1911 in .22?

Cooldill,
There's a Colt branded 1911 in 22. Made by Walther for them. They have it in a "Gold Cup" model. It's full size, about the same weight and works pretty well with a variety of ammo. We have 5 or 6 of them in our shooting group. So far, they've been very good. They run around $350 or less. Oh, and it comes with a threaded barrel too. So, it became my suppressor host in 22, which means it's getting shot often.

There's a few other brands out there as well. A buddy has the Chiappa, but he had some parts fail early on, so I won't recommend that.

Same size is easy. Same weight, not so much. I think the Colt Ace (and the Colt .22 conversion units) were an attempt to duplicate the weight of a .45 ACP 1911 while shooting .22 LR. The Colt had a floating chamber designed to increase the recoil impulse to cycle the steel slide.

I put a Ciener conversion on my Gold Cup. Is is a straight blowback design but the slide is aluminum. It actually shoots pretty well but the lightweight upper changes the weight and balance of the gun and it feels very different from a .45 when you shoot it so I wonder how valuable it is as a trainer.

I bought a GSG-1911 on sale. It's the same size of a 1911 but it is made out of a zinc alloy so it's lighter but the overall feel is pretty good. Accuracy is adequate for a plinker.

You might want to look at one of the .22 conversions that uses a slide similar to a S&W Model 41, like the Marvel Precision Unit 1. The weight might be closer to what you want.

Colt Ace is the only one that fills all your requirements. They actually weigh a few ounces more that a Govt. Model. Not cheap when you find them, and can be finicky with ammo.

This link may help. The top 5 1911s in .22 cal....

http://www.personaldefenseworld.com/2014/12/top-5-1911-22-trainers/#sig-sauer-1911-22

This of course...

http://www.browning.com/products/firearms/pistols/1911-22.html

Or you may want to do what the military did when training which is to use another gun.

tipoc

GSG 1911-22

Or a Sig-Sauer (made by GSG) 1911-22 Conversion

I handled the Sig one recently. It felt pretty solid. Anyone know if they're actually made by GSG for Sig?

Cooldill

Years ago I had a Colt Ace conversion assembly for my 1911. The unit itself was well made and reliable enough but accuracy was not it's strong suit. Picked up a TacSol .22 conversion for an old Essex frame that I had put together and it's a great fit. Design and construction are first rate and for someone looking for an accurate .22 which has the approximate size and weight of a full size 1911 this might be the way to go.

MedWheeler said:

I handled the Sig one recently. It felt pretty solid. Anyone know if they're actually made by GSG for Sig?

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Yes, they are made by GSG. I had one. Other than the crappy camo finish that a felt-lined barrel holder would rub off while sitting in my gun cabinet, it was flawless. At the time, mags were unobtanium, or twice the cost of any other pistol, but the prices have become much more reasonable. Easy to remove the magazine disconnect, and underneath that crappy finish is an nice-looking, corrosion-resistant alloy finish (I sand-blasted mine to get rid of the camo, and then left it raw. Had a pretty nice gunmetal/aluminum two-tone look).

Frank Marvel for years made well respected conversion units for 1911s. His company went out of business but the units are available online now and again. He went to work for Tactical Solutions helping them to improve on the quality of their conversion units. You may want to look into their offerings.

I had read his company was out of business (maybe just filling back orders) but the website is still up.

http://www.marvelprecision.com/

Here also is a link to a similar discussion from Rimfire Central.

http://www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=302281

An article on the Marvel units.

http://ezine.m1911.org/Marvel.htm

This is the Tactical Solutions catalog and you can scroll to page 45 and see what they offer there. They claim to make the only steel conversion units on the market.

https://static1.squarespace.com/sta...598a4c8/1453500997993/TACSOL_CATALOG_2016.pdf

tipoc

If your goal is to use it as a trainer for your .45, let me suggest the conversion kit from Nelson Custom Guns. It was designed by Bob Marvel. I have one for my Springfield Range Officer, and it is a first-class piece of equipment. They're also great people to deal with.

https://www.nelsoncustomguns.com/

There is a substantial wait right now, but it's worth it. My only beef is that the magazine that comes with it is all plastic. I keep dropping it when I try to stick it to the magnet in my range box ...

EDIT TO ADD: I just checked the website again, and it looks like the prices have gone up since I got mine: another factor to consider, but depending on what kind of 1911 you have now, I believe you'll end up with a handgun that is superior to most if not all of the stand-alone 1911 rimfires.

tipoc

When I was looking for a .22 conversion assembly the first place I checked out was Marvel. Only problem was they seemed to be always out of stock on their assemblies. I eventually found the TacSol unit online (was either Brownells or Midway), at a decent price and went with it. Very pleased with the design and build quality of my conversion unit.

I bought the Kimber 22 conversion for my SA Loaded. It works well.

I bought the GSG .22 conversion for my SR1911. I have had it 4 years and who knows how may rounds but I used it a bunch after my shoulder surgery and the doc wouldn't let me shoot full caliber. Allows me to train in more places (gun clubs indoor range is small caliber only) and since it uses the same frame, trigger memory is the same. I had some feed issues but after the first box they went away. Been 100% reliabe since (fail to fire from cheap ammo not included) expecially with CCI mini mags. My only beef is cost of magazines and the jerks that keep buying up all the .22 for resale.

I have an Advantage Arms conversion kit that I use on a S&W frame that has been very reliable with CCI standard velocity and mini mags and Fiocchi standard velocity. The unit is a bit pricey but worth it.

Cooldill,
I checked with my buddy that I referenced above, and it's a GSG pistol that he had, not the Chiappa. He had the barrel bushing and the safety lever break. They were pretty cheap alloy parts and he replaced them with steel parts.

If you're looking at the GSG/ATI, check out the Colt/Walther one as well.

Cooldill said:

Looking to buy a 1911 style .22 auto. I want it to look and feel like the real thing, ideally the same weight and size as a government model.

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I had a full sized 1911 Kimber .22 for a while. Reliable and accurate. Kinda pricey IMO, but fun. I traded it in on some other gun (I don't remember what) that struck my fancy at the time.

I have the Colt/Walther 22LR 1911. It is the same size and weight as a standard 1911. It's very reliable as long as you use a good quality high velocity 22 round. CCI and Aguila are what I feed it most of the time.

Cooldill said:

I do not want a Ruger 22/45, it does not look anything like a real 1911.

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Whatever do you mean, it looks like a 1911 to me.

rskent said:

Whatever do you mean, it looks like a 1911 to me.

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Ha! Yeah, you're right. They're both pistols at least.

Cooldill I was reloading since grade school and never stopped. I find that practicing with the same firearm AND the same ammo is best. Have you ever thought about reloading for your 1911 to save substantially? Lately my ammo is in the $7-8 per 50 range not counting the press/dies and such. Might be a low cost alternative especially over a longer period.

With the exception of my SA XD40, everything else I own (Kimber, SA, RIA, Sig) is 1911 format. I recently decided I wanted a 1911-22 - not for training, just for fun. After doing some research, I decided on a GSG 1911-22. FWIW, I got the CA compliant model (non-threaded barrel) even though I live in Texas so that I can legally bring it into CA on vacation. It's definitely a bit lighter because of the alloy slide and frame but it still has enough weight to feel satisfactory in the hand. I got a couple of extra mags for a good price from Brownells. After field stripping/cleaning/lubing it before its first range outing, I decided to install CW Accessories "Performance Enhancement System" for two reasons. First, it eliminates the need to have an Allen wrench for field stripping. Perhaps more importantly IMO, it replaces the rather flimsy looking OEM guide rod with a full length, stainless steel one. A new recoil spring, stainless barrel bushing, and stainless spring retainer are also part of the kit. The installation only took 15 minutes. After I save a few extra bucks, I also will replace the arched MSH with CW Accessories's flat one which will also eliminate the mag safety that all GSG 1911-22s come with.