Wow this site is so expensive. I started off asking about a small, economical additon to the herd, and now am thinking about three purchases.
Thanks for all of the good info.

M&P 22 is a great choice.

The Trailside is still available. It's sold under its own Hämmerli brand as the x-esse and SIG is no longer in the picture. As for the "SIG" versions, I've got both the 4" and 6" Trailsides and they've been remarkable pistols. I also own the SR22 and I certainly would not put it in the same neighborhood when it comes to accuracy, or the overall shooting experience.

My Ruger to me is a plinker. Nothing more. Even with good standard velocity ammo my SR22 excels at the art of spraying, acting as if it's trying to cover every square centimeter of a 12"x12" paper target at 15 yards with holes, even when that wasn't the shooter's intention. 'Precise' is not an appropriate word to describe my SR22. 'Reliable' thankfully does apply. At least most of the time. These days I rarely shoot it; instead the younglings in my family almost exclusively use it at the range. My niece tells me that one mag seems to be troublesome though when I examine it there's not overt signs of anything unusual going on. It's pulled aside and someday I'll need to order a new spring for it, which just goes to show just how enthused I am about the gun.

It's smallish. I guess it could be seen as svelte...if I squint hard enough. It has a stupid reverse-action thumb safety. It fits my small hand very well though the materials used feel unrefined to me. Aside from the balky magazine it's been spot-on reliable. I probably should show it more "love", but I didn't buy the thing to begin with and in truth I wouldn't have bought it if Ruger handn't given it to me as a rewards gun. But at least its dependability shames my departed Mosquito and as well my Jekyll and Hyde Thunder 22.

Some accuracy reports for various .22 pistols, including the Trailside. See posts #12 & #13 in this thread.

www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=204578

LDBennett is a frequent poster on RimFireCentral, and has lots of .22 pistols.

I’ve owned both the SR-22 and the Ruger Mark IV 22/45 and feel that the 22/45 is hands down the much better pistol. I like the added weight, the conventional safety actuation, and the trigger much better. If weight isn’t a concern, there’s no reason not to consider the Mark IV over the SR-22. For the sake of disclosure, the only mods I’ve done to my 22/45 are to replace the factory grips and the sights with Williams Fire Sights.

quote:

Originally posted by Pipe Smoker:
Some accuracy reports for various .22 pistols, including the Trailside. See posts #12 & #13 in this thread.

www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=204578

LDBennett is a frequent poster on RimFireCentral, and has lots of .22 pistols.

Interesting results. I see that the Trailside was towards the bottom of the list and the Beretta 87T towards the top (well, at least in the upper half). For me they are the opposite. The 87T's 2-stage-plus-like trigger annoys me to no end. That creep after initial takeup...creepy. I constantly think if only Beretta had infused it with more 89 DNA. As it is, I do seem to have a mental block whenever I force myself to take my 87T out for spin.

The relative lightness of the Trailside did take some getting used to, but now I shoot them as well if not better as I do with my Buck Mark and Victory. I had considered ordering some barrel weights from Larry's Guns to add a bit more 'substance' to their demeanor, but nowadays I've acclimated myself to the guns enough that I won't bother with the expense, plus I've never been that much of a precision target kind of pistol guy to begin with. I mean after all, I shoot crappy ol' Glocks as my primary fun guns...