22lr Handguns-Reviews, Recommendations, and Trouble Shooting

[43.6N]

Building off the 9mm 1911 thread, many of us have experience with 22LR handguns.

Their primary benefit is cheap ammo.
Their primary drawback is reliability.

Here we discuss our own personal 22LR handguns.
Please comment with
1. What do you shoot.
2. How you use it (practice, hunting, general purpose, self defense, etc), and why you chose it.
3. Preferred ammo.
4. Reliability and durability concerns. How did you fix these issues?

____________________________________________

In my personal growth as a handgun shooter, I’ve come to recognize the following principles:
1. Growth comes from measured practice.
2. More practice=More growth.
2. Competition accelerates growth.

The primary goal of my personal 22lr handgun is as a training gun. It needs to mimic my 1911/2011 style handguns in presentation and manual of arms. It allows me to practice the mechanics of proper shooting in a way that dry fire cannot.

Much like any other training weapon:
It serves as a relatively cheap way to build a fundamental foundation of shooting mechanics with actual proprioceptive feedback and consequences.

 

[43.6N]

In Feb 2026 I needed a cheaper way to practice for USPSA type matches.

I was primarily shooting a 45acp 1911 in competition, and wanted similar ergonomics in 22lr.

I considered a 22lr marvel slide conversion, browning buck mark, Ruger mk4.

I then came across the Smith and Wesson M&P 22x for the right price ($350), and decided to take a chance.

This is a 4” fixed barrel 22lr.
Feeds from 2 polymer magazines that hold between 18-20 rounds depending on how the rims stack.
Fiber optic front sight. Pinned in place and retained with an internal c clip.
Optic plate, and SEPERATE metal rear sight. Retained with internal screw.

Hammer fired.
-Threaded barrel.
-Rear thumb safety, that disconnects the trigger mech from the hammer. So you can actually dry fire without damaging firing pin.
Grip width and angle approximates single stack 1911.

 

[43.6N]

Im now at about 3000 rounds on the sw mp22x.
Made up of:
-1902 rounds Scheels bulk 40gr standard velocity (federal mfg)
-550rds Remington golden bullet 36gr
-500rds Winchester plated 36gr.
-200rds Eley target yellow box.

Here are my takeaways:

Best accuracy and reliability has been the Scheels bulk ammo made by federal. It has been just as accurate and just as reliable as the Eley. It doesn’t jam. Always extracts. And runs much cleaner than the next two types of bulk ammo. It’s hot enough to cycle the slide. But just under the supersonic crack out of the 4” barrel. I can take this ammo out in a lubricated but dirty gun, and fully expect to run 200 rounds without a jam. I can’t say the same for the rest of the ammo.

The Winchester was complete garbage. Failing to feed reliably, and ripping rims from extraction failures. I think the case is oversized or swells in about 10% of the lot. This causes it to get stuck on feed or upon firing. The mp22x has a very strong extractor, and will rip the soft brass rim if it’s stuck. It also had the worst groups.

The Remington was mixed. It fed beautifully, but had poor groups. The bullets also had play in the case neck. Just overall poor quality, cheap ammo.

As for how the handgun has performed:
The magazines create a very in-line feed angle. The bullet just needs to slip the rim under the extractor in order to complete the feed sequence.

The extractor claw is very strong. Ripping the Winchester brass when that ammo would get stuck in the chamber.

The firing pin has not yet failed to detonate any primers.

Accuracy is more than acceptable.

FBI course of fire with iron sights. (25yds, 15yd, 15yd)
Using the Scheels ammo.

Compared to its full sized compadres: 45acp colt and 9mm Kimber 2K11. It is definitely holding its own.

 

[43.6N]

I have had the rear sight come loose.
It needed loctite, and hasn’t drifted since.

I’ve cleaned it 2x. About every thousand rounds.
I keep it lubricated with a combo of white lithium grease as the base. Then add a shot of rem-oil when it starts looking or feeling dry or gritty. This ends up being about every 500rds.

Nothing has broken. And the wear points look very minor.

I’m going to keep running it hard through the summer, and will update as things begin to wear down.

 

[Sponge]

Ill play

1.Ruger Mark IV 22/45 with Vortex Venom

2. Used for practice. In the last year I've begun taking a more measured approach to pistol shooting. This offers a low cost, low recoil way to practice.
I don't shoot dots on any other pistols, so also using this to evaluate that for myself. With the absurdly high mounting of this one, it may not be the approach.
The dang thing is also fun to shoot, and a real confidence booster.
Why chosen? given to me in this configuration. I also have a Buckmark Target, I tend to shoot the 22/45 more because of 1911-ish ergos.

3. Preferred ammo... don't know, but it IS NOT the pictured CCI standard velocity. Had a number of failures this evening through 200 rounds.

4. Reliability and durability concerns. I have a variety of 22 ammo, I'll start cycling through different stuff to see if there is a preference. Unsure what the durability expectation is on these, so not worried about it, however I should clean it as I am unsure what its round count is.
Currently lubed with Cherry Balmz Rimfire Remedy - I did have fewer malfunctions with that than random oils.



FBI instructor qual tonight, shot cold, and first time with this pistol. 288/300.
Dropped 7 points at 25, 4 more at 15 yd 15sec, and one more at 15 yd 10 sec. 8x I think
The dot does helps a bunch with this. Just haven't gotten the hang of finding it during quick presentations

 

[Cherokeeguide]

Please comment with
1. What do you shoot.
2. How you use it (practice, hunting, general purpose, self defense, etc), and why you chose it.
3. Preferred ammo.
4. Reliability and durability concerns. How did you fix these issues?

1. Hammerli H1 Forge
2. Recreational target shooting, small-game hunting, and CCW. I chose it in the "Commander style" 4.5" barrel version because I like 1911-style pistols, my wife thought it was comfortable and could go through the manual of arms with it, and it was dirt cheap at under $250.00 new.
3. CCI Mini-Mag is what I shoot out of it. Don't know if it "prefers" that, or not, as I haven't bothered trying anything else.
4. No failures to feed, fire, extract, or eject, so far. I have about 2,000 rounds through it.

To be honest, I wasn't expecting it to be as functionally reliable as it has been, and I definitely wasn't expecting it to be as mechanically accurate as it is. We put it in a Ransom Rest at the club I'm a member of, and it put 13 shots (full magazine+1 in chamber) inside 1.5" at 25 yards, which I thought was pretty dang stellar for what it is.

 

[43.6N]

1. Hammerli H1 Forge
2. Recreational target shooting, small-game hunting, and CCW. I chose it in the "Commander style" 4.5" barrel version because I like 1911-style pistols, my wife thought it was comfortable and could go through the manual of arms with it, and it was dirt cheap at under $250.00 new.
3. CCI Mini-Mag is what I shoot out of it. Don't know if it "prefers" that, or not, as I haven't bothered trying anything else.
4. No failures to feed, fire, extract, or eject, so far. I have about 2,000 rounds through it.

To be honest, I wasn't expecting it to be as functionally reliable as it has been, and I definitely wasn't expecting it to be as mechanically accurate as it is. We put it in a Ransom Rest at the club I'm a member of, and it put 13 shots (full magazine+1 in chamber) inside 1.5" at 25 yards, which I thought was pretty dang stellar for what it is.

The hammerli forge was one I was aware of, kind of excited about, but decided to pass on because nobody in my circle of gun-friends had any experience with it.

If/when the MP22x drops off in function, the hammerli would be next on my list of guns to try out.

I’d love to see some pictures of the internals on yours.

 

[RockAndSage]

Currently lubed with Cherry Balmz Rimfire Remedy

I keep it lubricated with a combo of white lithium grease as the base. Then add a shot of rem-oil when it starts looking or feeling dry or gritty. This ends up being about every 500rds.

The more bearing surface/friction surface area a .22LR has, the better that rimfire remedy stands out. Saw it take a couple of guns that were getting malfunctions every mag, and had them go a couple thousand rounds each without malfunctions that weren't ammo related. GSG Firefly (like the old sig mosquito) and a Sig 1911 in .22lr.

@43.6N what's the NLGI weight of that white lithium grease?

 

[Cherokeeguide]

I’d love to see some pictures of the internals on yours.

Tune in tomorrow and I'll see what I can do. If I get any good pics of the Hammerli H-1 innards, prepare to be unimpressed. It is basically the Colt 1911-22 by Walther (Umarex, really) internally, with a different slide and grip panels, so if you've seen the railed Colt 1911-22 by Walther, you've seen the Hammerli H-1 Forge. They're basically the same thing. Magazines interchange. There's a guy on YouTube called "GunBlue" or something like that that has a couple of videos on the railed Colt 1911 22 by Walther, including a field strip, just in case my photos don't work out.

 

[RockAndSage]

3. Preferred ammo... don't know, but it IS NOT the pictured CCI standard velocity. Had a number of failures this evening through 200 rounds.

What was the nature of the failures? Feeding, extracting, etc?

Also, did this happen with each of your different magazines?

 

[Sponge]

What was the nature of the failures? Feeding, extracting, etc?

One failure to eject, slide didn't move back at all, when manually cycled ejected fine.
Multiple failure to feeds, didn't strip round from magazine.
Maybe one or two failure to return to battery. I was having a lot more of this with light 'gun' oils, significantly reduced with Rimfire remedy

Also, did this happen with each of your different magazines?

unsure, didn't keep track (furiously looks for a paint pen to number his mags)

like my rifles, I'm going to start keeping a notebook for pistols. will update

 

[B_Reynolds_AK]

Silencer Shop 22/45 w/ Volquartsen Accurizing Kit, Trigger, Bolt Tune Up and some Tandemkross bits.
Dead Air Mask suppressor.

It’s incredibly accurate. Once I figured out what ammo to shoot to keep it running reliably, it runs fantastic. Lots of lube, regular cleaning and CCI ammo is where it’s at.

I use it for fun plinking in my backyard. Haven't killed anything with it.

 

[AdamRM]

1. S&W M&P 22 Compact x2
2. Target shooting, CCW
3. CCI MiniMag
4. I have two of these guns, along with 14 mags, both bought used, both were used a lot before I bought them and they've both have been reliable as time.

I have two OSS (Huxwrx) RAD22 suppressors that these pistols get shot with a lot. Both pistols and mags have approximately 5k rounds of CCI MiniMag through them and in the last 4 years, I've had 5 failure to fire malfunctions.

Both pistols have Williams fiber optic sights since the OEM sights are garbage, I don't particularly like the ergos of the M&P22c but these things have been so reliable I can't get rid of them haha!

I've been very interested in the new 22X and have been waiting to see how reliable they are long term, but I've been very tempted

 

[43.6N]

The more bearing surface/friction surface area a .22LR has, the better that rimfire remedy stands out. Saw it take a couple of guns that were getting malfunctions every mag, and had them go a couple thousand rounds each without malfunctions that weren't ammo related. GSG Firefly (like the old sig mosquito) and a Sig 1911 in .22lr.

@43.6N what's the NLGI weight of that white lithium grease?

I’ll start off saying I’m not super up to speed on lubrication dynamics, but I did read everything posted on the cherry balmz website.
And I’ve very much appreciated everything you’ve posted about lubrication on other threads. Feel free to add to my knowledge as you see fit.

My take away was lubrication boundary layers can benefit from a layered approach.
Base layer grease adheres directly to the metal. Acting as a surface prep.
Top layer thin grease/oil acts as a shear layer on the grease. This combo enhances protection and lubrication better than oil on bare metal alone.


This has been my surface prep grease layer. Dirt cheap, and readily available. The straw is very nice.
I’ll layer rem-oil, clenz-oil, marvels mystery oil, or atf fluid as my secondary fluid depending on availability.

Plan is once this bottle is empty to try out the cherry-balmz products.

As for the NLGI weight, I couldn’t find it posted.
I’d imagine it’s probably NLGI 0 or 00.
It has the consistency of thick snot when it comes out of the can. And I know it has some type of quick evap penetrating oil suspending the actual grease. I’ll lay it on garage door springs, and it will quickly wick itself into the coils.

 

[RockAndSage]

I’ll start off saying I’m not super up to speed on lubrication dynamics, but I did read everything posted on the cherry balmz website.
And I’ve very much appreciated everything you’ve posted about lubrication on other threads. Feel free to add to my knowledge as you see fit.

My take away was lubrication boundary layers can benefit from a layered approach.
Base layer grease adheres directly to the metal. Acting as a surface prep.
Top layer thin grease/oil acts as a shear layer on the grease. This combo enhances protection and lubrication better than oil on bare metal alone.

View attachment 1058788
This has been my surface prep grease layer. Dirt cheap, and readily available. The straw is very nice.
I’ll layer rem-oil, clenz-oil, marvels mystery oil, or atf fluid as my secondary fluid depending on availability.

Plan is once this bottle is empty to try out the cherry-balmz products.

As for the NLGI weight, I couldn’t find it posted.
I’d imagine it’s probably NLGI 0 or 00.
It has the consistency of thick snot when it comes out of the can. And I know it has some type of quick evap penetrating oil suspending the actual grease. I’ll lay it on garage door springs, and it will quickly wick itself into the coils.

Super interesting - I know that's good stuff, and how you described what it does on application with garage doors is interesting too. I couldn't find anything on its WD-40 web page, SDS, or TDS about its NLGI grade, but a couple of consumer websites like MSCdirect and Penn Tools list it as an NLGI 2. But a #2 is a lot heavier than a thick snot. Snot would be, as you mention, closer to a #0, or a #00. With the oils wicking away and possibly it's carrier/propellant gasses dissipating...does it get thicker after sitting for a few days?

Regarding layering it, that makes sense in theory, but the oils are going to get absorbed and/or mixed in through cycling. Of everything you mentioned, you'd probably get the best results out of mixing with ATF. Marvel is good if you need an oil to crawl deeply somewhere that you don't want to disassemble, like deep into an adjustable sight or something. But the ATF will be the slickest, by far, and probably the best weighted to mix into a really light grease for a rimfire, with that WD-40 White Lithium spray. If you want to experiment, spray some of that grease into a paint cap or other small container, and let it sit for a couple of days to see if it thickens up from losing its carrier. Depending on if it thickened up much, mix in about half as much ATF. That would be slick as hell, and probably very close to a #00.

 

[Steve300xcw]

Picked up a kadet slide for my P01 and thought that was pretty good. And in a lot of ways it is.

Doesnt hold a candle to the marvels slide though. Wore a few different dots, currently just using the sights. 16 round mags and a good trigger is hard to beat I wouldnt get the full rail version again though. As its kinda hard on holsters

 

[Ralphie]

Hammerli Forge. I actually have two of them, both the 4.25” one with red dot one with irons. If you like 1911s you really need to consider these. No offense intended but if you are trying to recreate 1911 ergos get one of these. The Ruger, buck marks and for sure the smith are not there. Browning makes a 1911 22 too but they are downsized. I thought about the conversion kits too. These are cheaper and I don’t have to switch the slides on and off my 45 frame. My first one I bought for 299. After getting it home and shooting it I thought it was a great deal. Then someone posted they were on sale for 199. I pretty much immediately bought another. They make a 5” version but I’ve never seen one. I’d probably buy one if I saw one, for sure at the 199 price.

I use them for fun and to train with cheap 22 ammo. I carry them some on my place occasionally for small varmints. In a regular 1911 holster.

I shoot the cheapest ammo I can find. I’m not worried about the smallest groups. I don’t even think I’ve shot them for groups. I want to ring steel and hit center mass quickly and efficiently. Mine ran with subs too.

I’ve had a few ftf and fte but it’s less than 12 probably in a few thousand rds. And these are inexpensive pistols.

I will say that mine had a TON of blowback, if thats the right term, with a tbac gen 1 22 takedown. Like feeling it on my face and getting dirty very fast. I had a Taurus tx22 that did not seem near as bad with the same suppressor. Plus it changed the feel and of course drawing from a holster so I took it off. You have to buy a adapter to run a 1/2x28 suppressor.

I replaced the factory grips with some el cheapo drip ones from amazon.

 

[douglasfir]

Mark IV 22/45. A good suppressor host and easy to shoot well, even without a trigger upgrade. Mine shoots everything well, and it doesn't blow crud back into my face when suppressed.

The silencer shop models are pretty sweet and I'd like to get one sometime.

 

[Jstumbaugh]

Any of you guys try the GSG 22 for practicing with the 1911 frame? I have one and have been pretty impressed with it. Only issues have been in 5 deg temps with 400 rounds of federal bulk ammo and the slide extremely dirty.

 

[Timplant]

I have a GSG! It's my only iron sight pistol left and I love it. Shoots extremely well with cheap bulk stuff and runs decent well into "too" dirty. It pretty much lives in my mud boat almost year rouund, it's my go to trapping gun. I love it. weve had it going on 7 years? maybe more