Posted on 07/04/2017 7:01:30 AM PDT by A Cyrenian
I'm thinking about buying Smith & Wesson SW22 pistol to start target shooting. I've thought this could be fun for a while and now have the opportunity to join a local gun club.
What advice can you give me on owning a small caliber pistol?
Thanks.
Don’t forget the ruger SR22 as a carry. a .22 is effective contrary to popular caliber elitists.
First learn to SHOOT.
As in—”hit what you are aiming at”.
500 rounds thru the gun will give proficiency.
5000 rounds will make you a good shot. (YMMV)
.22 is waaaay good enough for learning.
After all that—you will KNOW what gun(s) you will want. And caliber, AND brand, etc.....
My advice? S&W model 17 target revolver.
Now you’ve done it. You’ve started a religion thread. :)
Most people here who’ve been shooting a long time, started out with .22’s. Mostly long guns because pistols required you to be older.. Still, if you’re a beginner, it’s a good choice for acclimating to gun safety & shooting.
Join the club, take a basic intro class if you’re new to the sport and go from there. If you can rent range guns of various sizes and calibers, do so. Find one that fits you.
Talk to other club members. Just like here, you’ll get a variety of opinions.
Have fun and enjoy. Just stay away from boats. :)
Guess it was time.
I agree with those who say try a variety of guns before you buy. A .22 IS a good choice to start with. The ammunition is affordable, and the skills you will learn in mastering it will serve you well when you’re ready for something more powerful. Best bet is to find a range that will allow you to rent a gun to try—this was invaluable to me, and helped me to rid myself of preconceptions about makes and calibers.
The women in our family, who don't want to shoot a shotgun prefer this gun to learn how to shoot and later as home protection.
Extra cylinder allows shooters to quickly change from shooting .22 LR to .22 WMR.
http://www.ruger-firearms.com/products/newModelSingleSixConvertible/models.html
Forgot to mention...
22 LR pistols are just plain fun to shoot. If you’re at the range shooting a larger caliber pistol and you can’t seem to do anything right...pull out the 22 semi-auto. The world will return to perfect alignment.
I have a Ruger MkIII, 5.5” barrel. It’s a pain to clean, but it’s a hoot to shoot.
Also...there is a factory recall on some Ruger Mk IV’s right now.
Another weird thing about 22s. People seem to come home to them. You’ll start there, work your way through an astonishing variety of calibers, firearms, and varieties.
Then after a few decades you’ll find a 22 right back in your hand and wonder how the hell it happened.
I have Ruger Single Six with wooden grips. I bought in in 1984 and still love it. Although it has shot mostly paper, I have gotten a few squirrels and woodchucks with it.
At that price point I would go with a Browning Buck mark. The S & W 22 looks like the offspring of a Buck Mark and a Ruger Mark X.
Nostalgia perhaps. That, and ammo is damn expensive. Plus it’s fun to just grab the .22 and go plinking.
To the OP-You'll hear a little of everything, some correct, and a lot of it "phallicly influenced". Ya might try renting from a local range to try-before-you-buy if that's available in your area. Firearms are highly personal and there usually is no "best" for a given purpose. A firearm that strikes someone as "sexy" is useless if they can't hit with it. While something more "boring" will get the job done (.38 snubby).
That said, and as others have stated, there's always a place for a l'il .22. Great fun. It'll get ya out to that range and if ya have any social skills at all shooters can be very generous folks(read:bad influence) about letting you try theirs. I'd look at something threaded in case the madness really takes hold of ya. Hehehe. d;^)
The best gun is the one ya have at the time of need.
A hit with a .22 is better than a miss with a .44.
A 9mm might expand. A .45 won't shrink.
Varmint hunter- Ya can't miss'em fast enough to kill'em.
If ya won't carry it, ya won't have it.
Yadda, ,yadda. d:^)
I think "best" is subjective. I settled on the Buckmark over the Ruger. It fit my hand better, and I don't really mind the cleaning regimen. Plus I'd probably have to spend another $50-$75 dollars on the Ruger trigger to get to the level of what the Buckmark brings out of the box.
You won’t get much gun advice here on FR, so I’ll chime in:
1. I own that particular .22, and I like it. It’s comfortable in my hand and a good one for learning to shoot accurately at a reasonable price. There are other good guns, and the choice depends on many things including whether you have small hands (let’s not do politics), but that’s one of my top ten handguns in .22LR.
2. There are a lot of differences in ammo. I would get the cheap 1400 round bucket of bullets and not worry about 2% of them not working on the first try (or sometimes the second try). Those misfires are a good chance to make sure you aren’t flinching and to check for other bad habits. Just try a second and third time to shoot them, and most of them will eventually go “boom”.
3. You should eventually get a bigger caliber. Maybe. But why start with something that costs a lot more per round if you’re building basic skills? The .22 is the place to start when shooting, or that’s what the Scouts believe. As a certified NRA Handgun Instructor, I agree with the BSA on that. Once you’ve fired off 5,000 rounds of .22LR from the S&W 22, you’ll know what gun you want next.
The S&W Victory 22 is a great target pistol to learn with straight out of the box. It’s easy to add an after-market barrel from Volquartsen and the picatinny rail is there for an optic...I have a C-More railway on mine and this turns it into a tackdriver...
Another .22 to consider is the Walther PPQ in 22LR, it’s ergonomically almost identical to the 9mm version and I’ve taught my grandkids to use it without any of the recoil issues the larger caliber presents them...
Learning to shoot a pistol in .22 is smart, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise...for stopping power though you will have to go heavier caliber unless you can put two in the hat consistently...in a dark room while tripping over the cat...
>>>and if your state allows for it, I would consider getting an AR-15<<<
Remember the good old days when we were a Free People?
I have a S&W 622 bought 20+ yes ago and it’s afforded me tons of cheap practice and fun as well as taking gobs of jackrabbit and such over the years.
Highly recommended
An AK is a great all around gun and fun to shoot. The Sammy Davis of battle rifles.
It used to be said that while Sammy Davis was a good dancer, Fred Astaire was better. While Sammy was a good singer, Sinatra was better, etc. So, while Sammy was not the best at any one thing, no one else was as good at so many things.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.