Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns You cannot get a decent 22 (non target model) for less than $600!

for a pistol the CZ Kadet, or the Beretta 87, for a revolver the Smith SS model 63 with 4 inch barrel. Not discounting the single six guns, the Ruger mark III or Browning buckmark they are single action guns not really focused on a gun you might give someone to keep in their house that fears recoil. I hate to spend that money but after this Bersa Thunder experiment I think I am done with cheap guns again for a while.

It doesn't take any less labor to make a 22 than a centerfire, and the materials costs aren't signifigantly different. I'd long wanted a bargain 22, then realized I needed to spend as much as I was willing to spend on a quality centerfire.

My Single six and Kel Tech PMR 30 are both excelent 22's, albeit one is a 22WMR, both sell for far less than $600.00 and I consider both to be top flight and terrific for thier intended purposes. Lots of Taurus and Charter Arms revolvers out there as well that are quite good and far less money. Used Smith & Wessons are oft found in the under $500.00 range as well.

Do you own a gun for which a 22lr conversion kit is made? There's a kit out there for most commonly encounter DA autos.

As for dedicated 22's, have you looked at the SIG Mosquito? It has a long-ish DA trigger pull and is priced well below $600.

A Ruger Bull Barrel .22lr pistol is well below 6oo. I can't count the number of squirrels and rabbits that have fallen to mine.

Dan

the bull barrel sporting 22's are pretty common, something like the Beretta Cheetah is not so common. Even the Smith 22 revolvers are out of sight.

I looked at the Walther p22, the sig mosquito is in about the same category. The Walther cast zinc slide and pop out front sight left me looking for another solution the Bersa which is made from different materials but is the same, a $300 gun is a $300 gun.

Taurus makes a line of .22 revolvers that are great little guns. Had a 941? I believe it was. (22mag)
Ruger are high but less than $600
Buckmarks too are good and less than $600
You need to visit Hot Springs...you're paying too much where you're at

Can't fathom what you're looking for, if you can't find it in a .22LR pistol for less than $600.

That is what I was thinking...... I don't know of any good 22 handguns that are OVER $600.00, outside of a few specialized target guns or maybe a Kimber 1911 style 22.

Yep.

I do not understand?? If you're going to give a person a 22lr handgun for home defense ... isn't reliability the #1 concern? $248 for a Mk III 4" std barrel 22/44 for a few bux more for a std MkIII.

WHY does a home defense handgun need to be a small-ish handgun? My carry gun is a Smith 642 .... HD guns are shotguns & an XD9.

good luck

Have you treid a GSG 1911 22. I picked one up new for $300, and have been very satisfied with it.

OK clarification. I can get a fine 22 pistol such as a browning buck mark or one of the Ruger's that will shoot just fine for $400 give or take a few. Its just tough to find a double action first shot 22 pistol for less than $600.00. I view the titanium/scandium/aluminum 22 long rifle S&W pistols as fine weapons but for contact use by a novice, I would estimate that double action pull is 7-10 pounds and the pistol weights about 10 ounces making it tough for a novice to shoot accurately. So a 2 pound smith 63 with a 4 inch barrel and a trigger job is a solution but at about $650 bucks new. In pistols the Beretta or the CZ is an answer for about the same price. The qualifier is a 5 foot tall 100 pound woman (my 21 year old daughter) that has little pistol experience, lives away from me, and has now moved to a "less desirable" neighborhood near her college.

I am simply lamenting the fact that I have to spend a bit of money on a decent double action first shot 22 pistol.

Despite Terry's love of the P22 I cannot get over the zinc of slide, and I think the SIG mosquito is in about the same category.

Taurus 22WMR revolver may fit the bill ... that should fill the bill.

it may at that, I will see if I can find one.

You're want/need of a .22 semi that is DA/SA puzzles me. Personally I find SA/DA semis a pain to shoot well, even more so in .22.

There are zero safety issues with standard SA semi .22's like the Rugers, Brownings, and S&W's even for a novice or HD/SD use. Their factory SA trigger pulls aren't a hair trigger. Safety isn't any different that shotguns and most rifles so why worry so much about it wit ha handgun. No way am I gonna pay extra for an equal quality gun to get a DA/SA semi, let alone extra for a gun that has less reliability, accuracy, etc like the Sigs, Walthers, etc.

I bought the Bersa for a smaller gun that packs easier and gets in the way less when sitting on the ground or in a truck. It was completely a size issue and I could care less for it's DA mode (which BTW is better than it's SA pull). BTW, your issue with the Bersa is the first function/reliability issue I've heard with them that wasn't ammo related. While I may have issues with the Bersa I don't think I'd be too hard on em for the issue you are having. Even high dollar guns have a bad one once in a awhile and more than likely it's an easy fix if you do a bit of lookin. I myself have never paid more than $309 for a handgun and I've only had to send one in for work. And that was my fault. Maybe you should stop passing up on quality guns well below your price point to get a feature that doesn't really do anything for you.

IMO, if you want DA get a revolver. Something with the same trigger pull every shot.

CB

Other than the revolver debate, if I wanted a decent 22 rimfire pistol for less than $600, I'd just buy two more MkIII 5.5" bull-barreled blue 22/45 Rugers?

the DA/SA or DA only makes sense for an ingenue.

The Bersa is off to be repaired. If it works when it gets back, for $300 I may buy another one.

I've got a basic Buckmark. Nice pistol... way less than 600

Here's a thought...

S&W Model 10, .38Special.

Far for capable than a .22, wadcutter loads don't kick, plenty small enough for that size person, big enough to be shot well, powerful enough with good bullets to be effective, reliable is an understatement, and WAY under the price contemplated ($600 would probably get 3, or at least 2 with a sizeable store of ammo).

Since I did not know from the original post that home defense was the gola I have to agree. We just had a situation out here where a auto owner driver tried to repel a carjacker with a 22LR. Carjacker is alive, autoowner is very DEAD and he got off the first rounds, hittng the carjacker in the chest twice. 22LR is NOT a good defensive weapon choice. 22 Magnum is a very marginal maybe, and 38's are a known good preformer with near zero recoil and LOTS of small gun options.

BTW, my two twentysomething daughters have 4 inch 357's that I paid about $300.00 EACH for. Both are loaded with full power 357 Magnum 125gr gold dot HP's. If they shoot first and hit, like they are TRAINED to do, its gonna be OK. I figured the arming and training to be one of my more important jobs as a Dad.

+1 on the Model 10 S&W with wadcutters. Gave one to my daughter when she moved into an apartment. It's a 4" heavy barrel ex- police model the dept got rid of when they went to semiautos. There's plenty of them out there for $300 or less. Got to think it's more effective than a 22 for a home defense gun.

She's not a big girl, 5'6"/115 lbs. and had never fired anything bigger than a 22. She was surprised at how easy it was to put six wadcutters into the torso of a silhouette target at 10 feet. This was double action with two hands after a little practice. Her first comment was about how easy it was to shoot.

Whilst I agree, for most shooters .... a 38 spcl in a lw revolver can be very stout in recoil .... esp, for the non-shooter

Just look for a Smith. They're out there. Just find one.



Travis

a woman over here in GA got surprised in her shower by a rapist. she told him she had some money in a drawer and the dumbass believed her, she pulled a pistol and shot the dip-chit rapist in her house, standing next to her bed 9 times with a 22, he ran outside and died. I have seen squirrels do the same thing when shot with a .177 caliber pellet, you know run into their nest and die, so maybe a 38 with wadcutters, like VA says a used model 10 is not too bad price to performance ratio and I can fix the trigger myself.

SP101's don't suck either.


Travis

JimmyP,

Since this is your daughter we are talking about here, perhaps money should honestly be a couple notches down the priority list.

You will likely sleep better knowing your baby girl is armed with a first rate reliable piece, rather than a bargain.

If the .22 makes sense, it it better than nothing. Stick some Crimson Trace J frame laser grips on that 4" Model 63 S&W for when the lights are out, and/or intimidation factor.


I know I would be more worried about getting shot by a scared girl bouncing a red dot on my chest, than a calm cop.

Perhaps spending a few extra bucks will give you more peace of mind in the long run.

*** (Another suggestion)Later on, a gift from dad could be that your daughter and her best female friend get to take a female friendly shooting course where they have an opportunity to become comfortable with .38 and 9mm platforms. The key in the learning experience is finding an instructor/teacher who is not overbearing and lets her learn in her own comfort zone. ****

Just some food for thought.


Mackay Sagebrush

Well said, Mackay. As usual.

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=233793099

Under $600 and it's a best quality DA revolver.


http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=235124242

Good quality and WAY under $600

How 'bout a Colt's under $600
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=233785887


And don't forget the Walther P-22

For further consideration, the .32 ACP.

I have a couple of these for my kids who are 12 and 8; bought them because they were recoil sensitive (the 12 year old is now trying to steal dad�s .45 LW Commander). But my 8 year old is still very recoil shy. Still, he can straight up GO TO WORK with my Astra 3000 or Beretta 70 in .32 ACP. Both are sized right for small stature, and both are first rate pistols; completely reliable. Recoil is not really noticeably more than a .22 but .32 performance is easily twice that of a .22 (still rather minimal). Still, I�d put a good amount of trust in a 7 shot burst of .32 ACP to the chest to discourage a bad guy.

Manhurin Walther PP
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=234217105
Beretta Tomcat
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=234011415
Colt�s 1903 (cool gun � John Dillinger would approve)
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=234334999
Savage 1907 (MAN do these shoot!)
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=234160697
Beretta 82
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=235020544
1908 Bayard (Seecamp before Seecamp was cool)
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=234491260
Or how �bout the famous Seecamp
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=235007209
1922 Browning (full sized with very small grip; actually used by many militaries)
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=234932547
CZ-70 (Quality on the cheap � stiff DA pulls though; but very reliable)
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=233466188
Astra 1915 (Best of the �Ruby�s�
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=234757863

You also have to look at the reach for the trigger, small women have shorter fingers than men, so a model 10 trigger might be too far for her to reach. I am still looking.

Go for the Ruger, you get your money's worth.

Don't listen to that guy! Cant trust a KLR650 owner/rider.....

(I can say that cause I B 1 2)

Glad I bought my High Standard years ago... It was less than $300.00. Shoots just like the $900.00 pistol is is today.

The 3 inch smith 63 looks pretty fool proof to me.

That's because it is.

S&W 2206
S&W 617
S&W 18

JEff

took your advice.

Ruger Single sixes, Browning buckmarks, Ruger Mark I, II, III's, several smiths.... all well under 600

OUCH - My last bike was a '96 KLR650; absolutely LOVED it, what a great bike.

The Mk III Standard I got for my kids was under $300 and it's a world class gun in every way; and even out shoots my $600+ K-22.

This is what $600.00 looks like

I have that very nice Ruger hunter pistol but with a 4 inch barrel, mine wears an Aimpoint from time to time a bit big for a 95 pound daughter. I may get rid of it because I hate the fiber optic front sight.

I think the model 63 for $670 may have solved the problem.

the Mark 3 standard is a good idea as well, I like a first shot double action for a nervous, in experienced person with adrenalin flowing, but training is important and over the next few years I need to take her shooting more.