Okay, do I buy a 22A or a Kimber conversion for one of my 1911s? I have no experience with the 22A so any info will be helpful.

Nice plinker, accurate and for the price a no question buy.
Out of the box you need only two things: Spare magazines and lots of ammo.
Talking about the magazine, it is one of the finger friendly mags you will find on the market.
Did I mention, it's made in Houlton Maine!!!
Let me know if you want me to post some pictures.

i have a 22a. nice gun its fired thousands of rounds and still keeps going. if often thought of a conversion for my springfield loaded but never dropped the money for one.

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MP15/22,22A,6906,659,908

I have a 22A and love it, it can be used for target shooting or plinking. Easy take down to clean.

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Si vis pacem, para bellum

If you already own a name Model 1911 you should consider one of the .22LR conversions. That is a great way to get inexpensive practice with your 1911 and to check for any bad habits that are developing or to cure bad shooting habits already developed.

I have two Ciener Conversions; one on a Springfield stainless frame and one on a Colt Combat Commander frame. Both have worked flawlessly from day one. I often carry the Commander/Ciener in the field. I got them shortly after Ciener started production to be used by my shooting students that were having problems with big bore pistols. I think the Ciener product is A-OK. I have met Mr. Ciener and he is something of an eccentric. .... Big Cholla

I cannot stand the conversions, not that they aren't any good. I just can't handle buying half a gun when I can have a whole gun. They do make some good dedicated 1911 style guns in .22lr and the Ruger 22/45 RP has the same grip profile as the 1911. Both are good options, as is the S&W 22A-1. Again, conversions are not bad but they are a lot like owning two motorcycles but only one motor. Not for me.

I have a 22A and absolutley love it. Shot great right outta the box without any hiccups.

CB

I have a Kimber conversion unit that I bought a couple years ago. I installed it on a 1911A1 lower that I had left over from another project. It has worked exceptionally well. I've shot it in our local speed shooting league every weekend during the summer for the last two years with good results. It is plenty accurate enough for speed steel and very reliable.

- - - -Buckspen

I've got a Kimber conversion for my Smith 1911, it works great and if you already have a 1911 they are a good option. I personally could never see the draw in the 22A, but I have a M41 to so that probably explains that!

In my own experience neither is very reliable. Sorry. But it's been true for me.

I've owned two 22A's and both were jammers. I've owned several different 1911 22 conversions and the only one that worked was the Marvel. And it was still a bit finicky.

The only conversions I've been really pleased with are the factory CZ 75 conversion and the SIG P220 conversion.

I will never ever purchase again a conversion unit made by either Ceiner or Advantage Arms.

I wish S&W would look at conversion units for their auto line of pistols. I bet they could make them work.

Out
West

I had 3 Kimber conversions purchased from Cabela's, the first 2 the sight adjustment screws would not turn, the third caused a slam fire (pointed down range). After that I requested a refund.
I bought a 22A-1,$250 with 2 mags you can't beat it.

Current Wilson Combat conversion made by Marvel (unit 2) works for me. It uses HV 22lr ammo, a handfull of FTF per 250 box of rounds. IMO not to bad for a rimfire.
I have found it runs best with the cheaper kimber poly mags.
I assume the marvel unit 1 would be a fine shooter as well.

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2nd Admen.-Right to bear AR 's

Is it possible to convert my S&W 22A-1 to a larger caliber?

No to the conversion, it is a 22 LR and that is all it will ever be. I have the 7 inch model. I have adjusted the trigger pull to 2 pounds, with a 1/16 inch of total trigger travel, from at rest to full travel stop. It is a great 22 pistol, inexpensive, and accurate.

Bob

Welcome to the forum S&W 22a. Would love to see some pics of your 22.

Semper fi, Chili Vega. I was a sailor but spent 6 years in the FMF during my navy career.

When I was on a tight budget years ago, I built a 1911. The question then became how to get enough practice, and my choices were:

1. Reload
2. Buy a dedicated.22LR, or
3. Get a conversion unit

If your purpose is primarily to gain practice with a defensive sidearm, go with a conversion unit. (The "shortage" in rimfire ammo can't last forever. Everybody's basement must be nearly full of ammo by now). I have been using the Colt unit for years and have put several thousand rounds downrange with satisfaction. Same trigger, grip and manual of arms as your primary gun. Same holster and magazine pouches, too.

Like any semiauto handgun ammo quality/type and magazines drive reliability. And the Colt unit has something that none of the other units have: recoil. That heavy steel slide and the associated floating chamber generate more of a centerfire feel that is useful for training.

If you just like to shoot, get a dedicated, full-sized .22LR pistol that has good ergonomics and reputation. You will never be sorry for buying quality. There are many to choose from. For myself I never developed an interest in the M22.

And get into reloading anyway.

I put a Marvel unit on a 1911 stainless steel frame. Very accurate and I find it is the pistol I pickup when heading out to the woods.

Why not look at a Model 41? If you like nice stuff you won't stop until you own one.

Since it appears that you may not already own a dedicated .22 LR pistol, my recommendation would be to start there. Everybody needs at least one. As for the 22A, I have no experience with the model and will defer to the recommendations of others.

Although you did not mention it, you may also consider a Ruger Mark III 22/45. This model has a similar grip angle to the 1911. If production numbers are an indicator of consumer satisfaction, the Ruger Mark I/II/III series is the king of the hill of .22 rimfire semi-auto pistols.

Regarding .22 conversion units, I am a big fan. As mentioned by a poster above, I also have a a Colt 22 conversion kit and I really, really like it a lot. I also, have a CZ Kadet and a SIG P226 conversion unit. I believe there is much merit in using a rimfire conversion unit with a potential defensive pistol in order to economically maximize the repetition of fundamentals and drill until second nature is achieved. However, there is no substitute for practice with full power ammunition.

Also, I understand your question only asked for opinions on the 22A and 1911 .22 conversion units. However, I thought I would add that S&W offers a .22 rimfire version to the big brother M&P centerfires. This deserves some level of applause. I wish 22 rimfire options were available for more than an handfull of centerfire handguns.

I have a 22A and recommend them highly. I've also been down the conversion kit road; it had a bumpy start but ended smoothly.

I started with a Cienier kit that would not return fully to battery. I called Ciener and was greeted by the most arrogant recording I've ever heard. In short, it advised me that my call probably would not be returned because the answer to any question I could possibly have is on their all-encompassing (their descriptive) website. That site doesn't encompass failure to return to battery and since I wasn't sure I wanted to deal with a company having that level of customer service, I returned it for refund.

I then bought a Kimber kit. I was using it on a Kimber Stainless Gold Match II and experienced failures to feed, failures to fire, failures to extract and failures to eject. I sent it back to Kimber three times, the last two on my gun. It never was improved yet they replaced all sorts of parts in the kit and my gun. The fourth time, the replaced the kit completely. I shot it once - out of 100 rounds of the ammo they recommend, 74 failures occurred.

Finally, I bought an Advantage Arms kit. It looks exactly like a Marvel kit but costs a lot less. It even holds the slide back on an empty magazine like the Marvel. And it works flawlessly.

Personally, I think you ought to go both routes. New guns are fun but so is shooting 22LR ammo in a 1911!

Ed