I bought a new Ruger SR22P .22 pistol on Friday at Cabelas. I couldn't pass up the deal. I had a $20 coupon good on a purchase of $150 or more at the store. They had one of the brand new little Rugers for $349. With my coupon, it brought the price down to $329. Buds has them for $319 with free shipping, but I'd still have to pay my FFL for the transfer. So I bought it!
I picked it up yesterday and took it to the range today. Wow! What a fantastic gun!
A little background: I wanted a .22 semi-auto I could shoot cheaply. I went in with a group of guys to rent a local range for 3 hours every Sunday morning three months. I was spending way too much money on 9mm ammo and that's the least expensive centerfire factory ammo at $10 a box I could find.
I decided a .22 would be a much better idea. Training with a .22 makes good fiscal sense. The problem is that my High Standard and my Walther PP Sport pistols are too valuable to shoot like crazy. My .22 revolvers are great, but I carry a semi-auto and that's what I wanted to train with.
I was looking at the Browning Buckmark because it had a button mag release, a slide release lever, and it's a good value. The big problem with them is finding ammo that shoots well and doesn't cost a whole lot.
It seems that the cheap Federal .22 bulk ammo at Wal-Mart doesn't feed well in most semi-automatics. I did an article about training with .22s and it'll drive you nuts with what ammo works in what guns or conversion kits and what doesn't. The problem with conversion kits is getting the slide to stay back on the last shot.
I fired the Ruger at the SHOT Show and loved it. So today I fired 300+ rounds through mine at the Bass Pro Shops range.
I haven't loved a gun this much in a very long time. I like everything about it. I especially like that it never malfunctioned in any way with any of the ammo I shot through it. Here's what I fired through it (note I shot standard and high velocity rounds):
Here's the first 100 rounds standing, unsupported, offhand, two hand modified Weaver stance at 7 yards:
Same thing, but adding another 100 rounds at 15 yards to the same target:
Here's the final 100+ rounds at the same target, but at 25 yards:
I was firing pretty fast. As fast as I could acquire a sight picture. The gun got pretty warm. But it never failed in any way. Awesome!
Here's the reason why I don't think it jams:
Notice how high a round loaded in the magazine sits. It hardly even needs the feed ramp to get into the barrel. The slide pushed the round almost straight into the chamber.
A few more pics from when I bought the SR22P:
The Ruger comes with two magazines with two baseplates each (one flat and one extended) and two slide on grip sleeves (one smaller and one a bit bigger...which is my choice):
It is a small gun:
This little Ruger SR22P is going to make an outstanding trail gun. It's small and light with adjustable sights that are easy to see with there three white dots. It fits perfectly in an Uncle Mikes Size 15 hip holster:
This .22 is perfect for what I wanted. The slide is aerospace quality aluminum, not cast Zamac that has been known to fractured and suffer catastrophic slide failures on other makes of pistols.
I can't say enough about how great this Ruger is. I love that I can go shoot combat style with it for practice and training and it's going to cost me next to nothing for ammo.
It's so hard to find a .22 semi-automatic that will digest any ammo you can feed it!
I'm really happy!
-Steve
Ruger SR22P...Wow, what a great gun!
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