Ok folks, here it is.
NIB mosquito (.22lr, $369+tax/dros) recieved 3/14 despite many misgivings about FTFs, FTEs, and that horrible story on SIGforums about the guy who blew up his skeeter - albeit one with an aftermarket suppressor attached.
With all this in mind, I went to the gun shops and picked up one box each of:
Winchester Super X $15/500
CCI mini-mag $5/100
CCI stinger $5.97/50
CCI quik-shok [hyper velocity, minie ball type sabot] $2.50/50 (off internet)
Here's the report.
Super X: 1 FTFire out of 100, no jam.
Mini-mag: 1 Jam out of 100, no ftf.
CCI stinger: this stuff is pretty hot. no FTF or jam
CCI quik-shok: incredibly hot, use the heavy spring. no FTF, no jam.
while this would of course be totally unacceptable in a SIG combat gun, one must also keep in mind that this is NOT a combat gun (although it has all the necessary, useful, and also politically necessary features of one) and that the .22lr rimfire is by nature not as reliable as most centerfire rounds.
I had quite a few worries about whether this skeeter would be, as many say, a POS. But as the range report shows, this gun is quite acceptable as a .22lr practice arm, although certainly it has not the rugged german-tuned reliablity of my p228, which has in 1500 rounds never jammed or ftfed on me. but it does provide excellent practice at 3-5c a round, and is indeed quite fun to shoot. groups at 10 yards were quite tight, about the size of a quarter. the DAO was long as heck, but functional. the single action is not quite what i'd call crisp, but does not suffer from SIG-lock (the need to reset the trigger off the disconnector). rapid fire is extremely accurate and smooth.
ultimately, one must decide this upon considering the skeeter: what am I going to want out of my .22?
If you desire a competitive gun, select the ruger and enjoy hitting the center x with a gun that feels more like a nailgun than a handgun. i doubt it not that the mki/ii/iii trumps the skeeter in both accuracy and reliabilty. don't think, however, that the mks won't ever jam or ftf. like all .22 autos, ftfs and jams are part of the experience. some will occur with greater regularlity than others, but all will experience it.
but if you want a gun that allows you sig arm practice at a low cost, a gun that functions 90% like a sig, and is quite compact and easy to dissassemble, then skeeter's for you. CLEAN IT BEFORE using it for the first time, follow the instructions and buy good copper-plated ammunition with reliable rim primers, and choose the right spring (long for standard and high velocity, short spring for hyper velocity).
personally, I am glad that after wielding both extensively i settled on the mosquito. the "good stuff" at 15 per 500 is still vastly cheaper than 9mm, and at a 1% failure rate, I am quite comfortable with taking this to the range regularly, and do. i can do all my sig drills on this gun, and still fill up the paper's COM with holes. since malfunction clearing is exactly the same as with any other sig, one can even consider its 1% failure rate to have a certain silver lining as well in practice.
my only complaint? the yellow dot sights are of little use in the dim confines of an indoor range. as soon as they become available, I intend to buy either tritium sights or standard lollipop sights.
and that's the range report.
SIG mosquito : $369 + tax dros = $425
Includes
1 magazine, 10rnd - very easy to load, much less of a pain than the ruger's.
1 pair of extra sights, one # up in elevation i believe.
1 bottle sig oil
1 hyper veloc. spring
1 standard/high veloc. spring
1 integrated gun lock key :rollseyes:
gun features:
sig 2-series function
da/sa
picatinney underrail
safety, ambidextrous
decocker
exposed hammer
integrated lock
magazine safety
yellow tri-bead sights
reverse trigger guard
sig snapcap/safety indicator
accuracy: 1" at 12 yards, slow fire. as i can't get 1" at 25 yrds with ANY gun, I will only post this stat.
reliability: 1% failure rate, FTF/JAM with CCI mini-mag, Winc. SuperX.
preferred ammunition: High end: CCI stinger Plinking: Winchester Super X high-veloc. like most euro guns, this skeeter likes 'em hot.
construction: non-magnetic metal slide, polymer frame, polymer trigger, metal hammer, stainless (i believe) barrel, metal sights, metal magazine, sig standard plasctic grips, black parkerization, 100% made in germany.
weight: light!
size: compact, smaller than p228.
recoil: light, very easy to doubletap with reasonable accuracy on SA mode.
possible accessories:
suppressor, NFA (aftermarket, beware)
light, laser
sig mount for scope using under-rail
night, lollipop sights.
hogue grips, CT grips. (coming)
Pleasure factor: 9/10.
Pleasure factor, Ruger MKI/II: 6/10
Pleasure factor, Walther p22: 7/10
Pleasure factor, Ruger 10/22: 9/10
Final notes:
case is not sig blue, but black and much smaller than sig blue case.
barrel is integrated into frame, removal only by gunsmith.
otis or boresnake recommended for bore cleaning. i was very nervous using a hoppes all-caliber pistol rod. otis universal kit, 5/5 stars review rating, is now available on sale at midway for $35 otd.
Kev
EduGun
NIB mosquito (.22lr, $369+tax/dros) recieved 3/14 despite many misgivings about FTFs, FTEs, and that horrible story on SIGforums about the guy who blew up his skeeter - albeit one with an aftermarket suppressor attached.
With all this in mind, I went to the gun shops and picked up one box each of:
Winchester Super X $15/500
CCI mini-mag $5/100
CCI stinger $5.97/50
CCI quik-shok [hyper velocity, minie ball type sabot] $2.50/50 (off internet)
Here's the report.
Super X: 1 FTFire out of 100, no jam.
Mini-mag: 1 Jam out of 100, no ftf.
CCI stinger: this stuff is pretty hot. no FTF or jam
CCI quik-shok: incredibly hot, use the heavy spring. no FTF, no jam.
while this would of course be totally unacceptable in a SIG combat gun, one must also keep in mind that this is NOT a combat gun (although it has all the necessary, useful, and also politically necessary features of one) and that the .22lr rimfire is by nature not as reliable as most centerfire rounds.
I had quite a few worries about whether this skeeter would be, as many say, a POS. But as the range report shows, this gun is quite acceptable as a .22lr practice arm, although certainly it has not the rugged german-tuned reliablity of my p228, which has in 1500 rounds never jammed or ftfed on me. but it does provide excellent practice at 3-5c a round, and is indeed quite fun to shoot. groups at 10 yards were quite tight, about the size of a quarter. the DAO was long as heck, but functional. the single action is not quite what i'd call crisp, but does not suffer from SIG-lock (the need to reset the trigger off the disconnector). rapid fire is extremely accurate and smooth.
ultimately, one must decide this upon considering the skeeter: what am I going to want out of my .22?
If you desire a competitive gun, select the ruger and enjoy hitting the center x with a gun that feels more like a nailgun than a handgun. i doubt it not that the mki/ii/iii trumps the skeeter in both accuracy and reliabilty. don't think, however, that the mks won't ever jam or ftf. like all .22 autos, ftfs and jams are part of the experience. some will occur with greater regularlity than others, but all will experience it.
but if you want a gun that allows you sig arm practice at a low cost, a gun that functions 90% like a sig, and is quite compact and easy to dissassemble, then skeeter's for you. CLEAN IT BEFORE using it for the first time, follow the instructions and buy good copper-plated ammunition with reliable rim primers, and choose the right spring (long for standard and high velocity, short spring for hyper velocity).
personally, I am glad that after wielding both extensively i settled on the mosquito. the "good stuff" at 15 per 500 is still vastly cheaper than 9mm, and at a 1% failure rate, I am quite comfortable with taking this to the range regularly, and do. i can do all my sig drills on this gun, and still fill up the paper's COM with holes. since malfunction clearing is exactly the same as with any other sig, one can even consider its 1% failure rate to have a certain silver lining as well in practice.
my only complaint? the yellow dot sights are of little use in the dim confines of an indoor range. as soon as they become available, I intend to buy either tritium sights or standard lollipop sights.
and that's the range report.
SIG mosquito : $369 + tax dros = $425
Includes
1 magazine, 10rnd - very easy to load, much less of a pain than the ruger's.
1 pair of extra sights, one # up in elevation i believe.
1 bottle sig oil
1 hyper veloc. spring
1 standard/high veloc. spring
1 integrated gun lock key :rollseyes:
gun features:
sig 2-series function
da/sa
picatinney underrail
safety, ambidextrous
decocker
exposed hammer
integrated lock
magazine safety
yellow tri-bead sights
reverse trigger guard
sig snapcap/safety indicator
accuracy: 1" at 12 yards, slow fire. as i can't get 1" at 25 yrds with ANY gun, I will only post this stat.
reliability: 1% failure rate, FTF/JAM with CCI mini-mag, Winc. SuperX.
preferred ammunition: High end: CCI stinger Plinking: Winchester Super X high-veloc. like most euro guns, this skeeter likes 'em hot.
construction: non-magnetic metal slide, polymer frame, polymer trigger, metal hammer, stainless (i believe) barrel, metal sights, metal magazine, sig standard plasctic grips, black parkerization, 100% made in germany.
weight: light!
size: compact, smaller than p228.
recoil: light, very easy to doubletap with reasonable accuracy on SA mode.
possible accessories:
suppressor, NFA (aftermarket, beware)
light, laser
sig mount for scope using under-rail
night, lollipop sights.
hogue grips, CT grips. (coming)
Pleasure factor: 9/10.
Pleasure factor, Ruger MKI/II: 6/10
Pleasure factor, Walther p22: 7/10
Pleasure factor, Ruger 10/22: 9/10
Final notes:
case is not sig blue, but black and much smaller than sig blue case.
barrel is integrated into frame, removal only by gunsmith.
otis or boresnake recommended for bore cleaning. i was very nervous using a hoppes all-caliber pistol rod. otis universal kit, 5/5 stars review rating, is now available on sale at midway for $35 otd.
Kev
EduGun
it was only you that the 9th round kept misfiring all those times 