50 years ago I began active competitive bullseye shooting. Accordingly, I became very fond of the many .22 handguns that were used at that time. One could get along with an accurized 1911 for centerfire and .45 shooting, and this was almost always uniformly standard, although some well-heeled competitors fired the Smith Model 52 .38 special wadcutter autoloader in the centerfire category.
Today I'd like to reminisce on the .22 target pistols that were widely available at the time for bullseye competition. Each of them had their adherents. Over the years, I've put together some examples of each, and I thought I'd share some pics of them with you.
One of these was issued for my use when I was in the Army. I cut my teeth on it, and burned up cartons of ammo in practice and in actual competition. This was the original Ruger Mark I target pistol. It differs from the later ones in that it used Micro rear sights. Many of these were bought for the armed services, and were stamped "U.S." These are quite valuable when found today. Unfortunately, these early Rugers did not lock open on the last shot. That had to be done manually, with the thumb and forefinger of the left hand pulling the bolt back, and the middle finger pushing up the safety which doubled as a bolt lock. Awkward.
A number of competitors were Colt fans, and favored the Colt Woodsman Match Target model. These could be fitted by preference to your individual hand with interchangeable rear grip adapters, shown here. These guns were quite popular.
Some die-hard revolver fans used the Smith K-22 (Model 17), and some of these brave souls did really well. The K-22 was great for slow fire, adequate for timed fire, but rapid fire was...well,
interesting. Firing it single action in rapid fire required great dexterity. One wonders what Jerry Miculek might have done with one.
When the Hi-Standard "space guns" came on stream, they caused a sensation, and were immediately employed by those that could afford them. At the time, I was not one of those fortunate individuals. The triggers were adjustable for letoff and overtravel, the muzzle could be fitted with a nice compensator, various barrel lengths were available interchangeably, the sights were crisp, and weights could be attached to alter the balance. These were superb. Here are pictures of one with a six-inch barrel, and one with an 8-inch barrel. The six-inch model was popular because it actually had a longer sighting radius.
The rich guys, who probably drove Cadillacs and Mercedes automobiles, could afford the magnificent Smith & Wesson Model 41, which needs no introduction on this forum. This gun had everything one could possibly want for competition work. The early ones had a long barrel, sights mounted on the barrel extension, an effective compensator, adjustable trigger, and a cocking indicator. These were indeed impressive and envied by those who could only admire them rather than employ them.
Hope that you, particularly the older bullseye shooters, have enjoyed this trip down memory lane. Every now and then I take one of these babies out of the box and put some rounds downrange, recalling how much fun it was to shoot and admire the craftsmanship from 50 years ago.
John