Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Recommend a 22 pistol for my son

I am looking to get my 25 y.o. son a 22 hand gun. He is expressing interest but knows very little about guns in general, he would not notice an imperfect trigger (but still....), I doubt he will know how to maintenance well etc.. and he doesn't live close by for me to fuss over it for him. I bought my wife a Buckmark and after replacing one little part on the guide it is flawless. It and the Walther are a littl too pricy so I am thinking the Beretta Neos might be a good idea -and think he may like the new wave design. It looks to be between that or the old fashioned Ruger MK III or MK IV whatever model they are up to. I have fired the Ruger and they are ok- folks seem to love them and they have a good rep. Pluses and minuses for each ? ? ? Any I have overlooked?

The S&W 22A semiautos are decent little guns that are pretty economical.

Sometimes they need a little break-in or polishing but I had one that ran forever after a little TLC.

Ruger by far. I don't know much about the Mark III with the loaded chamber indicator or the lock. But the Mark I and II are the best for the money so the III should be good.
They love the CCI Blue Tag Mini Mag hollow point bullets.
You will find that ammo is the limiting factor with any .22 today.
The gun has been in production since I was born in 1937. Perfection is hard to beat.

I'll add a +1 for the Smith 22A.
I've owned and shot all that have been mentioned.
My wife shoots her Buckmark weekly and wins many weekends .
But I can keep up with her with the 22A 7" barrel.

S&W 2206 with adjustable sights.

Jeff

ruger

So will I add a +1 for the Smith 22A.

I've only owned a Ruger MkII and a Taurus, but I've handled most of the others mentioned - and talked to their owners - while working in a gun store.

Either one of the Rugers or Buckmarks (any style of either) is a first-class pistol. That lightweight 22A is intriguing and highly accurate. I'd love to find a decently priced High Standard. I haven't heard much at all about the NEOS, so won't comment. The little tip-up Taurus is not as good as the Beretta it copies, and neither is an all-round gun. Some of the Bersa 22s are better than you'd suppose.

For all-round use, ease of service and supply of parts like spare magazines, it'd be hard to beat a used Ruger.

Nothing at all wrong with the Rugers.

You may consider the Ruger Mk III 22/45 which has the 1911 grip frame angle to ease his transition to his next pistol.

If he doesn't know much about guns I would start with a .22 revolver. Easier to check whether it's loaded or unloaded than a semi-auto - for one thing, you don't have to worry that he'll unload it in the wrong order (e.g. with a semi-auto if he pulls back the slide to unload with the mag still in place, then drops the mag, he'll still have a round in the chamber). I like the Smith & Wesson Model 17 or 18, which have very good single action and double action triggers, although they are pricy - still, look at it as a lifetime investment.

Hi. If you decide to go with a revolver, then a Ruger Single Six is a very fun gun - it is a single action cowboy style revolver. For a semi auto, I can tell you that I absolutely LOVE my Ruger MkIII 22/45. The only caution is that field stripping the gun can sometimes be a challenge to the newly initiated.

I too must use the word RUGER when it comes to a .22 caliber handgun. I think the Ruger single six is a good place to start for someone that does not have a lot of experience but if they do, jump up to the Ruger semi-auto .22 cal. I have one with target sights and it is a joy to shoot plus cheap ammo to.

I too will jump on the Ruger bandwagon.

The simplest is the Ruger Single-Six. It is easy to use for an inexperienced shooter and accurate. Not much to go wrong with a Single-Six and in a .22 revolver the single action is what you want. Double action revolvers are normally fired in single action mode anyway and to get equal quality to the Ruger will be much more expensive.

In a semi-auto I'd also vote Ruger. I have owned and shot a MK I Ruger Target Model (5 1/2" heavy barrel) since the mid-1970's. This pistol is near bullet-proof and scary accurate. Only thing needed to maintain these pistols is flushing with a good solvent once in a blue moon to remove built-up gunk.....but otherwise, just load and shoot. Complete tear-down CAN be a bit tricky with the Ruger, but is VERY seldom needed and not that diffecult once the design is understood.

for a first .22 hand gun, I am always going to pitch the Smith & Wesson revolvers.

Ruger MK II with bull barrel. I remember reading of a pistol club in South Africa that had several of these that had fired in excess of 4 million rounds each without any work at all. Hard to beat that kind of reliability.

It all depends on whether he will invest the time in learning about handguns and what you/he wants. If he's going to be pretty casual, I'd go with a revolver. If he's going to get into it, an auto is fine. If the latter, the Ruger Mk. III in whatever configuration you want, would be my choice. I like the Government configuration. (5 7/8 heavy barrel.) If you go revolver, you've got the stainless Ruger Single Six along with a magnum cylinder. A Smith K-22 (617) is never a bad choice either. A model 63 Kit Gun might be preferable if he's a fisherman.

Ruger gets my vote

Ruger'd be fine but I'd say single six convertable.

I was so pizzed at my MKII stainless bull barrel pistol on Sunday I would have gave it to you.

The damn thing has a habbit of knowing when I need it to function (feed). It likes to stab one right into the bottom of the feed ramp which basically splits the lead nose like a piece of firewood under an axe.



If won't eject cci stingers either.

I dunno, the fuggin MKII jams plenty on me.

I really like revolvers.

My ancient Ruger ( mk1 ?) used to do just that,
IF I didn't shake the magazine after loading.
You know, take all the pressure off the carts and shake it like a rattle.
Then it would cycle flawlessly.
And with the two handed "fast trigger" it would empty a mag in?
2secs or less!