K22 Long Barrel Pistol from Caledonian Classic Arms- initial review plus Youtube vid

[Airbrush]

Picked mine up yesterday and I'm very impressed, handles superbly.

Mine is the whisper version and from what I can tell from pics and the op's vid, the standard and whisper versions seem to use the same shroud on the barrel. I very much doubt that you could ever tell the difference without taking the shroud off as even the end cap looks identical.

The moderator is very simple, several holes in the barrel to vent gasses, a small aluminum tube which fits over the barrel and forces gasses down the flutes cut in the barrel, into an expansion chamber with a thick washer and spring, no baffles as such. Looks to be very easy to clean. Somebody really thought about the design.

Also my magazines have a button protrusion on the mag follower so you can pull the follower down with your thumb to make mag loading easier.

If I have one complaint about the gun, its the finish on the barrel. It looks almost dark brown in colour, similar to finishes I have seen sometimes on cast alloy parts, and it does scratch easily when removing the slide for cleaning.

I cannot wait to get to the club next week to "break it in"!

Cool, I'm interested in the Whisper, let us know how effective the moderator is.

[arsefactor]

Scott and Feroza were doing roaring business at the show on Friday, very busy.

I posted a follow up video on fitting a universal pistol mount and a mini red dot sight recently.

If anyone wants to see it, link is here : http://youtu.be/g_-suwfyoKg

Scott has confirmed that if the mount nips the lower frame in too much then you can just remove a bit of material from inside the frame, it's only there as a dust guard. I explain this in the video.

Thanks
Paul M.

[Daryll]

Excellent Paul.. thanks for that..

Only problem now is I want one even more..!!

Definitely time to get rid of something from my FAC and see about getting another LBP slot...

Daryll

[Hairydavey]

Cool, I'm interested in the Whisper, let us know how effective the moderator is.

Will do, I'll take a pic of the guts of the moderator and post a link here when I get time

I've just picked up a brick of mini mags so I'll see if I can scrounge some different ammo types when I pop down the range.

Yet to fire it, but so far I've zero regrets. Its lovely, and Scott and Feroza are fantastic people to deal with.

[Hairydavey]

This is what the guts of the Whisper moderator look like;

http://i978.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps80361e7b.jpg

The barrel on the whisper has 5 holes drilled in each flute on the barrel portion that is covered by the moderator shroud. An aluminium tube fits over the barrel and extends about 2/3rds of the way down, then there is a large thick washer and spring. On firing, the holes vent the gasses which are then directed down the flutes towards the muzzle by the aluminium tube, into the expansion chamber which comprises of the large washer and shroud end cap (the spring seems to be there just to keep the washer in place).

[Airbrush]

This is what the guts of the Whisper moderator look like;

http://i978.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps80361e7b.jpg

The barrel on the whisper has 5 holes drilled in each flute on the barrel portion that is covered by the moderator shroud. An aluminium tube fits over the barrel and extends about 2/3rds of the way down, then there is a large thick washer and spring. On firing, the holes vent the gasses which are then directed down the flutes towards the muzzle by the aluminium tube, into the expansion chamber which comprises of the large washer and shroud end cap (the spring seems to be there just to keep the washer in place).

Yeah yeah all very interesting, hurry up & shoot the bloody thing I want to know how quiet it is?

[Hairydavey]

You'll have to wait until Thursday!

[airgunnut]

Yeah yeah all very interesting, hurry up & shoot the bloody thing I want to know how quiet it is?

Bet it will be quieter if the silencer extended past the muzzle by about 1"

[Hairydavey]

Yeah yeah all very interesting, hurry up & shoot the bloody thing I want to know how quiet it is?

Well as promised, here's the report.

I only had with me a load of Mini Mags and some Gecko Rifle ammo. It ate it all up (K22's seem to be very hungry) just fine, but as expected these were loud even with the moderator.

Then a kind chap called Toby gave me some CCI 40 grain round nose standard velocity. It made a huge difference to the sound, now I do know that standard stuff will obviously be quieter by it's very nature than high velocity stuff, but it was proper quiet. I could tell that the mod was doing a good job, as could two other shooters who mentioned it.

Then Toby pulled some Winchester Super X subsonics out of his range bag for me, these things were as expected even quieter, very impressed. If I was on an outdoor range instead of a 25yd indoor range it would have made even more difference. It's the tits and quieter than the Helston Gunsmiths mod on my Ruger 10-22. Granted there was a lack of "snap" when the pistol recoiled but it functioned, fed, and fired fine.

The moderator works.

Bet it will be quieter if the silencer extended past the muzzle by about 1"

It doesn't need the extra 1" at all, it's pretty impressive.

[Airbrush]

Well as promised, here's the report.

I only had with me a load of Mini Mags and some Gecko Rifle ammo. It ate it all up (K22's seem to be very hungry) just fine, but as expected these were loud even with the moderator.

Then a kind chap called Toby gave me some CCI 40 grain round nose standard velocity. It made a huge difference to the sound, now I do know that standard stuff will obviously be quieter by it's very nature than high velocity stuff, but it was proper quiet. I could tell that the mod was doing a good job, as could two other shooters who mentioned it.

Then Toby pulled some Winchester Super X subsonics out of his range bag for me, these things were as expected even quieter, very impressed. If I was on an outdoor range instead of a 25yd indoor range it would have made even more difference. It's the tits and quieter than the Helston Gunsmiths mod on my Ruger 10-22. Granted there was a lack of "snap" when the pistol recoiled but it functioned, fed, and fired fine.

The moderator works.



It doesn't need the extra 1" at all, it's pretty impressive.

Nice one mate thanks.

Btw you did listen to it without ear defenders didn't you?

[Hairydavey]

Nice one mate thanks.

Btw you did listen to it without ear defenders didn't you?

Indeed I did It was worth the extra for the mod personally, and the gun isn't as ammo fussy as I expected so far though I've only tried four types to date.

A lot of carbon does get trapped in the flutes but on the whole the mod part is easy to clean.

[Frag Muppet]

I brought one of these at the British Shooting Show.
I went down on Friday morning to have a look at the different versions and got the last "X Trim Plus" they had in stock. Another guy turned up to buy one ten minutes later, so I almost missed out.
I bumped into Paul (Person that started this thread) at the Show & had a good chat with him as I was looking at the K22.
I was originally going to buy a 1911 LBP, but had seen mixed reviews on the build quality. I have only seen good reports on these.
I have shot the Firearm twice since purchase.
The first time I used Eley Clubs, which the K22 did not like, I had a few light strikes & a few fail to chamber correctly.
When I got the firearm home I took it apart to clean it (Very easy to do) and I found that it had the two springs already fitted on the slide?
One larger & one narrower spring fitted together (the springs can be separated) . I had read on Forums that the Firearm comes with two springs, one for standard & one for HV Ammo. So I rang Scott to see if I should only be using one of the springs.
He told me that the new K22's are fitted with both springs from the factory & that is how they are meant to be shot.
He recommended using CCI Mini Mags or Blazer with my K22.
The next time I went back to the range I used CCI Mini Mags. These shot much better only one light strike. The K22 appears to prefer HV Ammo.
After adjusting the sights I was consistently able to hit a six inch paint target from the firing line (30 Yards) using a rest. The sights are good but I don't think they are designed for shooting at very long distances as the slightest movement in the firearm will alter where the shot falls at that distance.
The K22 comes with the new easy to load 10 round Mags, I like these I brought a spare one at the show along with one of the new extended Mags. (I haven't tried this one yet)
Overall I am very pleased with my purchase. The quality of the Firearm is brilliant. I think when I have used it more it will bed in nicely.
The only problem I have is that when my wife agreed that I could buy it now, the condition was that once its tested shown to be working OK and sighted in, I was to leave it in the gun cabinet till June as that's when my birthday is. The K22 will be my birthday present.
But I'm hoping to be able to sneak it out a few times before then.

[Frag Muppet]

Have you seen the new Carbon Fibre barrel shroud that someone is offering for sale on Gun Star for the K22.
Very very nice but £80 not cheap!

[arsefactor]

Mine's easier to shoot accurately without the shround.
When I collected the pistol from Scott he said that most users use them with the shroud off.

[Frag Muppet]

Been down the range again today.
Can now use my K22 as its my birthday this week.
Joined three other club members shooting turning targets at 15yards.
Put 150 rounds of CCI Mini Mags through it.
Only had one round that wouldnt chamber.

Saved the last 20 rounds for shooting at 30 yards off a rest.

Got a two inch group!!

Click on photo link below.

http://imageupper.com/i/?S0200010040...22301952084670