Please tell me about your small sized 1911 chambered in .22lr.

[Kaybee]

I’ve never been comfortable enough with the 1911 platform to consider it for defensive use. But I did always admired them as nice looking guns.

So I got to thinking, maybe I should look into picking up one in .22lr. I know I would enjoy having one as recreational or a collector item.. and who knows maybe with some practice I might consider picking up one in a defensive caliber someday. Or not..but I know I’d have fun with a .22.

I’d prefer one that is quality and I’m mostly interested in a smaller sized one. I saw on Buds the Browning 1911-22 and the Sig P938-22 Target but have not handled either. Any thoughts on those? Any other similar options out there?

 

[MedWheeler]

I'm interested, too, so will follow this thread some. I like the Browning, and only recently heard about the SiG. But, I'm cheap, and wish RIA would come out with one.

 

[rpenmanparker]

I have the Browning and really like it. My only complaint is the grip is a bit short, like a mini-CCW. My medium hands pinkie just finds purchase on it. Shoots great. Much better workmanship than that GSG one.

I have the threaded barrel and put a TandemKross compensator on it. Very sweet.

I run red dots optics on all my pistols and had some difficulty fitting one to the Browning. There is no stock mounting plate to fit the rear sight dovetail. But my friendly local gunsmith opened up the dovetail to Novak dimensions for me so the stock Burris mounting plate now fits with some added support points and holds a Burris Fastfire 3 red dot. Nice set up.

Browning is probably the smallest option.

 

[ttarp]

I've had the Browning for a few years now, not sure how many thousand rounds through it. To date I've only found one type of standard velocity ammo it didn't want to feed, mine eats a very wide variety of .22 ammo without issue. Its worth noting, the sights are pretty small, also has a magazine disconnect thats rather inconvenient. I had my barrel threaded, and found when shooting with a suppressor/silencer you get some blowback that hits you in the face. Its not noticeable with subsonic or some standard velocity, but firing HV rounds suppressed/silenced will sting you, definitely wear eye protection.

I wouldn't mind hearing about those 938/22's myself.

 

[Kaybee]

I have a specific question about those Brownings. As I understand it, with a traditional 1911, you can only engage the safety if the gun is cocked. So you would load the gun and then put the safety on. Is that correct? As I mentioned, I'm new to 1911's. I understand with the Sig p938, you can engage the safety before you cock the gun. So you can have the safety on and then load it. How does the Browning 1911-22's safety work? I not sure which I would prefer, just noting the differences.

 

[ttarp]

The Browning safety works the same as its bigger brother, the hammer has to be back/cocked before you can engage the thumb safety. The grip safety functions the same as the fullsize as well.

 

[rpenmanparker]

I've had the Browning for a few years now, not sure how many thousand rounds through it. To date I've only found one type of standard velocity ammo it didn't want to feed, mine eats a very wide variety of .22 ammo without issue. Its worth noting, the sights are pretty small, also has a magazine disconnect thats rather inconvenient. I had my barrel threaded, and found when shooting with a suppressor/silencer you get some blowback that hits you in the face. Its not noticeable with subsonic or some standard velocity, but firing HV rounds suppressed/silenced will sting you, definitely wear eye protection.

I wouldn't mind hearing about those 938/22's myself.

In addition to the blowback, I find that the gun also throws ejected brass backwards a lot of the time. I have had a couple go down my shirt. Not pretty. But now that I know about it, I am more prepared.

Re: the small sights, that is one reason I mounted the red dot on it.

 

[rpenmanparker]

The Browning safety works the same as its bigger brother, the hammer has to be back/cocked before you can engage the thumb safety. The grip safety functions the same as the fullsize as well.

Right and as mentioned above, there is a magazine disconnect that does not allow the hammer to be lowered with no magazine in place.

 

[plinker4life]

Throw a Nelson custom .22 conversion on any 1911 frame. No problem running a red dot and you will have the best .22 upper available. I also recommend running the GSG .22 magazines.

 

[larryh1108]

I enjoy my Ciener conversion on an Officer's size 1911. Great gun, good quality and a true 1911 manual of arms.

 

[WestKentucky]

I have shot and handled the brownings and was not impressed. Not even remotely impressed. It wasn’t a bad gun by any stretch, but for the money it was just not what it should be. I haven’t handled a sig but if it compared to the 238 and 938 then I would be inclined to buy one.

 

[Kaybee]

I have shot and handled the brownings and was not impressed. Not even remotely impressed. It wasn’t a bad gun by any stretch, but for the money it was just not what it should be. I haven’t handled a sig but if it compared to the 238 and 938 then I would be inclined to buy one.

WestKentucky, was the model you handled the one with a polymer frame or an aluminum frame? Can you put your finger on what you found unimpressive? I haven't been able to find one yet see for myself in person... but I am on the lookout!

Last weekend I did see a P938-22. It felt like a quality gun indeed, what held me back from it is that it isn't designed to be a .22 its designed to be a 9mm. So the slide stop does not work and the magazine does not drop out. To get the slide to return, you have to yank the magazine out. It wasn't a completely deal breaker but it is a little weird. since these are both kind of expensive I want to check out a browning 1911-22 with an aluminum frame first.

 

[Kaybee]

In photos it looks beautiful! Why do I always become interested in these hard to find guns. I can never just walk into a store and see the one I want. It's never easy for me. Hard enough that I am in a very unfriendly city for guns.
http://www.browning.com/products/fi.../1911-22-black-label-medallion-full-size.html

 

[WestKentucky]

WestKentucky, was the model you handled the one with a polymer frame or an aluminum frame? Can you put your finger on what you found unimpressive? I haven't been able to find one yet see for myself in person... but I am on the lookout!

Last weekend I did see a P938-22. It felt like a quality gun indeed, what held me back from it is that it isn't designed to be a .22 its designed to be a 9mm. So the slide stop does not work and the magazine does not drop out. To get the slide to return, you have to yank the magazine out. It wasn't a completely deal breaker but it is a little weird. since these are both kind of expensive I want to check out a browning 1911-22 with an aluminum frame first.

Aluminum frame. And no I can’t really say that any one thing was unimpressive, but nothing was impressive either. Suffice it to say that with no standout good or bad impressions of anything in particular that leaves me at a point where I have to look at the price tag and weigh it out. Was it a functional but mediocre $150 gun because that’s not bad, but if it’s a functional but mediocre $500 gun then that’s bad. The standout memories were hammer bite because my hand is large (I expected that though) and like many autos it choked on cheap ammo. It’s functional, but the ones I have experience with just didn’t seem to be worth their price tag.

 

[PO2Hammer]

I had the Browning 1911-22 GI for about a year.
Very reliable, really surprised me, seemed to be best with standard velocity ammo. CCI SV, SK Standard+ both ran very smoothly. I did run some Stinger through it, fed and extracted fine, but didn't like to lock the slide open with Stinger. Besides the failures to lock the slide back, the only other issues were failures to feed with some old Rem Golden Bullets (wild power swings).
I wasn't expecting target accuracy and I didn't get it. Best groups were in the 8" range at 25 yards.

 

[imashooter]

I have a full size Colt/Walther/Umarex/Insert Name Here .22lr 1911 pistol. About as close to a 1911 as you can get less some of the internals. Some of the parts are interchangeable with 1911. Weight is close to same. Great pistol. Functions perfectly with any ammo. Never a hiccup. Very accurate. A tad more accurate with hotter ammo. Until it gets turned over to my grandson years from now, it's staying with me.

 

[drband]

I have a full size Colt/Walther/Umarex/Insert Name Here .22lr 1911 pistol. About as close to a 1911 as you can get less some of the internals.

I like those pistols! Unfortunately I have not been able to find one.

I have a P938 with the .22 slide conversion. It’s not the target length slide/barrel, but it’s just like the regular 9mm slide including SigLight night sights. It’s really a great setup. I use it wit Federal .22 Automatch bulk ammo. Never any problems. I did break it in with CCI MiniMags. It does hold open after the last round but it’s the mag follower that holds it open. I believe this is a common feature in .22 auto pistols. I just lock the slide back manually with the slide release and then the mag drops out easily when the release button is pressed.

I do like the fact that the safety can be applied while loading and the first round racked into the chamber while on.

 

[imashooter]

I find the "rail-gun" model for sell at several sites but not the classic model like I have. Weird.

 

[SHOOT1SAM]

I have the original Browning 1911-22, and have handled the Browning 1911-380 Black Label. I would highly recommend the Black Label versions as the ‘GI style hammer/grip safety pinches the heck out of my hand; the Black Labels have beavertails and Commander-type hammers.

Sam

 

[greg_r]

I was interested in the Browning Black Label, but quickly lost interest when I found out it had a polymer frame and magazine disconnect.

I bought the 938-22. At first it was notoriously unreliable. Would not eat anything and could hardly get through a magazine without an issue. I tried every brand of 22 I could get my hands on. When I was to the point that I was throughly dissatisfied to the point of trading it, it suddenly started working. And then worked well.

Second, if you buy a 938-22, you can not buy a 9mm conversion kit. After my third call to customer service, they gave me a return authorization number. They said the 9mm had to be fitted to the frame, it was not a simple drop in.

Third was the LRHO which was actually a shelf on the back of the magazine follower. I knew about it before I bought it, but figured it was not that big a deal. I was wrong. I absolutely hated it. A call to Sig explained that the 22 did not have enough power to reliably engage the 9mm LRHO. What?? On a 22 that was designed as a 22 and had to be sent back to the factory to have a 9mm upper fitted???

The MOA was completely different between the 938-22 and the 928. On the 938-22, you shot until empty, then the slide locked back, then you had to manually lock the slide all the way to the rear before you could drop the magazine.

Plus the magazines were plastic. I always wondered how long the magazines would last. Plus they were hard to find and expensive.

In the end I was so throughly discusted with it that I traded it straight up at my LGS for a Ruger SP101 in 22 long rifle.

The 938-22 I traded sold really fast, but a few short weeks later it was back in the display case. Apparently the new owned did not like it either.

 

[bluzman]

Interesting that no one has mentioned the GSG (Sig) 1911-22. It comes with or without a threaded barrel. At well under $300, it is considerably less expensive than the Browning. I have one in which I installed a CW Accessories (https://www.cwaccessories.com/) kit for $65 that provided a stainless steel guide rod, more precisely machined barrel bushing and removed the need for a tool for field stripping. Is it a tack driver? No but it's reliable and fun to shoot. FWIW, I bought the CA model because I take there occasionally and a threaded barrel pistol is illegal there.