The Ruger SR22 or SR22P is a compact

semi-automatic pistol A semi-automatic pistol (also called a self-loading pistol, autopistol, or autoloading pistol) is a repeating firearm, repeating handgun that automatically ejects and loads cartridge (firearms), cartridges in its chamber (firearms), chamber afte ...

manufactured by Sturm, Ruger & Co., chambered for the .22 Long Rifle rimfire cartridge. The SR22 is mainly targeted at

plinking Plinking is informal target shooting done for leisure, typically at non-standard targets such as tin cans, logs, bottles, balloons, fruits or any other man-made or naturally occurring objects. The term is an onomatopoeia of the sharp, ring ...

and

competition shooting Shooting sports is a group of competitive and recreational sporting activities involving proficiency tests of accuracy, precision and speed in shooting — the art of using ranged weapons, mainly small arms (firearms and airguns, in forms such ...

Design

The SR22 does not share design and ergonomic commonalities with the

striker-fired A firing pin or striker is a part of the firing mechanism of a firearm that impacts the primer in the base of a cartridge and causes it to fire. In firearms terminology, a striker is a particular type of firing pin where a compressed sprin ...

centerfire Two rounds of .357 Magnum, a centerfire cartridge; notice the circular primer in the center A center-fire (or centerfire) is a type of metallic cartridge used in firearms, where the primer is located at the center of the base of its casing (i. ...

Ruger SR-Series pistols and mechanically deviates significantly. In fact, it is more similar to the

Walther P22 The Walther P22 is a semi-automatic pistol chambered for .22 Long Rifle (5.59 mm Caliber) rimfire ammunition. Manufactured by Carl Walther GmbH Sportwaffen, it was introduced in 2002 and has become very popular among shooting sports. It is dist ...

than a Ruger SR-Series pistol. The SR22 comes only in compact size, although recently a

barrel A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container with a bulging center, longer than it is wide. They are traditionally made of wooden stave (wood), staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. The word vat is often used for large containers ...

version (Model 3620) was released. The SR22 has a straight blowback-type

action Action may refer to: * Action (philosophy), something which is done by a person * Action principles the heart of fundamental physics * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video gam ...

, and features a

stainless steel Stainless steel, also known as inox, corrosion-resistant steel (CRES), or rustless steel, is an iron-based alloy that contains chromium, making it resistant to rust and corrosion. Stainless steel's resistance to corrosion comes from its chromi ...

barrel that is fixed to the frame. Furthermore, the SR22 features a double-action/single-action trigger system with a rounded-spur external

hammer A hammer is a tool, most often a hand tool, consisting of a weighted "head" fixed to a long handle that is swung to deliver an impact to a small area of an object. This can be, for example, to drive nail (fastener), nails into wood, to sh ...

, and has a visual inspection port in the form of a hole in the top of the

slide Slide or Slides may refer to: Places * Slide, California, former name of Fortuna, California Arts, entertainment, and media Music Albums * ''Slide'' (Lisa Germano album), 1998 * ''Slide'' (George Clanton album), 2018 *''Slide'', by Patrick Glee ...

and the back of the barrel that functions as a loaded chamber indicator. The pistol is very lightweight thanks to its

aluminum Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Al and atomic number 13. It has a density lower than that of other common metals, about one-third that of steel. Aluminium has ...

slide and

polymer A polymer () is a chemical substance, substance or material that consists of very large molecules, or macromolecules, that are constituted by many repeat unit, repeating subunits derived from one or more species of monomers. Due to their br ...

frame, and also comes with interchangeable rubber grips for different-sized hands. The SR22 started to ship in January 2012 and is shipped with two single-stack 10-round

magazine A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...

s and replaceable grips for small or large hands. The Ruger SR22 is equipped standard with an ambidextrous thumb safety/decocking lever, and magazine release. Two interchangeable handgrips are offered. One in slim, and the other in wide-palmswell format. It is also equipped with a

Picatinny rail The 1913 rail (MIL-STD-1913 rail) is an American rail integration system designed by Richard Swan that provides a mounting platform for firearm accessories. It forms part of the NATO standard STANAG 2324 rail. It was originally used for mount ...

on the frame below the barrel and in front of the

trigger guard A trigger guard is a protective loop surrounding the trigger (firearms), trigger of a firearm designed to prevent unwanted contact with the trigger, which may cause an accidental discharge. Other devices that use a trigger-like actuator mechanism, ...

Models

Note that this list may not include all models.

References

{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 Semi-automatic pistols of the United States Ruger semi-automatic pistols .22 LR pistols Weapons and ammunition introduced in 2012