Ruger SR22 Rimfire Pistol Review

Many people can remember a day when they first learned to shoot a pistol and for most of them, that pistol was a 22.  They are still a lot of fun and great way to teach new shooters the fundamentals of shooting.  The Ruger SR22 has added features that make shooting them very enjoyable.

Like most firearms, changes in technology have made an impact on the 22 pistol market as well, with many models designed similar to their larger caliber counterparts.  Having controls in the similar location as the larger caliber versions makes them a good training firearm.

The Ruger SR22 has been on the market for a few years and is a fun gun to spend an afternoon with.  I’ve had mine for a couple years and have put a couple thousand rounds through it during that time.

Issues with the Ruger SR22

When I first got the SR22, it was obvious it didn’t like a lot of the bulk pack ammo.  There were a few miss feeds and an occasional jam.  Some very cheap ammo I had wouldn’t get more than a round or two before having an issue.

The Ruger SR22 features an accessory rail for attaching lights.

The Ruger SR22 features an accessory rail for attaching lights.

Anyone who shoots semiautoes knows new guns may have a few hiccups until it gets broken in.  I’ve had 9mm and 45acp pistols do the very same thing out of the box with cheaper ammo until they got broken in so I wasn’t too worried about the pistol itself.

After putting several hundred rounds of good ammo through the SR22 I decided to give the cheaper ammo another chance.  I had some surprisingly good results with it.  The gun loosened up enough that the cheaper ammo ran much better.  If you like to shoot, you certainly have spent time trying to find cheaper ammo.

Ruger SR22 Safety 

The Ruger SR22 has a magazine safety disconnect that renders the gun useless if there is no magazine in it.  This is a safety feature some people will not like but is one that I think is a good idea. This added safety is a good idea in my opinion.

The manual safety also decoks the pistol and is ambidextrous for the left-handed shooters.  Sights on the SR22 are three dot and adjustable for windage and elevation and seem to hold up very well.

One issue I still have with the Ruger SR22 is that I seem to burn up a lot of ammo.  It is very fun to shoot and I enjoy spending the afternoon with it and several different targets.