Phoenix HP22 Pistol?

[HGM22]

Hello,

I've been looking at the Phoenix Arms .22 pistol recently as a range toy. Can anyone share their experiences, good or bad, with it (reliability, accuracy, ergonomics, etc.).

Also, I'd like to know if anyone knows if they have beefed up the frame to prevent frame cracking?

On that note, does the lifetime warranty still apply (from their website it appears to, but any personal experiences?). Also, has anyone done the safety removal and still had the pistol fixed/replaced?

Finally, I realize Phoenix is related to the Ring of Fire guns, which makes me a little nervous that they will change names and void the warranty, though from what I have read these HP22s are a lot better guns and they may not need to do that anymore. Any thoughts on this?

 

[FREERANGETIME!]

Pheonix .22

I had one about 6 years ago, it went bang every time I pulled the trigger and was not picky at all about ammo, all controls were stiff/gritty, but for the price thats not at all suprising. I only had it about 2 years and fired less than 500 rounds through it, I got a second mag and an IWB holster and it was a decent little hideout pistol.
I didnt care for the redundant safety system at all and I have heard of other people removing the safety, I wasnt aware of any problems with frames or slides cracking, really its a weapon of last resort, if your accuracy expectations are not too high you wont be dissapointed. If you are confident in your ability with a Dremel you can do a little light polishing on the rails and wherever else you think it would help, or get someone expirienced to do it, but its not a gun I would sink money into by paying for a service like that when it would be better spent on a higher quality gun IMO.

 

[seethesvt]

My dad has one and I take I out a lot. After about 250-300 rounds she get too dirty and jams A LOT! the frame is cracked in the same place as the rest. He's had it for 1.5 years and I have no clue if they fixed that problem. Lifetime warranty for the first owner. Its a fun little gun and imma get one for myself when the little lady agrees...

 

[HGM22]

Hey seethesvt,

They state that the warranty is for the first owner only, but I have run across people who say they weren't original owners and the factory fixed it.

 

[almherdfan]

I've had one for about a year now & have been fairly impressed, considering the price. I pocket carry it from time-to-time. It took about 50 rounds to break in, but has been very reliable otherwise (as long as I clean it). It will start jamming if you go several hundred rounds w/o cleaning.

The Ruger MK II has been my most reliable .22LR, but I don't like cleaning it. I really liked the way the Walther p22 felt & shot, but it was very particular about ammo (cci or it jammed).

The guy that sold it to me new said it was junk, but I've been happy with it.

 

[GLOOB]

From what I've read, the warranty is good for one pistol replacement. After that, be prepared to get the cold shoulder.

I've never had any issues that weren't fixable. And buying spare parts is easy. They sell any part for cheap. Just call them up and give them the part number off the parts diagram. So, for instance, if you wanted to reverse a safety mod, you could order new parts.

To prevent the frame from cracking, dremel a round cutout in the part that cracks. It's not doing anything useful, anyways.

As far as a range gun, the accuracy is so-so. The rear sight wiggles, unless you shove a shim under it. And then it's tilted. The sight radius is very small. And the slide has a fair bit of wiggle; since the rear sight is on the slide, and the barrel is fixed, this isn't too good for accuracy. So it won't shoot like a Ruger mkIII, but it's accurate and shootable for its size. It'll keep all shots on an apple from 25 feet.

Reliabilty: Mine never jams unless my off hand rubs against the slide. It's been more reliable than some of my centerfire pistols. But I had to grind the extractor a little. Out of the box, it occasionally failed to extract, causing doublefeeds.

Durability: there are some parts that peen. The underside of the slide contacts the hammer. It peens pretty badly. If you sand it smooth after the first few outings, it seems to prevent it from getting out of hand. Also, the notch in the slide that trips the disconnector gets peened. I can see these areas eventually wearing out. I think these areas are the real concern, whereas the frame crack issue is really just cosmetic.

Other: some examples have a stiff hammer. The hammer pivots around a roll pin. Roll pins aren't truly round or straight. On the rare example, this pin is too warped, preventing the hammer from moving freely. This can result in the hammer eventually breaking in two. You can order a new hammer pin for a buck or two, if this is an issue. Or better yet, fab a solid pin.

Ergos: The gun is small, but heavy. While it'll fit in a pocket, it's not ideal. It weighs a heck a lot more than a P3AT. The FP safety is ridiculously small, and engagement is not positive. It is easy to swipe on while racking the slide. I pinned mine in place and never leave a live round in the chamber.

Summary: It's something of a project gun. I would not expect one to work 100% out of the box. If you're a tinkerer, it's a junk gun that works, and will continue working for a good while with some maintenance. If you're not a tinkerer, it's a junk gun that might or might not work out of the box, and might stop working if you don't do some preventative maintenance.

Check the jiminez-bryco forums for more info.

 

[Shooter973]

I have purchased 6-7 of these little handguns over the last 4-5 years, to give as gifts and to have handy. I like them!!! My sons have each purchased a couple more, and out of 8-10 we've had problems with 1.... and it had a split frame. It was replaced by the factory very quickly, and they even sent an extra mag with it. The mags with the finger rest really help in the handling dept.
We've found that they like to be run a little wet.... a couple of drops of oil every now and then and they run better.... Most need to be shot 100 rounds or so to break in.
In my opinion they are a pretty good value for the money.

 

[Fmjblack]

I had one a few years ago and it was a fun plinker for a while until it fell apart. I shot about 500 rounds through it without issue then the firing pin plate shattered and sent the firing pin flying out of the gun. Upon inspection it was pretty obvious the piece that broke was made out of some sort of pressed powder metal. I sent it back to the factory and they quickly fixed the issue and sent it back, but it never ran reliably after that so I ended up selling it for a big loss. I later bought a Ruger MKIII for $200 (the Phoenix was $125) and wondered why I didn't just pay the $75 extra for the Ruger to begin with.

 

[th1229]

good

 

[isc]

one of the better cheap crappy pistols. You'll be disappointed if you compare it to a buckmark or mark II, but you'll be very impressed if you compare it to a davis, lorcin, or jennings. They're on par with a hi point. cheap, pretty reliable, cheap, concealable, and cheap. They're also cheap and in expensive. You could do alot worse on a .22 pistol for $125-$150.

 

[makarovnik]

Poo on it. Get a Jimenez Arms J22 or old Raven .25. Either one will last a lot longer.

 

[seed]

My friend had one. It was unreliable and loved to turn on one of the 53 external safeties it had (I believe it was the slide safety that kept falling to safe...he actually resorted to taping it in the "fire" position during its last range visit!). I don't remember what happened to it, but I think he may still have it and never uses it.

For the price, there are too many much better guns out there for less than $100 more, including CZ-82's and yes, even Hi-Points. If you want a .22 pistol, I bet you could find a nice used Beretta Bobcat (or its single-action brother) for under $200.

 

[larryh1108]

I have my 2nd one. My first one had almost 3k rounds thru it and my buddy had to have it so I sold it to him for $120 and bought a new one for $125 + shipping. I have almost 2500 rounds thru this one and love it. The "frame" crack is at the top of the mag well and is cosmetic. I have not sent it in to be replaced. On both pistols I did a fluff, buff and mag safety removal before firing. I smoothed out the rails and any parts that rub together. It is smooth, accurate and reliable. If you start to get stovepipes it is time to change the recoil spring. They last about 800 rounds and are cheaply made and cheap to replace. Keep a few in your range bag and you will be fine. It eats the cheap, bulk ammo in the 500 bricks without a problem. The only ammo issue is the duds and half loads in those bulk packs. The gun just keeps on going. It does like to be run wet. Many guns do. Keep it clean and run it wet and it is a great little .22. If you don't think it should act like a Ruger or Browning then you won't be disappointed. It has a short barrel but you can get the 5" target barrel if you want. You do have to tweak each mag to suit the gun. The lips can be off just a tad when you buy them. They need to hold the top round in the mag snugly so you may have to tweak the lips. Many times the mag comes and the top round pops straight up when loaded without much pressure. Just tweak the lips until it stays in place. I have 10 mags with 10 rounds each loaded for my range visit. I have 2x the money in the mags as the gun but it makes for a great way to warm up at the range before the big boys come out. I could not be happier with a .22 plinker.

 

[trekgod3]

Why not get a Beretta Neos? They can be had new for $199 and a little less used. We took ours to the range on Friday, it's a great little range/plinking gun.

 

[woad_yurt]

My experience with them has been with my friend's gun. It seemed to work alright but, one after another, the bottom of his 3 factory magazines came loose in pretty quick succession. I'd rather have an H&R 922 or 929 9 round snubby; they weighed about the same and those ol' H&Rs are pretty reliable comparatively.