Rimfire 22 Caliber 1911 Pistols For Practice

[MichiganShootist]

As the prices on ammo and reloading components continue to sky rocket... I have been considering buying a 1911 format pistol that would provide me a more affordable alternative for practice.

Kimber makes one... Colt made the ACE (which is now a hot collectors item)...and there are a number of conversion kits on the market that I could use with one of my own frames.

Do any of you use this type pistol or kit for practice? What kind?? How do you like it? Does shooting one of these pistol have a feel anywhere close to a regular center fire 1911?

(BTW-- I shoot only Single Stack 1911s in 45... using 230 grain Zeros and MG FMJs for reloads)

Thanks in advance for your input.

[bgary]

Another option might be to get a .22 top-end for your single-stack. I have a Kimber, the Marvel and Ciener have raving fans... but doing it this way, at least you'd be practicing with a gun that feels like your match gun.. because it *is* your match gun.

B

[MichiganShootist]

That's what I was suggesting when I said "kits".

I like that idea a lot... but wondered how close to a "full house" 1911 it really was. I've tried AirSoft solutions and found them to be a far cry from a 40+ ounce .45.

Edited April 15, 2007 by MichiganShootist

[racerx40]

Hey

Call Dan at Tactical Solutions. They have a great top end in .22.

Later

[Jaxshooter]

The most accurate and reliable conversion unit is the Marvel.

[DougCarden]

Jax, my friend, I must take exception at the comment that the Marvel is then most "reliable" on the market.....

Even Todd Jarrett this year at the FL Steel Challenge said he was going to give up on the Marvel after it crapped out on him again at the main match(he had the newest generation mags from Marvel too.....)

The Marvel kit is an incredibly accurate conversion kit, but it has not proved to be reliable enough to use in a high stakes money match. There are some that have been able to run, but eveyone I have talked to at both matches still have burps. It is a magazine issue, and until some company comes out with mags that present the rounds at a more extreme angle into the chamber there will be problems. I am not disparaging the kit, I really liked it, and it was scary accurate, but I needed a gun that was 100% reliable first, then accurate second.

I ended up going with two Ruger 22/45s set up identical to my match guns, including magwells, one open and one stock. I feed them CCI minimags for matches and they run all day long.

A lot of people blame inconsistant ammo for feeding problems in .22 autos, and I agree that quality can be inconsistent, but I submit that the feeding problems have more to do with Magazine/feedlips issues. It is more an issue in the conversion kits due to the angle of the grip of the 1911. At least that is what my gunsmith and I came up with after working on it for 4 years.....

Tactical Solutions has a 1911 Conversion kit with newly designed/angled mags that I am waiting to hear about, as a friend is wringing one out.

If you dont mind dealing with malfs at some point and time, there is nothing wrong with Conversion kits.

My .02 centavos of course....

Good luck,

DougC

[M118LR]

I have a 1911 frame set-up with a Kimber conversion in 22. It works GREAT and the ammo is cheap. The conversion I have has a adjustable rear sight. Makes for cheap practice.

On another note, I also have a 22 conversion for my M-4. I have been using it the last couple of days. It is fun to shoot and the ammo is cheap.

[wide45]

I have one of the Colt conversions, that is the same top end as the Ace.

It feeds reliably with ammo it likes. It hates extra wax lube on the bullets. Any of the Federal loads run great.

Recoil is definately more than normal for a .22 in a relatively heavy pistol. Recoil does not feel anything like the same frame with a centerfire top end. It is all slide flip, no muzzle blast. Using it to replace centerfire practice is not going to be all that helpfull. Naturally triggertime is still a good thing.

Works with a wide range of ammo. I have run some old .22 longs with no ftf's. The cases were just dribbling out.

A lot of people blame inconsistant ammo for feeding problems in .22 autos, and I agree that quality can be inconsistent, but I submit that the feeding problems have more to do with Magazine/feedlips issues. It is more an issue in the conversion kits due to the angle of the grip of the 1911. At least that is what my gunsmith and I came up with after working on it for 4 years.....

I believe Marvel uses the same mags, Have you tried using older Colt marked mags?

[CDRODA396]

I have and use the Kimber Conversion on top of a Kimber Gold Match. I won a local .22 Steel Match with it a few weeks ago...ok there were only 12 other Limited shooters, but I'm still proud of myself!

I added a Brazos FO front sight to match the sight on my .45 slide and it works beautifully. It is plenty accurate and totally reliable. It'll eat up the Walmart $9/550 stuff all day, although for the steel match I used MiniMag for the extra "umph" on knock down targets.

If there is any downside at all, the basepads on the mags are square, and in order to use them with the S&A magwell, I had to dremel a bevel on them. I've never shot or even seen the Marvel unit, but I'm totally happy with the Kimber unit.

(edited for spelling)

Edited April 15, 2007 by CDRODA396

[Mistral404]

Tactical Solutions did not list the 1911 unit on their website. Is it brand new? What is the cost?

tks

[ATMester]

Does shooting one of these pistol have a feel anywhere close to a regular center fire 1911?

NO!

I used the have a Kimber Rimfire Target. Now I have a Dillon 650.... hope this explains it.

Dry fire practice is a lot cheaper and a lot more convenient and about the same.

Saying this after burning 25000 .22 ammo thru it.

But if you itching to get one....

[gino_aki]

I built a set of guns for a local guy once that consisted of getting a Caspian frame for his Colt .22 conversion kit, and adding in parts to make that and his .45 as identical as possible...Bomars, EB grip safeties, Kings triggers, Wilson chutes, CMC fire control (THE premium stuff back in 1990!) He really liked the set, though he never really got into IPSC...hmmm, I have another Colt conversion kit I got off of eBay..........

Mags might be a problem...current prices on eBay run upwards of $75 each

Set up correctly, should be a good practice gun, dryfire with real noise and target feedback...plus the timer actually works like it should too. Do any of the modern conversion units fit hi-cap frames...i.e. do they make a mag well filler to go along with the top end?

[ShooterSteve]

We also have a Ruger 22/45, and while it is not exactly like a 45SS, it is close enough to give you a good feel, and the right type of weight. We have had no feeding problems or malfs of any kind. Reasonably accurate and for the price, I don't think you can beat it. Is it perfect? No, but it's a pretty darn good deal, and I wouldn't hesitate to do it again.

[Duane Thomas]

I prefer the conversion kit route to an entirely separate .22. The reason is that with the conversion unit all the gripping surfaces, the frontstrap, backstrap, grip safety, trigger - and the quality and weight of the trigger pulls - are all the same as the gun you'll be firing "for real." Because it's the same frame. I've had excellent luck with the Kimber conversion units, BTW.

[Jaxshooter]

I have had no feeding problems with my Marvel conversion with the exception of trying to shoot the 550 pack Remington hollow points. It would not reliably feed them. I use a round nose bullets and never have a problem. Maybe I just got lucky with the mags when I bought mine.

I have a friend that has the Kimber conversion and he can't get it to run reliably no matter what he feeds it.

[MichiganShootist]

The idea of a conversion "kit" seems to me.... as the best solution... Now the question is one of economics and reliability.

Have you shooters with conversion kits moved them from gun to gun with decent results???

[Rik]

Haven't heard any reviews on the Advantage Arms 1911 kit, but I have run one on my Glock 500 rounds with no issues other than the Remington Golden Bullets fail to ignite every once in a while. From other reports thats common with this ammo. I finally gave up and cleaned it. I have a Marvel Unit 1 if anyone is intrested.

Rik

Edited April 16, 2007 by Rik

[Scott Gelber]

I like the Marvel kit for practice and have had better than expected reliability. I have found that the old Marvel kit, the one now called Unit 1, really prefers standard velocity ammo. Mine really likes the Winchester Dyna-Points and CCI Standard Velocity.

The Marvel magazines for the 1911 frame are Colt Ace magazines with the follower reworked so as to not activate the slide stop when the magazine is empty. Explains the price since the Colt magazines are not inexpensive before the modification.

In addition to dryfiring my SVI Limited gun, I would like to put the Marvel on it for some inexpensive and quiet practice. Has anyone had much luck with the STI/SVI magazines for the Marvel?

[jmorris]

I bought one of the old Colt ace conversions a few years ago. It has a steel slide, so it will go to slide lock. It has a floating chamber to increase recoil, but not to .45acp levels, maybe 125pf 9mm. Out of a dozen or so 1911’s (SV’s,ST’s,Para,spring,colt,etc) it only fits on one of the frames (colt of course), but it does fit that one perfect. Brownells sells replacement magazines; however, they are for conversions that have aluminum slides, so the manufacture grinds the slide stop notch off the follower. It is a great way to acclimate a new shooter to a 1911 platform, and it keeps them from looking for the bullet holes.

[Flyin40]

I put 500 rds through my Marvel Wednesday. Only problem was toward the end when it was pretty dirty. Little oil and all is well.

One thing I did is open up the chamber on my Marvel just a bit. Basically took off the sharp edge. 99% of my problems was the sharp edge cutting into the bullet as it was entering the chamber and it would get stuck there and jam. After that it runs great. Most accurate 22 I have shot.

Flyin40

[Aircooled6racer]

Hello: I have the new style Kimber 22 conversion. It works great on my Grand Raptor and also my 10mm Eclipse which they say it will not work on. I had to try it on the Eclipse and only shot 10 rounds through it with no problem. On the Grand Raptor it has worked great. My 8 year old son has shot it alot with only about 10 FTE from him limp wristing it. Not bad since he has shot it over 800 rounds. I still have not cleaned it. I use Walmart Federal 550 round packs. They seem to work the best. Saying all that I also bought a Browning Buckmark 22 with a bull barrel and it works great to. My son is going to start using it for steel matches starting next month. Now I just have to mount the C-more on it. Hope this helps. Thanks, Eric

[pierce195]

After readling all the post here I am going to have to get a conversion kit.

[jmorris]

pierce195,

Advantage Arms makes 22 conversitions for glocks also.

[cybershooters]

The big problem is lack of recoil. I speak from painful personal experience, having lived in the UK for 11 years and finding something realistic to practice with was hard. Closest I could get really was a deactivated pistol using a Beamhit system. Everything else just didn't feel right, including air pistols and actual handguns, the stupid long-barrelled revolvers people in GB are now forced to use.

There's a guy in Mississippi who makes a compressed air system for guns to simulate the recoil, together with a laser.

If you use a .45, I think the best bet would be to simply practice with a 9mm top-end on your .45, 9mm is a lot cheaper and it still has recoil. Or get a 9mm 1911 with an aluminum frame maybe?

[Allgoodhits]

A very serious (2650+) bullseye shooter friend has advised me to get a MARVEL .22 conversion kit, but buy the KIMBER .22 conversion mags. Anyone else have any EXPERIENCE regarding this?

BTW, a phone call to MARVEL and they advised they are 8 weeks out filling orders.

Thanks,

Martin