Perfect .22 cal plinker

[wheels]

I have been searching for a .22 cal plinker that meets very strict criteria. My intention of publishing this list is in hopes the gun manufactures are reading this and will design a gun to meet this criteria.

I have a .22 Cal harrington and richardson double action revolver. But the company is out of business now. I don't know anything about the super expensive .22 competition guns or where to find them.

The purpose of the gun is to:
 o kill small game
 o compete in competition shooting
 o build shooting skills using cheap .22 ammo. The skills would be to improve aim and trigger pull. I feel every shooter could benefit from owning and using this gun.

This is not going to be a self defence gun. (ok it will be better than nothing but self defence is not the intention. )

The gun should NEVER jam
The gun should be easy to clean.
The gun should be able to shoot any .22 LR ammo. Currently .22's are kinda picky about the brand of .22 you buy. This gun should be able to shoot the cheap stuff with no problems.

o 6 shot plus wheel gun. (I feel the .22 is not a strong enough round and every semi auto will jam on this round)
o You should be able to speed load the gun like you can the S&W .38 with speed loaders.
o The shells should eject easily after they have been shot. (My H&R gets stuck - this might get easier as I pump more rounds through it)
o The trigger should not be so hard to pull on double action. This kills accuracy and fingers. Maybe there is a reason why a wheel gun trigger is so hard to pull that I don't know.
o You should be able to add a scope to the gun or different sights.
o The gun should be easy to clean and field strip. (The rugar mark III may be a great .22 but it's a bear to put back together)
o The grips should be secure and probably use 2 screws to keep the grips on each side of the gun. (My H&R grips broke and I had to glue them back on)
o The gun should cost $200.00 - $400.00 NEW
o The gun should not be super heavy. Maybe we can get lucky and have some of that ultra light material used.
o The gun grip should be extremly comfortable. I am an XD 9mm owner mostly because of the grip. (My middle finger touches the back of he trigger guard on the H&R when shooting. Yea I have big hands.)
o The trigger pull should be between 2 - 3 pounds.
o Barrel length should be 4 inches.

Please add your opinions to this list. I am going to add to this list as time goes on. With a little luck we will build the specs for a perfect .22!

[Lawrence Keeney]

Taurus makes a couple of nice 22 LR DA revolvers, don't they?

How about finding a nice used smith and wesson kit gun at a gun store or a pawn shop, or the mid size older smith that looks like the Combat Masterpiece?

As for field stripping them..Ive never taken apart a revolver..don't know that Id want to.

May I suggest an alternative approach? Since it isnt being carried as a self defense revolver (I assume), how about a nice Ruger Single Six 22/22mag single action sixgun? I'm fairly certain it would be simple to get mounts and put a scope on one, and the Single Six is really great for hunting rabbits and squirrels with. A LOONG time ago in a galaxy far far away, I shot a squirrel out of the top of a tree with a 22 single six. It was a dumb risk, I realize now, but I was young and dumb back then.


Personally I'd love to have another single six. It's a fun gun. And if you are concerned about last-ditch self defense, the 22mag rounds in the other cylinder aren't bad for repelling goblins.

Hey..they're better than a 25 auto..and have decent penetration.

[wheels]

The Tauris I saw was too heavy. It was competing against the S&W 617. (Also too heavy)

I think these 2 guns are to have the same feel as a 357 to enable the .357 shooter access to cheap ammo while giving the same feel as a .357. Also the triggers are very difficult to pull on these guns.

[Lawrence Keeney]

The Tauris I saw was too heavy. It was competing against the S&W 617. (Also too heavy)

I think these 2 guns are to have the same feel as a 357 to enable the .357 shooter access to cheap ammo while giving the same feel as a .357. Also the triggers are very difficult to pull on these guns.

That's probably true...they made them as understudies for the larger guns to encourage people to buy both revolvers.

If you are really concerned about trigger pull, take a look at the single six. If it's not going to be used for self defense, then does it really matter if you can speed load it or not? The single action trigger pull from one of these is very crisp and fairly light..I would think.

[wheels]

Speed load is important. I don't like the single six because of the loading. I really got lucky with the H&R wheel gun.

[Sponsor]

[Snake45]

The purpose of the gun is to:
 o kill small game
 o compete in competition shooting
 o build shooting skills using cheap .22 ammo. The skills would be to improve aim and trigger pull. I feel every shooter could benefit from owning and using this gun.

This is not going to be a self defence gun. (ok it will be better than nothing but self defence is not the intention. )

The gun should NEVER jam
The gun should be easy to clean.

o 6 shot plus wheel gun. (I feel the .22 is not a strong enough round and every semi auto will jam on this round)
o You should be able to speed load the gun like you can the S&W .38 with speed loaders.
o The shells should eject easily after they have been shot. (My H&R gets stuck - this might get easier as I pump more rounds through it)
o The trigger should not be so hard to pull on double action. This kills accuracy and fingers. Maybe there is a reason why a wheel gun trigger is so hard to pull that I don't know.
o You should be able to add a scope to the gun or different sights.
o The gun should be easy to clean and field strip. (The rugar mark III may be a great .22 but it's a bear to put back together)
o The grips should be secure and probably use 2 screws to keep the grips on each side of the gun. (My H&R grips broke and I had to glue them back on)
o The gun should cost $200.00 NEW
o The gun should not be super heavy. Maybe we can get lucky and have some of that ultra light material used.
o The gun grip should be extremly comfortable. I am an XD 9mm owner mostly because of the grip. (My middle finger touches the back of he trigger guard on the H&R when shooting. Yea I have big hands.)
o The trigger pull should be between 2 - 3 pounds.

With all respect, I believe your criteria are unrealistic, especially the $200 new price.

What comes closest to your specs is the old Smith & Wesson Model 18 Combat Masterpiece in .22LR, or the older K22s without the current 617's underlugged barrel. But you will not find one of these for $200 these days, even used. Taurus makes a clone, but I haven't shot one, nor do I know what they're going for used.

Be aware that you will not be able to "speed load" a .22 revolver. Oh, you can for the very first cylinder full, if it is very clean, and possibly the second. After that, dirt/lube in the chambers will prevent the light .22 rounds from falling fully chambered of their own weight. You can use a speedloader but you still have to press every round home with your thumb.

I don't agree with your premise that no .22 automatic is reliable enough. The Ruger MK II/III, IME, is about as reliable as ANY .22 firearm gets. You are going to have a certain amount of malfunctioning with ANY .22 due to the nature of the ammo itself. You're just going to have to live with this.

I also disagree with your premise that the Ruger MK II/III is a bear to reassemble. It goes back together as easily as anything else, IF YOU'RE DOING IT RIGHT. All you have to do is learn the proper procedure.

Used MK IIs are available on the market in the $200 range. Just pick the barrel length and weight you want. (I include the .22/45s in this as well.)

[wheels]

I am willing to give on the price. Yea $200.00 is dreaming. But the price on the S&W 617 is $550 and that is way too much. But that is what this list is kinda about anyway.

But you should not have to put up with jams just because the round is crap. I don't care the round is crap, any jamed gun is dangerous. Hence my humble opinion any .22 semi-auto will jam and that is bad. Since the round is crap and cheap, make the .22 a wheel gun.

As far as the Rugar - I feel a gun should not be too difficult to put together. Every person at the local gun show told me the rugar is hard to put back to gether. You can do it if you hold your mouth right. But that just should not be. We live in a time with some wonderful 1911's, Glocks, Springfield XD's - all wonderful guns to shoot and take care of. We should be able to get the same from a .22. The walther p22 is an embarrasment to the walther name.

Nothing is impossible. I want the manufactures to build a safe reliable .22 or don't build it at all.

[Snake45]

But you should not have to put up with jams just because the round is crap. I don't care the round is crap, any jamed gun is dangerous. Hence my humble opinion any .22 semi-auto will jam and that is bad. Since the round is crap and cheap, make the .22 a wheel gun.

Since you already stipulated that this is NOT going to be a self-defense weapon, I'm having trouble following your logic that a "jammed" gun is "dangerous." Inconvenient, yes. Annoying, yes. Sometimes even embarassing. But not "dangerous." And I have news for you: .22 revolvers CAN and DO experience just as many malfunctions as a good .22 auto pistol. It's well known that you have to keep the chambers/extractor/cylinder of a .22 revolver cleaned out (every hundred rounds or so) or the cylinder will start binding or lock up. We can start shooting my Ruger MKII and any of my several Colt or Smith .22 revolvers from a clean condition, and I can tell you which one of those guns will still be shooting when the other one is locked up due to dirt.

As far as the Rugar - I feel a gun should not be too difficult to put together. Every person at the local gun show told me the rugar is hard to put back to gether.

The Ruger is not difficult to put together. Just because no one you talked to at your gun show knows how to do it properly doesn't change that. Take two minutes to learn how it's done and this will cease to be a "problem" for you.

[wheels]

I just found a S&W 317 that is very close to the bill. But I am still concerned with the trigger pull on this gun and I would prefer the barrel to be 4 inches but this just might meet my specs.
http://www.impactguns.com/store/022188602227.html

I appriciate your opinion on the Ruger. I had one of the employees at my local gun range show me how to brake down the ruger for cleaning. He had a real bear of a time putting it back to gether. It took him a lot longer than 10 minutes to get it back together.

[Snake45]

If the Smith 317 appeals to you, this might come even closer in barrel length and price. I think the weight is more appropriate, too. Also, those 317 Smiths are notorious for stiff DA trigger pulls.

Check this out:

http://www.taurususa.com/products/product-details.cfm?id=384&category=Revolver