I’ve shot exactly two .22 pistols in my life, both Rugers. One was a MKI, and since I was about seven at the time I couldn’t make much of a judgement about it. The second one was a Ruger MKII, rosewood butt, 6" bull barrel. I can hit with that gun SOOOOO much better than I can with my Glock 19 that I’m packing up the Glock in favor of a .22.
I hit 1 out of 10 with the Glock, and 8 out of 10 with the .22.
So, now I’m on the market. I’m thinking about the Ruger .22, 6" barrel, blued, with a trigger job.
I have since found out that the Cold 41 .22 is generally considered to be a superior gun. Being unable to test one out, I have zero practical experience with this. And, the colt runs about 2.5x the price of the Ruger.
My purpose is plinking at the range, hunting small game out to ~50 yards, and knocking the eye out of a bird flying.
I could really care less about “stopping power” and other human-hunting terms, since I doubt I’ll ever be pointing this weapon at another human.
Do not discount the Smith and Wesson 617 .22 revolvers. 10 shot, and if you want accuracy, a Smith is hard to beat. And when you cock it back to SA, I doubt you will get much more accurate with a factory pistol/trigger pull.
But I’d second lucwarm and go with a rifle, if pure range plinking/small game hunting is what you want. The Ruger 10/22 is the ‘gold standard’ among .22 rifles. Plus, there are tons of accessories, parts, and ‘DIY’ accurizing tricks for the 10/22.
And since you want to get rid of that G19, let me mail a signed copy of my dealers FFL, and we can ge that off your hands
I’ve got an old Ruger MK I that I’ll trade you straight across.
Seriously, if you shoot really well with the Ruger, why worry if the Colt is a ‘superior’ gun. Why don’t you try to borrow a Colt to shoot and pick which ever pistol is best for you.
BTW, the general consensus at the range I frequent is that the Ruger is a good, rugged, dependable pistol. A lot of guys shoot them that can afford whatever .22 they want.
The Ruger Mk IIs are widely considered excellent .22 pistols- it’s the first product the company ever made, and still makes to the exact same design after almost 40 years. It must do something well if that’s the case.
I got a 22/45 a while back- I like the different grip angle more. At any rate, I’m immensely pleased with the Ruger .22 pistols. Cheap, dependable and quite accurate!
The only gun I still have is a Remington .22 with a scope. Its cheap and fun to shoot. Being an automatic you can pop off 4 or 5 quick shots and kill a stray dog in the yard. I haven’t hunted in ten years and it suits my needs.
Ummmm… I think maybe you mean a Smith & Wesson model 41. Colt only used numbers for their guns that were years, like “1911”. Otherwise, they have proper names for most all of their guns.
Anyway, where I live, a new blue steel Ruger MkII will cost maybe $400, and a Smith & Wesson model 41 costs $700 new, up around $1000+ for the target-length model–if you can even find one that is (I dunno if the target models are in regular production). Model 41’s are nice guns, but I for one do not believe that they are worth their prices. They are very-well-built field guns, but for that money you can get into a new low-end or used better Olympic-style match gun that will feel a lot better in your hand. S&W guns are generally built well but cost quite a bit more than other brands, often 1.5X others’ prices. A pistol in (a given caliber) will cost $500+ from S&W but might cost $300+ from Taurus, but the Taurus won’t be built as well and feel as tight & solid as the S&W is.
I think that Ruger MkII pistols are butt-ugly, but they are generally very accurate and they last forever–with a bit of oil, you simply will not wear the thing out during your lifetime from shooting it. I have maybe 5000 shots through my stainless govt 6-7/8" and there is only small cosmetic rub marks on the bolt. The main weakness is their factory triggers, but that can be improved if you find it necessary. Volquartsen makes a right-hand rubber target grip I have on mine and love.
The IZH35M sold by EAA is currently the lowest-priced new match gun available at around $450, but it has a couple drawbacks in that it only has right-hand grips, only has 5-shot magazines available and needs to be disassembled to clean completely, and the screws involved tend to work loose during shooting. It comes with a scope rail, but that blocks using the (target-adjustable) sights… I note that a lot of casual shooters don’t like target pistols for their 5-shot magazines. ----- The next-up “real” target pistol is a Walther version of this same gun, with different grips and a different slide lock, for about $300 more. Other than that, if you want a real target pistol for under $1000 you have to buy used.
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I have two Ruger .22 LR pistols, a blue heavy barrel MKI and a stainless tapered barrel MKII. They are both very accurate pistols. I have shot countless rounds through both of these guns (I buy .22 LR ammo by the “brick”) and have experienced only one problem: the MKI bolt stop pin finally failed after twenty-five years of continuous service.
I have shot lots of different kinds of .22 LR handguns, both revolvers and pistols, and I prefer the feel and accuracy of the Rugers over comparably-priced handguns. More expensive .22 LR handguns are available, and they are sometimes superior to the Rugers; but in the price range of the Rugers, nothing comes close. BTW, magazines are interchangeable between the two models, with the older MKI magazines holding nine rounds and the newer MKII magazines holding ten rounds. The MKII bolt locks back after the last round in the magazine is fired, which may be an important feature for some folks.
One suggestion that I’ll make is to purchase the pistol and shoot it before you have any trigger work done. You may find that the trigger is fine just as it came from the factory.
