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I have several 22 pistols that I have fired for many years and among them there are 2 that stands out as most reliable. First is a 6” S&W 422 pistol that I’ve had since 1988. I think this pistol has fired over 50k rounds in 36 years. I’ve fired a lot of cheap bulk ammo which occasionally didn’t fire but rarely did it fail to feed or extract when it fired. I changed all the springs on this pistol with Wolff springs about 15 years ago. With CCI Minimag ammo I don’t remember any failures. Second is my Ruger MK3 standard pistol. I got this pistol about 12 years ago and all my kids learned to shoot auto pistol on this one. My kids and I probably shot more than 30k rounds through this pistol now and even with cheap bulk ammo it’s rare to have any failures. I’ll probably replace springs soon. I think these 2 pistol are about as reliable as rimfire pistols can be. My Bersa Thunder is reliable too but seems more ammo sensitive. The Walther P22 I had was crap and would jam at least once per magazine. |
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Lately I've been shooting the Ruger MK IV 22/45 Tactical 40149 and the cheaper version of it, model 40190. Both with a suppressor. This is not target shooting, it is closer to plinking. Ammo has been Remington Golden Bullets solid point and Remington Standard Velocity solid point. Rem Std Velo is a bit quieter, using a CMMG Zeroed 22 can. Both are pretty quiet and very reliable. These pistols are kept clean and the chambers and barrels brushed with a bit of Chore Boy wrapped on the brush. Magazines got some dry lube. In 800 rounds there has been one stovepipe and no other malfunctions, probably this happened because I didn't shoot enough Golden Bullets for break in before changing to standard velocity. I also used some high viscosity grease on the bolt and that is a contributing factor. MK IV triggers are fine for my shooting. Older 22/45 magazines won't fit in the MK IV without removing the rear overhang on the base plate, it's plastic and easy to grind off. The 40190 doesn't have a rail for an under barrel laser light. Performance makes one for the 7/8" barrel and it fits but the front of the picatinny rail on top of the gun has to be ground back some. The Tactical 40149 model has an under barrel picatinny as well as the one on top. The silver colored top picatinny on the 40190 helps pickup sight alignment faster than the black picatinny on the 40149. Factory sights are good. A laser light is good for some shooting. I got a $35 3MOA red and green dot and multi reticle sight from Academy, it fits on the top picatinny. It's big and bulky but is easier to sight with than the factory sights. Green dot laser has been easier to use than red when outdoors, on the optic switching back and forth between the green and red has shown green is a bit better for me. Cleaning a MK IV is extremely easy to do, compared to MK III and earlier Rugers. The improvement is huge. One more thing, these two MK IVs have smooth surfaced bores, they don't produce a lot of leading in the suppressor like a barrel with chatter marks in the bore will do. That's a big plus. OK, another one thing: Ruger Marks have a very enclosed bolt, not a slide. There is no noticeable blow back into the face when using a suppressor, normal slide pistols can produce blow back that is not fun. Hope this helps somebody. |
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First, any post that asks what is "the most" or "best" of anything is due to fail since the answers will be all over the board. Because there can be no definitive answer. A better question would be what are some of the better semi .22 pistols. I doubt many of the shooters here have owned all currently available .22 semis for an extended time and heavy use that would actually qualify them (including me) to truthfully be able to answer the OPs question. I shot my Dad's Colt Woodsman for years. I have owned several earlier Rugers and never liked the goofy (my opinion) slanted grip angle of the originals so I never kept one very long although they were perfect in function and more accurate than I likely was. The introduction of the .22/45 models made me a forever Ruger .22 pistol fan and still am currently owning an all stainless model and a 22/45 Lite. In between I managed to acquire a Model 41 long barrel version and I have a .22 conversion kit for my 1990s Kimber 1911s. The Model 41 was expensive and more than I would pay again for a .22 semi since I'm not a competitive shooter. It was beautifully made though. I've handled and shot Buckhorns belonging to others and liked them but only have limited experience having never actually "lived" with one. For me, the Ruger 22/45 is what I would buy again when I am next in the market, which may in the coming summer. Is it the most reliable, accurate and dependable .22 semi now available? I don't know, and neither does anyone else on here. But is has done very well in all three categories for me over decades of use and untold thousands and thousands of rounds. It's performance during that long time period is such that I can (and have) recommended it to new handgun shooters on several occasions. The only downside I have found with pre-Mark IV models is that they are a pain in the butt to field strip and put back together. Fortunately, the Rugers are so well designed that they can go many hundreds of rounds without cleaning. The Mark IV models fixed that single downside. |
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First, any post that asks what is "the most" or "best" of anything is due to fail since the answers will be all over the board. Because there can be no definitive answer. A better question would be what are some of the better semi .22 pistols. I doubt many of the shooters here have owned all currently available .22 semis for an extended time and heavy use that would actually qualify them (including me) to truthfully be able to answer the OPs question. I shot my Dad's Colt Woodsman for years. I have owned several earlier Rugers and never liked the goofy (my opinion) slanted grip angle of the originals so I never kept one very long although they were perfect in function and more accurate than I likely was. The introduction of the .22/45 models made me a forever Ruger .22 pistol fan and still am currently owning an all stainless model and a 22/45 Lite. In between I managed to acquire a Model 41 long barrel version and I have a .22 conversion kit for my 1990s Kimber 1911s. The Model 41 was expensive and more than I would pay again for a .22 semi since I'm not a competitive shooter. It was beautifully made though. I've handled and shot Buckhorns belonging to others and liked them but only have limited experience having never actually "lived" with one. For me, the Ruger 22/45 is what I would buy again when I am next in the market, which may in the coming summer. Is it the most reliable, accurate and dependable .22 semi now available? I don't know, and neither does anyone else on here. But is has done very well in all three categories for me over decades of use and untold thousands and thousands of rounds. It's performance during that long time period is such that I can (and have) recommended it to new handgun shooters on several occasions. The only downside I have found with pre-Mark IV models is that they are a pain in the butt to field strip and put back together. Fortunately, the Rugers are so well designed that they can go many hundreds of rounds without cleaning. The Mark IV models fixed that single downside. |
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