I wanted a reliable .22 lr for practice and plinking  not target competition.
Tried a couple of different .22 lr in mid 2005 to 2007.

Bought a Ruger Mark III 5 1/2 bull barrel target chamber in mid 2007.
Put on Williams firesight and Ruger wood grips for their mark III hunter.

Good for you. What does this have to do with my thread?

I  shot the S&W 22A for 110,000 rounds with my sons and we had the frame develop a crack at around 60,000 rounds, the accuracy was noticeably affected by that. The firing pins broke pretty much every 20,000 rounds, the first design sight rib had the claw break off at sometime and the mainspring was set enough to be over a 1/4 inch shorter. The gun is still accurate and reliable with the first magazines.

Thank you!

Has to do with the title of your thread.

Otto is politely explaining why not per your title of thread. The Ruger is perfect for what he needs.  Works, accurate, dependable, used as needed. Same as I tried to explain about other things.

Few people buy expensive stuff just to let it sit unused for years AND then ask others why no one buys that same stuff anymore.

None of my sons are really posting online on gun forums even though they are avid shooters but at their stage in life, they do not have the time and disposible income for buying high end rimfire guns. I do believe that Arf.com, Glocktalk and similiar sites have a younger audience than Rimfirecentral and the Coltforum, for instance and that younger shooters are more into dynamic shooting than the static bench rest matches that are dominated by older men.
I was a shooting instructor for a few decades and a rimfire pistol is perfect for teaching the basics, whether it is for accuracy or speed and when somebody gets serious in shooting competition, the amount that the gun costs, is the smaller part in the total expenses. That one extra ring, or point that better equipemnt promises can make a lot of difference ...

Holy cow, that's a LOT of rds!

I have a Smith 22A-1 that I love to shoot:   Attached File


When I went to look at it, I noticed the last four on the S/N matched my phone number! Hell, I had to buy it then!

I get that no one lets it sit around as I have done. Nor am I shooting my cheaper stuff either, I'm not shooting at all.

But for those whom ARE shooting, my question is the same: why not shoot an upper tier (not necessarily top tier) rimfire? IOW, why shoot a Ruger when one could shoot a Hammerli or a Colt? That's where my question lies.

Right, but no one in them.  Hence the inventory.

OP, I think a lot of people juat don't like shooting small holes.  I don't.   I mean, if I do, then what?  Brag to the wife?  Save the target?  Push the target out farther?  Try again?

Don't get me wrong,  rimfire is good for fundamentals, introducing new shooters, high volume for low cost shooting... but that's about it on the range.  Even as a hunting round, it's limited.

You've heard about training like you fight?  At least on this forum, the majority of our "go to war"/issued/EDC/whatever firearm isn't a .22lr firearm.

I doubt it's just rimfire either.  What's the dominant demographic at NRA or CMP matches, Civil War reenactments,  car shows?

People who work for a living or have kids or aren’t just flat ass rich, would consider some Ruger sets, and a hell of a lot of other .22s, quite upscale.

Price any Ruger 22 pistol, half a dozen spare magazines, a set of Williams Fire Sights or a medium quality mini red dot, a holster, and multiple bricks/case of good .22s, and a shooter has better than $1000 in his casual plinker/target gun.

Telling people that is inconsequential over and over is starting to get offensive.  This tier stuff is about to turn into KMA.

If you ever used/shot your stored stuff, you’d discover ammo and extras aren’t free.

### I quit.

Flame away because Its been explained over and over.

Because the vast majority of shooters don’t require a high end gun to do the shooting they enjoy.

I agree large holes are usually more fun than small ones. But I guess what I do with my rimfire(s) is use it to hone my technique cheaply. A nice cloverleaf in .22 is a bit more of a challenge than doing it in .45, IMO.

But to answer you latter question, yes, push the target out further. Yes, we train like we fight. So why not attempt a 50 yard shot on a perp IF you've been practicing for such a thing.

I know it is a generational thing but I find a nice tranquility when shooting a box or three of some rimfire out of an Anschutz rifle or Smith 41. It's like a poor man's version of racing around in his Porsche, IMO.

I don't believe  ever said anything was "inconsequential".

Yes, I get shooting isn't cheap. But no one HAS to have a holster, red dot or "Williams fire Sights" (never even heard of those).

I buy virtually all of my guns used in order to save 20-40% off of new gun prices. .22 brick ammo is now back to $20 levels, so that's affordable. I also buy many of my guns on lay-a-way & pay on them over a few months as well. I am by NO means a person of wealth. I admit it does help not having kids or a wife for this sort of thing. No argument there.

"Requiring" has nothing to do with enjoying them............  

But deep down, don't we all lust after Nighthawk 1911s? Or a Freedom Arms revolver? Or a Korth revolver? Just as we lust after a Mercedes S-class or (gasp!) a Rolls? I know I lust after all of those things. You should see my powerball purchase list.

A Freedom Arms is the only one of those three I desire. The Korth and Nighthawk don’t do much for me even though I’m sure I could find a few Nighthawks to enjoy.

Your thread does no one buy upper tier rimfires any more?

So I contributed without explicitly saying "no".

I would  not buy upper tier rimfires.
I gave the reason  :my purpose is not competition.

Also I did try them in the past just because  but never liked the flared out grips thumb rest and way too thick circumference and other competition features.

I  see the  hi priced rim fires are not that popular with most gun owners these day too.

That should clear it up.

Tip. If you actually intended to see hi end rim fires, then write a more direct thread title such as
Show me your high end rim fires.
Your title asked the opposite of what you intended.

Without shooting, it seems a former shooter can get out of touch with ”shooting.”

People who USE firearms tend to buy things like spare magazines, better iron sights such as Williams fiber optic ones, optical sights such as mini red dots, holsters to carry a gun somewhere besides belly up to a shooting range bench, and ammo.

As to ammo, function and precision start with something like CCI Blazer which is priced all over the place, sale or not, $17-30 a brick.  Better ammo, CCI MiniMag-Standard Velocity-HP, you can get for $35 and up a brick delivered in case quantities.  If on sale.  Actual target .22LR is way more.

An unused fancy expensive gun in a drawer is perhaps an art object, but not much more.

A using set of all parts and consumables is expensive by itself even starting with a normal firearm.  End of that point.

A cheap gun organized and sorted out is not actually cheap of time or effort.  But a lotta fun.  Bullets rarely ever touch with this Walther/Colt at 25 yards.  I am still waiting for someone else to admit they own one.  But it works.

https://www.ar15.com/forums/Handguns/Colt-by-Walther-1911-22-LR-Rail-Gun-1000-Rounds-and-Ammo/50-188570/

More expensive like these three Rugers likewise are fun to use.  None of the three guns in this thread strike me as cheap especially when between them they have nearly 20 magazines.  But they are collectively, Ruger, the most popular .22 pistols sold.  Quantity has a quality all of its own.

https://www.ar15.com/forums/Handguns/Ruger-Mk-IV-22-45-Lite-Under-An-ADE-Green-Micro-Dot-a-UTG-Tandemkross-Williams-Fire-Sights-Update/50-186291/

But they get the hell shot out of them by kids and grandkids living here and there.

Perhaps that is the USER tier.  

I have a CZ 452 American that's a fine rimfire rifle.

At $400 and that again for the scope I don't know if that qualifies it as "upper tier" .
When conditions are right and I do my part it's good for dime size groups at 50 yrds.

I am under the impression that whenever I mention my Korth revolver collection, that jealous minds automatically consider me some old fart that has too much money and never shoots those expensive guns. On the other hand, dropping a couple of grands into an AR is cool, even if many "improvements" are cosmetic. I am casting my own bullets, had a two metric ton bullet swaging machine before my last move, am an avid reloader and shooter. I was a handgun instructor in the military and pistol coach for two private gun clubs and had been a successful competitor myself who burnt through over 1,000 centerfire rounds per month for years.

Decades ago Bullseye and PPC required match quality handguns to compete successfully, in IDPA or GSSF competitions the required accuracy does not need to be at that level and speed has a more important role. Nevertheless, the master is still made at 20 yards and from decades of heavy involvement in the shooting sports I came to the conclusions that not even 10% of people are really good shots who have learnt basic pistol craft, thus not being able to make use of neither accuracy, nor speed of their gun.

The limitations of the score is rarely set by the gun but usually by the shooter, so any gun will be good enough for 90% of shooters and post count does not put anyone into the top 10%.

Holy carp.  We could be brothers.

Side lawn is torn up with rocks sticking up from a late propane tank buried install.   While I had the excavator hear I had the guy rough out my range a little better.  I still need to burn the brush and trees removed for it.  My berm he stacked also slumped quite a bit with the spring rains.  I have more dirt piles to top the berm but need to clear wood debris to drive the tractor behind/across the berm.  I am picking rocks and rods before topsoiling and seed.  Rotten Porch needs replacement.  New garage has stuff randomly scattered all over.  I built a 12’ lower bench cabinet last summer.   Working on upper storage cabinets now to migrate the loose stuff into storage.  Working in the garage is like solving a rubik’s cube.  I did force myself into a couple range trips on my day off.  Brought the S&W k22 and 586.

Sometimes you get shocked.   When I bought my k22 the gun next to it was a colt officers match target .22, I had to choose.  A challenger would be damn sexy.

What upper tier threaded barrel options exist?  About the only thing I can think of is Volquartsen.

I'll be picking up one of the Vudoo v22 rifles when I have the funds.

The closest thing to high end I have is a couple S&W revolvers, a .22 Combat Masterpiece and a 18-3.

I don't mind upper tier, but I don't like to pay upper tier money.

Way back in the day when I started shooting bullseye matches I could afford a Mk I target, and I have both a Mk I 678 and a MK II 512 as well as a Model 17-4:



Also way back in the day the step above the Ruger pistols were primarily the S&W 41 and the High Standard Victor, Olympic, Citation, etc.   If you were a 1911 guy and wanted a High Standard you went for the Victor as it had the same grip angle as the 1911.

Back then the S&W 41 sold for around $250 and the High Standard Victor sold for around $270, and the European .22 LR target pistols were well north of those prices and real people with real jobs didn't even consider them. In contrast a Ruger Mk I target would cost you around $125.

The S&W 41s from that era are still over priced, unless you can find one used from a private seller.  That seller will get about $550-$600 from a shop, who will then turn around and sell it for $1100 - $1200.

A week or so ago, the local gun shop had a High Standard Victor for $549, so I opted to scratch that 30 year old itch for one of the more upscale bullseye .22LR pistols.  This one  dates to 1975-76, a more desirable Hamden stamped pistol, with no frame crack, an excellent bore and in about 98% condition.  I wondered about the price (about $350 under the fair market price) until I discovered the screws attaching the mount to the rail were thread locked with something other than blue Loctite. It'll take a lot of heat to get them loose, and/or I'll have to mill slots in the screws to get enough torque to remove them.

However, since I have iron sighted Ruger Mk I and MK II target pistols and I don't have an open class pistol, I just put a Nikon 2x scope on it and called it good.




Turns out it's a shooter:

50' shot with SK Std Plus, with hands on a rest:



CCI standard velocity shoots almost as well:



I don't shoot nearly as well as the pistol and ammo, but I scored a 98 2X, about 5 points better than my average with either of the Rugers:

Doesn't surprise me in the least you're getting that sort of accuracy out of a HS. They're well known for hanging with the more expensive big dogs as far as bullseye is concerned.

I have GOT to get my rimfires out of the safe & get them going. I have 3-4 (maybe more) that I've never shot since I bought them.  

@BobCole

More quality rimfire goodness for you, Sir!



I will have something "new" this weekend I will post for you.

I've been lusting after those Colt's for many years now. I just haven't hit the combo of price, money & opportunity at the same time.

Anschutz

Dude...it is so hard to do!  I am going broke doing this....but this is stuff I have wanted all of my life and I am NOT getting any younger so i strike while the iron is hot!!!  I love these guns more than ANY AR or AUG....only my love of 1911s and Browning HPs comes somewhat close.  In fact, I'm so tapped from buying .22s at the moment that I passed up a gorgeous 2 Tone Hi-Power in 40 smith today.  700 BUCKS!!!!  Don't care (slightly bummed)....I love my old .22s!!!!

Bob...pretend it's a Medalist.

The AW-93 is one of my favorites to shoot.

Have one, love it!  

I have the Norinco copy in blue. I got it for only something like $299 or so, 98% or better.

Where did you get those wood grips for your trail side?

Count my posts son.

LOL. Ditto.

I liked my High Standard Victor so much I bought a second one

I love those older High Standard pistols. A pity some rich bastard doesn't start up their factory again. I'd buy one.

My Dad really enjoys high end 22 pistols.  He doesn't shoot them all that often, I think he just appreciates them.  He picked up model 41 this year.