I am looking for a .22 caliber pistol (must be stainless if it is to survive SE Alaska for any length of time).
Something to go hooter hunting, and pick off varmint. And of course do some target practice.

Is the Ruger 22 Hunter (http://ruger.com/products/markIIIHunter/models.html) the only game in town?

My wife shoots competition with a model 41 Smith. An awesome shooting .22LR pistol, but it's blued, not stainless…

I've seen older versions of the '41 in stainless. But it doesn't appear they make them new in stainless right now.

I've had that ruger for 7-8 years,can't go wrong nice shooting pistol,.....

I like my Ruger. Good little pistol.

Kal-tec makes a 22mag pistol that's nice and light it's mostly composite I'm not sure if the steel bits are stainless or not though.

I had a Browning Buckmark for a long time, it was great. They have one at Cabela's called the "Contour stainless."

Chippewa 1911 22 cal with the compensator, blued...doesn't like to feed hollow points. Tack driver.....cheap to replace.

Really hard to go wrong with the Ruger. I have more .22 handguns than I care to say. Everything from the basic Ruger Bearcat up to a Walther GSP Expert. In Stainless Steel my all around favorite is the 5 1/2" bull barrel Ruger, it will fire all brands of .22 ammo without issues, highly accurate and balances well. For me the longer barreled ones, while nice for strictly arget shooting, don't seem to be as user friendly for carrying around all day. I've got a couple of S&W Model 63 'Kitguns' that are the most carried of all the .22's I own. Nice and small, very accurate, and stainless. But then I have a soft spot for revolvers.

Flew into Newport, NH the other day. Seems that the guy that owns Ruger lives in town and was trying to get the local airport shut down. The town voted down his bill to get the town to put the airport up for sale a week or two ago, but he sounds like an ass.

Airport-closing ass owner aside, Ruger introduced their 22 pistol back about 1949 and has been making it continually ever since, through a number of different models & finishes. I have a blue 5-1/2" Bull Barrel Mark 2 that I've owned since 1992 and it's a great gun. The one thing I don't care for is the slanty grip angle, because of that I bought a Browning Buckmark a number of years ago as a possible replacement. I don't have the Buckmark any more but I still have the Ruger-- guess that says a lot. They do make the "22/45" which is supposed to duplicate the grip angle of the 1911, I've thought about buying one a number of times but can't get past the cheesy-looking polymer frame. Might get one yet though. Most all of their models are available blued or stainless. AMT used to make a stainless copy of the Ruger pistol in several versions, but far as I know they're long gone.

Love my Ruger Mark III, I've put less than 1k rounds through it but I haven't had any issues with it in that time. I grew up shooting a Colt Woodsman and put several thousand rounds through it, but wanted to add another .22 pistol to the collection so I wouldn't wear it out before any future kids get to shoot it. The Ruger fits that bill great, easy to use and train someone to shoot with, and tough as nails.

Sort of off-topic-- I always liked the looks of the Ruger Charger. For those who aren't familiar, it's a short-barreled 10/22 action in a wood pistol stock. Comes complete with a bipod & scope mount. I see they've recently reintroduced them so I may end up with one yet. It'd be just the thing for short-range varmint hunting-- say to rid your grass strip of pesky ground squirrels without driving the neighbors nuts with the noise.

Depending on your income, 1. Have someone custom machine you a stainless FAS 602 2. Freedom arms 83 rimfire 3. S&W 617,317 or 63. 4. See what Taurus or Browning Buckmark has in stainless. 5. Ruger (a used Mark II would be nice)

Freedom arms is the ultimate semi production pistol. S&W 617 would be the best eat anything you can find pistol. My s&w 41 is fantastic. Don't think they had stainless ones. Probably nickel plated. Ruger single 6 hunter is nice.

Thanks for the replies guys.
I am now intrigued by that Ruger Charger. I see they make them in stainless. It looks like a great compromise between the pistol and the 10/22 rifle. I haven't seen it anywhere though, and curious how much they cost. The Ruger hunter is already over $500, so imagine the charger would be more?

Some random thoughts:

I suppose the first thing you'll have to decide is pistol vs. revolver. I like both. I don't presently have a .22 revolver. I do have an old Model 41 Smith, which is an incredible tack driver. I don't own any SS versions, but if I were to buy one today, I'd likely opt for a SS version.

For a plinking gun that needs to be totally reliable but is likely to be beat around some, I'd likely go for a Ruger revolver--Ruger builds incredibly solid weapons, even if they don't quite have the jewel quality of a Smith, and they just don't fail. I have an early Security Six in .357 Mag which I got the month they became available 43 years ago--great pistol, and works better now than it did then, because the action has gotten smoother. It only shows a little bluing wear.

The Single 10 in .22 long rifle is interesting--10 shot revolver. Or the Single 9 in .22 WMR, 9 shots with a bit more punch. I kinda like the New Bearcat--smaller, lighter, easier to pack, and now with adjustable sights (that's on their website as a distributor exclusive through Lipsey's). Any semi-auto is more likely to fail than a revolver, although that's less of an issue in a plinking/varmit pistol than a self-defense arm. For any kind of shooting involving accuracy (is there any other kind?), I like adjustable sights.

Cary

Sold my S&W 41 years ago, regretted it ever since. Followed up with a Ruger 5 1/2" stainless but after a trigger job and a few years sold that too due to the unnatural grip angle.

Karmutzen wrote:Sold my S&W 41 years ago, regretted it ever since. Followed up with a Ruger 5 1/2" stainless but after a trigger job and a few years sold that too due to the unnatural grip angle.

Why not just replace the grips?

Angle is set in the frame. Should have gone to the 22/45. Grip the gun, close your eyes, bring the gun up to sighting position, open your eyes and see if the barrel is level or tilted up or down. If level you have the right frame angle.

For Alaska I'd go with a stainless .44 instead of a .22, loaded up or down as required.

AKclimber wrote:....I am now intrigued by that Ruger Charger. I see they make them in stainless. It looks like a great compromise between the pistol and the 10/22 rifle. I haven't seen it anywhere though, and curious how much they cost. ....

http://ruger.com/products/22Charger/models.html

Don't think they make the Charger in stainless. The standard Charger lists @ $309, don't see the point when its already only 19-1/4" long but the takedown version lists @ $409. Both including bipod & scope rail but no scope.