Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Best current production light weight 22 pistol / revolver

Say you want something that is

1) very very accurate as handguns go
2) Very light
3) has great sights

and is used to carry along with a rifle for picking off squirrels and such

Which one

Do they make a 22 LR version of the 329 ?

I just sent my New 317 S&W Kit Gun in for bad timing and barrel not on strait. So cant recommend that particular model. As far as weight goes it was very light. Like don't even notice it light. Maybe if u get one it will be better than the one I got. Wish I would have ponied up for the 617 now.

The Ruger 22/45 Lite has to a contender.

Though I've never shot one yet that would be my recommendataion. That or one of the Browning Buckmarks.

If you want to go beyond current production a fair supply of Browning Nomads or Challengers are available for reasonable prices on gunbroker.com and either one will shoot the eye out of the flea sitting on a squirrel's ear. I had the Challenger and a friend had a Nomad. The Nomad is the slimmer and "cheaper" of the two with a plastic handle, no bolt hold open device and will be a tad lighter, while the Challenger has a big round wooden handle. The current Buckmarks are the devolution of the earlier Challenger, although that's criticising them unfairly. The Buckmarks are still good pistols.

Out of curiosity I went and looked on gunbroker and now I'm thinking about one.

Folks are bidding the 22/45 Lite up to $655 and other outrageous prices, while Nomads and Challengers in good shape can still be had for the mid-upper $300 range on up to $600 or so for like new.

I surely likes me some Ruger pistols but for the same money they aren't even in the same ballpark with a good Browning Challenger.

I have a couple of 22 revolvers (S&W 63, Ruger Single Ten) but my experience is that 22 semiautos are more accurate. I would look for a good 22 semi auto. To me that means Ruger or Browning. Others are good, too, like the pre woodsman on the classifieds and the S&W 41, but the Ruger/Browning production volumes are big and so prices are a bit lower. Jim pointed out some nice Challengers (I went and looked after he mentioned them) and you would be happy with them, too. My local pawn shop has a nice buckmark for something like $389. Good deals are around.

For $600, you can buy a used 22/45, a Tactical Solutions barrel, and a Clark trigger for it.

I may be the lone voice crying in the woods, but given your parameters I'd opt for the versatility of a good .22 revolver. The ability to fire shorts, longs, and long rifles -- in other words the ability to fire whatever .22 ammo is available -- in my opinion far outweighs any consideration of "slightly better accuracy" that an automatic may bring to the discussion. And while I don't suggest it's likely, over the years I have found two fully-loaded .22 magazines lying on the ground when out hunting.

So maybe I'm not the lone voice crying in the woods, after all.

Well, I'm with Old Writer. I just bought a small light weight .22 revolver, that among other things can be carried while I'm squirrel hunting, or fishing, without getting in the way/wearing me down. Weather has been so crappy that I haven't had a chance to shoot it, yet. It's a SS Charter Arms Pathfinder, with a 2" barrel. Sights seem pretty basic, but the single/dbl. action pull seems pretty good. Like OW, you can load it with anything .22. Here's a pic.




I'll let you know how it does, later. Nice simple gun to go with my nice simple H&R Sportster .22 single shot.


maddog

If the Ruger SP101 with 4.2" barrel at 30 oz. isn't too heavy, I'd go with it.

I HAD a S&W 317, but it was p.o.s. and I couldn't hit crap with it past 5 yards.

Either a S&W Model 34 --- Very accurate and 24 0z.

Or a Beretta Cheetah --- Also very accurate and 20 oz.

And for a little less money, one can pick up a used Buckmark Challenge (not the same gun as the Challenger). It's another often overlooked version - the modern fore-runner of the UDX models. With all the excitement about the new Lite Ruger pistols, I find that I can douse my desire to pick one up by simply taking my Buckmark Challenge out for a spin. The challenge is a mere 2 ounces heavier than the Ruger 22/45 Lite - and while I haven't tried one to see if it's any different, the typical Ruger stock trigger isn't as fine as the Buckmark's, and I find accuracy to be comparable between my Challenge and my Ruger MKIII Hunter.

It's a shame that Browning dropped the little Challenge model. The UDX models have the same grip size, but none of the Buckmark models I'm aware of are as light as the Challenge - although they are close with the Buckmark Lite.

I also have found my Taurus model 94 9-shot revolver to be very accurate and easy to carry. Similar size and weight to the S&W 63 - which would be an even better option for a little more money, now that S&W has brought that revolver back into production.

Any of the better made target guns should work. My first really accurate .22 was an older K-22 S&W from the 60's. When found in good shape these days, they sell for several hundred or more.
I'd stay away from the really light guns. I have a 317 Smith. I can't shoot it from standing anywhere near as well as I can my 38 oz. Ruger Single Six. The 317 weighs 12.5 ozs. It's so light, you can forget you have it on you. But I'd be hard put to hit any small game over 15 yds. away. I've killed stuff at 50 yds. with the Ruger. E

"The ability to fire shorts, longs, and long rifles --"

Normally I would disagree with Old Writer on this, but if you've looked for 22 ammo at the gunshops you would realize that times are not 'normal' ... about the only ammo I routinely see left is .22 short!

My experience parallels E's regarding the superlights. I like the weight class around the .22/45 Lite 20 to 25 ounces... light enough not to be a burden yet heavy enough to be able to shoot it fine. The K-22's with a 6 inch barrel go around 40 ounces, A 4 5/8" Blue Ruger Single-six weighs around 30 to 32 ounces, my 6 1/2 inch Blue Ruger Single-six weighs 33.6 ounces (the blued single six's have an alloy grip, while the stainless ones are steel and therefore heavier), S&W Mod. 63 Kit Gun with either the 3 or 4 inch barrel weigh 26 ounces and the Ruger SP101 weighs 30 ounces.

Jerry

S&W model 41. Accurate but spendy.

An excellent choice. Charter Arms also offers a 4-inch version with adjustable sights and a spare .22 magnum cylinder for around $550. The .22 only version runs about $100 less. Both tip the scales at a tad over 20 ounces.

them s&w 63's would get my vote although i don't own one. my 4" 34-1 is a handy little gun but gets hard to eject after 30-40 shots.

Very true on the accuracy of these. But the 2 I have been in contact with were VERY picky about ammo and still didn't feed the greatest with it. I think Smith made the chambers a Smidge tight. Beautiful pistols though.

I'd go the revolver route for a woods/packing .22 as well. I have many choices, but this one is the one that most often goes with me.