Various great folks of NES reached out to let me try "flights" of 22s. I got a chance to compare rugers II/IV and various grip angles, 617, SW victorys, SW22s, and of course the M41 against each-other. In exchange, rather than bring pizza and Ammo I brought the other thing that complements firearms... alcohol. (to be enjoyed after shooting of course). Thanks for helping this n00b get on his feet. This is a great community.
My takeaways surprised me. I ultimately found my preferences to be extraordinarily subjective. My day job is quantitative, and I am a professional hair splitter, and the differences between platforms in function was a matter of optimization rather than giant leaps.
Accuracy:
I was expecting a great variance in grouping from .22 platform to platform, but all of the variants named above were very accurate, and exceeded my shooting ability. I grouped about 2-3" at 15. I know I'm far more accurate with a .22 than a 9mm for example, and was expecting some margin of accuracy between each .22 platform. Clearly this was not the case.
Comfort:
I found that in general I liked the mechanical leverage afforded by the wood grip on the M41, followed by a preference for the 22/45 grip angle of a ruger, followed by the "slab sided" flat grip of the Victory or SW22a. I don't like the grip angle of the "traditional" ruger as much, however.
Trigger Feel:
The SW41 had an exceptionally crisp trigger. The others all had great triggers. One owner expressed some creep in the Victory trigger which I just could not feel on my own.
Emotional Appeal - absolute subjectivity:
1. The classic lines, blueing and material contrast on the 41 speaks to me. It's just darn good looking.
2. The SW22a-1 with wood grips looks kind of like a space gun and I like the integrated aesthetic of the rail and slab-sided bull barrel.
3. To me the Rugers in general are pretty utilitarian. Maybe the Hunter with wood grips looks classy but does not tug on my heart-strings like the 41.
4. The victory does not look good to me, but I can't deny that it shoots really well.
I think this is actually a pretty important factor, as it'll affect my desire to shoot the gun, and therefore train with it.
Bigger Picture - Priority and what I want:
- I think my biggest priority in getting into firearms is the fun factor. I've not gone through a whole lot of .22 but I think I'd say about 1,500 rounds between rentals and stuff, and I'm at a point where I don't feel like it's as fun to shoot a .22 than a 9.
- This is a bit of a dilemma, basically its "should I just not care about getting a "good" 22 and get a "good" 9? or sholud I treat getting a good 22 with more importance from a rational level. Based on my interests, I don't think I'll compete in Bullseye but will want to do local action shooting events frequently.
- This is not to say I don't believe it will still help my shooting. I am sure there's much more to learn on the platform so I need a .22, but maybe it may benefit me to put less $ into the .22 and more into the 9 for more smiles (listen to the mindful penis vs the rational brain).
Cost
I've scoured all the shops. I'm comparing used vs new based on what's generally available.
SW41 - around 800 used for a good example.
MkIV - about 450-600 new, i can't find used ones easily - the gap here allows me to pay for a good portion of a 9
Victory - can only find new around 350. - there's enough of a gap here to get a decent 9
SW22a - found a used one for 200. - there's enough of a gap here to fund the majority of a used p320 x-five
Decision TBD... but more importantly, THANKS FOR GIVING ME THE OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE THIS DECISION!