Recommendations for women starting in low level league for .22 pistol shoots.
Brand. Model. Why?
I like the Ruger SR22. Inexpensive, functions reliably, can be suppressed if you get a threaded barrel, changeable grips, trigger isn’t terrible.
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Heritage Rough Rider, Single Action simple revolver, inexpensive, can be bought with .22wmr cylinder.
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For low level .22 pistol competition it’s going to be hard to beat the Ruger Mk IV or the Browning Buckmark. I’m partial to the Ruger but that’s just me. You should look up some serious and educated reviews on them.
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I want to love the SR22. Small, comfortable, etc. But one thing kills it for me. The manual safety. It’s backwards compared to every other firearm I have ever held. New shooters-don’t get used to it when handeling others. Experienced shooters-not what you think.
I’m sorry, I truly want to love this pistol. 
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That’s a great insight about the SR22, Kelly! And one that can make a huge difference!
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Yea the Mark IV and Buck Mark have my attention.
Both affordable and longer and heavier barrels. Seems to come down to fit (grip) and bells and whistles
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I cant say the safety going up instead of down is a deal breaker for me. I have adjusted to firearms that have a variety of safeties. I’ve never had anyone make that observation about the SR22 before.
But then again when I let people shoot it, its empty with the slide back when they take control of it. So the safety is disengaged.
Mike
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So far, the Ruger TARGET AND HUNTER are winning.
The SR22 even with long barrel is out of the running.
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Cool beans I’ll keep using it to introduce people to .22lr.
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Smith and Wesson Victory and M&P 22 Compact are nice as well. Don’t overlook guns like the LCR, and SP101 in 22 also.
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Great topic for me, cause I want to start my fiance shooting a 22 first.
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I have the Ruger MK III and love it. It is what I give all first time shooters to try first. Most want to shoot something bigger right away but I still start them off with the .22
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I realize this is an old thread, but the information is good for reference.
I have the Ruger Mk4 Hunter with the ‘big’ grip. If she’s got large hands or is comfortable with a large grip for its quietness and control it may be great, otherwise buy the Target and at least you’ll have a good set of G10 grips. From there you & she can see what panels will do the job she wants. The long barrel will take it out of you for a while but the strength conditioning will catch up and be useful over the next few months. Ruger magazines are a great value and I’d highly recommend getting more. \
Amazon sells the TRIPLE K Carrylite Holster for Ruger MK I, II, III with 6.8-Inch Barrel, Walnut Oil, Right which is a good range holster.
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Here is my experience training a lot of beginner shooters, without respect to gender,
I have 3 rimfire guns that get used a lot in training, Ruger 22/45 mk 3 lite, Glock 22 with advantage arms conversion, and S&W mp compact 22.
If you want accuracy the Ruger if first and the Glock is a pretty close second. The improvement to the Ruger Mk 4 is great in that it is a lot easier to strip and clean now. There are a million after market products that you can tweak your pistol as you grow as a shooter. (Maybe not actually a million products).
The Glock conversion is a tack driver too as long as you have the right ammo. Mine works best on Remington hi velocity golden bullets, bulk ammo so that is great. It also can be converted back into a larger caliber pistol, bonus. It works and reloads like any Glock.
The MnP compact is the least accurate. As in I would never try to shoot a bullseye match with it but I would shoot a steel type match with it. The little short barrel and sight radius Is pretty unforgiving of error, to be expected. The MnP is is the funnest to shoot. Small size frame and light weight. It has a magazine disconnect safety which I like for beginners. This pistol functions just like its larger caliber siblings. The ammo that functions the best in this gun is lead round nose 40 grain bullets. ( federal auto match and Blazer high velocity rounds are my preferred round) the factory sights were replaced with Williams sights and that did seem to help.
I have the new Glock 44 and so far I like it but have not used it enough to provide any meaningful feed back.
I liked what you mentioned (@Jeff748) about the S&W MnP.
Reminded me of another fun shooter, which also works best for me with specific ammunition—the Walther P22. Even with the short barrel, I found I needed Federal Auto Match 40 grain soft lead nose available in the bulk 325 round boxes to group and work well.
Fun shooter and teaches a lot about limp wrist, anticipation, smooth trigger pull, and small explosions close to one’s hand! The manual of arms is easy to learn. Tear down and to clean simple.