TargetTalk

well i checked out some .22s at a local place. the guy there told me unless i was doing comp he would just get a buck or ruger but was trying to sell me a used one for $275. it was a ruger 2. he also said that the ruger 3 was the same gun except for the fact that it had more safetys. why pay alot more money for safetys? anyway he said that he personaly had both a ruger and buck and liked them equaly. he said the buck is just more money.

the interesting thing i saw was the silencers. i live on a few acres and i have shot .22s on my property but it still would be nice to fire quietly

I like the Mark II better as well. They shoot the same, but the Mark III has an annoying magazine disconnect. I have one of these:



It's a KMK512, with a 5 1/2" bull barrel. Although I am still a big fan of the model 41, I can shoot just about the same scores with the Ruger.

Steve.

wow now that is a nice one! im jealous! yea so i guess i have to decide betweeen that and the buck since the 41 is alot more money. you guys ever used the silencers? im guessing firing rounds out of a pistol .22 is going to be louder than my riffle

and how does a ruger compare to a IZH-35 . i found for in great condition for $700 a state away. what do you guys think?

saltysteve wrote:and how does a ruger compare to a IZH-35 . i found for in great condition for $700 a state away. what do you guys think?

The IZH is a far better gun. I have owned and shot both. My IZH has Rink grips and is fitted with a DJ Precision weight/slide lock. Have never had any problems. However, you should be aware that some of the IZH35's have had problems with feeding, ejection, doubling, due to metallurgy problems. If you can, suggest you shoot 50-100 rounds through it before buying. Mine likes Wolfe and SK Pistol Match. $700 is a bit on the high side, but demand has grown for this limited production pistol. If you eventually decide to sell it, you have a good chance of getting most/all of your money back.

saltysteve wrote:and how does a ruger compare to a IZH-35 . i found for in great condition for $700 a state away. what do you guys think?

There's an IZH-35 on the sale forum for $500. They were a great deal at $400, but at $700 I'd look elsewhere.

If you want to spend $700, I'd recommend going to Larry's guns and looking at a Benelli MP-95. You can shoot it for a while as is, and if you want to get more serious you can get a fancy grip and replace the trigger with the unit from the MP-90S. If you're going to get close to the $1000 mark for a pistol, I think factory support is pretty important. If your IZH starts to double, will EAA fix it now that they no longer import it?

Unfortunately, the falling dollar has driven the price of new European guns through the roof, but you still might be better off by spending a little more up front.

Regardless, if your main goal is informal non-competitive target shooting a reliable easy to maintain pistol will go a lot farther than the latest whiz bang gun that will buy you an extra couple of points at the expense of reliability/maintainability.

Just my $0.02,
Steve.

Regardless, if your main goal is informal non-competitive target shooting a reliable easy to maintain pistol will go a lot farther than the latest whiz bang gun that will buy you an extra couple of points at the expense of reliability/maintainability.

so are you saying Benelli MP-95 or Ruger/Buckmark in this sentence?
that Benelli MP-95 looks nice! are those as fun as the ruger or are they more just buisness?

saltysteve wrote:Regardless, if your main goal is informal non-competitive target shooting a reliable easy to maintain pistol will go a lot farther than the latest whiz bang gun that will buy you an extra couple of points at the expense of reliability/maintainability.

so are you saying Benelli MP-95 or Ruger/Buckmark in this sentence?
that Benelli MP-95 looks nice! are those as fun as the ruger or are they more just buisness?

Hi Steve,
The point I was trying to make was that although an IZH-35 will possibly buy you a few points over something like the Ruger, there are some practical negatives (issues with doubling, no factory support, etc). If you are a hardened competition shooter (or a gunsmith) those trade-offs may be ok, otherwise buying a gun in current production might be a better choice, even if it's not as fancy.

My wife is shooting an IZH-35, and it is a nice gun. It's also been back to the factory for a doubling problem, and had a few other parts break. When they were $400, it was well worth the hassle. For $700, there are better guns out there in my opinion (like the Benelli).

If you can't tell, I'm biased towards buying a new gun, because it's so hard to avoid buying someone else's headache when buying a used automatic. If you're not in a position to buy from a private sale (like a fellow league shooter) you have to roll the dice in a gun store, usually buying a used pistol without test firing it.

To get back to your comment, you can either get a simple reliable gun for a moderate price (Ruger, Buckmark, etc), a More serious target gun (Benelli MP95) for some more money, or take a risk and get a used target gun for some reduction in price (like the IZH, or a High Standard). I've shoot the high end Benelli (MP90S), and it's a pretty neat gun. Any of these are good guns to start out with, it just depends on what your goals are, and how much you want to spend. I'm just a bit biased because I started out with a few used guns, and had some reliability problems.

Good luck with whatever you get, and don't worry that much because your first .22 probably won't be your last...

Steve.