.22 pistols

milkerman

I have been bitten by the pistol bug. My intro was on a cz and my grouping resembled an open choke shotgun pattern. It is not easy.
Have read a few reports on the usual .22 candidates - Ruger, Walther, Mosquito:eek: etc.
Have also heard of a Weihrauch .22 sold under the name Arminius. Has anyone used one? Any good? Varied reports on Google mainly from U.S. sites.
I dont like changing guns all that often so would like to get one that I will grow into. I would like to do 25m paper punching rather than practical.
Your votes please

Sparks

RRPC, fattony and others can give more hands-on recommendations milkerman, but I'd advise you to use club kit for a while yet and only change up when you know what you want to change on the pistol that you can't change on the club pistol. You also want to consider whether you want to spend thousands and get a nice shiny new pistol that's really aimed at the international competitive market; or if you're more into the domestic recreational shooting scene, in which case you're better off getting something less expensive. Are you thinking of training heavily or just shooting the odd weekend?

rrpc

Are you sure it's a pistol and not a revolver? If you have a link, could you post it here please?

For pistol shooting (as with everything else) it depends entirely on what you have to spend. You can get good pistols second hand and I'd advise the better models for that like Walther, Hammerli etc.

Working upwards in price you have:

Browning Buckmark - can be got for as little as €200
Hammerli X-Esse - new about €750, second hand around €300-€400
There are others around this price range as well such as the Ruger, Beretta etc. Walther have a new model out called the SP22 which I've heard nothing about yet (being too new), which comes in many flavours.

There are also available some of the older models of ISSF pistols like the Walther GSP, Hammerli 208, 215 and SP and the Pardini SP (though these are very rare second hand). Most of these are real workhorses and will go for years and years. A 1974 GSP won the pistol match in Rathdrum last weekend!

After that the sky's the limit.

As Sparks said, look around and see what you like. Go to competitions as a spectator and ask people about their pistols, they'll be only too happy to talk you to tears

milkerman

99% of my shooting will be done on a 25m range close to where I live. I have shot targets before with .22 rifle and was always content to just improve my level of accuracy. Competitions dont really interest me. The pistol interests me because its a discipline I have never tried before. There are loads of 9mm guns in the club & i have tried several - they didnt do anything for me. The .22 was different, quiet, precise and bloody difficult. I would love to be able to do 3" groups at 25yds. If I ever achieved it I would then be looking for 2" groups at 25yds' - thats just me.
I also admit to HATING the use of plastic in firearms - maybe thats an age thing! I have owned various rifles and airrifles since I was 18 and always drift back to taking a tin of pellets / bullets and quietly amusing myself putting holes in paper. (Shooting silvermints at 50yds is highly recommended)

milkerman

Sorry I dont have a link for Arminius. They are revolvers. The .22 versions hold 6 or 8 shots in the cylinder & some models have interchangeable cylinders allowing the use of .22WMRF & .22LR.

rrpc

milkerman wrote: »

99% of my shooting will be done on a 25m range close to where I live. I have shot targets before with .22 rifle and was always content to just improve my level of accuracy. Competitions dont really interest me. The pistol interests me because its a discipline I have never tried before. There are loads of 9mm guns in the club & i have tried several - they didnt do anything for me. The .22 was different, quiet, precise and bloody difficult. I would love to be able to do 3" groups at 25yds. If I ever achieved it I would then be looking for 2" groups at 25yds' - thats just me.

Nothing wrong with that . I'm not suggesting going to competitions to compete, but to look at the pistols being used and be able to make an informed decision. One of the big problems here is that dealers are not allowed to stock pistols, so you can never look at or hold a pistol before buying it. There's so much more to them than what a picture on a website will show.

I also admit to HATING the use of plastic in firearms - maybe thats an age thing! I have owned various rifles and airrifles since I was 18 and always drift back to taking a tin of pellets / bullets and quietly amusing myself putting holes in paper. (Shooting silvermints at 50yds is highly recommended)

Most good pistols don't have any plastic in them. You might find aluminium alright, but there's plenty of walnut around.

Sparks

rrpc wrote: »

Walther have a new model out called the SP22 which I've heard nothing about yet (being too new), which comes in many flavours

The US ISSF shooters don't seem to like it much because it's difficult to strip down for cleaning and tends to be sensitive to ammo. That said, it's a lovely piece of engineering - the balance is quite nice, the sight line is nice and low, and the trigger is good.

Sparks

If you're looking to just improve yourself, find a second-hand GSP/KSP/Hammerlli/Pardini/Morini or something similar. The truth is that the top of the line pistols are so accurate that they will merrily outshoot everyone in the country right now. They're a waste of money from the point of view of shooting well. Get a basic model (hell, if you can find a Baikal IZH-35, go for it) and spend the savings on ammunition.

bunny shooter

To add to what Sparks and rrpc have said, which is good advice, there are a few good "non-olympic" 22 pistols out there eg ruger s/a Mark 1, 2 or 3, ruger single six revolver, cz s/a cadet are all excellent and cheap enough at plus or minus €700 new, and they will be more accurate than you probably ever will.