Walther PPQ 22. I have one and it’s been excellent. I haven’t cleaned it in over 300 roudns and no failures of any kind (overall 500+ rounds) It feels just like my PPQ M2 and fits in the same holster.

I also have a .22lr exchange kit for my P220. It works fine as long as I keep it oiled and clean it after every trip to the range. It gives you SIG practice but the PPQ 22 is a much better pistol.

CZ kadet. Or a CZ 75 with a kadet (.22 LR) kit on it.....then you have 2 guns in 1.

I have three 22 pistols plus a 22 conversion for my P226. All of them are pickey about the ammo you use. My sig conversion and Ruger Mark III prefer MiniMax. The S&W 22A has been retired. The one I like most and shoot regularly is a S&W Victory which likes Federal Auto Match. Never had a failure with the Victory. Its probably not what you are looking for but its an excellent shooting 22 and its easy to take down and reassemble. I like the sig conversion but can't see the front sight and haven't changed it yet.

My all time favorite is the Beretta 87.

Do you own a 226 or 229? If so just buy a conversation kit. Then you have cheap trainer with no recoil. When they are ready, just swap slides and they get exact same manual of arms, grip, and weight . Mine (226) runs great, a few light strikes in first 200 rounds I shot, since then only a couple of them.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Skins2881,

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:
Do you own a 226 or 229? If so just buy a conversation kit. Then you have cheap trainer with no recoil. When they are ready, just swap slides and they get exact same manual of arms, grip, and weight.

While I like my P226 22 conversion kit it surely is not the same weight as a 9MM P226 as the slide is aluminum for the conversion kit versus steel for the 9MM which is almost 8 ounces difference in weight. Weird for me handling my P226 when it felt as light as my Glock 19.

The Sig 22 conversion kits seem to work well with Mini Mags: but admittedly haven't fired them in years? Something to be said for same "manual of arms" for both fun and serious guns. If you have either AEP or Gray treatment, makes it even better.
I do like the Victory though and maybe might like the new Ruger Mark since they've apparently solved the assembly issues.

quote:

Originally posted by grumpy1:

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:
Do you own a 226 or 229? If so just buy a conversation kit. Then you have cheap trainer with no recoil. When they are ready, just swap slides and they get exact same manual of arms, grip, and weight.

While I like my P226 22 conversion kit it surely is not the same weight as a 9MM P226 as the slide is aluminum for the conversion kit versus steel for the 9MM which is almost 8 ounces difference in weight. Weird for me handling my P226 when it felt as light as my Glock 19.

Didn't realize the slide weighed 8 oz less, wow. I knew it was lighter, but that's a huge difference. Factor in 15 rounds of 9 vs 10 of. 22 and it's really different.

Scratch the last word of my reply.

I have the S&W Plastic M&P Compact. It is a reliable plinker.
The Buckmark and Ruger Mk are entry level target pistols and will do more.

quote:

Originally posted by arcwelder76:
A used S&W Model 41 is a bit more expensive than most .22s, but worth it.

true,

same can be said of the High Standards,,


however

neither fit the parameters he is looking for,

You should consider the Sig Mosquito!....I can’t say it without laughing...sorry...

If I ever saw a Bersa 22 for sale locally (~250) I'd probably buy it. They can be finicky I hear but most 22s are..excepr my cz Kadet

quote:

Originally posted by SigSentry:
If I ever saw a Bersa 22 for sale locally (~250) I'd probably buy it. They can be finicky I hear but most 22s are..excepr my cz Kadet

They aren't finicky as long as you use high-velocity ammo. Mine has never failed with Mini-Mags or Federal Auto-Match. If you're looking for something in a DA/SA configuration, it's a good option.



There's also the Firestorm .22, which is the same pistol with a rounded trigger guard.

So I happened to be in the neighborhood of a Gander Outdoors today... stopped in and looked at an M &P 22 compact. Pretty nice feeling .22. I co pared it to the Ruger... liked the Smith better. So Gander wanted 342.49 for it new. Now I historically have always thought Gander was on drugs when they put price tags on their pistols but don't have much of a frame of reference on this. What's a fair price on one of these?

Some quick searching on Google, Buds, and GB comes up with $335.00. Actually a good price at GM.

$299 with free shipping.

Well, I will offer a different option, given your stated purposes to teach new shooters.

An air pistol.

It offers some distinct advantages:
- lower cost, both in initial purchase, and to operate (although a quality air pistol, can still be a bit pricey).
- less intimidating to new shooters.
- you can set up a safe shooting range in a basement or garage, and avoid the noise, crowds, cost, and travel time to the range.
- Very little recoil and noise, so the new shooter can work on the fundamentals, especially trigger control, without worries about developing bad habits caused by flinching/anticipating recoil.
- Because you can work at home, the student can work on the fundamentals, much more often, and it's like dry fire, but with objective measure/feedback.

After some time with a quality airgun, the student will have built good habits and be ready to shoot some light 9mm loads.

The only thing that might be better, but significantly more expensive, is a program with a real gun, that fires a laser, with targets that register the laser shots. My last LE academy had 2+ hours a day of work with the old "Beamhit" system on our P229s, for one week before we fired a live round. After more than 10 hours of "dry fire," everyone could easily pass the qual course the first day of live fire, and with most shooting well over 90%, and we didn't lose a single person to problems with weapons quals.