22 LR pistol

Megalon

Well-known member
I am putting this in Predator hunting because it is a dual purpose gun. So here is what I am thinking about getting and I would like recommendations. I seem to be having a private war with ground squirrels and gofers over my garden. Now I live in an area where I could discharge a pistol if it is quiet without any problem. Likewise, I have been thinking lately about having a dispatch pistol for coyotes that are not quite dead yet. It rarely happens, but when it does I want something that is going to do the job without jacking up the fur. I am looking for a good 22 LR pistol with a threaded barrel. That way I can put a suppressor on it for back yard battles and then take it off while carrying it out coyote hunting. I am thinking stainless. Gotta have it ready for really nasty weather. I also don’t want something that is a pain in the butt to get a holster for.
 
Friend just got a TX22 and seemed good especially for price. I have a buckmark and it's nice but planning on switching to a Sig P322. Mainly due to 20 rd mags and it will match my other handguns better, so more of a trainer along with plinker.

Fyi I've had good luck with CCI Quiet "semi-auto" having just enough juice to cycle the action but still be pretty quiet suppressed. If you wanna go as quiet as possible- by the lowest velocity subsonic and use your chosen semi-auto as a single shot. Just put your thumb on the rear of the slide the gun won't cycle and it's ultra quiet!
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I have a GSG firefly, threaded 1/2-28. Very accurate. Sig mosquito knock off, without the mag issues. 10 shot, external hammer,safety. Shot many raccoon, carry it in a zipped pocket when coyote hunting, finished a few wounded ones with it for other hunters.
 
I carry a Walther/Colt 1911 Rail Gun COLT 1911 RAIL GUN | 10RD with a Surefire light/laser in my Reese Outdoors chest pack. I’ve only shot CCI AR Tactical 40 gr. ammo through it and haven’t had any problems. It shoots great. It comes threaded for a suppressor. I’m waiting on a Dead Air Mask. However, I might need to reconsider how I’d carry it with the can. I’ve been looking at the Sig P322 as well.

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Browning Buckmark with a Tactical Solutions threaded aluminum/sleeved barrel and tricked out trigger. Super light weight plinker. It has taken a few foxes.
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I really like it. Won't cycle the 750 Quiets but it does with the 970 and 1040/1050 fps....I shoot CCI segmented out of it.
..the only problem is in PA we cannot use semi-auto pistols for hunting/dispatch...and I can't carry/use it in NY...but I can use it in OH..so I use it for plinking around the house.
 
Picked up a new Sig P322 this morning for critter dispatch and plinking. Cleaned it but haven't shot it yet. It feels much lighter than my 1911 22 and very nice in hand. Added a Streamlight TLR-8A G and Holosun HE507K-GR X2. The polymer factory trigger shoe feels ok but I ordered an Armory Craft flat, dual adjustable trigger for an upgrade. I also ordered a Sig thread protector...it'd be nice if Sig would have included that. Can't wait to try this with a suppressor.

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Ended up going with a Ruger Mark IV. I have a buddy who has his license and sells guns. He got me the Lite version and I got it for $550 brand new. Can’t wait to try it out this weekend. Thanks for the recommendations, I looked at all of them except the Taurus. Never got a chance to look at one of those
 

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Ended up going with a Ruger Mark IV. I have a buddy who has his license and sells guns. He got me the Lite version and I got it for $550 brand new. Can’t wait to try it out this weekend. Thanks for the recommendations, I looked at all of them except the Taurus. Never got a chance to look at one of those
Good choice!Let us know how it shoots.
 
Here is a review I did on my 22/45 LITE. This is from 2018...

"I picked it up Friday and gave it a quick cleaning and some light lubrication. Saturday afternoon I hit the range with a brick of Mini Mag hollow points. Stapled up a five-spot target at 25 yards, settled in at the bench, and squeezed off five rounds. Squeezed off might not be the right term... the trigger feels as if you were pulling a brick over a gravel road by a string tied to one end. Gritty, creepy, and heavy describe the trigger. The group was 4" low and 2" right. Here is where I rediscovered just how dumb a gun designer can be. I glanced at the windage screw, the slotted screw. I expected that, normal. The elevation screw is a 1/16" Allen head. I didn't expect that. Of course, I didn't have a 1/16" Allen in my range bag or the tool kit in my truck. Packed everything up and drove to the nearest store, a rural feed & hardware store, and found a set of Allen wrenches that included the one I needed but didn't have. I never would have guessed Ruger would put two completely different type of adjustment screws in the rear sight. What's the sense of that? Making sight adjustments requires two completely different tools... dumb.

Back at the range for a redo. Now I can bear down and get through the trigger for another group and manage a surprising 1.25" group. Four shots within .75" with a flyer slightly out. The LITE will shoot but you really have to focus hard on trigger control to realize its potential. I made adjustments to the sights to center the group, however the group doesn't move. More adjustment but no movement of the groups. The sight isn't responding to the clicks turned. I finger the sight blade pushing it around and mashing the thing up/down and now the sight moves - a lot. Shooting more groups and more adjusting and guiding the blade with finger pressure I finally got dialed dead nuts on at 25 yards. That rear sight doesn't fill me with confidence. Hopefully, it will hold its adjustments.

As for accuracy, I shot around fifteen of those five-shot groups on paper and can tell you this particular pistol never fired a group over 2". Obviously I don't need to look for a load it likes! Once I settled in with the trigger if I do my part I'll manage four shots around 1" and usually have a called flyer that widens things a bit. That flyer is a direct result of the poor trigger pull. However, the accuracy of the LITE was a very pleasant surprise. It makes you work to get it, but accuracy is in there.

I had one stovepipe malfunction in the first 50 rounds. Other than this one stovepipe early on there were no other malfunctions. After I got sighted in I started running some drills with a shot timer and plinking out to 100 yards on an 8" steel plate. After about 350 rounds I noticed the front sight was loose. That caused me to also look over that balky rear sight and I noticed the little set screw that helps anchor it in the dovetail was backed out. I tightened both ends of the sights up and they shot loose again before I finished my 500 rounds. A minor irritation is the sharp-edged slide stop/release that hangs out just a bit too far from the frame. Maybe it's just me, but my left thumb lays over the top of that with my grip style and gets rubbed pretty well by the sharp edge. I also prevent the slide from holding after the last shot fired with my grip. That might not happen if the slide stop didn't protrude so far from the frame.

Sunday I cleaned the gun up and noticed it's quite a bit slicker and smoother. The trigger still has creep and weight but the gritty feel is gone. Lock Tite will fix the screws that want to back out in the sights. The gun feels good, and looks sharp with the black frame and Diamond Gray upper (which looks light blue to my eye), it is surprisingly accurate and seems to run the Mini Mags just fine. That rear sight might get swapped out and some trigger work is most likely going to happen. Ruger should have included filler screws in case someone wants to take the rail off. Might get a set of Stoner G10 thin grips with a little blue/black color in them. Need to find a good holster. And stock up on Mini Mag hollow points"
 
Geez, that is one rough review. I dry fired it last night and it broke clean and I thought smooth. I let you know how it does at the range on Saturday. That review almost sounds like someone pissed on his cheerios
 
The good thing with the Ruger is there are so many high-end aftermarket parts/upgrades, if desired. I'm sure the Ruger will be great as is.
 
Was it really that bad?

Yes. And, it was really that good. The issues are mostly minor and easily fixed. If you read the review, the gun is accurate and reliable. The gun is what it is and no amount of pretend one way or the other changes any of it. I like mine, shoot it often. I have held on to it since 2018, if I didn't like it and it was substantially lacking in any way it wouldn't last that long around here. I plan to clamp a Holosun 507 dot sight on it soon. It will teach new dot shooters how to manage the optic.
 
Alright, the good the bad and the ugly. First the good. The pistol is accurate. I stopped at the range after work today and shot two mags through it. GC had me upset with the review and I couldn’t wait till the weekend. Fired from the 10 yard line and I have the photos from the target down below They must have worked out the trigger issues because I was pleased with that part. Next the bad. The magazines are kind of crappy. The spring pressure is lacking and it shows almost immediately. Loaded two magazines and both dropped a round while I was carrying them. Now the ugly. Two magazines and two taps (never got to the racks). Two times the magazine failed to feed. Hopefully this is a break in issue. Lubed it up and will reevaluate this weekend.
 

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