hey everyone. quick question.......I am planning on joining the local shooting range (just for fun no competitive) and to carry with me in the woods and around the farm for rats and whatnot. But I am unsure of a pistol. I was looking at .22 cals and found the S&W model 22A pistol. Looking for something that is all black, not a fan of wood or chromish steel. Step dad has a old ruger pistol (with other rifles) and I own a remington 700 rifle, so i have an idea in guns, just not pistols. i am open to ideas.

Im going to say a 9mm. A 22 would be a good choice but id rather have a 9mm, It has more power so if you need it on larger pests then you have it. Ammo is not as cheap as a 22 but its not very expensive. I just got a 100 round pack of 9mm for $11.50.

Also i will recomend that if you do get a 9mm DO NOT ask for a bullet to shoot out of it for hunting bears.

hey thanks for the reply. ill look around and keep you guys posted.

ha ha no bears here.

I have many different pistols and I would recomend you go with your first choice and not something bigger for your fist handgun. Get the .22 and learn to shoot it well THEN move up to something bigger. A .22 is cheap to shoot and you will be able to learn the fundemantals of handgun shooting easier than if you start out with something larger. Practice, practice, practice.

WWhunter

I have a Browning Buckmark Camper with 5.5" barrel with adjustable sights is very accurate and can be has from Academy sports for 219.00

I'd check into the Browning Buckmarks as well as the Ruger Mark IIs, and IIIs. I'd stick with a 22 for your first handgun and get good an practiced up with it, and if you really enjoy shooting it, move up to something with some more power.

I owned a S&W 22A and wasn't very impressed with it's reliablity or accuracy. The Browning Buckmark or Ruger Rammer mentioned would be better choices.

I bought a Browning Buckmark 22 and it has been nothing but wonderful to me. I originally bought it just to have a pistol, then I got into target shooting with it, then it became a spot and stalk small game gun. I don't recall ever having a bad feed in abotu 2,000 rounds but I did have some duds (thanks to Remington bulk ammo). I'd highly recommend one of these. They aren't the cheapest 22lr pistols you can get but they are cheap enough.

After a little over a year (rather recently actually) I bought another pistol, S&W SW9VE, a 9mm. And yes, you can get ammo pretty dang cheap for it but for what you described I'd buy a Buckmark all day long. Not to mention I have found mine to be very accurate.

http://www.browning.com/products/catalog/firearms/category.asp?value=006B

I have a ruger single six .22 revolver that is fun. It comes with two cylinders. One for .22 and one for .22 Magnum. .22 for plinking and target shooting and the .22 magnum for practice and small game shooting. Single action for safety.

Robin in Rocky

I'll with others on Ruger. Great guns