The first handgun I owned I bought on the schoolbus when I was 14 back in the early 80s... it was an RG-14 snubnosed 22 LR... smaller than an old Smith I-frame and functioned flawlessly... the only issue was there was no rifling left in the barrel so it literally shot sideways, like a 24" pattern all over the target (with a few fliers) at 3 feet... at 5 feet I couldn't hit the target at all.
I thought they were garbage too, but then I read some forum posts and watched a few videos and saw other guys getting decent groupings at 10 feet and now I kinda want another one, lol.
I heard the 38 snubs run well too, but they're a boat anchor due to the zinc alloy frame.