Badger Arms
Member
Okay, I couldn't pass it up. Just out of sheer morbid curiosity, I picked one up at a local pawn shop. I have to tell you, I was pleasantly surprised. It was much more refined than I had expected it to be. I haven't fired it yet.
Just looking at it and detail stripping it, the gun is fairly well thought out. The layout is typical fixed barrel, spring around the barrel, blowback operation. The chamber is fluted to assist in extraction, methinks. The hammer is shrouded by a plastic shroud that screws onto the abbreviated slide assembly. The grip is boxy like the KelTec P11 descendant. There is an ambidextrous safety that bites into my trigger finger on the right side. Trigger pull is surprisingly smooth and light. Sight picture is excellent. Front sight is drift adjustable for windage.
The magazine is plastic and appears strong enough. I loaded it up with 30 rounds of 22 Magnum FMJ loads. It appears that hollow points would be more appropriate being shorter. I like the FMJ bullets because I feel penetration is more important on such a small caliber bullet. The only other 22 Magnum I own is a NAA Black Widow. That’s a nice gun too.
Other than the safety digging into my skin, I found the slide was difficult to retract with a lowered hammer. Also, there is a shroud that fits in front of the grip frame and under the slide assembly. This shroud rubs against the slide. It's held there by the recoil spring which only bears on the bottom of the spring. The top of the spring is left to dangle in space. Not sure why it was designed that way.
Any other comments?
Just looking at it and detail stripping it, the gun is fairly well thought out. The layout is typical fixed barrel, spring around the barrel, blowback operation. The chamber is fluted to assist in extraction, methinks. The hammer is shrouded by a plastic shroud that screws onto the abbreviated slide assembly. The grip is boxy like the KelTec P11 descendant. There is an ambidextrous safety that bites into my trigger finger on the right side. Trigger pull is surprisingly smooth and light. Sight picture is excellent. Front sight is drift adjustable for windage.
The magazine is plastic and appears strong enough. I loaded it up with 30 rounds of 22 Magnum FMJ loads. It appears that hollow points would be more appropriate being shorter. I like the FMJ bullets because I feel penetration is more important on such a small caliber bullet. The only other 22 Magnum I own is a NAA Black Widow. That’s a nice gun too.
Other than the safety digging into my skin, I found the slide was difficult to retract with a lowered hammer. Also, there is a shroud that fits in front of the grip frame and under the slide assembly. This shroud rubs against the slide. It's held there by the recoil spring which only bears on the bottom of the spring. The top of the spring is left to dangle in space. Not sure why it was designed that way.
Any other comments?
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