Let's get this debate started. Which is the most practical: .22lr revolver or semi-auto pistol?

[Moonpie]

Cool guns but not a .22

 

[OIF2]

For a competitive shooter there's no choice; a semi-auto, if you want to win. For everything else, a good 6" K22. This one has been with me for 39 years now. Lots of free ammo down the tube in those years. For awhile it was my only personally owned handgun. And yes, I know it has a bad case of ugly grips.
Bob

 

[Byrd666]

I'll stick with the revolver. Easier for me to load, clean, carry, and use. And I'm not going to be overly concerned when it falls out of the truck or gets run over by the riding mower, almost did once, than I would be about the pistol. And a cheap, cost wise, .22lr revolver seams to be easier to find than a cheap semi-auto.

 

[ZX9RCAM]

I do admit to not owning any. 22 revolvers.

 

[RatBikeRod]

Never was much for 22 revolvers. I have a Ruger 22/45 and sometime earlier this year bought a S&W Victory that I modified. I like them both but TBH I don’t shoot them very often.

I think it has to do with the tiny holes they create in the paper.

ANyhow, I will keep them for when we have grandkids.

 

[majormadmax]

My only .22 revolvers are a pair of Heritage Rough Riders, loads of fun to plink with at the range but I don't really see them as being useful for much else...

Of course, of the plethora of .22 semi-autos I have, I also don't see much use in them outside of plinking as well!

So what exactly is the question again?!?

 

[Kar98]

Honestly don't see any other use for any kind of .22, be it revolver, pistol, bolt action or semi rifle other than for cheap and painless practice/training/teaching.

 

[Younggun]

Thinking of using a Heritage to get my daughter started with pistols.

 

[benenglish]

Actually have lost a few. Damaged a couple as well.

Magazine vulnerabilities weigh on me. Some anecdotes -

• I didn't have enough magazines for my Ruger semi-autos of various MK designations so I bought about 20. About half were used and half were new from Ruger. I was shocked at the high level of unreliability of the new magazines.
  
• Ever seen a High Standard buyer demand a $200 discount at a gun show because the pistol didn't come with the original, proper magazines? I have and he got the discount. Those mags are that critical.
  
• I have a pistol I love but it's out of production. I have two original magazines that work perfectly but I needed a spare. I got one by literally calling England, talking to the pistol designer, and getting him to send me one from his personal stash. (He charged me an arm and a leg, btw.) That third magazine is complete crap, totally non-functional. If I ever drop one of my originals and accidentally step on it, I might as well give that gun away. It becomes a paperweight to me.

My point is that it bugs me that .22 semi auto mags seem to be so fussy. Heck, just deciding which low-end 1911-pattern pistol in .22LR should be purchased for trying bullseye shooting is not a question of which pistols are most accurate or ergonomic; it's a question of which ones use the decent mags and which ones use the crap mags.

Semi autos win with suppressors but I can be almost as quiet with BB caps.

All-around, then, my vote goes to revolvers. If I were forced to live with just one .22 rimfire handgun, it would be a K-frame Smith. While my recent M18 is nice, I'd go shopping for an old K-22.

 

[TxStetson]

I don’t have any 22 handguns. Not sure I have a void that could be filled with them.

 

[diesel1959]

My kind of thread - didn't start to go off topic until post #2 & continued unabated. Me, I've got .22 revolvers and do not own a .22 semi auto so...
ETA: Well shazam, I nearly forgot my Ruger Standard (pre Mk 1) - that's how important it is to me.

I've got both--I love my Super Single Six revolver; however, if I need to choose maximum utility and usefulness in the field, I'll choose any one of my more-than-a-dozen .22 semiautos with threaded barrels for suppressor use. To me, the ability to mount the suppressor trumps everything else ESPECIALLY in the field.

 

[jrbfishn]

Only if you limp wrist it. Then they are unreliable.
Damned tablet
from an idjit coffeeholic

 

[diesel1959]

I mean aren't there some reliability issues with .22 autos? With a cylinder you just keep pulling the trigger.

No. Yes.

 

[Younggun]

Still not sure which "in the field" we are talking about.

Field behind my house fixing a fence?

"In the field" outside the wire, down range?

In the field dove hunting?

 

[Davetex]

Field and Stream?

 

[majormadmax]

Thinking of using a Heritage to get my daughter started with pistols.

They are fun little single-action pistols, but not overly accurate. As long as it's just a starter for learning the fundamentals of shooting safely, I think it's a great choice.

I picked mine up at last year's Black Friday sales at Academy for $99 each, but they weren't offered this year.

 

[Dawico]

Are 22 handguns so heavy that we can't carry both?

Best to own both.

 

[Younggun]

They are fun little single-action pistols, but not overly accurate. As long as it's just a starter for learning the fundamentals of shooting safely, I think it's a great choice.

I picked mine up at last year's Black Friday sales at Academy for $99 each, but they weren't offered this year.

The first handgun "I" purchased was a Heritage with mag and LR cylinders.

I eventually sold it to my dad for $40 and he leaves it in the console of his truck for random BS. Usually has a healthy covering of surface rust.

Never had any real complaints about the gun. Loud as hell with the mag cylinder. Sold it when I moved on to semi autos.

 

[Kar98]

Field and Stream?

Field and track?

 

[diesel1959]

Still not sure which "in the field" we are talking about.

Field behind my house fixing a fence?

"In the field" outside the wire, down range?

In the field dove hunting?

"Field" in my backyard where pesky squirrels, rats, possums sometimes need to be eliminated with extreme prejudice--WITHOUT THE NEIGHBORS HEARING.

"Field" when I used to walk in the woods (before the wheelchair thing) and squirrel hunt quietly.

And yes, it's also nice to have a .22 rifle on hand and I've got at least a dozen of those in the rimfire caliber, but that's not the point. At least, that's not MY point.