I know there's a lot of love for the Rugers and the Buckmark.  I just couldn't warm up to them.  Ended up buying 2 used .22 pistols off of Gunbroker - the Smith and Wesson Model 41 and a High Standard Victor.  I am loving both of them.

The SW41 came with a red dot.  Gave it a good cleaning and finally found some cheap ammo it seems to like and the gun is now running almost 100%.  And even with cheap ammo the gun is a laser.  Due to the weather I've been doing most of my shooting indoors at 50'.  Yesterday, shooting at a 3" "shoot and see" sticky pasted to an 8.5x11 piece of paper I was able to put 24 of 25 shots into the 3" circle.  And within that 3" circle I was generally able to call my shots, so if the shot broke when the dot was in the lower left corner of the circle, that's exactly where the round ended up.  My guess is that if I put this gun in a ransom rest it would be shooting under an inch at 25 yards.

Also, really loving the High Standard.  This gun has run like a sewing machine with every brand of ammo I've fed it.  The trigger is better than the S&W, which is saying something because the S&W trigger is very good.  I'm not getting quite the same accuracy out of it (probably about 80% in my 3" circle) but I suspect that's because I'm shooting iron sights, which for me are less precise than a dot.  The Victor is actually set up so that adding a red dot is easy and I may do so just to see what the gun is really capable of.

My final takeaway - I know the Ruger and the Buckmark are obvious/safe choices, but I would give serious consideration to both a High Standard or a Model 41, particularly if you're looking for something more than a cheap plinker.  Am particularly loving the High Standard which you can pick up for less money.

So, if you have a budget of $425-700 (which is what you can find a used High Standard for) I would buy one all day over a Ruger (at least for the kind of shooting I do, where I want a gun with a great trigger capable of producing nice small groups).  They're very accurate, have a trigger that's miles better than the Ruger, are easier to take down/clean, you can interchange different barrels and they are beautifully built.  Plus, I kind of like the fact that most people have never even heard of a High Standard, much less shot one.

Be careful running “cheap ammo” in the 41 and especially the high standard ( us old school bullseye shooters are very well acquainted with these!)
These pistols were designed around the concept of target grade accuracy which almost always means optimal performance with standard velocity ammo as opposed to the high velocity ammo that is most common these days. Not saying it won’t work or that these guns are super fragile and can’t handle high velocity ammo, but you will accelerate wear and especially the high standard may lead to parts breakage. Good replacement high standard parts are hard to find now, and often need hand fitting. If it were me I would limit target guns to target ( standard velocity) ammo as much as possible
I Don’t think I have ever seen standard velocity ammo offered in cheap bulk packs ( the one exception is some lower end Eley like that available from the cmp)
These days we all understand you have to take what you can get and might not have much choice buying more ammo.

Thank you Captain.  I know High Standard in particular does not do well with a diet of high velocity ammo ... you can end up with a cracked frame.

On the Smith I've been using Federal Champion 36gr., which shoots better than the Eley standard velocity I was previously using and have been using with the High Standard.  But it does run a little hot, so maybe I'll keep searching for a better load.  Probably only put 100 rounds of the Federal through the gun, so hopefully no harm done.

I just ordered a thousand rounds of CCI Standard Velocity, which I'm hoping will run well in both the High Standard and the Smith and is relatively cheap (well at least it used to be).  Also have some more of the standard velocity Eley ammo I've been using on order from CMP which in todays market is also pretty cheap.

It is a little annoying in that one of the reasons I got the .22's was to shoot cheap ammo, but it's probably the caliber I have the least of (about 1500 rounds) as opposed to 9mm, .45, 5.56 and .308 all of which I have put away a couple of thousand rounds.

Really hoping ammo prices start dropping and availability starts increasing some time in the near future.

Yes I love the High Standards. I have a Trophy. It is an amazing gun.

I have always loved and wanted the Victor.

Damn this disease.

I have always wanted a 41, but each time I research I am read too many threads about it being picky about ammo.
Preference is to be able to buy bulk and hit the range. Doesn't appear possible with the 41 especially considering cost.
The MK series is great. Investing to upgrade and still be less than a 41 while able to consume just about any ammo is appealing.

That's like saying I won't buy a Corvette because it doesn't run well on regular 87 octane gas.

If you're going to buy a quality match grade gun and want to get the most out of it then you need to feed it quality match grade ammo. This isn't shortcoming or design flaw. The 41 (and guns like it) aren't meant to be blasters for cheap bulk ammo. They are target guns designed for shooters who want match grade accuracy and to get that kind of accuracy, you need a tight chamber and you need to use quality, match grade ammo.

I recommend checking your Chambers on the M41 if you have any extraction issues. Mine had machining marks. Even slight machine marks can hinder extraction.

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How about those lands and grooves.

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. Very fond of the Rugers. Tough motherfuckers. My target is very accurate. If you can figure out how to fold toilet paper and wipe your ass you can figure out how to reassemble it when cleaning. It’s easy.I was taught how when I was 10 years old. Never forgot. Easy peasy. Good luck on your purchase. They are all good guns. WarDawg

While I generally prefer old classics to current production stuff, lately I have been having more trouble finding parts and magazines for the old timers ( until recently my newest 22 pistol was a smith 422 made in the mid 90’s- great pistol by the way) so bought the current production victory - found it at a much lower price than a mark IV or buckmark and so far has worked great with all varieties of ammo.

The two pistols I showed is a Mark 1 standard and a Mark II target.

Ill be the minority here, I hate the Mark and Buckmark style guns, pain is the a$$ to take down, the frame isnt natural feeling at all, they're cool 'space guns', but they feel as big as the 17L I shoot in competition.

That being said, they are accurate, but so are the P22Q, SR22, M&P22, etc. style 22LR which are super easy to clean and at plinking distances are just as accurate. Sure the Mark/Buckmark might be more accurate at 100 yards but the majority of us aren't plinking bulkpack 22lr out past what any modern 22lr pistol can handle.

I've owned multiple Mark pistols and just cannot get used to them and sell them off every time.

I'm definitely the minority in this, as you can seen 90+% of the answers go against me, but just another opinion out there.

The Ruger 22/45 may be what you're looking for.  It has a lower with a 1911-ish grip angle.  I have had a Mk III 22/45 for some years now and am well past the 50,000 round mark with it.  The trigger is not great out of the box, but it's usable and improves as it breaks in.  A Majestic "speed strip" kit allows you to remove the bolt by removing the top half of the bolt stop pin with an allen wrench.  The kits come with a replacement hammer that has a polished cocking notch that improves the trigger noticeably.

I will say that if you get a Mk III, the loaded chamber indicator is a poor design and is the direct cause of numerous feedway stoppages.  That's probably why Ruger deleted that feature from the Mk IV.  The loaded chamber indicator is very simple to remove, and getting rid of it improves the gun's reliability noticeably.  If you like to tinker, there are no end of online guides for the Mk series pistols for disassembly, modifications to improve reliability, and so on.

OP here.  Ended up buying a used SW41 and a used High Standard.  Had a few teething issues with the 41, but it seems to like the CCI Standard Velocity ammo I'm now feeding it and I had 0 issues the last time I had it out.  The High Standard basically ran great right out of the box, but also does well with CCI SV.

Although each gun was more used than it would have cost me to buy a new Ruger, I have zero regrets with my decision.  The Smith and Wesson came with a red dot sight, and although I haven't benched it I can generally keep about 75-80% of my shots in a 3" ShootNSee target at 25 yards.  Things open up a bit with the High Standard, but I think that's because of the iron sights, which I never shoot as well as a red dot.  Both pistols have outstanding triggers (with the High Standard being slightly better).  Both are beautifully put together and just ooze quality when you shoot them.  I have little doubt both would be able to hold 1" at 25 yards if I benched them.  And both are a snap to break down and clean.  Finally, both have some heft/weight to them, which makes recoil almost non-existent.

With the price of ammo being what it is, I find that I am shooting one of these two pistols about 80% of the time.  Plus they are so damn easy and fun to shoot.  Makes me wonder why I waited so long to get a .22 pistol.

So if anyone is looking to take a step up from their Ruger/Browning and doesn't mind paying $6-900 for a pistol that is 10-20 years old I would definitely recommend you take a look at either the High Standard or the SW41.  The only problem is that, once you get one, you will no longer be able to blame the gun for any shot outside the 10 ring.