Sturm, Ruger &
Company has been in the 22 semi-automatic pistol business
since 1949. The Standard Automatic and Mark I pistols quickly
built a stellar reputation as being reliable, accurate, and
affordable. While other brands of 22 autos have fallen by the
wayside, the Ruger, now in its Mark III configuration, is as
popular as ever, with no end of production in sight. Like many
other shooters, I have often wished that Ruger would produce a
more compact 22 pistol, and it has finally arrived, sixty-three
years later, and I predict that this one will also be a huge
seller for Sturm, Ruger & Company for many years to come, as
long as we maintain our freedom to own such handguns.
Right off the bat, this pistol is reliable. I
usually report on reliability, accuracy and such after a
description of the weapon and detailed specifications, and that
will come, but first of all, this pistol is a keeper.
Reliability in a compact 22 pistol is not a given, and some on
the market are pretty finicky about ammo. Not this SR22 Pistol.
I fed it nineteen different types of 22 Long Rifle ammo, foreign
and domestic, standard velocity, high velocity, and
hyper-velocity, and it fed, fired, and ejected every round
offered to it. Often times, 22 Long Rifle ammunition, especially
the cheap bulk ammo, can give problems, but this Ruger SR22
Pistol has digested handfuls of the stuff without a hiccup. (Note:
after writing this a couple of days ago, today I did have one
Winchester DynaPoint round that failed to eject. Upon firing, it
felt as if it was underpowered, and it did not fully cycle the
slide to eject).
The SR22 Pistol has a black polymer frame and
black lightweight aluminum slide. Inside the slide to the rear
of the ejection port is a steel insert which houses the
extractor, firing pin, and firing pin safety. Set into the
polymer frame is a steel sub-frame which houses the trigger,
hammer, and other fire control parts. The manual safety pushes
up to fire, and has, thankfully, ambidextrous levers. Pushing
down on either safety lever also lowers the hammer. In addition
to the thumb safety and firing pin safety, the SR22 Pistol has a
magazine safety, to prevent firing with the magazine removed.
The first shot from a magazine can be fired double-action, or
the hammer can be manually cocked to fire the first shot
single-action. Subsequent shots are fired single-action, until
the hammer is lowered. The slide locks to the rear on an empty
magazine, and there is a slide lock lever on the left side. The
magazine release is also ambidextrous, and is at the rear of the
trigger guard, pushing in to release the ten-shot blued-steel
magazine. The magazine has a button on the follower to assist in
easily loading to full capacity. The magazine floorplate is
polymer, and is easily removed for cleaning of the magazine. The
floorplate is relatively flat, but a finger-extension floorplate
is also provided. The SR22 pistol ships with two magazines, as
well as two of the additional floorplates. The barrel is
stainless steel, and is rigidly attached to the steel sub frame,
but is easily removed using an Allen wrench, accessed through
the trigger guard. Plans are to soon offer a barrel with a
threaded extension as an accessory, to fit a sound suppressor or
other accessory to the muzzle, if desired. The SR22 Pistol has
an excellent set of fully-adjustable sights dovetailed into the
slide. The recoil spring for the blow-back operation is a single
coil style, and runs on a polymer guide rod. The SR22 Pistol
comes with two interchangeable grips, one slightly larger and
more hand-filling than the other. They are changed simply by
pulling hard downward off the grip frame. For my large hand, I
greatly prefer the feel of the larger grip, which is still
compact, but fills the palm very well.
Disassembly is very simple, and will be
welcome by any owner of a Ruger Standard Auto or Mark 22 pistol.
A lever inside the trigger guard is pulled downward, the
magazine removed, and the slide pulled rearward and upward. When
the rear of the slide clears the frame, simply slide forward off
the frame and barrel. Assembly is just as easy.
Critical specifications for the SR22Pistol
are listed in the chart below. The weights are listed in ounces,
and linear measurements in inches. Weight includes an empty
magazine. The grip and frame widths were measured at their
widest parts. The maximum width is measured across the
ambidextrous thumb safeties. The height includes the sights and
standard magazine base. The trigger pull on the SR22 Pistol was
smooth in double-action mode, stacking before the release. The
single action pull is very good, with a smooth release and
slight overtravel. The trigger pull is listed as pounds of
resistance, as measured on my Lyman digital trigger scale.
| Weight |
17.7 Oz. |
| Height |
4.85" |
| Length |
6.38" |
| Slide Width |
0.94" |
| Maximum Grip Width |
1.06" |
| Frame Width |
0.968" |
| Maximum Width |
1.285" |
| Trigger Pull SA |
4.1 Lbs. |
| Trigger Pull DA |
7.7 Lbs. |
| Trigger Reach SA |
2.2" |
| Trigger Reach DA |
2.68" |
| Barrel Length |
3.51" |
| Magazine Capacity |
10 |
| Magazines Supplies |
2 |
I tested the SR22 Pistol with several brands
of 22 Long Rifle ammunition for velocity and function. The
results with each brand and type of ammunition are listed in the
chart below. HP is a lead hollowpoint bullet. Solid is a lead
roundnose bullet. Velocity readings were taken at an elevation
of 541 feet above sea level, with an air temperature of 43
degrees Fahrenheit, with humidity in the fifty-five percent
range. Velocities are listed in feet-per-second (FPS), and were
recorded ten feet from the muzzle of the SR22 Pistol. Bullet
weights are listed in grains.
| Ammunition |
Bullet Weight |
Velocity |
| Federal Bulk HP |
36 |
874 |
| Winchester DynaPoint HP |
40 |
877 |
| PMC Match Solid |
40 |
783 |
| Wolf Match Solid |
40 |
881 |
| CCI Mini-Mag HP |
36 |
974 |
| CCI Mini-Mag Solid |
40 |
934 |
| CCI Velocitor HP |
40 |
994 |
| Remington Yellow Jacket
HP |
33 |
1076 |
| Remington Hi-Speed
Solid |
40 |
973 |
| American Eagle HP |
36 |
901 |
| PMC Zapper HP |
38 |
937 |
| Olin Solid |
40 |
896 |
| Winchester XPert HP |
36 |
908 |
| Hansen Solid |
40 |
874 |
| Remington Bulk Solid |
37 |
900 |
Shooting the SR22 Pistol is a real pleasure.
As noted above, functioning was perfect. The magazines are very
easy to load, the pistol feels good in the hand, and recoil is
very light, as it is with most any 22 Long Rifle pistol. The
SR22 Pistol can empty its ten-shot magazine as quickly as the
trigger can be pulled, and keeping all shots well-centered on a
silhouette target at twenty-five yards is easy to do. This
brings us to the purpose of this compact 22 pistol. While the
SR22 Pistol is ideally suited for plinking and target practice,
with a whole day of fun costing less than one fifty-round box of
good centerfire ammunition, the SR22 Pistol can also serve for
defense for those who, for whatever reason, cannot handle a
larger caliber.
The 22 Long Rifle cartridge would not be my
first choice for a defensive cartridge, but I would certainly
not feel unarmed with only this SR22 Pistol at hand. Recoil is
very light, and most anyone can operate and fire this pistol
with confidence and accuracy. It is easy to place eleven bullets
on target very quickly, and with the proper ammunition, the 22
Long Rifle offers pretty good penetration. Unlike a centerfire
pistol, the slide on the SR22 is easy to manipulate, even for
someone with weak hands. The trigger is also relatively easy to
pull, and the excellent sights help to place the shots
accurately and quickly. I get email almost every day from folks
who cannot tolerate the recoil of a centerfire handgun, and for
those people, the SR22 Pistol is an excellent choice for
defense. For those of us who can pretty much handle any handgun
that we want, the SR22 is still a fun little pistol, offering
lots of inexpensive shooting fun, and is great for target
practice.
The SR22 Pistol is capable of very good
accuracy, given its short sight radius. I had no insert for my Ransom
Rest, as the SR22 Pistol had not yet been introduced while I
was doing my accuracy testing. I rested the pistol handheld
across a Target
Shooting, Inc. pistol rest, and fired for accuracy with
several brands of ammo at a distance of twenty-five yards.
Accuracy varied from under two inches to just under five inches,
depending upon the ammo and my ability to hold the weapon
steadily. Again, the sights are very good, and contributed to
the accuracy of the SR22 Pistol. Hopefully, I can get a Ransom
insert to fit this pistol, as with its rigidly-mounted barrel, I
think that the accuracy will be even better than I was able to
shoot holding it in my hands.
The SR22 Pistol is available now, already
shipping to distributors. It is lightweight, easy to shoot,
built right, and built in the USA.
Check out the extensive line of Ruger
firearms and accessories online at www.ruger.com.
For the location of a Ruger dealer near you,
click on the DEALER LOCATOR at www.lipseys.com.
To order the SR22 Pistol online, go to www.galleryofguns.com.
To order quality 22 Long Rifle ammunition, go
to www.luckygunner.com.
Jeff Quinn
