.22 Rimfire Handguns

Over the years I've fooled with a variety of .22 handguns, both autopistols and revolvers, for target and field shooting. While it is true that the current fashion these days seems to be one or another variation of Ruger semi-auto, I've had my share of frustration which these.  

By and large out of the box the Rugers average about 1-1/2” ten-shot groups at 25 yards with standard velocity ammo of average quality. High speed ammo runs closer to two inches, if you shoot from sandbags, hand-held with iron sights.  Firing off a Ransom rest improves this, but trick results do not reflect a realistic expectation of field utility.  Your own aiming and holding errors contribute as much to the “system error budget” as much as do the inherent accuracy or lack of it, attributable to the weapon and ammunition. 

I tested many Ruger .22 auto pistols off the Ransom Rest when I worked for the company. While their potential accuracy is amazing for a gun in this price range, i.e. two inches at 50 yards from machine rest for a series of ten-shot groups with almost any ammo, and 1.6” or less with “good” ammo (which today costs about $50 a brick) the simple fact is that in field shooting it's a bit hard to carry the Ransom rest along with you and get Mr. Wabbit to wait while you set it up. 

The Ruger trigger as it comes from the factory leaves a lot to be desired.  Inconsistency of trigger pull causes fliers in your groups. Getting a match quality trigger pull with minimal creep, no hiccups and a clean break usually requires a trip to the gunsmith, and replacement of the factory parts with custom, after-market items.  

If you replace any of the springs you may induce functioning problems if you use anything other than high velocity ammo.  HV loads fall down in the accuracy department, so it sort of defeats the whole purpose. I don't have much use for high velocity .22 ammunition because it is generally less accurate and more noisy.  

In my opinion fixed sights are best for the survival gun. You need to spend some time shooting to see which ammo works best, get a supply of that and then zero the gun, drifting the rear sight, and filing the front sight down, if needed, to obtain a good zero.  Shooting outdoors is best, because lighting on indoor ranges which comes mostly from one direction  will affect your zero.  I recommend that fixed sights be zeroed to strike about 1 inch above point of aim at 25 yards. The factory Ruger adjustable sights are pretty poor and don't stay zeroed unless you flood them with LocTite.  

Some users prefer scopes or red-dot sights. By the time you put good quality, reliable optics on one of these you run the system cost up several hundred dollars and the resulting “full race dragon” pistol tips the scales at about 50 ozs.!  An old Remington Nylon 66, Henry, Marlin or Chipmunk youth rifle doesn't weigh very much more and is much easier for the average person to use to shoot camp meat. 

The barrels and chambers on current generation Ruger Mk.III pistols are of better quality than the guns I tested back in the 1980s. New polymer frame pistols are much lighter than steel, while providing a full sized gun to hold onto. But the trigger and sight problems still exist.  

By the time you buy a new Ruger Mk. III, do a professional trigger job and put good optics on it, you've invested more than you would to find and obtain a very good shooter-grade Colt Woodsman or fine pre-war High Standard Model A or B.  The modern “full race Ruger” is much more bulky and less handy than original “Target and Trapper” outdoorsmans' pistols of the 1930s and 40s, which were designed for the very backpack survival situations we talk about around the camp fire and plan for.

If you like single-actions the Ruger Single-Six is a real sleeper. I find mine far more useful than the Bearcat it replaced.  The Bearcat's fixed sights seem to always shoot low and right anf the flyweight revolver with short barrel is difficult to shoot better than body-sized bunny groups.  For serious field work the Single Six needs better sights. I put Bowen Rough Country ones on mine and they are well worth it.  I prefer the Single Six in the .32 HRM caliber as a trail gun because that option gives you many  reloading options, flatter trajectory which makes reliable game hits to 100 yards possible, useful field energy approximating the .32-20 Winchester, all in a trim field gun, with better accuracy than all but the best .22s.  

 I recently put my ca. 1942 Colt Sport 4-1/2” barrel Woodsman through its paces. I tested it hand-held on sandbags, indoors at 25 yards using the orginal irons sights, aiming at the Standard American B8 target. I fired five consecutive ten-shot groups with several ammos. I then compared those results against similar samples fired with some borrowed modern auto pistols and older .22 revolvers and auto pistols which were deemed  “good shooters” in their day. 

The auto pistol data below are averages of five consecutive 10-shot groups at 25 yards. Both Rugers were fired using a 4X Leupold pistol scope to do a better job of testing the pistols, rather than the ability of this old fart to see the sights!  The High Standard Victor is a well proven match gun used by a Master competitive shooter friend of mine, which I intended as sort of a benchmark. I shot it about as well hand-held at 25 yards off handbags with my 59 year-old eyes as the gun will do at 50 yards with the same ammo off the Ransom rest. So, that, my friends, is the measure of truth and reality!  

The High Standard Model B is 1942 production with 6-3/4” barrel which was a retired bush pilot's actual Alaska survival gun.  I shot some old ammo from the survival seat pack that used to ride in his  plane and some new stuff.   

The Beretta 70S is the ca. 1968 “Jaguar” model which used to be imported into the US.  This is the lightest 6” barrel .22 autoloader I have ever seen, weighing only 20 oz.  These also came in 2-barrel sets with 3.5” and 6” barrels.  They are difficult to shoot accurately, but are quality guns if you can find one.

*Two High Standard Sentinel revolvers tested are both fixed sight 9-shooters found at pawn shops for around $150.  These are ugly very serviceable if found in good mechanical condition which time and index well, without noticeable cylinder end play. I fired one 9-shot cylinder load in each per group.  

**The Colt Officer's Model Match was made in 1959 and is a target grade revolver, a 6-shooter. In it I fired TWO cylinder loads, totalling 12 shots  per group. 

The Walther P.22 was a current model and afterthought which clearly illustrates my disappointment with the current offerings of compact .22 pistols.  It is barely accurate enough for combat silhouette targets.  As a kid I could shoot my Whamo slingshot more precisely than this!  

Gun  Bbl.Length  Sights Ammo Avg. ES(Ins.) 5x10@25yds* 

1942 Colt Woodsman 4-1/2” irons CCI Std. (USA)  1.5” CCI Blazer (USA) 2.0” Eley Std (UK) 1.25" 

1942 High Standard Model B, 6/3/4” irons "Sterile Package Brown Box” FMJ Ball M24  2.0" Canuck (1965) HP 2.2" CCI Blazer (USA) 1.85" Eley Standard (UK) 1.5"

HS Victor 5-1/2” irons Eley Std. (UK) 1.0" Eley Sport (Mexico) 1.3”

HS Sentinel R107 revolver 4” irons CCI Std. (USA) 2.6"* Eley Std. (UK) 2.3" Eley Sport (Mexico) 2.3" CCI Blaser (USA) 2.3" Winchester Super-X (USA) 2.7

HS Sentinel R103 revolver 6” irons Eley Sport (Mexico) 2" CCI Blaser (USA)  2.2" Winchester Super-X (USA) 2.5"*

Ruger MkI 6-7/8” 4X Leupold CCI Std. (USA) 1.5” CCI Blazer (USA)  2" Eley Sport (Mexico) 1.1" 

Ruger Mk.III 5-1/2” 4X Leupold Eley Std. (UK) 1.25" Eley Sport (Mexico) 1.25”

Walther P22 3.5” irons CCI Std. (USA) 4” CCI Blazer (USA) 5"+ 

Beretta 70S 6” irons Eley Std. (UK) 2" 

Colt OM revolver 6” irons Eley Std. (UK) 2” Eley Sport (Mexico) 2" CCI Blaser (USA) 2"**

Your mileage may vary, but I haven't seen anything in the .22 handguns which is going to make me want to replace my old Colts or High Standards... *  UPDATE 7-7-2008  * Over the weekend I stumbled into the rarest of finds... a 1936 Walther Olympia Deutsche Jagerschaft Pistole in .22 LR with 12cm barrel.  It came from the estate of a WWII vet who brought it back after the war.  Firing off sandbags at 25 yards with the iron sights six consecutive 9-shot groups at 25 yards with Eley Sport averaged 1.3 inches.   CCI Subsonic Hollowpoint did the same.   I finally found a .22 more accurate than a Woodsman.  SEE PHOTO BELOW. If you search around you can still find a serviceable Colt Woodsman, Huntsman or Challenger for around $700-900, depending upon condition. 

A High Standard Model A, B, GB, D, H-B, or H-D in similar VG to Exc. condition sell for $200-300 less than a Colt in similar condition. The High Standard Model B uses the same magazines as the pre-war Colt Woodsman and is similarly trim, light and accurate.  High Standards in serviceable condition are  common on web sites such as Cabela's Gun Library, and are worth looking for to have shipped to your FFL dealer, if you are serious about finding a .22 pistol for your survival ruck or mere as a collectible plinker you can hand down to your grandkids.  

Every vintage Colt or High Standard .22 autopistol I've shot, if not abused, shoots just these.  A used High Standard costs less than a new Ruger.  A good used Colt costs less than buying the Ruger and then having it “tricked out” by a gunsmith.  The classic trapper's .22 autos  are sure handy in the ruck and still worth EVERY penny! 

Surprisingly, an inexpensive .22 revolver may shoot as well as an expensive one.  If you can find one of the H&R Sportsman, High Standard Double-Nine or Sentinel 9-shot .22 revolvers, tight and in good mechanical condition, and cheap (less than $200) don't pass it up. You may be pleasantly surprised. Test fire it by cutting the corner out of a Kraft paper grocery bag, poke the muzzle out and fire a cylinder load through it double-action. Inspect the bag to see if any lead fragments cut holes when exiting the sides of the bag.  If not, it's a keeper. Clean it well, and shoot GREASED or WAXED, UNPLATED ammo in it. Avoid plated, dry-lubed bullets in revolvers, because they lead up the forcing cone and cylinder throats, destroying accuracy. 

 Ordinary CCI Standard Velocity, the CCI High Velocity Small Game Bullet (SGB), CCI Subsonic Hollow-Point and Eley Sport are the best bang for the buck. Some batches of CCI Blazer shoot OK, but you need to test.  The CCI Subsonic HP is the only standard velocity round I have found which expands reliably in my 4-1/2” Woodsman.  Of the high velocity rounds the Winchester Power Point was best. Getting expansion from .22  revolvers is problematic because the cylinder gap reduces velocity and any cylinder misalignment causes asymmetical scrubbing which accentuates initial yaw as the bullet leaves the muzzle.  

In water-jug I have found that the same bullets which expand well from the 4-1/2” Woodsman do not from revolvers.  In most revolvers you are better off with solids, high velocity is OK if you can find a batch of unplated stuff that is accurate. I use the Hanned SGB die to clip the noses off to make flat points, which are more effective.  

About 25 years ago I went through a succession of S&W .22 Kit Guns and K-22 revolvers. I didn't find any that would average consistently less than 2” at 25 yards hand held off handbags. A few were better than that on the Ransom Rest, but Dad's Woodsman put them all to shame when fired off sandbags.  

So practice with your .22 handgun frequently from a field position, using the sights you've got. Use a Para cord lanyard to steady it unless you can get Mr. Wabbit to stay STILL while you settle the gun in your Ransom rest, yeah, right? 8-)