.22 rimfire target pistols

[McTrucky]

I have owned/used Morini, Pardini, Walter, etc multishot target pistols, and currently have a single shot morini long arm here in the UK. Unfortunately Pardini etc do not make UK legal multishots.

I am thinking about buying one of the UK legal .22 multishots, both for some fun shooting PP1 type events, but also semi seriously for ISSF standard pistol and rapid fire (accepting they don't fit in the control box, so cannot be used in proper competition - which probably explains the absense of match grade options).

Anyone been there and done that? Is it a futile exercise or are GSGs, Walther Colt Trophies, etc actually half decent? Browning Buck Mark is another option, but from what little relevant info I can find on the Internet I am leaning towards the Walther Colt Gold Cup Trophy.

Will be iron sights only, not interested in red dots etc.

Any thoughts anyone?

[JB101]

Having used to shoot 22 pistol in the leagues back in the day I went on to try out the newer lbp 22’s.
I have had a gsg1911& a grand power k22 and moved them on as not accurate enough (IMO) I have also tried a few others and the only one I would consider accurate enough to own would be a buckmark .

Hope this helps
Regards
James

[clueless]

I have a KMR and it’s undoubtedly the best lbp I have owned and I have tried and owned all currently available.. The cheaper end are fun plinkers but accuracy isn’t up to much on any of them with the exception of the buckmark which is accurate but about as much a pistol as a vegetarian bacon..

My KMR will put a full mag through a five pence size group at 25 yards..this was from a ransom rest as I can’t shoot that well

[McTrucky]

Thanks for the replies.
KMR... at £1750 definitely falls into the "would want to try one properly before splashing the cash" bracket.
Buckmark - don't see many advertised, but a good friend who has one (also has a GSG as well as proper target Pardinis) suggested the Buckmark would be the best option. He said of his GSG that it was surprisingly accurate , but awful sights and trigger took away any pretension of being a target pistol. Unfortunately he lives 500 miles away, so I can't go and look at his toys.

All the reviews I have read on forums and so on suggests the Colt Gold Cup Trophy (Walther) is more accurate that the GSG, and with effort the trigger can be made to be quite good (but no where near proper target pistol territory).

I am more than happy to do some smithing myself to try to improve the trigger, but if the gun cannot hold a two inch group at 25m, then it isn't for me.

At £600, the colt might be my best option, and if it didn't work out, maybe reach for a KMR then. But if a Buckmark was available at the right time/place ....

Problem I have is no where to go and try them. Hopefully get my variation back in a couple of weeks, but no point in rushing things before then.

[rapidboy1]

Grip being a big part of SP / RF, a decent aftermarket solution might be easier found for a 1911 platform than a buckmark ?

Does a LBP have to be manufactured as a LBR or could a regular target pistol be converted ?

[McTrucky]

Grip being a big part of SP / RF, a decent aftermarket solution might be easier found for a 1911 platform than a buckmark ?

Does a LBP have to be manufactured as a LBR or could a regular target pistol be converted ?

Grips, yes. I have no idea about Buckmark grips, but do think I could mold/carve an option for the 1911. I had a Delta Elite before the ban, and that was similar to the 1911 I believe.

Conversions - this is a can of worms.... If a gun is imported as section 5 it cannot be converted to section 1. It can be imported as parts, and if not assembled prior to modification could be built as a section 1. However, we spoke with a manufacturer back in the day, and they had local laws which meant they had to declare/register all gun types they made, so the parts are controlled and so on...
A Buckmark Section 1 rifle is a derivation of the pistol - with some extra wood bolted on, and a longer barrel. So if you took a Buckmark rifle, and cut the barrel to 300mm it would still be a rifle. If you then replaced the foot long stock with a foot long rod.... is it now a pistol or a rifle....?

It seems a mockery that there is no definition of a pistol/handgun, and that a cartridge gun must have a barrel of 12" and an over all length of 24", and then to distinguish between pistols and rifles for licensing purposes when they conform to the same rules on dimensions.

[andrew375]

I share the frustration! Not just with the lack of availability of a "proper" (for want of a better word) target pistol but also with the lack of appreciation of what one is. A die cast replica of a colt 1911 is in no way comparable with my GSP!

I did buy one of the Britarms long barrel pistols, but this,although it showed some promise, it is not as highly developed as the walther and I cannot get a left-hand grip for it. The bit that they got right though was to keep the front sight in the right place rather than put at the end of the barrel.

The frustrating thing is that it wouldn't take much for Walther to make a limited batch of GSPs that could be legally possessed in england,scotland and wales, after all they are not exactly mass produced anyway. As with the Britarms the barrel can be bored out, a 30 cm long cylindrical barrel screwed and locked in place and a coat hanger fixed into the rear of the lower frame. These are the only changes needed. Whilst it still won't comply with ISSF dimensional rules neither of the alterations could be seen as being of benefit to the shooter, on the contrary they handicap the shooter, in particular the longer barrel results in longer barrel time for the bullet. The real GSP has a barrel of only 4.2 inches (107 m.m.), the coat hanger just gets in the way.

[rapidboy1]

I was thinking the Pardini would be an ideal candidate with the way the barrel / shroud is attached, a single screw and less than a minute has the barrel removed.

It might be worth a conversation with Paul Cutts if anybody is serious about a "proper" UK .22 target pistol.....

[zooma]

I am not sure if these are still available here in the UK, but I shot with a High Standard Military Victor for a few years (back in the day) and with a Leslie Bower anatomical grip fitted, it worked very well for me.

[andrew375]

[QUOTE=rapidboy1;8238303]I was thinking the Pardini would be an ideal candidate with the way the barrel / shroud is attached, a single screw and less than a minute has the barrel removed.

It might be worth a conversation with Paul Cutts if anybody is serious about a "proper" UK .22 target pistol...../QUOTE]

Who's paul cutts? Bear in mind that down converting from sec.5 to sec.1 is not allowed, so the pistol either has to be made to comply with our sec.1 restrictions or converted in another country and imported. Otherwise I would simply have had my GSP modified and kept it, along with my (Colt) .22 conversion unit and frame of my 1911 A1.

[rapidboy1]

Paul Cutts - Diverse Trading is the UK importer for Pardini, he would be the person to approach to see if Pardini would make a UK spec version of the SP or SPRF pistols.