I am considering trading a Ruger Mark for a Ruger Mark III 22/45 Black Lite or a Ruger SR22 for a lighter gun that would be more comfortable for family members ... Bad idea? I would also love to find an older Bersa Model 23 in all steel.

 

How are the Lite's holding up?

I can not sing enough praise for the SR-22. It's just fun.

 

As for finding one, I suggest using the quote feature.

The SR-22 is a great. I have had zero problems with mine.

Having had both I liked the 22/45 better for reliability but hated the way it disassembed. My SR22 was ammo fussy and only seemed to like the hotter CCI loads. Same experience that my cousin has as we both bought ours together thinking of using them for inexpensive target shooting. I sold mine after two range trips and replaced it with a S&W 617 .22 revolver. Shoots 10 rounds of anything I feed it and speed loaders and blocks are available for it to make reloading quick and easy. However, like with any model gun, most will be 100% and a few not so much until you find the right ammo for it. Mine only liked the expensive stuff and I had a few thousand rounds of the cheap stuff so it was not a good fit for me. The SR22 is one sweet gun though and if yours works with whatever inexpensive .22 ammo you have, it will be one of your favorites. Just wish mine was. I even tried and M&P22 with same results. Did not like the 500 round bricks of Winchester and Federal ammo I had. Great with CCI mini mags though.

Strange, my SR-22 eats everything I feed it.

Another vote for SR-22, shoots everything, sweet little pistol

I have the Ruger MKIII 22/45.

It eats up everything. Remington golden bullets foul it up and you have to clean it more if you use those.

The taking apart can be a pain. But some fine emery cloth and a little patience goes a long way.

Now it comes apart without a problem but at first I felt like throwing it against the wall.

Never shot an sr22, but my 22/45 mkiii has been flawless through about 1500 or so rounds of federal and cci bulk. Know thats not a lot of rounds, but not a single failure at all has impressed me. I consider some sort of mag disconnect bushing (there are several out there) a mandatory mod. The disconnect makes magazine insertion a pain and prevents magazines from dropping out freely. I also installed a volquartsen accurizing kit and did the slingshot mod. It's now got a crisp 3lb trigger pull and loads a round simply by racking the bolt (no need to hold down the bolt release). Only additional mod I'm looking to do is swap out the grip panels (make sure you get the model with the removable panels) for something a little thicker and with better grip.

 

The 22/45 lite black looks very cool. If they had been out when I bought mine I'd have given them a hard look. The only few negatives I've heard have been about chipping/dinging around the ejection port.

 

 

Sr22 is an amazing pistol for the price. If I end up buying another 22 handgun it's goin to be the 22/45lite