I've shot 3 different 44s. Each one was a miserable experience. I tried loading the mags at least 10 different ways with all of them. Still has consistent failure to feeds.
After a bunch of research and handling a few guns, my shortlist is:
Of course the big problem right now is being able to lay hands on any of the pistols you mention. For me the old standby Ruger MK's have been my go to for this all my life. I taught current Wife to shoot with a MKII 22/45 back in the mid 90's, she still loves that pistol. I have a MKIV LITE version of it now too which is always kept with me on Range trips for in case. If I run into someone new who seems to be struggling and they ask for help. First thing I do is let them try that until they get on paper. Have a compact SR Wife used for her EDC for a long while. It got passed over for that job when Ruger came out with the LCPII in .22. These are a GREAT pocket pistol for any who are recoil sensitive like Wife is. Bottom like the MK you have now makes a great teaching pistol to get someone started. Easy to shoot, light enough and almost no recoil, cheap to shoot.
@Kruel J nailed it (in my opinion).
That's what I discovered. I also snap the little ears to present the correct orientation of the rounds in the magazine. That said, some ammo works without any extra fiddling.
Now for my shameless plug. Since I'm losing patience with the required fiddling or otherwise finicky-ness of the G44 magazine, my G44 is for sale. $275.
Yea I targeted the G44 because I was buying it to teach my kids, one them being only 6, so I went with the lightest .22lr handgun I could find. In hindsight I do with I had gone with a Ruger Mark IVGood pistol for sure. I've owned two. The only reason it didn't make my list was it's size. A bit small for good "new shooter" training IMO. I think new shooters just learning firearm basics should learn on a larger gun with easy to manipulate controls. MOST handguns aren't tiny little subcompacts and MOST people don't shoot tiny little subcompacts as well as larger framed guns. Especially new shooters.
It would be great if I could find one in stock. Are they even made anymore?
HI Nick are you referring to the gun, extended barrel, or magazine 15 round extenders being out of stock? If standard barrel gun is wha tyou are looking for I see CDDN has them. Over priced compared to before though as is everything in this panic time. I do see them for sale used also but make sure to get the Q version not the earlier version if possible. THey changed the recoil spring (and maybe something else?) to make them reliable with more types of ammo. I have run some pretty crappy ammo thorugh mine including some 10-15 year old blazer where some of them sounded like a cap gun they were so weak and no cycling issues at all.
store.thegundock.com
