Need help deciding on a .22 pistol

if you are looking into a ruger of any kind, you are likely to be very satisfied. I have a sig mosquito, its one of the few ive seen that runs well, i hear the same of P22 walthers. check out the mark II and mark III pistols as well.

Dom


+1 on the Mosquito. I like it because it closely resembles a larger caliber gun in ergos and controls. In the beginning it would only run on mini mag. Then I was able to run Federal bulk pack after some break in. After that there was a period when it wouldn't run well on anything. Then I polished the feed ramp and started using the lube that came with the gun instead of oil and now it runs great on anything including cheap CCI Blazer or Remington Golden Bullet. I've fired the Mark III quite a bit and I just don't like the way it feels or the way the controls are set up.
 
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With a leather mallet and a paper clip I can break mine down in about 20 seconds and reassemble in about a minute. Familiarity breeds speed. Its certainly no harder than a 1911.

The key is to remember to make sure the hammer is down and the gun is tilted up at 45 deg before snaping the spring into place. The angle is necessary for the hammer strut to go into the correct part of the spring.

If you try to pull the slide back and it won't budge, the strut is not in the right place, swing the spring out (no need to remove completely) and re insert it with the gun at the proper angle

Its a process that doesn't allow much deviation, but its a process. On guns with the mag safety its more of a pain because you need to put the mag in to drop the hammer.

Don
 
After inviting a friend to the range, I decided it's time to invest in a .22. I like the idea of a target pistol for accuracy, but I'd also like something that will help me improve my technique for my EDC.

If I carry a sig 229, should I just get a mosquito? Will a 1911 or mkiii work just as well for improving my overall technique/accuracy?
 
Here's my 2 cents.

Despite all that hype about new Ruger SR22, which is by no means an awesome pistol: eats virtually everything, costs less than 300, looks like a toy because of its midget frame, has a bit unnatural safety with reversed positions... - my choice would be S&W M&P22, which is a slightly pricier but has normal sized frame exactly like her older sisters do, packs 12 rounds per magazine and has a handling of a normal gun and not a Zippo lighter.

Sent from my Nexus One using Tapatalk 2
 
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what do you want to do with it? Pasting paper targets at 25 feet? Get the SR22...on the other hand, if you want to paste squirrels at 150' (or more), get the 22/45 with a bull barrel...tons of fun...except of course for the squirrels [wink]
 
Ruger Mk* all day long. I've got one from 1976 that's probably seen more rounds than I've seen days, and it has never done so much as stovepipe. It's accurate, smooth, easy to acquire a sight picture on, and looks like a freakin' laser gun from Star Wars. My wife even loves it - worlds moreso than the damn P22 I bought her that FTEs every sixth shot or so.

...BTW - wanna buy a P22? :p
 
After inviting a friend to the range, I decided it's time to invest in a .22. I like the idea of a target pistol for accuracy, but I'd also like something that will help me improve my technique for my EDC.

If I carry a sig 229, should I just get a mosquito? Will a 1911 or mkiii work just as well for improving my overall technique/accuracy?

If you carry the 229, then the mosquito would be a good firearm to practice defensive style shooting.
 
After inviting a friend to the range, I decided it's time to invest in a .22. I like the idea of a target pistol for accuracy, but I'd also like something that will help me improve my technique for my EDC.

If I carry a sig 229, should I just get a mosquito? Will a 1911 or mkiii work just as well for improving my overall technique/accuracy?

Mosquito's are hit and miss. I happen to have one of the "good ones." I love it. But many, many people report problems with them.

If your stated goal is training for your EDC, and you already have a P229, I would invest in one of the Sig .22 conversion kits for it. Now you're shooting .22 through your actual P229. Same grip, same trigger, etc.
 
Well I went with the Ruger 22/45. I love it, but man is it a pain to breakdown. I can't wait to shoot it tomorrow. Thanks for all the input.
Congrats! Those things are great. Like dcmdon said in post #32, leather/rubber mallet and a paper clip and you're all set. It'll loosen with wear.
 
FYI, I have a Browning Buckmark I will put putting up for sale soon. PM me if you're interested.
 
Well I went with the Ruger 22/45. I love it, but man is it a pain to breakdown. I can't wait to shoot it tomorrow. Thanks for all the input.

I've owned mine for about 10 years now and shots thousands of rounds through it, maybe tens of thousands...I think I've broken mine down three times to do a deep cleaning...I usually just run a swab damp with Hoppes #9 through the bore until it comes out clean and then swab the bore with a bit of Breakfree CLP...it's never let me down.

You'll love yours...
 
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I have two Mosquitos. I too went through the ammo problems. I started with Mini-mags, just like I was told to. The first one I got, about 6 months ago, is VERY picky on ammo. The second one I got about a month ago, less picky. Wierd. I picked up some CCI Stingers, and BOTH guns love it! Flawless. Not a single FTF/FTE on 100 rounds.

I love the mosquitos becuase they are very comfortable to shoot. Feel really good in the hands. Nice sights too.
 
If your stated goal is training for your EDC, and you already have a P229, I would invest in one of the Sig .22 conversion kits for it. Now you're shooting .22 through your actual P229. Same grip, same trigger, etc.

Thought about that. A conversion kit is about $250 and a mosquito is $290. Figured I'd just get a whole 'nother gun.

And no one's answered my question yet. Will practicing with any handgun improve my overall accuracy with all handguns?
 
Thought about that. A conversion kit is about $250 and a mosquito is $290. Figured I'd just get a whole 'nother gun.

And no one's answered my question yet. Will practicing with any handgun improve my overall accuracy with all handguns?

I would tend to say no to that. I also don't subscribe to the theory that practicing with a .22 conversion makes you more proficient with your daily carry other than familiarity with the manual of arms, and cost savings on ammo. The whole dynamic of the gun changes with regard to followup shots, which are very important in a high stress situation. When you have little to no recoil from a .22, your followup shots are going to be way easier to get back on target. That is why aside from pure plinking fun, marksmanship practice, etc., you should always practice with not only the gun you carry, but also the ammunition you are going to carry as well (inmo).
 
Since dry-firing will improve your proficiency with a handgun (or any firearm), shooting a .22 or any handgun will improve your overall accuracy as well. Sight alignment and breaking the shot without disturbing the sights are two constants in all of the above activities, regardless of caliber or level of recoil.
 
I respectfully disagree with Terminator.

I've been instructing for about 10 yrs now, and find that outside of grip and stance, proficiency in trigger squeeze and sight alignment/sight picture are 80% of the equation. A .22 conversion lets you practice all of the above in a way that is far more "realistic" than dry firing.

As to whether something like the mosquito will help, the answer is obviously yes. But I'd suggest that the slmilarity between the Mosquito's trigger and the centerfire guns will be a big determiner of its usefulness.

A couple of years ago, I purchased one of those ISSI Glock knockoffs. However, despite the fact that they look exactly like a glock, the trigger is ENTIRELY different. I dumped it about the same time I got set up to reload 9mm in high quantities. So I never bought a .22 conversion kit.
Like I said above, I LOVE my advantage arms 1911 .22 conversion.

I'd suspect the AA Glock conversion is even more usable because of how easy it is to take the slide off a glock. (Literally 2 seconds)

Don
 
I respectfully disagree with Terminator.

I've been instructing for about 10 yrs now, and find that outside of grip and stance, proficiency in trigger squeeze and sight alignment/sight picture are 80% of the equation. A .22 conversion lets you practice all of the above in a way that is far more "realistic" than dry firing.

As to whether something like the mosquito will help, the answer is obviously yes. But I'd suggest that the slmilarity between the Mosquito's trigger and the centerfire guns will be a big determiner of its usefulness.

A couple of years ago, I purchased one of those ISSI Glock knockoffs. However, despite the fact that they look exactly like a glock, the trigger is ENTIRELY different. I dumped it about the same time I got set up to reload 9mm in high quantities. So I never bought a .22 conversion kit.
Like I said above, I LOVE my advantage arms 1911 .22 conversion.

I'd suspect the AA Glock conversion is even more usable because of how easy it is to take the slide off a glock. (Literally 2 seconds)

Don

I see your points, and they are very good ones. What I was saying was relating more to the overall feel of the gun during live fire. Even though you are better training with a .22 conversion than dry fire, I still think it's beneficial to "train as you will fight", but those points you made are very well taken.[wink]

On the subject of that ISSC M22, would you say it is a good all around .22 for range use (even though you sold it)? I ask because it was one that I was considering, but have heard very little about it's reliability, accuracy. etc.
 
It was adequately reliable and accurate enough for defensive practice. But the trigger is just so so much different than a glock.

If I was looking for a range plinker, its far inferior to a MKIII-22/45 or a Buckmark. So in my mind its main "raison d'etre" is as a .22 Glock practice gun.

A big part of learning to shoot a glock well is mastering the reset. You release till it resets and no further, it needs to be instinctive. The ISSI's reset is MUCH longer than a real Glocks.
If I wanted a .22 glock, I'd buy an AA conversion.

You can buy a Glock Gen3 lower with parts on GB for about $180. Combine that with the AA kit and you have a dedicated .22 glock for not a ton of dough.

Just my .02
 
It was adequately reliable and accurate enough for defensive practice. But the trigger is just so so much different than a glock.

If I was looking for a range plinker, its far inferior to a MKIII-22/45 or a Buckmark. So in my mind its main "raison d'etre" is as a .22 Glock practice gun.

A big part of learning to shoot a glock well is mastering the reset. You release till it resets and no further, it needs to be instinctive. The ISSI's reset is MUCH longer than a real Glocks.
If I wanted a .22 glock, I'd buy an AA conversion.

You can buy a Glock Gen3 lower with parts on GB for about $180. Combine that with the AA kit and you have a dedicated .22 glock for not a ton of dough.

Just my .02

Thanks for the tips on making the Glock conversion. I never thought of doing that because I currently don't own any Glocks at all, so don't have much familiarity with the platform. I was looking at the M22 because it is similar in size and shape to my SR9c that I carry. I will look into making a dedicated Glock .22 though. Thanks for that info, as I said I never thought of doing that!
 
I now have 3 Ruger 22/45s and a 7" slab-side. I have introduced many new shooters to the sport shooting those guns, and they have performed flawlessly.

I've knocked over a fair share of pins & plates and dinged lotsa steel with them... they're back on target almost as fast as you can pull the trigger.

I haven't shot the SR-22...

[rolleyes]
 
I have the 22 slide conversion for my 229 and love it, allows me to work on my trigger pull on my carry gun for cheap. I think I paid $220 online for it last year. Surprisingly accurate too. I know for $200 you can pretty much buy a whole other 22, but I like the idea of using the same trigger assembly/grip from my carry rig. Downside to it is A)no slide stop, but you can upgrade the mags with one, B) mags are expensive for the kit like $40. I hear good things on the 22/45, if its like their other pieces it will last you a lifetime! Gratz on the purchase, Ruger is great IMO. I sold my Mosquito, good gun, buyers just need to buy them understanding that they mainly like Mini-mags.
 
Thanks, Kiver! [grin]

We went to Springfield Sportsman's Club this afternoon, and they all shot great. I think that we had 2 or 3 misfires (good pin strike, failure to fire) and only 1 failure to fire without a pin strike out of an entire Federal bulk pack (blue box, hollow tip, 40 grains).

Maybe it was the ammo... we were shooting using Federal Champion, with the lead round nose... maybe that caused some problems.

I also made sure that I only used the MkII magazines in the MkII, and only the MkIII magazines in the Mk III 22/45s. Next time I go to the range, I'll mix the magazines up some more and see if that repeats the problems.

I had fun shooting with you and Mrs. Kiver... I'll clean them tonight, look for any mechanical problems, and take them back to the range later this week.

See you next week at the Chicopee Sportsman's Club Pin & Plate shoot. Anyone else want to join us?
 
Thanks, Kiver! [grin]

We went to Springfield Sportsman's Club this afternoon, and they all shot great. I think that we had 2 or 3 misfires (good pin strike, failure to fire) and only 1 failure to fire without a pin strike out of an entire Federal bulk pack (blue box, hollow tip, 40 grains).

Maybe it was the ammo... we were shooting using Federal Champion, with the lead round nose... maybe that caused some problems.

I also made sure that I only used the MkII magazines in the MkII, and only the MkIII magazines in the Mk III 22/45s. Next time I go to the range, I'll mix the magazines up some more and see if that repeats the problems.

I had fun shooting with you and Mrs. Kiver... I'll clean them tonight, look for any mechanical problems, and take them back to the range later this week.

See you next week at the Chicopee Sportsman's Club Pin & Plate shoot. Anyone else want to join us?

Those failures let to 2 Mrs Kiver wins against me [frown]. Well almost two.[laugh] Good thing she missed the last pin
 
Thought about that. A conversion kit is about $250 and a mosquito is $290. Figured I'd just get a whole 'nother gun.

I started off with a conversion kit for my Sig P226, but I soon got a Mosquito (which I love). The conversion kit had much more trouble with less-than-perfect ammo, the Mosquito handles most ammo just fine.
 
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