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My daughter is at that age it is time to teach her to handle a pistol. I am looking for your opinions on the correct choice. I have recently purchased in an auction a brand new in the box Ruger mark 3 .22 complete with 2 mags for $310 and am also wandering how I did on the buy. Now keep in mind she is young and I don't want to put to much on her at once. Any other opinions will be greatly appreciated.
 
That's a great pistol to shoot. That's a good price too.
You won't have regrets on that model. I want one.
It might be a little hard for her to rack. And I would load only one bullet in it at a time for her.
If she can't do that, a single action revolver like the Ruger Single Six might be a better choice.
 
I trained my son, my wife and 2 daughters on a Browning Buckmark Camper, Which is very similar to the Ruger. Nice trigger, low recoil easy to shoot. My son used it in his first competitive shoot about a month ago. Starting off with one bullet in the pipe at a time is the way we did it too. It has a magazine safety, or I would have just left the magazines out of the pistol.

I believe you can put Mark II Guts in it and eliminate the magazine safety, but now you are getting out of the budget .22 beginner category.
 
I have a Walther P22 and love it, great little plinker. Both my son's learned to shoot with it. With the different back strap options it also makes it nice for smaller hands. You paid a very fair price though. If I remember correctly I paid $400 for the Walther.
 
A Ruger® New Bearcat® Single-Action Revolver would be even better for little hands.

Personally I prefer small single action revolvers like the Bearcat and single shot rifles like the Henry Mini-bolt for first time youngsters. Something to fit their stature and not an auto (they come later).

I'll second the Bearcat. It's the first firearm I fired and nice for little hands. I like single actions for a starter too.
 
I trained my son, my wife and 2 daughters on a Browning Buckmark Camper, Which is very similar to the Ruger. Nice trigger, low recoil easy to shoot. My son used it in his first competitive shoot about a month ago. Starting off with one bullet in the pipe at a time is the way we did it too. It has a magazine safety, or I would have just left the magazines out of the pistol.

My daughter also started with a buckmark...she started shooting speed steel at the age of 9. She is now 12 uses it in USPSA.
 
My daughter's current favorite is a Ruger Single Six but she started off on a 10/22. Its hard to go wrong with a .22 of any type though and the Ruger Mk.III is a good choice.

Keith
 
I started out with a Ruger Standard 22 at a young age, so I'm a little biased here. You picked a great one! At $310, it's a very fair price.

To start with Dad would put one round in the mag and then I would load, chamber and fire. After that I got to have 5 rounds!

If she has little hands, though, the bolt may be stiff for her to operate. In that case, I 2nd the Bearcat. Small and easy to cock single action.
 
I am not a fan of single action but in this case I agree. However the SR22 I think is a perfect learning tool even with larger than average hands I can shoot mine as well as any gun I own. In fact I find sometimes I am more accurate with it than longer barrel guns I own. For those who think it is too small just put on the large backstrap as there are not many people I know that have larger hands than I do and it fits perfectly comfortable.
 
I bought a S&W MP22 for my kids to start with, along with a Marlin 795 rifle I had already. My youngest loves the MP22...she ran about 100 about a 100 rounds through it on our first range trip out with it.
 
I own several .22 pistols and also have a 12 year old son. The Ruger SR22 is by far his favorite pistol to shoot (and one of mine also). It is small, so it fits his hands perfectly, and very light so he can shoot for long periods of time without the pistol getting hard to handle. The magazines are easy to load, so he can do it himself. The gun runs perfect and is very easy to clean. In my opinion, it is a perfect pistol for learning shooters. My second choice would be my Ruger 22/45 lite. It is a larger gun, so it is a little harder for him to manipulate, but it is still very light. The magazines can be tough for him to load, but I have a Ultimate Clip Loader so it's not an issue. It also runs perfectly, but take down and cleaning are a bit more involved than the SR22. I have a Ruger MKI, but it is to heavy for him to have any fun with. So moral of the story is that the SR22 is what I would recommend the most for you daughter. Hope this helps.
 

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