those out in a gazillion years.

I've got four .22 lr pistoles & I'm all ready considering getting one of the new Ruger MkIII's in the new ultralight version with the aluminum slide & polymer receiver. It comes with a factory threaded barrel & ought to be a lot of fun for a fully suppressed plinker. Anyone out there tried one yet? They are still pretty hard to get, my FFL Dealer says, but I'm starting to see them pop up for sale on Gunbroker...

Hello
Everyone should have at least one .22 revolver in their collection. That said what better choice than the S&W K-22. D. B. Wesson sure got it right on way back in 1931 when he sent the Target shooter's on their Ear with his new Creation the K-22 Outdoorsman model. He was no stranger to Marketing that is why he named the first series K-22 The Outdoorsman. He did make one small mistake though... He was in such a hurry to market his new K-22 that had his Invention of a recessed cylinder, that he did not Patent his idea of recessing the gun's cylinder. The reason he came up with the recessed cylinder was back in the 1930 time frame Winchester & Remington had just come out with new High speed .22 ammo. The case heads were rupturing due to their copper material shell casing and the new improved velocity had much more pressure than the previous made standard .22 ammo. His Case Invention of the recess in the cylinder's Encompassed the cartridge head's eliminating this case head rupture issue & it was one of the most copied idea's as most manufacturer's used this after they saw his idea worked very well. Through the year's the K-22 got some changes as a barrel rib, Larger Micro click style sights and a short cocking action to provide faster lock up time'a, but the gun lived on to be one of the best selling, most loved revolver's that S&W ever offered. During World War II Many letter's were sent to S&W from Serious Target shooter's on how to improve their K-22 as all Civilian Gun production was ceased for the War effort, so when they resumed Civilian Gun production in 1946 S&W announced that they now had the K-22 Target Masterpiece ready for it's gun hungry public. The early Post-War K-22's had the thin Barrel rib placed on them as it made the revolver's weigh the same as it's cousin counter Parts being the K-32 & K-38 Masterpiece's. The shooter's of these earlier K-22's suggested that S&W make the Masterpiece Trio weigh exactly the same so the easiest way to do this was to add a barrel rib. The shooting public responded with flooding order's for the new K-22 Masterpiece, and the rest is history. I myself prefer the earlier K-22's as my Two examples shown below of the first Variation being the K-22 Outdoorsman made from 1931-1939 Mine is a 1936 and my Early second year Post-War Transitional Model being the Masterpiece made in 1947... Long Live the K-22... and Yes, I do shoot them both as well as I do the completed Masterpiece series Trio being the K-22, The K-32 & The K-38 shown below my K-22's TheGeneral



The First Variation K-22 Outdoorsman Circa 1936, shown with it's original serial number Factory service stock's, Red Picture box, Paperwork, & Tool's












The Early Post-War K-22 Masterpiece. This revolver has the earlier Pre-War style Mushroom shaped cylinder extractor end making it a Transitional revolver. It is shown with it's original Factory serial numbered Magna stocks on it in this picture






[img]http://www.hunt101.com/data/500/1947_K-22_2.jpg[/img]

Here is my 1947 K-22 Transitional revolver shown with it's original box, Paperwork and tools with a set of Factory diamond Target stock's added to it.


[img]http://www.hunt101.com/data/500/Picture_0292.jpg[/img]

The Post-War Masterpiece Trio of revolver's being the K-22, K-32 & K-38 shown with their original Boxes, Paperwork and tools




[img]http://www.hunt101.com/data/500/medium/The_S_W_K-Frame_Target_Masterpiece_Trio_002.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.hunt101.com/data/500/medium/The_S_W_K-Frame_Target_Masterpiece_Trio_003.jpg[/img]

But, them'uns are just for looking at...... too purty to shoot

Hello Huntsman22
They are nice looking examples but I Have No Safe Queen's in my collection they all get shot as the picture's below show... TheGeneral

Not only purty, but accurate, too. Hurry, wipe off my drool.....

Leo�my bro-tha!!
So not only should you add a .22 to your battery, but I think you�re just an incomplete handgunner until you do. And quite honestly, a very good .22 is (if used properly) an essential tool to becoming a better handgunner; and we ALL can use more work on our shooting. My mantra is that you should not only own a .22, but it should be an excellent quality .22.
Your question is specifically around the 617, so I have addressed this question SPECIFICALLY in a short article: http://shootersjournal.net/dropping-big-coin-on-a-k-22-revolver/

Kevin, Thank you for the link. Good article!

I think a quality 22lr handgun makes a good understudy gun to your main centerfire,especially as it's so cheap and affordable to practice.

As a woods gun I believe a good medium frame 357mag trumps a 22lr hands down due to its versatility: 38spec wadcutters for walking the trapline, 38spec swc for small game, 38spec+P hollow point for selfdesnse both two legged and most four legged critters that I'd be likely to encounter in south western pennsylvania, and 357mag 158gr jsp for the bigger 4legged critter.

I already have about 1,500-2,000 rounds through my GP100 and I'm getting pretty darn good with it, both single action and double action which time some dedicate practice to get that way. I'm also practice one-handed double action and just starting to get confident in that and will start doing weakhand one hand double action shoot.

But I agree with all that was said about a 22lr, it deserves a spot which I need to fill.

Since I find myself gravitating towards DA revolvers, so I think a 4" barrel S&W 617 will fit the bill perfectly. Darn things are pricey, found new one locally for $717...ouch!


Leo