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Top Manufacturers of .22LR Semi-Automatic Pistols by the Numbers
AmmoLand ^ | February 5, 2024 | Dean Weingarten

Posted on 02/11/2024 4:19:20 AM PST by marktwain

Semi-automatic pistols dominate the handgun market in the United States. There are ten major manufacturers of revolvers in the United States who made more than ten thousand revolvers each in 2021. 2021 is the latest year on record where the ATF has published the numbers of pistols made by United States manufacturers. There were only five major manufacturers of .22 caliber or smaller revolvers in 2021.  There were 40 manufacturers in the USA who made over 10,000 pistols (handguns, not revolvers) in 2021. There were 16 who made over 10,000 .22 caliber or smaller pistols in 2021. This article will look at major manufacturers of .22 rimfire semi-automatic handguns.

A significant number of pistols are handgun variants of AR15 pattern rifles. The ATF numbers do not differentiate between centerfire and rimfire. The AR15 pattern pistols deserve an article of their own. Manufacturers whose major production of pistols is of AR15 pattern will not be included in this analysis. The four Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. licenses will be grouped together. Trailblazer Firearms LLC makes the Lifecard .22 single-shot pistol. They made over 10,000 of the foldable pistols in 2021.  The Lifecard will not be included in this analysis. This pares down the field to a manageable eight major manufacturers. Also not included in this analysis is the SIG SAUER P322 which was released in 2022, a year after the ATF’s published numbers were released.

Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc., has four licenses to manufacture firearms. Two of them are in Mayodan, North Carolina, one is in Newport, New Hampshire, and one is in Prescott, Arizona.  The North Carolina licenses are reported as making  93,879 and 38,281 .22 caliber or smaller pistols in 2021.

(Excerpt) Read more at ammoland.com ...


TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: 22rimfire; banglist; pistols; usa
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Kel-Tec has grabbed considerable market share with its excellent P17 .22 pistol.
1 posted on 02/11/2024 4:19:20 AM PST by marktwain
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To: marktwain
Kel-Tec P17 .22 pistol. 16 round magazine, 14 ounces fully loaded, size of a Walther PP.
2 posted on 02/11/2024 4:21:24 AM PST by marktwain (The Republic is at risk. Resistance to the Democratic Party is Resistance to Tyranny. )
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To: marktwain

What is the lightest


3 posted on 02/11/2024 5:16:26 AM PST by Chickensoup
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To: marktwain

“Beretta, USA, Gallatin, TN, is reported to have made 14,123 .22 or smaller caliber pistols in 2021. Beretta USA makes several versions of their famous tip-up semi-automatic .22s in the USA”

Alas the Bobcat is sleeping (discontinued, again) but its larger sister the Tomcat got a reboot as the 30x including an optics-ready version (!)


4 posted on 02/11/2024 5:17:08 AM PST by No.6
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To: marktwain
By ATF admissions, data is kept two years in arears for manufacturer benefit.

I bet the Sig P222 is the hottest seller of a single pistol form.


5 posted on 02/11/2024 5:45:08 AM PST by CodeToad (Rule #1: The elites want you dead.)
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To: CodeToad

P222 is the P322. Coffee is brewing.


6 posted on 02/11/2024 5:45:54 AM PST by CodeToad (Rule #1: The elites want you dead.)
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To: marktwain

16 rounds of CCI Stinger would make that a good pocket gun.
Just make sure to keep all your KEL-TECs clean.
That’s the only issue I have had with the brand.
A little dirt can cause major malfunction.


7 posted on 02/11/2024 6:14:11 AM PST by GranTorino (Bloody Lips Save Ships.)
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To: marktwain
I posted a link to a 3 minute video of Hickok45 with the Ruger Mark IV, which he shows the ease of taking it apart.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjCQdgAj0Ks

Ruger also makes them in what they call the 22/45 models where the grip is aligned like the 1911.


8 posted on 02/11/2024 6:35:29 AM PST by T.B. Yoits
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To: marktwain

My (sometimes) gf needs a small, 5+ shot .22 revolver, for her first gun. Reasonably priced, not heavy, for small hands. Used is fine.

Any ideas?

(Please, no NAA mini revolver recs lol)


9 posted on 02/11/2024 7:00:09 AM PST by Basket_of_Deplorables (Vivek for VP!!!!)
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To: Basket_of_Deplorables

Ruger LCR...
.
Hard to find it but Nice.


10 posted on 02/11/2024 7:10:21 AM PST by Big Red Badger (The Truman Show)
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To: marktwain

Have been thinking about a Ruger Mark IV, I like the feel, aim, and easy disassembly. Thanks for mentioning the Kel Tec, might be wiser to have something smaller to carry. I’ll rent one, and give a shot.


11 posted on 02/11/2024 7:21:14 AM PST by Made In The USA (Ellen Ate Dynamite Good Bye Ellen)
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To: marktwain

I have the Ruger SR 22. Its a stellar hand gun.


12 posted on 02/11/2024 7:31:38 AM PST by Georgia Girl 2 (The only purpose of a pistol is to fight your way back to the rifle you should never have dropped)
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To: Basket_of_Deplorables

Alloy S&W revolver.

Used?


13 posted on 02/11/2024 7:32:38 AM PST by Does so ( 🇺🇦..."Christian-Nationalists" won WWII...Biden NOT NEXT DNC nominee!)
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To: marktwain

I remember when the .22 was the most hated firearm by the news media and democrat politicians. In 1970, the Denver Post called for a ban on American Made SATURDAY NIGHT SPECIALS as foreign ones had been banned by the 1968 gun control law.
The illustration they used for a SNS was a Ruger Mark II, which cost $45 at that time. They considered any handgun priced at below $50 at that time to be a SNS. “Rifles and shotguns will not be affected!” was the promise.

I was in a pawn shop not long ago. I saw an old SNS that sold new in 1968 for $12. They wanted 125 for it.


14 posted on 02/11/2024 7:45:50 AM PST by Ruy Dias de Bivar
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To: Made In The USA

You will not be disappointed with the Ruger Mk IV 22/45.


15 posted on 02/11/2024 8:00:03 AM PST by Noumenon (You're not voting your way out of this. KTF)
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To: Ruy Dias de Bivar
I saw an old SNS that sold new in 1968 for $12.

Was it an RG? That's the cheapest pistol I ever held.

16 posted on 02/11/2024 8:05:52 AM PST by BipolarBob (One flew East and one flew West . . .)
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To: marktwain

I still have my Browning Buck Mark from 1994, complete with carrying case, instructions, and two magazines.


17 posted on 02/11/2024 8:34:41 AM PST by chrisinoc
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To: Noumenon
You will not be disappointed with the Ruger Mk IV 22/45.

Unless you have the older model which does NOT disassemble and re-assemble easily. They made the new right one right AFTER I bought the old model.

18 posted on 02/11/2024 9:14:02 AM PST by BipolarBob (One flew East and one flew West . . .)
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To: Basket_of_Deplorables
Yes, Ruger LCR. It is an eight shot, and is light. However, the trigger pull is a bit heavier for the .22, to ensure ignition of the rimfire cartridges.


19 posted on 02/11/2024 10:29:24 AM PST by marktwain (The Republic is at risk. Resistance to the Democratic Party is Resistance to Tyranny. )
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To: marktwain

Fun guns.


20 posted on 02/11/2024 11:09:09 AM PST by moovova ("The NEXT election is the most important election of our lifetimes!“ LOL...)
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