Held off as long as I could

[Handloader109]

Well I didn't own a 22 pistol until yesterday. Have an old rifle, but haven't shot in a decade. Wife has been having a hard time really getting comfortable with the 9mm guns we have, and I really want my daughter to shoot more. So, I started looking at 22s and picked up a Walther PPQ 22 that matches the 9mm PPQ that we have. Bought a few high end 22 cartridges from Cabelas (where I got the gun) and a few more boxes at Academy. Darn, I sure can reload for way cheaper than buying 22s. But my dozen boxes will probably last for a while if I only let them shoot it. I could have bought a brick of several different types that looked to be lower quality , but I hesitated as I have no idea what This gun will eat. Range report soon.....

[Outer Rondacker]

Congrats on the new gun. I sure it will shoot great.

[straightwall]

Aquila sells .22lr ammo that uses Eley priming compound, if you like the high-end stuff but want to save a buck. All reports I have seen on the Aquila is good, except their Colibri rounds shoot a bit dirty.
I also like to shoot CCI or Federal .22. I am not much for the Winchester or Remington .22lr ammo.

Good luck with your gun!

[longranger]

Federal Auto Match is specifically designed for semi auto's and is somewhat reasonable in some places.It shoots very well in all of my .22's Beretta,CZ's.

[northmn]

I probably shoot a 22 pistol more than any other. My future son in law just bought a 40 for his first pistol and we went out shooting. My 22 groups on his target were a grerat deal tighter than his. Before he got the 40 I told him to get a 22 and learn to shoot a pistol before going a larger bore. One can concentrate on shooting more with a 22. Also for my uses 22's are much more practical. I have a 45 Colt and a 38 but mostly carry a 22.
I just traded an got a small Ruger 22 pocket pistol with a 3 inch barrel that I shoot much better than a larger bore. It gets a lot of carry time.

DP

[castalott]

The Walthers I have experience with demand 'high power ' ammo. Lesser powered stuff is marginal...YMMV..

[rbuck351]

The Wather built Colt 1911 22lr I have will shoot std velocity just fine. It's a very nice gun as well.

[castalott]

The Walther PPs I have owned needed more power to work the slide every time. Maybe they weren't 'broke' in....

[northmn]

22's come in a variety of advertised velocities and configurations. I have a box of 333 Winchesters advertised at 1280 as ar a lot of the offerings from other brands including CCI "minimags" I have a couple of boxes of CCI velocitors at 1450 or so and then there were the hyper velocity's at higher levels but with 30 grain bullets. I had a Marlin SA rifle that would work best with the hypers and velocitors. My REm 97 and my ruger handguns are not so finiky but through the years I have seen som semi autos that are. One olf High Standard I had would only reliably feed Remingtons. The Reingtons I think fed better due to their nose design. Sometimes the semi autos are not so much power touchy as brand. I have ahd a couple that did not like Federals.

DEP

[rbuck351]

Guns are different with different weight slides/bolts and different recoil spring weights and so some work better with some ammo than others. I have an old Walthers, late 1930s, Olympic Target pistol that should not be shot with HiSpeed ammo at all. It will shoot it but it batters the slide as it was made for std velocity target rds. The Ruger MK series seem to shoot most anything very well. You just have to see what will work in your gun and then try to find some.