Browning's 1911-22

[Poper]

I handled one of the Browning 1911-22's today. Cute little pistol and it really is considerably smaller than the full size 1911 pistols. It's a real cutie.
I'm thinking my honey might like shooting it, too. She has small hands and it seems just the right size for those little mitts of hers.

Does anybody have any hands-on experience with this mini 1911?

Thanks in advance.

Poper

 

[herkyguy]

always seems to get good reviews. It has had my attention for quite some time as a fun plinker with a nod to its bigger brother, the 1911.

i see them from time to time around $500, but some local shops seem to ask upwards of $600. quite a bit for a gun that only comes with one mag.

 

[bannockburn]

I also like small frame .22LR semi-autos like the Browning M1911 .22 but the ones I see locally are priced close to $600. That's a bit pricey for me for what is essentially a plinker.

 

[Pilot]

I also like small frame .22LR semi-autos like the Browning M1911 .22 but the ones I see locally are priced closed to $600. That's a bit pricey for me for what is essentially a plinker.

My thoughts exactly.

 

[Sergei Mosin]

A bit pricey, maybe, but a quality handgun costs money. Just because it's a .22 doesn't mean it should automatically be cheap.

Anyway...

I have one and I really like it. It's a lot of fun to shoot, even in my big paws, and it fits my wife's smaller hands quite well. The sights are tiny, as befitting a scaled-down GI 1911, but they work. Fun little gun - and yes, it is cute!

 

[sirgilligan]

I have one, had it for a long time now.

It has had no issue. It is excellent to teach with as well, the slide is easy to rack. It takes down like it should, just like a full size 1911. I use it to warm up with because it is so light that it requires good trigger control or you will yank it. That is another reason I think it is such a good training gun.

Cons: Sights are hard to see against a black silhouette target. I put a white dot on mine.
My cousin bought one and the mag release was sticky, so work the mag release before you buy. Neighbor got one after seeing mine, haven't heard any complaints.

I have shot mostly CCI Mini-Mags with it. I am glad I have it. I also have a S&W 317. It is great too.

If ammo wasn't as rare as hen's teeth.

 

[Wil Terry]

Have shot the Browning 1911 22 in both it's standard length and it's Commander length version in the past couple of weeks. Both shot very well indeed and our closest targets were 90 yard metallic targets. Both shot to the sights and both had no malfunctions through several hundreds of rounds.
TOO damned expensive though as the SR22 shot just as well at nearly half the price.
And so it goes...

 

[cwl1862]

I looked at one some time back while I was shopping for another 22LR. I passed on it as it was too small for my XXL hands and it would have been a hand biter for me. :-( I really liked it though. If browning had produced it with a beavertail grip safety I would have bought it for sure. I ended up with the Bersa Thunder 22 instead, which has been totally reliable without any malfunctions and was a very good value compared at the time to the cost of the 1911-22. $270 vs $750 the $480 I saved bought a heck of allot of 22LR ammo at the time when you could still find it on the dealers shelves!

 

[ghitch75]

roll pins holding the firing pin?.....no firing pin stop?

 

[DM~]

Have shot the Browning 1911 22 in both it's standard length and it's Commander length version in the past couple of weeks. Both shot very well indeed and our closest targets were 90 yard metallic targets. Both shot to the sights and both had no malfunctions through several hundreds of rounds.

Shot to the sights at 90 yards??? No wonder they won't shoot to the sights at any "reasonable" distance!

Here's the BEST group i got out of my "first" one, it's the high/right group, (if you can call it a group) at a measured 10 yards off a rest,



(The group at the bull was shot with a different 22)

That's the group that made me decide to return that Browning...

Here's the group out of the second one, (same distance/ammo)



DM

 

[Poper]

OK, so a 1911-22 followed me home...

$500 OTD with checkered wood grip panels and 100 rounds of Aguila Super Match ammo.

I took it to the range and shot it yesterday. The trigger pull is awful. Maybe it will get better with more use? At 10 yards it was shooting high right. The sights are very difficult to see against black target background as others have mentioned. White dot sights sound like a good idea.

Back in the shop field strip and cleaning was easy as was the initial pre-use cleaning. Surprisingly, even though I put 100 rounds of Federal 40 grain RN through it, there was very little fouling evident in the action or barrel. Cleaning was a snap.

The jury is still out on this one. It is no where near as accurate as my Buckmark Camper and the trigger..... Well, it is one atrocious example. Almost as bad as the trigger on my Taurus M94, but not quite.

Poper

 

[ColtPythonElite]

I have seen a few at the range. I never saw one that was a good can plinker past about 15 yards.

 

[ghitch75]

looks like i'll stick with my Colt Conversion....

 

[csmallo]

I picked one up last week. First trip to shoot it, it fired 10 rounds of CCI AR Tactical 22LR and 50 rounds of CCI SV with no issues at all.

My 8 year old daughter loved it as soon as she saw it. But then she likes to shoot. So I will probably use it to teach her how to shoot the perfect pistol design, the 1911.

 

[Poper]

A couple pics comparing it in size with my Colt Officer's ACP.

Poper

 

[HOOfan_1]

Is it all steel?

.22 pistols which try to mimic full size guns rarely are as good as those designed to be .22s from the beginning, like the Ruger Standard, Buckmark, Model 22

 

[Poper]

Is it all steel?

No.
Frame and slide are aluminum. Barrel is steel, of course. Recoil spring plunger and retainer are plastic. Surprisingly, the grip panels are genuine checkered walnut.

Poper

 

[HOOfan_1]

I wonder why it costs so much more than the GSG 1911, which I hear is excellent

 

[Kiln]

I wonder why it costs so much more than the GSG 1911, which I hear is excellent

My guess is because it isn't constructed from zamak. The GSG has pictures of cracked slides all over the web. Not so with the Browning.

I do think that it is much too expensive for a .22lr pistol though.