In the coming months, I’ll be testing over forty .22 LR pistols and revolvers for Project Rimfire – a comprehensive review series comparing every major .22 handgun on the market. Each gun will go through systematic accuracy, speed, and practical shooting tests so you can see how they stack up against each other. I’m either going to love or hate .22s by the end of this.
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Details are in the video below, or keep scrolling to read the full transcript.
Hey everybody, I am Chris Baker from Lucky Gunner and today we’re going to talk about our next big video series. I’m calling it Project Rimfire and the idea is pretty simple: I’m going to review every .22 LR handgun I possibly can.
We often have a tendency to not take .22s seriously. But I think this is a mistake. Sure, many of them are cheap, rimfire can be finicky, and they’re not going to stop a charging rhino. But that’s the glass-half-empty point of view. You don’t have to buy junk – there are quality .22 pistols out there. Reliability varies wildly between models, which is exactly why we need projects like this. And while we could debate the merits of .22 for defense purposes, it’s perfectly adequate for training, small game, pest control, and just having fun at the range.
Plus, cheap ammo means longer range sessions with more trigger time. They’re excellent suppressor hosts – quieter and more pleasant to shoot suppressed than any centerfire. And just because we’re taking them seriously doesn’t mean they’re not ridiculously fun to shoot.
Project Rimfire
Like a lot of projects I’ve done for Lucky Gunner, this one came about because I couldn’t find the information I was looking for, so I decided to gather it myself. I was shopping for a .22 revolver and started reading reviews of different models. One review would call a gun inaccurate, but I couldn’t tell if that was a mechanical issue or just a heavy trigger the reviewer couldn’t manage. Another review might have detailed bench rest testing, but only covered one model, so there was no way to compare it against similar guns. You end up with fragmented information that doesn’t actually help you make a decision.
There are some excellent reviews out there for .22 caliber pistols, and I don’t mean to disparage other creators. There are just so many .22 handguns on the market and reviewers use completely different criteria and testing methods. If you want to compare any two specific models, there’s a very small chance you’ll find them evaluated by the same person using the same standards.
I won’t be able to review each of these with the same depth as my usual videos – when you’re covering this many guns, something’s got to give. But what I can do is offer consistent, comparable data on all of them. My goal is to give you real insight into what these pistols are actually like beyond just specs on a website, and more importantly, how they stack up against each other. I want to give you a solid starting point for the next time you’re shopping for a .22 pistol.
The Categories
To make this more manageable, I’m dividing the guns up into categories.
Revolvers are pretty straightforward. I’m splitting those by size. We have small frames and medium frames.
Semi-autos are a little tougher to categorize. It’s easier to split them according to their intended use rather than size alone.
So we’ve got pocket pistols, and then competition pistols — this will mostly be race guns, but I’ll also throw in a couple of target pistols optimized for accuracy.
Next, we have training pistols – these are .22s patterned after specific centerfire models and those that have the same basic format and features as a typical centerfire pistol.
And the final category is plinkers. This is where I’m putting the classic-style .22s like the non-competition variants of the Ruger Mk IV, Browning Buckmark, and the Smith & Wesson Victory.
Now obviously, I can’t test every .22 that’s out there. I’m limiting this to current production double action revolvers and semi-auto pistols. Nothing old or discontinued. No single action revolvers. None of those folding single shot things. That still leaves way too many to cover. I’m going to try to cover all of the major options that I think you guys would be most interested in. Right now, it’s looking like it will be around 35 to 40 guns at least.
That’s going to take me a while, probably several months. And I will likely take some breaks in between the categories to cover some other topics. For each category, I’ll do a few individual reviews for some of the more interesting options. Then I’ll do a category roundup video where I’ll compare the models to each other and I might call out things like most accurate or best value or most underrated… stuff like that.
The Tests
Now, a Lucky Gunner project like this would not be complete without some spreadsheets and systematic testing. I’m going to run each gun through three different shooting tests.
The first test will have a heavy emphasis on speed. It will be based on a Steel Challenge stage. The actual score of this one is probably the least important of the three. But I’ve found there is a lot you can learn about a gun when you try to shoot it really fast.
Second is what I’m calling the Practical Test. All these guns hold at least 8 rounds, so that will be 8 shots, on a timer, fired at a B-8 Bullseye from 10 yards away. I’ve got a formula to turn that into a numeric score that I think represents a good balance of accuracy and speed.
And last is a good old fashioned boring mechanical accuracy test where I’ll shoot groups from a bench rest at 25 yards. It may not be that exciting, but a lot of people buy .22s specifically because of their accuracy potential, and it does vary quite a bit from one gun to the next.
Which Guns?
What I need from you guys is for you to tell me which guns you want me to cover, especially if it’s not something super mainstream. And for the models that have dozens of variants like the Ruger MK IV or the Browning Buckmark, is there a specific variant you want to see covered? I can’t make any promises, but I will consider every request.
Next up, I’m going to start with our smallest category, in both size and scope: pocket pistols. We’ve only got four models to cover, unless you guys come up with something I haven’t heard of. We’ll kick it off with a review of the new Beretta 20X. Look out for that coming soon. This is going to be a lot of fun, I’m looking forward to it. Until next time, let me know what you guys are thinking and get some ammo from us with lightning fast shipping.
The post Let’s Test (Almost) All the .22 Pistols appeared first on Lucky Gunner Lounge.
