Thinking about picking up a .22 pistol for when I start teaching my son how to shoot

Ruger mk series always seemed nice. The mk iv seems nice with the easy takedown

Am I on the right track thinking this would be a good pistol to teach a kid how to shoot?

What series/model should I look at?

Thanks

That series has taught generations to shoot. It’s a great choice.

You also cannot go wrong with a Buckmark or S&W Victory. Luckily, there are lots of great choices.

I prefer the 22/45 Lite for its weight and grip angle, but it’s just personal preference. I learned to shoot with MK II Competition. The Ruger Standard is an excellent choice for sure.

Hand size is a consideration. Make sure the hand isn’t too small to grip a Standard, otherwise the SR22 is also an excellent choice for small hands.

I have a Mk IV 22/45 Lite that I put together just to introduce new shooters to the sport - mostly women and kids.  Of course I also put in the Volquartsen internals with a Tandem Cross trigger and put a Vortex red dot on top.  Its fantastic, shoots extremely well and is crazy reliable.  The light weight makes it easy for new shooters to handle.  You don't have to put the VQ trigger in and it might work well to let him learn on a stock gun.  
Jeff

Number 2 Mk. is best Mk.

The original “Standard” model and Mk.I are too scarce and mags/parts/accessories are hard to find.

The Mk.III with it’s mag safety and billboard warnings was just awful. This is when Ruger started offering the base model with a plastic frame

The Mk.IV was an improvement over the Mk.III but they took the sleek, elegant lines of the series and ruined it with that hinge bolted on the front like a Frankenstein monster.


Find a Mk.II in excellent condition, add a pair of cocobolo grips (I prefer smooth, slab sides) and join the sensation that is owning/shooting what has become a classic firearm.

Get a mark 4 if you aren’t mechanically skilled. If you are get a mark 2. The mark 2 is really nice and doesn’t have the mag safety disconnect to mess up the trigger pull. The mark 1 also has no mag safety disconnect. Get whatever barrel length you want. A shorter barrel will really magnify any error in sight picture and challenge him to have very good fundamentals. Learn to shoot a short sight radius pistol well and you can match other guns accuracy potential well.

The mark 2 was the most pure gun they ever made for target shooting. A thumb mag release is nice for action pistol shooting for reloads but for a learning gun a heel release on a 1 or 2 is fine. The first gun I bought was a Ruger Mark 2. You can expect to shoot your own bullet holes at 10 yards easily. Move them out farther for more fun and skill development. Very accurate and reliable guns. They look as nice as they shoot too.

Don’t listen to these commies saying crap like Browning Buckmark or S&W Victory, yadda yadda. The only choice is Ruger.

It's what I learned on. If the 4 was an option when I was buying them I would have gone that way. I prefer the 22/45 guns but don't know how they'd be for little hands. I will add that another good choice would be the SR22 with the bonus the most of the controls directly transfer to most normal semi auto pistols. Honestly there are so many good choices out there it's hard to go wrong.

I really like my Ruger Mk 11.  A Ruger is a very good choice.

I don't have much experience with another brand.

I recommend you get one with a threaded barrel so you can add a suppressor at some point, even if you don't have one now.

.22 pistols are actually very loud.

I’ve had just about every 22 auto made.. I’d stick with the mk2... not that some of the others aren’t sweet shooters but I always come back to the mk2.  Plinking with the kids I’m sure you’ll be just fine with the standard tapered barrel. they don’t shoot much different than the heavy barrel..  I’d grab up whatever you can find. They are more scarce these days.

I pretty much learned to shoot pistols on mk series handguns.  I bought a mkiv 22/45 lite to teach my daughter how to shoot a pistol mainly for the light weight,  and I wanted the threaded barrel as I plan to suppress it.  It's been fantastic.  

I just set up a MKIV 22/45 Lite for Steel Challenge... they are a little hard to find, and the "lites" are more expensive than the bull barrel models... the take down is really nice as you can chamber clean and remove the bolt easily... easy to clean if you shoot a lot...the threaded barrel made adding a TK brake easy, and allows you to track the dot easier... ambi safety and frame bolt release...I use a large window Holosun 510

If you're going to get a Ruger MK

MKIV with volquartsen accuracy kit.

I have a Standard (early 80s model) and recently picked up a Mark IV Target. I can't image I'll ever shoot the standard again. The Mark IV is really nice. I did put the Vol trigger in and took out the mag disconnect. Take down is super easy. Being all metal it's a bit heavy but there are poly options. I just can't stand plastic guns.