Part II of review. This is the Chiappa 1911-.22, see the earlier
review below. This is a gun I want to really like. Let me reassert this
statement. I really want to like this gun, I was hoping to shine a big beacon
over this one and say, Hey look world, you are over looking a true bargain! Yet it has not given me that instant
satisfaction I was looking for. A gun out of the box that doesn't fail. An inexpensive
target gun for plinking and training with. So for that I would say approach
cautiously. If you are a lover Of John Moses Browning’s creative masterpiece,
as I am. You still might want to have one of these. I have no remorse
for buying it. However I can not add it to my top 5 gotta own list. My goal this day, was to successfully use
this gun without fails. I guess really it is how you measure success, I did
walk away from the range, the weapon is still intact, I did not give it a good
chuck in the Potomac on the way out.
So
on Monday morning I arose early and headed out to the range. After a catered
breakfast that includes piping hot coffee and fried pork chop with gravy on a
biscuit. Courtesy of Hardees drive up window! I began setting up the bay. It was a nice
overcast day, just a slight breeze, and temps ranged from the 40’s thru the mid
50’s by time I finished. Humidity ran at about 78%.
Due
to political motivations hoarding and stockpiling and as most speculate price
gouging is going on along. (So inexpensive is out) However I was able to put
together 400 rounds of .22 ammo. Mostly CCI
standard velocity 1070 fps and a 100 rounds of Federal Game-Shock JHP 1420 fps.
I loaded my three available magazines and began shooting. Let me stop here and let me point out.
Earlier I stated I wasn't sure if I was “Limp wristing”. I did some research and found a video produced by the Gun manufacturer.
In which they stated because of the light recoil this seems to be a problem.
Unfortunately in my video, I always seemed to be out of the frame when shooting,
so I am unable to tell. However I still insist this is not the case. Well with the first 2 magazines I had one
fail to feed and 2 rounds that did not eject completely causing the slide to
not seat. Not a good start. (The doesn't fail thing is out the window now) This
went on for several magazines full. I stopped and reloaded the magazines with
the Federal ammo. Not much
difference. Still spermatic ejection problems and in which caused feeding
problems. Some thing I noticed was that the magazines don’t load straight in
line (see photo below) some
staggering can be visual noticed and as I stated in the video I attempted to
correct this in the field.
These are not doubled stacked magazines.
There is also no consistent manner in which they stagger however all three of
the magazines do it. I did shoot nearly all the ammo I took there, over 300
rounds. With only one magazine firing correctly with out failures of any kind.
If you listen near the end of the video you will hear only, as I am rapidly fire off the magazine.
I am hoping that another 300 rounds and this gun will “break in”. I have not
completely given up hope on this gun. Now off to search for a source of ammo.
Like I think I pointed out in the earlier review this is one of my favorite
weapon platforms. However at this point
I am not thrilled with this gun. As far as that a .22 goes a revolver is more
reliable. Watch the video. You won’t see the frustration on my face from
clearing it so much. It is a fact I look like that all the time. The
frustration is there, and the pauses in the action will tell the story. I can
attest if the round chambers it will fire. Accuracy is there. Even with old
aging eyes. The POA and the POI are very close. If you are doing everything
right. Remember the front sight is your friend. I made no adjustments to the
sights. They are as they came out of the box.
Thanks for stopping by and
reviewing along with me. If you have had any good success with this gun, please
chime in or contact me. Also read the Armed Candy article on Buyers remorse. It
offers good insight.
Editors note, I took this one a part to clean. Something I failed to mention that this fixed barrel weapon. Unlike a true 1911 or other Semi auto hand guns the barrel does not float. The dis assembly and re assembly are pretty simple and cleaning is pretty basic. The manual with the unit is pretty hard to see if you are like me and yours arms are shrinking. On line version is pretty nice though. 03/17/13
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