Semi-automatic pistols dominate the handgun market in the United States. There are ten major manufacturers of revolvers in the United States who made more than ten thousand revolvers each in 2021. 2021 is the latest year on record where the ATF has published the numbers of pistols made by United States manufacturers. There were only five major manufacturers of .22 caliber or smaller revolvers in 2021. There were 40 manufacturers in the USA who made over 10,000 pistols (handguns, not revolvers) in 2021. There were 16 who made over 10,000 .22 caliber or smaller pistols in 2021. This article will look at major manufacturers of .22 rimfire semi-automatic handguns.
A significant number of pistols are handgun variants of AR15 pattern rifles. The ATF numbers do not differentiate between centerfire and rimfire. The AR15 pattern pistols deserve an article of their own. Manufacturers whose major production of pistols is of AR15 pattern will not be included in this analysis. The four Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. licenses will be grouped together. Trailblazer Firearms LLC makes the Lifecard .22 single-shot pistol. They made over 10,000 of the foldable pistols in 2021. The Lifecard will not be included in this analysis. This pares down the field to a manageable eight major manufacturers. Also not included in this analysis is the SIG SAUER P322 which was released in 2022, a year after the ATF’s published numbers were released.
Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc., has four licenses to manufacture firearms. Two of them are in Mayodan, North Carolina, one is in Newport, New Hampshire, and one is in Prescott, Arizona. The North Carolina licenses are reported as making 93,879 and 38,281.22 caliber or smaller pistols in 2021. The Prescott, AZ license is reported as making 60,393 .22 caliber or smaller pistols. The New Hampshire license is reported as producing 20,393 .22 caliber or smaller pistols. Total .22 semi-automatic pistols made by Ruger in 2021 = 212,946 .22 caliber or smaller semi-automatic pistols. The number includes production of the Ruger 5.7 centerfire pistols.
Kel Tec CNC in Cocoa, Florida, is reported as manufacturing 98,200 .22 caliber or smaller pistols in 2021. The number includes the very popular P17, the CP33, the PMR 30, and the PLR22. It may include the PLR16 5.56 centerfire pistol and some of the 5.7 P50 pistols, although the 5.7 centerfire pistols were not available for all of 2021.
Smith & Wesson Sales Company, Columbia, MO, reportedly makes almost as many .22 caliber or smaller semi-automatic pistols as Kel Tec in 2021. S&W manufactured 94,852 semi-automatic .22 caliber pistols. These include many classic designs.
Taurus International Manufacturing in Bainbridge, GA, is reported as manufacturing 89,995 .22 caliber or smaller semi-automatic pistols, in 2022. These are variations of thee popular TX22 line.
Glock, Inc., Smyrna, GA. is reported as manufacturing 63,569 .22 caliber pistols. Glock only produces one model of .22 caliber semi-automatic, the G44.
Browning Arms Company, Morgan, UT, is reported to have made 35,591 .22 caliber or smaller pistols in 2021. Browning .22 caliber pistols are classic designs.
Phoenix Arms Co., Ontario, California, is reported as making 18,900 .22 caliber pistols in 2021. Most of these pistols are the HP22A, an inexpensive .22 with two manual safeties. The HP22A comes in two barrel lengths, 3 inches and 5 inches.
Beretta, USA, Gallatin, TN, is reported to have made 14,123 .22 or smaller caliber pistols in 2021. Beretta USA makes several versions of their famous tip-up semi-automatic .22s in the USA. Beretta is also making a .22 version of the famous M9 pistol.
There are numerous other manufacturers of .22 or smaller caliber pistols in the USA. The top eight manufacturers made over 85% of them in 2022. Many of the smaller manufacturers make interesting and useful pistols. Many of the .22 caliber or smaller pistols of the remainder are in .223 or 5.56 centerfire.
The ATF reports a total of 737,374 .22 caliber or smaller pistols were manufactured in the USA in 2021. This is a little lower than the number of .22 or smaller revolvers made in the USA.
Many fine .22 rimfire pistols are imported into the United States. The ATF does not break out imports by caliber. Import numbers have not been reported since 2020.
About Dean Weingarten:
Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of Constitutional Carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and retired from the Department of Defense after a 30 year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.
Kind of sad – I miss the days of high-quality .22s from Colt, High Standard, and Walther. I stick to buying only the old steel and wood pistols from 1968 and earlier.
interesting numbers. I’m surprised that Charter Arms didn’t make the list.
I’d be interested to know which models are made at each location for Ruger. I think they make 22lr revolvers in the SP101, GP100 lines, Wrangler lines and the Single six lines as well as the Mark IV semi auto line. Oh and they probably make an understudy for their LCP or whatever they call their striker fired pistol.