Further 22

A commenter brought up a good point. “What is the purpose of your acquisition of a .22 pistol.”

Hard to give me advice, or me to decide, if it’s unknown what it’s for…

The reason is: I don’t have a .22 pistol. You need a .22 pistol for general target practice on the cheap, at a minimum. It’d be nice if training on the .22 pistol was similar to training with my personal full size guns.

Someone suggested a conversion kit for a 1911, and Tam mentioned the virtue of a Ruger 22/45 with a 1911 style grip to help with practice for full size 1911 shooting.

I HAVE a conversion kit. So I have SOMETHING. I just want a .22 pistol that is a devoted .22 pistol. But the .22 conversion kit covers the base Tam brings up without adding the extra cost and space of a separate, SECOND, .22 pistol. If I decide on a Ruger 22/45 (like a MkIII but with that different grip) that will be that; it would be my one actual .22 handgun. But I’d rather avoid something like getting a .22 revolver AND a 22/45. (Until I start to approach Tam quantities of firearms.) And I mentioned previously that I am deficient in revolver purchases and I like the ease of general cleaning/maintenance of revolvers

I lean S&W 617 (or just 17) to make practicing the same type of revolver as my 686 in the same way Tam practices with a 22/45 to help with 1911 use.

For cheap range days, for me, 617 and conversion kit. On regular range days, the 686 and 1911 with .45s.

[As an aside, I don’t like swapping out the conversion kit at the range. I worry the recoil plug will fly off during the switch and be mixed in with the brass cases on the floor, downrange, and unreachable. Plugs aren’t expensive, but they it’s still a waste to consider them ‘disposable.’]

Another reason I am leaning revolver despite its extra expense to get a good, new one… If an Assault Weapons Ban comes down the pike, it probably won’t impact revolvers. My acquisitions to date have eschewed ban-escaping models for the most part. So I got my rifle with a 20-round magazine now, and saved for later the pick up of a side by side shotgun, a snub nosed .38, and a .22 revolver. Oddly enough, some AWB schemes contemplate making semi-auto .22s verboten. And it might be a while before I get a new gun.