In 5 days I become old enough the government thinks I am responsible.  I am pretty sure I will get a Buckmark (want a good .22 pistol, also don't have the money for the HK I want)  Who has one?  What do you think?  Are there better options?  I am not really fond of the looks of the Rugers, but love the Brownings.  Actually, it is the 3rd.....4 days and counting. WOOHOO!

Having had a few Buckmarks, I think you will be happy with it. All mine never skipped a beat and were accurate too. Congrats on your rite of passage...21, buy a gun. Which model?

I own a Buckmark standard model & think it's the finest 22 made other than perhaps the S&W 41. Personally, you couldn't give me a Ruger 22.
One thing I don't do is disassemble it when I clean it. I spray it out real good with Gun Scrub & of course clean the bore but that's as far as it goes. There'll be an allen wrench included in the gun box for using to disassemble the slide portion. As I have had mine for 10 years or so it's never once jammed on me.
Get you a Hi-Power next in 9mm.

anothergene
I am getting the standard Buckmark.  Pretty cheap model but IMO the best looking besides the plus, but I can always buy wood grips later.

Quoted: anothergene I am getting the standard Buckmark.  Pretty cheap model but IMO the best looking besides the plus, but I can always buy wood grips later.

Truthfully, the rubber grips are fine. The wood grips in the summer are quite slippery, but look good. Just curious as to which model because there are quite a few variations made. I even had a few of the Challenger series and a Nomad before the Buckmarks, all good shooters. Try a few brands of ammo to see what it likes the best (mine liked all of 'em) Have fun, be safe.

HOPE I'M NOT TOO LATE!

A friend of mine has a standard buckmark and a target.  Both function very well with various ammo. This seemed to be what I was looking for and I purchased a new Buckmark Bullseye.  It shot about 30 rounds great then failure to fire. I sent it in for warranty repair and had to pay shipping. 2 months went by and I wondered where my gun was since I was planning to use it in a tournament coming up (which is why I purchased it in the first place) and called Browning. They said it was done and waiting to ship. Waiting for what I wondered....My call? I told them about the shoot and they said they would get it on its way. I was anxious to get my gun and practice.  Was upset the day of the tournament when I had to borrow my friends .22lr and use it.  A week later, the gun came in, but since the shoot was over didn't shoot it for about a month.  When I took it out and loaded the 10 round mag, about 4 of the 10 rounds went off. several mags later, I found this to be about par.  Tried several types of ammo and the best I could get was 6/10.

I called Browning and they said to send it back and they would take care of it.  Away it went, at my expense, for another 10 week vacation. when it returned they told me it was light striking and they adjusted a hammer spring.  I shot about 5 mags and maintained its 50/50 fire ratio.

This time, a little upset, I called Browning and talked to someone who said when I sent it,this time include a note that it was still light striking and attention (name I forget), who was their lead gunsmith. I finally felt I was getting help. I sent in the gun once more at my expense. When the gun came in 6 weeks later, I thought 3rd times the charm and went to the range. I sighted the pistol in and shot about 100 rounds of ammo. I was ready for the next tournament...or so I thought.  I did not place very high due to having to cycle the slide after about every other misfire. Finally, I was PISSED.heWhen the gun was ready, I prayed and immediately went to the range. I thought it was finally repaired until I opened the third box of ammo (80 rounds). Same performance as before.

I called Browning and they told me I could send it in or take it back to the repair shop. I was fed up with Browning and this gun. This is the only Buckmark I've heard of that has had this much trouble, but because of their poor customer service, Browning has lost a customer forever.

Matthew_S and all who may purchase from Browning, I just hope you think about this before you make purchase.  My friend with his 2 working buckmarks said he'd probably not purchase again from Browning either because of the customer service they gave. If you do decide to purchase a Browning, I wish you the best of luck and safe shooting.



I'm only glad John Moses isn't alive to see what Browning has become.

Sad news, indeed. I go back a long way with Browning .22s and never heard of such things. Quite possible, like most companies cutting back, quality and service suffer. I was in touch with a gentleman named Nick Mack, years ago, who was in charge of something (I forget what)at Browning and discussing other variations to their base .22 model pistol. That was then... I guess this is an example of what turns up used, at gunshows where the dealer always says..."Its a good shooter" Anyway, pick up a few extra recoil buffers for it, if you shoot it a lot, you will need some on hand.

I have NEVER bothered with a warrany service. I started out paying local smiths, someone whose house I could readily burn down if they screwed me (just kidding) However, face to face, with a guy who CAN hurt your business with a very few $ spent on a 1/2 page "ad" in the local paper, you tend to get better service, and much faster service to boot. I soon enough learned to do my smithing myself. You could have saved yourself a lot of money and grief by simply disassembling and thoroughly cleaning the gun, then replacing the firing pin, mainspring, etc.

Sorry to hear about your bad luck doggie.  Mine has been great.  I bought it used some time ago.  Judging by the wear on the finish of the internals, it had probably just be cycled by hand or seen less than 50 rounds.  It jams occasionaly, but so do all rimfires in my experience.  It is at least as reliable as the competition.  It's accurate, fits my hand and has a nice trigger.  It seems to like winchester ammo the best.  Can't comment on service, have had no need.  I also like that ruger 22/45.  Looks sharp in stainless with the bull barrel.  Like my buckmark best.  

Well, you were too late, but so far no problems at all with my new Buckmark.  I took it to the range last friday and put 150 rounds through it (lack of time) and 1 FTF(looked like ammo related) in the whole time.  A great gun to shoot so far.  AND THE BEST PART WAS....another guy at the range had got some buckmark mags with another gun and asked me if he could use my gun to see for sure if that's what they were, well they were.  So he had 4 nearly new mags he had no use for, and sold me all 4 for $10. The other good thing is the local range only allows .22 rimfire in the indoor range, so now I have something to shoot without freezing my nads off until spring comes.

Thats great news, Matthew, 4 mags for $10! Usually $25-$29 each. And now you know the gun works too. Is it sighted in yet? Decent groups? Glad you sound happy!

anothergene, I've been debating about trading the Bullseye in on a different .22, but my conscience stops me when I think about some other poor shmuck getting a "good deal" at a gunshow and heads to the range for a major disappointment........maybe I can convert into a hammer.

jett3, I may have to take your route from now on, but I had no idea what I was in store for since my only other warranty experience so far was with a Ruger GP100 and service was great.  They did everything except send me a case of ammo.

sk8brdnick, I have decided my next .22 will be a stainless 22/45 bull.

Matthew_S, I'm glad everything turned out good for you. Like I said, this is the only Buckmark I've heard of with this kind of trouble and it was the service, not the reputation of the Buckmark, that drove me away. I guess I just needed to blow off some steam....or alot of it.

Just surfin' around and noticed a Buckmark RIFLE on Brownings website. Not too sure about the fastening of stock to frame, but if your 18, you can purchase a Buckmark in rifle form.

Doggie, at the right price, I'll take that broken Buckmark off your hands.

Check your email.

OdT