Range plinker selection

[drifter2be]

I am looking into buying a 22 pistol for plinking at the range, just something to get some cheap trigger time in with. After going to a few stores and feeling them all up I am equally torn between the Walther P22, Sig Mosquito, Ruger SR22 and ISSC M22.

Input from anyone that has one of these would be appreciated, likes/dislikes, etc. I'm leaning away from the P22 and Mosquito because those two I have read a lot of threads about them having issues, I don't know what Sig's warranty is, but I know the Walther only has a 1 year warranty, and I really don't want to blow $350 on a gun that I will be S.O.L. with if it breaks after 12 months. I know Ruger has excellent customer service, and will more than likely fix whatever happens to go wrong, despite them not having a "warranty". Couldn't find any information on ISSC warranty.

Two biggest things to me are a company standing behind its product and fixing it if it breaks(I don't want to be left with a gun-shaped paperweight) and the second is accuracy at 10-15 yards which I think is reasonable for range plinking with a 22.

[Izzy43]

I can only comment on the SR22, since its the one I own. I have had it since May with maybe 1000 rounds thru the pistol. So far it has not misfed, misfired or failed to eject more than 10 different brands of ammo from High Velocity to Standard Velocity, round nose and hollow points. Accuracy has been good, hitting a 5" bull at 15yds every round (I ain't no pistol shooter either). The sights makes it easy to get a repeatable sight picture. Easy to break down and clean.

It is a Double action/Single action pistol and I must say I don't like the 10lb pull in the DA mode. It also makes for a lot of take-up in the trigger when shooting SA but I got used to it pretty fast. Some folks don't like that the safety is backwards from most pistols but again, just something to get used to. Comes with 2-10 round metal magazines. I like shooting it but I acutally got it for my wife who loves it.

[0351USMC]

no M&P 22?

[drifter2be]

no M&P 22?

It was the first thing I looked at, since my HD gun is a M&P 9. I use the small backstrap on that and the fixed backstrap on the 22 didn't feel right in my hand along with the much lighter weight in my hand(i know it is going to be lighter than a centerfire model), which sucks because I went into it really wanting to like the gun, but it just didn't click the way that the ones I am considering did.

[Squidward]

I chose the SR .22 even though it is relatively new on the market. I have not been disappointed. It has fed/fired everything, including some very old LRN junk. Additionally, it has an ambidextrous mag release so I can practice shooting right and left handed.

[savannah]

I shot the Walther P22 at the Gun Range and really did not like it. Didn't like the magazine release and it jammed non stop. Don't know about the others.

I want a Browning Buckmark Contour.........can't find one.

[ckyrulez]

+1 for the SR22. Bought mine a few months ago and I love it. Can't help but take it to the range with me EVERYTIME because it's so much fun to shoot.

[drifter2be]

I took a risk and picked up a used P22 from a guy out here in AZ. Got a smokin' deal on it and it came with the Gemtech thread adapter for the barrel. Guy had put some work into it for reliability because he would typically shoot it with the suppressor. I just put 300 rounds through it today. I had 4 times that it failed to fire on the first strike, but the follow up double action pull fired it, started off not fully cycling, it would fire, the slide would come back, extract and eject the spent casing but it would not return to battery, a small nudge with my finger brought it back in. After the first 100 rounds it started going into battery reliably every time. Had one case from a CCI mini-mag get stuck in the chamber, closed the slide back over it and held my thumb over the extractor to keep pressure on it and that pulled it right out. Overall I am please with what I have for the price I paid. Plinking with it at 7 yards at the range I was shooting 2-3 inch groups. Only ammo I was disappointed with were the golden bullets, they grouped tight but the groups were consistently to the right of my point of aim. Everything else was dead on, went where I pointed the gun. I'll be going back to the range again Tuesday or Wednesday with the GF and I will see if it is still reliably going into battery, I think it might just need a new recoil spring as the previous owner told me he put quite a few rounds through it.

[dmmikhail]

I know this isn't really a popular option, but I've found that the best guns in .22 to plink with are ones I already have. I've really become an advocate for 22 conversion kits. While its true that sometimes buying one is almost as expensive as purchasing a cheap dedicated 22, there is a lot of logic in being able to plink with whatever firearm you compete with, carry, rely on for home defense, or simply just take to the range for fun. There's also the positive aspects of not having to bother with dros, 10 day wait periods, and 1 handgun per 30 days rule. I have a few different kits and they are made for most popular firearms. From experience I can tell you cienar kits for 1911s and glocks function flawlessly, as well as the kadet kit for the CZ 75. I also know there are other companies that make kits for sigs and berettas but I don't have first hand experience. The best thing is that most of those companies have excellent warranties and worse case scenario, the kit is a bust and you're left with whatever gun you originally started out with.

[Occams Rasor]

Just went through the same exercise. Started out looking at the Walther P22 that I really liked. The deal breaker for me was the grip was way way too small. Just was not going to work. Ended up with the Mosquito. Nice fit in the hand. I know of all the horror stories about this gun. All I can tell you is , I just finished feeding two bricks of CCI Blazer ammo (low cost) with not one failure. None in over 1000 rounds. Not too bad for a rim fire.

[Joe Register]

Mt walther ejects all over the place but is fun to shoot. The new ruger looks interesting.

[drifter2be]

Mt walther ejects all over the place but is fun to shoot. The new ruger looks interesting.

I got lucky, for the most part, with that. In 300 rounds it only ejected two pieces of brass toward me, one bounced off my neck. No harm no foul.

I'll be heading back to the range with it in two days. Planning on putting another 300-400 rounds through it. Bought a few different kinds I hadn't already tried.

If it gives me the same issue as before with returning completely to battery I will give customer service a call and get a replacement for the recoil spring.

[hooked on glock]

plinker

i own a issc m22 good fun gun , ruger mkIII target and a ruger sr22 great guns .... all 3 are good guns but hands down i would rather go with the Ruger mkIII or SR22 ... i just went out to the range this past weekend and my 11 year old daughter put 525 rounds of federal bulk , 350 rounds cci bulk and 200 rounds of cci mini mag , threw her sr22 all in the same day with out any hick ups ....

[drifter2be]

Ended up finding a smoking deal on an SR22 for $300 otd. Went and shot it at the range today, and I was really impressed. Accuracy was better than the P-22, I liked how much easier it was to adjust the sights on it, no changing out sight posts for elevation adjustments. Teardown and reassembly were much simpler on the SR22, even though they field strip in a nearly identical fashion, I found the reassembly of the SR22 to be much less of a headache, trying to get the recoil spring and guide rod to stay in place while putting the slide back on.

Posted my P22 for sale a few minutes ago, luckily there have been quite a few WTB posts on backpage out here in Phoenix for P22s so I am sure it will go fast and I should be able to recover most of what I paid for the P22.

The only problem the SR22 gave me was using Remington Target rounds it seems like there wasn't enough umph in the rounds to cycle the slide back far enough to pick up the next round but only 3 times out of 30 rounds, figure that just means I need to avoid using standard velocity ammunition. And in fairness to the Ruger, the Walther did the same thing with Remington Thunderbolt and Federal lightning rounds.

The SR22 will probably be seeing a diet made up of mostly Remington Golden Bullets since they are the cheapest and it seems to like them just fine, I was extremely pleased with the accuracy I got out of CCI Mini Mags, so I will definitely bring a box of those when I want to blow a smaller hole in the center of the target.

I would definitely recommend either gun, but, based upon my experience with the two guns, I would recommend the Ruger over the Walther in every instance,

[otteray]

Ruger Single Six is mighty sweet.