Smith Wesson Victory in .22 LR

Yeah, I lied. One more for now .. with corn chips .

Why this video? There's a pistol at 2:13: wait for it ..

Unlikely to be a .22, but who knows? And, this a pistol thread. Like daggers, pistols are

survival tools ..

 

My Browning Buckmark is my "gold" standard. It was the very first gun I ever purchased. Like others have said about .22 semi-autos, once you get the takedown routine in order it is a fairly easy pistol to clean and maintain. Mine has seen a lot of rounds through it (approx 10,000 last count). It is set up as a trainer with an oversized colored slide release and colored mag plates. Any new shooter that goes out with me gets started on this pistol.

The accuracy (and consistency) on this pistol is excellent using any ammo. It never has acted finicky regardless of brand or load that goes into it. I think it is on the large side for pack and trail carry and not easily concealed or presented if discretion is important. But for small game I imagine it would be terrific. (Note: I am not a hunter even though I have a small game license in my wallet at the moment.)

I give strong marks to the CCI Stinger loads. Hands down the best load I put through this pistol. Expensive and not always available but I stock up when I find them.

My Browning is the SS Camper in 5 1/2" barrel.

 

I've owns probably a dozen .22lr pistols over the years but all have been Brownings or Rugers plus one S&W M&P22.

Currently, I own a OD Ruger 22/45 LITE and the S&W M&P22. Both of these are great guns and both have threaded barrels to host my suppressor. The S&W appealed to me when I bought it because I was shooting a full size 9mm S&W M&P in IDPA at the time and carrying a Shield. The M&P22 has never one had a malfunction - feeding or light strike - in thousands of rounds fired ... true story. Not even with cheap bulk box ammo. It's a great shooting gun - accurate and fun. It also accepts 12rd mags which is a nice bonus couple extra rounds over the Rugers. The LITE (as well as every other Ruer I've owned) requires a little better ammo to run well. I shot a couple hundred of CCI Tactical through it last week and it didn't have a single malfunction. I stocked up on that ammo a couple of years ago so I should be good for a while. It's designed to run in a .22lr AR style rifle but I have found that allows it to run well in 22/45s and my 10/22.

I am excited for Ruger's new MKIV with the easier takedown but am waiting for a more standard model and not the hunter.

 

Two more great posts. Thanks, JAD and VolGrad. I'm learning lots here about these pistols. This will be my first .22 pistol, so learning as much as I can about what's out there will be hugely useful for me, regardless of what I choose. Honestly, it's still totally up in the air right now between SWV, Ruger Mark X or 22/45, and Browning Buckmark. The 22/45 appears to be out of production, but there are still a few around. I suspect I'm less likely to buy an out of production model though. I like guns that are currently being produced -- better IMO for several reasons.

The one thing I know for sure: I want either a target pistol or a hunter with at least 5" of barrel. So even though I'm glad we're also putting in pistols like the SW M&P22 -- for completeness -- I'm sure I will not buy that style.

And I'd prefer the option of a threaded barrel for later, but I'm not going to hang up on that.