In the market for a .22 pistol

[bk09]

I had planned on dropping a large chunk of change for a nice baitcaster and jigging pole before I go to Canada on a fishing trip next week. But after realizing what I could buy with that money that would give me year round enjoyment I decided against it. Now I am in the market for a .22 pistol. My criteria for it are as follows:
-Semi-auto
-Threaded barrel
-Magazines to be found for preferably under $20 and max of $25
-Not as small as a Walther P22 (I have big hands and the P22 is just a tad small)
-Longer sight radius preferred but not necessary
-Definitely under $400, closer to $300 is more my limit unless it comes with something like 5 magazines

In the future I want to suppress it, that is why I want it threaded. I mainly want this to help steady my offhand shots. I plan on handgun hunting so would like all the practice all I can for cheaper than my .38 special reloads cost me.

Edit: I may have come across a keeper already.
http://mkschiappa.com/MKS_Chiappa_semiautomatics/Chiappa_1911_22_tactical.html
That can be had for $272 at buds and magazines are under $20. Thoughts?

[jonm]

I havent heard anything good about the Chiappa brand 1911. The GSG 1911-22 gets considerably better reviews. It's the same as the Sig 1911-22 at a cheaper price. They had a few problems early on but they have since been resolved.

I have a factory threaded Ruger 22/45 I'd part with. It doesnt have iron sights but it has rails for a red dot.

[metaldoc]

I've had both the Chiappa 1911-22 and Ruger 22/45.   For something that will last a long time,  I'd recommend passing on the Cheepa and getting a Ruger in the Mark series.  The Ruger 22/45 gives you the best of both worlds.

[RobertH]

ill chime in here... i have two 22LR pistols.  the first one is a Ruger MKIII.  it is really nice, ill have a FTF or FTE once and a while, but i think its caused by the magazine or the cheap HP ammo.  i recently bought a Sig Mosquito in OD Green with threaded barrel.  the magazine are kind of expensive and i have not shot it yet, so i don't know how it preforms.  i am also going to suppress this (and my 22 SBR upper).  the Mosquito gets hit and miss reviews, hopefully mine will be great when i get her broke in.

[dougusafsp]

Check out the Smith & Wesson M&P 22. It is the same body size as my M&P 40. Has a threaded 4" barrel, adjustable rear sight and comes with one 12 round Magazine. I think I paid about $25 for a spare magazine. The price of the gun is right about $350. I have shot it with all kinds of different ammo and it is not picky at all.

As with the Chiappa... I own one and it isn't worth the money. Cheap plastic magazine (wouldn't even call it polymer) and the trigger pull is horrendous. I have only been able to shoot hi-velocity copper plated rounds with it and get failure to feed atleast twice in a 10 round magazine.

Hope this helps in your search.

[JimP]

http://www.ruger.com/products/2245ThreadedBarrel/models.html

or

http://www.ruger.com/products/2245Lite/models.html

One of those would work..... a bit over $400 MSRP (but can be found cheaper), but meets all your other specs.

[bkoenig]

With .22 pistols I think you have basically two choices unless you want to spend a ton of money - a Browning Buckmark or a Ruger.  I've owned both and I liked the Buckmark a lot more, but I believe the Ruger suppresses better because the slide isn't open on both sides like the Browning. 

From everything I've read, most of the other .22 autos on the market just aren't as reliable as these two.  There are some exceptions (I hear the CZ .22 Kadet adaptor is excellent) but in general you won't go wrong with either of these.

[bk09]

Forgot about the buckmark, I held one at scheels and it felt like it was meant for me. I may have to look into that...

[Ross Berck]

I have the
 Ruger mkIII,
Ruger mkII,
Ruger 22/45
 Caspian 1911 with the latest marvel conversion,
Walther p22
Smith m&p 22
CZ75b kadet

Out of these I prefer the Ruger 22/45 and MKIII.  I like the MKIII metal frame better than the 22/45 and the mkIII mag release is much nicer than the MKII.  The cz kadet is nice too but probably out of your budget if you dont already have a cz75(harder to suppress and the slide on the kadet is kind of hard to grab). http://www.cz-usa.com/products/view/cz-75-kadet-adapter/
 The newest marvel conversion for 1911s(the newest one will lock the slide back on the last shot) is nice if you have a 1911 to convert.  You can switch out the top for sights or red dot rail. http://www.tacticalsol.com/tshome/2211-1911-22lr-conversion
Also they have a glock conversion and upgrades for ruger and browning http://www.tacticalsol.com/tshome/tsg-22-conversion-for-glock-pistols
The smith and wesson M&P is nice and 12 rds and I think I could use the adapter from my walther p22 to put my suppressor on but havent yet.

[AJ_Engineer]

I have a Ruger 22/45 threaded barrel version. It is quite nice with a SilencerCo Sparrow on the end.

Have had zero problems with it, except when I dis-assembled it when I first bought it. They can be tricky to re-assemble until they've been shot a few times.

[David Hineline]

$300 is too low a target unless you are buying well used old guns.
$400 is in the range to get a GSG 1911 threaded with a couple magazines. My current favorite

The S&W M&P uses the same $35 thread adapter as the Walther P22. I have not used this gun

Ruger MKII is an easy enough gun to get threaded.

[bigmountainskiercfg]

I have a mosquito and I love it, took a little while about 150-200 rounds to break it in.  It is a little temperamental in that it shoots best with out mis feeds using CCI mini mag ammo, but... have shot rem and federal and it does okay, will have a mis feed every 20 rounds or so. 

[Ronvandyn]

I have a Phoenix Arms HR22.  Nice little pistol, but its got all of that California crap on it (Made in Orange Ca.), so I would not use it as a BUG, only for the kids to plink with.

Ron

[bk09]

Well I just found Buds has the Buckmark Whisper in stock for $380. Before I bite the bullet in about a week after my next paycheck I have another question. Does anybody have experience with Buckmarks? The biggest thing I am looking at that I am unsure of is whether or not it fires bulk .22 ammo with ease? That was the biggest drawback of the Sig Mosquito so I steered clear.

[jonm]

It will be perfectly fine with bulk ammo. That being said, the barrel is too long to keep it subsonic. You want something with the barrel under 4.5" to keep it subsonic.

[bk09]

When the time comes to shoot it suppressed I will probably switch to some decent ammo, most likely the CCI's you can get 375 for about $20. Right now I just want a gun that fits my hand well to get some dirt cheap practice with. My other cheapest handgun to feed is a S&W 642, the 38 special reloads are cheap but it isn't a fun gun to shoot hundreds of rounds at a time with.

[HuskerXDM]

My Buckmark shoots the cheap stuff just fine.  An occasional failure to fire, but nothing to get bend out of shape for.  I bought it used for $200 and had to replace the buffer and chose to replace the recoil spring assembly.  Super fun to shoot and wicked accurate.