What handgun for a newbie/novice?

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Stainless is harder to rust, requires less maintance. Blued steel requires oiling to keep it from rusting. OTOH if you ask me SS is easier to scratch (at least my stainless SP101 has a ton of scratches, while my blued Ruger MkII does not). It used to be that blued steel was "sexier" than SS, but with so many examples out there of either I don't think there is much asthetic difference. I guess stainless could be a bit worse in bright reflective light.

Although... On my SP101 I did have to do some light sanding to deal with a sharp surface. Good thing it wasn't blued!

Takedown on the Ruger is a bit complicated--but not rocket science. Actually, go onto youtube, and look up takedown on any of these models--if a gun can be broken down, someone has a vid on youtube on how to do it. For myself, I don't think taking down the Ruger is that hard, but YMMV. Cannot compare to anything else, as I haven't had many guns.
 
I stopped by our local chain outdoors store last evening and checked out the Mark III and Buck Mark. Boy did the Buck Mark Camper feel good in my hand. It just had the standard grip, not the URX one, but it felt a lot more comfortable and natural than the Mark III did. It was the one with the matte blued frame and stainless barrel and looked great.

Does anyone know the difference between the Buck Mark Camper and Standard models? The barrels are a bit different and the Camper costs a bit less, but from reviewing the information on the Browning web site and elsewhere, I can't determine what the real difference is.
 
I don't know what the difference between a Buckmark Camper & Standard is. I will say that if you really like the feel of the Buckmark Camper after handling one, and it's in your price range, maybe you should just Go For It!
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The pistol, a couple of bricks or tubs of .22 LR ammo, & a spare factory magazine or two would allow you to get shooting right away. I'll see what I can find about the various Browning models.
 
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At the RimfireCentral forum, some posts from just before Halloween(10/29&30/12) claim a real shortage of new Buckmarks in many areas of the country. If your local store has one in stock & you like it....?

Link to the Browning section at RimfireCentral.com:
RimfireCentral- Browning Section
 
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Well, I changed my mind about the Browning and last evening purchased a Ruger Mark III Target... the stainless steel one.

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Now to get some proper eye and ear protection, a box of ammo, and make my way to the local range.
 
Excellent Weapon! Put plenty of rounds through Ruger 22 Semi-Automatics and they just shoot well.

With my 22/45 (and you may want to with your MkIII) I took off the mag disconnect (its a $15 part) and it greatly helped the trigger and made take down/ put back together MUCH easier.

What I really LOVE about the Ruger's are NOT picky about what ammo you use. While some ammo brands are much dirtier than others they all shoot with no problems.

Take care and be safe! Bill
 
I have some of those Quiet-Shot CCI rounds, and my MkII cycled once or twice out of 5 rounds. Not bad I thought--that's a round with not much more umph than CB's. If I had bothered to clean the bolt it might have done it.

I usually just use the Remington foam earplugs, from Walmart (which BTW has decent ammo prices). Lots of attenuation, cheap. I'd buy a couple of them. At the very least, put into your range bag, maybe one into the box that you carry the pistol to the range in--that way, you'll never be without.

Mine has been happy with Federal Automatch. But so far it's pretty happy in general with whatever 22LR I feed it.

Get a paperclip for take-down, and watch youtube for how to do it.
 
Very Nice for sure!
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Way back in the dark ages, when I bought my MKII brand new, there were no *Stainless* Ruger MK's in my area- in fact it's possible stainless didn't come out at all until about 6 months later.

When you say a box of ammo, I hope you're talking about maybe a brick or similar(500 rounds or so). Bill's exactly right, it should shoot just about any .22 LR ammo reliably, and you'll find some brands much cleaner/dirtier shooting than others. Still, the Ruger has enough mass moving around that you should be able to shoot at least a brick of the dirtiest-burning stuff before it needs cleaning.

A true lifetime gun - be safe & enjoy it!
 
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When it comes to ammunition, besides the Federal 550 round value pack you can get at Walmart for $20 and the Remington Golden Bullet 525 round box I can get at another local sporting goods store for $18, is there anything I should try. I see that CCI makes a variety of more expensive 22LR cartridges. It might give a family member some ideas for Christmas.

In terms of eye and ear protection, what should I look for? Or is that a loaded question that comes down to personal preference? This Browning kit gets good review and is reasonably priced.

The other thing I'll probably get is a different case to transport the gun. Nothing special, maybe just something like this.
 
I'd get the Federals over the Remington "golden" ammo. The latter is VERY dirty over pretty well anything else.

CCI is excellent ammo but not worth the $6 per hundred over the $4 per hundred for Federals IMB.

Very personal but I use (depending on what I'm shooting but 90% of the time) a pair of plastic ear plugs tied together by a cable and old pair of S&W shooting glasses. Make sure the glasses do wrap around the face a little "just in case".

Transportation.. what you have linked is perfect! I have the same one when I need to carry just one weapon around to one that carries up to 4 most times.

Get a few more mags for your weapon. While I've NEVER had a problem with Ruger mags over the decades I love having 4-5 loaded up at a time so I don't have to interrupt shooting out on the range.

Be safe and ENJOY!

Bill
 
Do some searching. Many dislike the Golden Boys. Won't hurt to try, but my experience with them (not in my Rugers though) was they were poor quality. YMMV.

The Federal White Lightning is cheap, and is cheap for a reason. I no longer buy it for that reason. I don't shoot enough that a few duds is worth the cost savings.

On loading the Ruger mag--and maybe the MkIII is different--I carry a regular pen with me at all times. I use the pen to hold down the button so as to load up the mag. Put the pen onto the button, then slide down the pen. Otherwise the button cuts into my thumb (well, it doesn't draw blood, but it's not pleasant). I use the pen to get a larger surface.

I like cheap earplugs, but most anything is going to work. Yes, 22LR in a pistol can hurt your hearing--but this isn't a rifle round going off. You don't have to overthink it. Similar on the eye protection. YMMV but I've just used my prescription glasses for years, with a baseball cap (or othe widebrimmed hat).
 
Originally Posted By: Bill in Utah
I'd get the Federals over the Remington "golden" ammo. The latter is VERY dirty over pretty well anything else.

I stopped by two different Walmart stores this evening and they were both out of the Federal 550 boxes.

When I got home, there was an ad for the local sporting goods chain which has the Remington 525 boxes on sale, 2 for $32.
 
My Beretta NEOS has only ever had issues with the Remington bulk box stuff. It is really dirty and Ive had hangfires or misfires with some of them. If I cannot get the Federal bulk stuff I go for the Winchester.
 
Re: .22 rimfire ammo. Back around 1975 several of us did our own ammo test, using our own rifles, with what was available to us- Federal, Remington & Winchester.(CCI was exotic, get-it-in-the-big-cities-only stuff in our area back then) My Browning .22 Auto, plus a Winchester 190, one of the Marlin model 60 variations & an old Mossberg automatic. Our conclusions were unanimous.

The cleanest, by a good margin: Remington "Golden Bullets"! Next came Winchester- pretty good, but noticeably dirtier then Remington. The dirtiest by *Far* was Federal.

I'm sad to say that my own experience with the once-good-stuff Remingtons just a few years ago matches what everyone else says- very dirty & not too reliable.

How things change in a mere 35-40 years or so!
 
This is probably a silly/dumb question, but because I'm new to firearms and ammunition, I have to ask... what does "dirty" mean exactly when it comes to ammunition?
 
"Dirty" means just that: it makes the gun dirty.

Combustion of any anything always makes some sort of byproduct. Ash, although smoke is just ash suspended in air.

Dirty ammo will leave a visible film on the gun, anyplace where the gasses escape. You'll see it on the crown of the muzzle, you'll see it on the bolt, and around the ejection port.

For the most part, it's pretty much a nuisance. On a low powered round like a 22, eventually the gunk builds up, and the gun won't cycle. Which is annoying, but easily fixed.

Whether or not this can lead to the gun wearing out faster is debatable. If that gunk gets into the various spots of the gun where wear can occur, perhaps. The occasional full teardown should indicate how often to clean the gun.

All 22 rounds are to some extent dirty. Some worse than others. You can't get around cleaning the gun, it's just a matter of how often.
 
While we're on the subject of "dirty", what should I purchase in terms of a cleaning kit / supplies? (As I put together my Christmas wishlist, a link on Amazon would be particularly helpful.)

Also, is Guns & Ammo a decent publication? I'd like to pick up on and learn new things by casually flipping through something while watching TV. It would also be a easy gift for a family member to get me.
 
Pretty well any cleaning kit will do you.

Here is a link for OVER PRICED at Amazon but something like that is available at Wal-Mart for well under $20 and not charge $13 for shipping.

Guns and Ammo is okay. I take it and enjoy it. American Rifleman is good with some content and comes with (hint hint
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) an NRA membership.

Take care, Bill

PS: You will not have to clean out the 22lr too often. More weapons are worn out CLEANING them than shooting them.
 
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