i just bought a slighty used smith & wesson 22a target pistol for $190 and i love it! my girlfriend loves shooting it also, she is not a big fan of my g17 or rossi .38 but she wants to go to the range at least once a week now that i have this 22.

I just ordered a Beretta U22 Neos and will hopefully (knock wood) get it this week. From what I read, it has a low failure rate as long as it is kept reasonably clean, but this is true with almost every gun of this caliber. Along those lines, field stripping appears to be a breeze and requires no tools. A buddy at work just bought a Walthers P22 and even though I like the way it shoots, it is not the easiest thing to strip. I do not have any experience with the Browning Buckmarks, but I understand this is a pretty universal complaint about that gun as well. I also looked at the S&W 22's, but the Beretta is, well, frankly very cool looking! You tell me?



Obviously you can research these things to death, but sometimes you have to base your decision on something other than cold, hard facts. Take any gun on the market and you will always find people who will swear by a certain brand or model and those that swear at them and this particular Beretta seems to fall into the "swear by it" category more than the other models in its price range from what I have seen. Of course, YMMV.

I bought the Inox version (the top half is stainless) with a 4.5" barrel for $302 from Buds. It also comes in matte black for $243 but it appears to be sold out at Buds.

Let us know what you end up with!

Happy Shooting,
Scott

Your budget allows you to buy just about any of the popular .22lr semi-auto with the exception of the Hunter version of the Ruger MKIII. The most popular are the Sig Mosquito, Walther P22, Beretta Neos, S&W 22A, Ruger MKIII, and Browning Buckmark.

Of those, I put the Buckmark and MKIII at the top of the list. If you want the best, buy the cheaper version of the MKIII and put the rest of the money into Volquartsen trigger parts. The MKIII's trigger is the only thing I don't like about it.

If I didn't want to modify a trigger, then I would get the Buckmark, which has the best factory trigger in this group.

browning buckmark
S&W 22a - my friend owns
sig mosquito
walther P22 - which I own

in that order
the ruger is the hardest to learn to take down for cleaning

For price, accuracy, reliability, and long-term durability, I'd suggest the Browning Buckmark or Ruger MK-II/MK-III series guns. Many variations of both are available; take your pick based on budget and intended use(s).

I love our Buckmark Pro Target. I looked at the Ruger mkIII and the Buckmark originally but I liked the feel of the handle and trigger on the Browning.

I have a S&W 22a GREAT gun to shoot!

Here's my Browning Buck Mark

w/o optic's



And with optic's




I love the way this gun shoots.