Random .22 Pistol Rant

[AndyLate]

I was thinking a rimfire LCP may be fun before I found my well-used 21a in a LGS. My 21a has been quite reliable with a myriad of HV ammo since I thoroughly cleaned it. It would not function with the only SV ammo I brought in the last two trips, S&B if I am not mistaken. I will try CCI SV or Green Tag the next time I take it out. My Ruger MKIIs and dedicated rimfire AR run fine with the CCI SV, I hope the Beretta will as well.

I may only buy CCI rimfire in the future, it seems to pretty dependably go bang at least.

Andy

P.S. I stopped thinking about the LCP 22 after buying the Beretta. The reliability and SA trigger make it a winner in my book and the fat grip is no obstacle for my use. Better sights would be nice.

[Ron3]

Reliability and hardly any recoil is why .32 is so fun. Easy to suppress, too.

We need new .32 and .25 acp pistols.

[robbins290]

Reliability and hardly any recoil is why .32 is so fun. Easy to suppress, too.

We need new .32 and .25 acp pistols.

I think cost of ammo is the reason why it died. I have a 32, and have had a 25. The price of ammo is outrageous.

[Ron3]

I think cost of ammo is the reason why it died. I have a 32, and have had a 25. The price of ammo is outrageous.

I bought a bunch of .25 & .32 when it was about $11/50 and $8.50-$12/50 respectively.

But I also reload .25. FMJ 50 gr bullets are a hunt but I bought a bunch when I could. Lead bullets are also available. By a couple casters anyway.

.25 & .32 cases will last a long time as they operate at only about 20k cup maximum IIRC.

Powder is damn near free because they use so little. For example, one $25 pound of Tightgroup could load 7000 rounds of .25. About 2900 rds of .32 IIRC.

.380 isn't as quiet I read, but handloaded lightly it certainly could be.

I'm still waiting on threaded Cheetah barrels. The reliability is worth it to me. I can't stand unreliable guns.

[robbins290]

How long ago did you buy that ammo? Try buying some now.

Thats good news in the reloading aspect. I might have to look into that with the 32. I no longer have a 25, and almost never see any for sale.

[202]

The two 22s I have (Mark IV 22/45 and 10/22) have been very reliable. I had a Mark II and Mark III that were very reliable as well. Sold them both when the Mark IV models came out.
I used to buy the ammo packs from Walmart years ago (including the Winchester 333 pack), but all I buy now is CCI ammo (Mini-Mag, SV, AR Tactical, etc.), either 36gr or 40gr, round nose or hollow point. They are all good reliable ammo.
I heard that the newer G44s are reliable too.

[Wildcat]

I find that the extractors sometimes need to be sharpened for rimfire actions.
As Ned points out the blowback action can get by with a poorly made extractor (when its works properly) or no extractor but inevitably when you need to get an unfired round or a spent case from a round that was too weak to eject on its own, the extractor has to work.

You want the extractor to function by its geometry rather than increasingly stronger springs. It needs to grab onto the rim and with just enough spring tension to stay on the rim, the hook ought to dig into the rim rather than slide off.

I've honed extractors on a few 22 pistols and CMMG rimfire bolts when I found they needed to be reshaped to work correctly. Some of them simply started out too blunt to work properly.

[Ron3]

How long ago did you buy that ammo? Try buying some now.

Thats good news in the reloading aspect. I might have to look into that with the 32. I no longer have a 25, and almost never see any for sale.

A few years ago.

Currently. 32 acp is about 40 cents a shot & .25 closer to 50 cents last I checked. New empty cases occasionally available in .25. Starline has .32 brass now.

[Pappabear]

We have a local range that does in an indoor match and I have seen so many guys shoot .22LR and the guns have gotten so much better IMHO. They still have problems with 100% reliability but it has improved greatly. One guy shoots a .22LR in an AR configuration and it runs like a top.

PB

[AndyLate]

We have a local range that does in an indoor match and I have seen so many guys shoot .22LR and the guns have gotten so much better IMHO. They still have problems with 100% reliability but it has improved greatly. One guy shoots a .22LR in an AR configuration and it runs like a top.

PB

I don't know if the guns have gotten better in general. My MKIIs run awfully well with a variety of quality ammunition from Stingers to Standard velocity. They dont play as well with cheap bulk ammo. My P-22 was pretty disappointing with any ammo.

I concur with dedicated rimfire AR reliability. Mine (CMMG pattern) runs HV, SV, factory seconds, bulk ammo, etc without issue. Its easily the most reliable rimfire semi auto I own.

Andy