TargetTalk

I wonder if you could assist me. I have been tasked with making some recommendations to my local gun club on what 22lr semi automatic pistol should they purchase. Our current fleet of club pistols consists of Rugers, and High standards. What I’m hoping is with your assistance to find out what other pistols would be appropriate for a “club gun”. What is your club using?

Some things to consider

• They are looking for a robust pistol that can handle the abuse of novice shooters.
• Price range is $600 range per gun.
• The purpose of these pistols is to introduce new shooters to shooting.
• There is a limited amount of competitive bull eye shooting in the club currently, so there isn’t a huge need to purchase target pistol (I.e. a Hammerli sp20 or alike).
• The pistol must Not be fussy about ammunition – it should be able to shoot almost anything.

Any suggests would be greatly appreciated.


Brian

More Rugers.

Brian James wrote:... current fleet of club pistols consists of Rugers, and High standards...what other pistols would be appropriate for a “club gun"
• The pistol must Not be fussy about ammunition – it should be able to shoot almost anything.

The Sig Trailside Target 6 would be my choice. They are lightweight with a comfortable hold and have excellent balance. Also, the simple design makes for easy maintenance which is an asset for a club gun.

I doubt you will find a pistol that will shoot both standard velocity and high velocity reliably. Slide springs need to be stronger to handle hi-vel, so may not allow the slide to fully cycle with soft target ammunition. For teaching and informal club shooting (IMO) there is little need for expensive ammunition, though.

Trailside review: http://tinyurl.com/35bmn

I would suggest a variety. Although your criteria points straight towards Rugers. Fit and feel of a gun in your price range is different to various people. As far as I know in the $600 range you are limited to Rugers, High Standards (much prefer the originals), Buckmark, Trailside, Used S&W 41. That is all that comes to mind. Used guns of European design might be worth a look. Benelli, Pardini. You and your new shooters can learn gun options as well as the sport. Don't overlook the Ruger 45 grip and the Marvel conversion.

New Margolins.

I don't know where you are Brian, so I don't know what the availability of this pistol would be to you.
The MCM Margolin has been the standard club gun for many pistol clubs in Australia and New Zealand for decades. They are utterly reliable, last for years (we are still using examples that our club bought in the 1970s), and are very accurate. Like most European target pistols, the trigger has a fair degree of "creep" which is great for teaching newbies the concept of the "unconscious release". Ours only seem to get cleaned once or twice a year, but still function flawlessly (we use budget Lapua Club ammo in tins). They are quite light (about 900 grams), so suit beginners - especially youth and women. Barrel weights can be added if needed. The only minor issue is that the grip is right-handed only, and the rear sight is a round "half-moon". This can be easily (but carefully) filed into a square rear sight if you wish. Here they currently retail for the equivalent of US$254 (before tax) so they are phenomenally good value.

http://www.baikalinc.ru/eng/prod/hguns/mcm/

We use Ruger Mark II bull barreled pistols almost exclusively for classes and introductory shooting. Our main gun club has 10 that are used at least monthly and the college shooting team uses five. For the price, ease of use and durability the Ruger is hard to match. I recommend using the "thumb saver" loaders as they make loading much easier, particularly for women and juniors. The new Mark III's look pretty nice.

I would not recommend High Standards for begineers. They are difficult to open in the case of a misfire and they as a general rule should not be dryfired as they are notorious for having the firing pin striking the barrel next to the chamber (I own or have owned about a dozen of these). However, they are a great gun for the intermediate and advanced shooters.

My limited experience with the Hammerli Trailside is that it is particular about ammo and I found the trigger "mushy" and difficult to adjust. It also seemed to be a little on the light side.

I agree with the suggestion made by Zoned - a Sig Trailside would make a nice addition to our growing armory. I actually looked at one a couple of days ago and was pleasantly suprised at how good the trigger felt right out of the box.


While I agree there is probably nothing more robust and value laden than a Ruger, I think trying to get as much variety is also a good thing.

A used SW41 is another excellent choice.

Some more thoughts. Although many have given you interesting advice, much of it does not meet your criteria.

Don't want a gun that's not ammo fussy. Then don't by the Sig.

Want a gun that's robust and can be used buy everyone, don't buy a real target pistol. Right handed is BAD news, match triggers, BAD news,

I'm not sure exactly what type of classes you are running but we run about 50 people a month through the NRA basic pistol course.

Sig, no go
Pardini, no way
S&W 41, nice but expensive and is very ammo picky even gun to gun, granted I only have about seven of them as personal guns so maybe I'm off base.


As well you say semi auto only. If you are really doing intro classes for novices, leaving out a revolver is a big mistake.

I appreciate the prompt replies everyone. Thank you! Has anyone shot the new Berretta U22?http://www.berettaweb.com/armi/Beretta% ... %20(1).htm

I'm not sure exactly what type of classes you are running but we run about 50 people a month through the NRA basic pistol course.


Our club has aprox. 100-150+ new shooters annually who typically have no or very little shooting experience.

Brian

[quote="Brian James"]I appreciate the prompt replies everyone. Thank you! Has anyone shot the new Berretta U22?[quote]

I have one that I play with every once in a while. It hasn't given me any problems- digests everything I've fed it (which for that one has been mostly cheap stuff) and aims where I point it. Plus it is super easy to break down and clean- no tools, just turn the thumb wheel to unscrew the barrel. It really is a good piece of engineering, but I've only put a couple of thousand rounds through it, so I don't know what it's long term reliability will be like. Another advantage from your perspective is that there are multiple barrel sizes that you can get for it, and they're all interchangeable.

I will say, however, that I'm not too fond of the grip, which is a one-piece plastic molded job. Because of the way the trigger guard slopes down into the grip, it's difficult to get a decent two hand grip with it. The slope gets in the way of the index finger of your off hand. All in all, aside from the grip shortcomings (but it is an ambidextrous grip, which is a plus) I don't think you'll have much regret about getting some. After all, they're only about $250 or so, right?

-Ted

In two clubs in Europe, with which I shoot regularly, club guns of different brands have been purchased and tested. Really tested: dozens of novices fire these guns during their beginners courses every year; the guns see misuse, neglect, long cleaning intervals, and ammo consumed by the tenthousand every year.

Some guns work better than others. The Ruger MK standars pistol has proved itself indestructable!. It is not the most ergonomic gun, its trigger leeves quite some to be desired, sights are rudimentary. But they can be fired conviniently by left and right handed shooters. And the Rugers digest different brands of ammo without a hitch. And the Rugers are not costly. Good value for the money.

But the Rugers are a bit difficult to dismantle (completely), and even more difficult to reassemble.

The second best (most reliable) are some old Walther GSPs (70s/80s ventage).
The worst experiences: some Browning Buckmarks. Frequent jams and misfirings.