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

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- Cogito, ergo armatus sum -

I have had a High Standard Victor a Smith Mdl-41 and a Mdl-17. Now all I have are two pre-model 17s an 18 and a 48. Also have 3 old Ruger single six 3 screws. As you can see I dropped the bottom feeders. Just like the revolvers better. Because I only shoot for fun now and don't need to do timed and rapid fire they get the job done. When I shoot them from my Ransom rest the will all shoot sub 10 ring groups. Thanks for the photos. Looking for a slant grip Supermatic but when I find one in decent shape oh my golly the asking price sends me away.

Ted

All of those and one Browning Medalist were used when I started shooting Bullseye in the Mid 60s.
The club had several of those Mark 1s and I started out shooting one of them.
Later I got a Mark 1 bull barrel five inch. Wish I'd kept it.

I've owned a couple of Rugers, one a MK I, the present a stainless bull barrel MK II. Had three Woodsman Match Targets. My dad has a Hi-Standard Field King somewhere. I've shot, not owned, Model 41s and a Model 46.

My favorite is the stainless MK II.

I did fire some GI Rugers in the USAF. But the barrel length was too long for both target and field use, and I want my handguns to be "rabbit rollout ready." (Is Massad Ayoob reading this? Sorry; I couldn't resist punning one of his magazine article titles.)

Famed James Bond author Ian Fleming had one of those long Ruger MK I's, and was shown with it in,"Life", in a feature on him and his books. I'm pretty sure he had it in mind when describing a similar gun in a short story.

Oh: I also had a Browning Challenger, but it jammed a lot. Didn't stay with me for long. A friend who owned a Medalist liked it better.

At one time I owned a Smith Model 41, a Colt Match Target, and a Hi-Standard Supermatic Trophy with fluted barrel. All were very accurate and I still Don't know what possessed me to get rid of them.

Very nice post and pictures of the guns used for the competitive
bulleye shooting. I've never shot any competitive matches of any
kind but this article was extremely entertaining and informative. I almost wandered into the world of Benchrest Rifle but the cost was
too prohibitive. So i simply watched and talked to some members
and learned quite abit about wringing the most accuracy i could
from my centerfire rifles, and reloading.
Kudos, John. Fine article and this is the stuff that keeps me coming
back and enjoying this forum.

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They hold no Quarter

My first gun was a 6" Ruger Standard (fixed sight). I began using it for bullseye shooting in 1971 and continued to use it right up to Master. I tried a High Standard Victor when they first came out in the early 70s but I never got comfortable with it and went back to my Ruger. I currently have two 7" S&W Model 41s and one bull barrel M41 with an extendable fron sight. These are the most accurate FACTORY STOCK 22s that I have ever shot. The most accurate 22 that I have ever shot, however, is the below pictured Ruger MK2 with the full Chief AJ treatment done to it. It is too bad that the "Chief" is no longer doing work on these guns or his famous 10-22s.

Mark

I remember with great fondness my introduction into Bullseye Competition in 1973. I used a Colt Government Model that had had a trigger job, stippled forestrap, and Triangle adjustable sights added to it for centerfire, .45, and Service Pistol. Since I didn't own a .22, I spent weeks studying the 1973 edition of The Shooter's Bible weighing the benefits of a Colt Woodsman MT vs. a High Standard Victor, vs. a S&W M41. I settled on the Smith, but had to settle for a used 5-1/2" bull barrel.

Over the years, I've tried revolvers for .22 and centerfire as well. Although I initially used a K frame Smith, I learned that Colt E/I frames were superior for single action sustained fire. The V mainspring allowed easier thumb cocking than did the Smith.

While I still shoot BE today, I miss when it was much more popular in time's past.

Very nice guns.
I`ve always had a soft spot for fine rimfire target guns.

Here are a few of mine.

I also owned the MK 1 long barrel Ruger, Smith 41, 2 Beretta 76'S, High Standard Supermatic Trophy w/long fluted barrel. The only one I have left is the HS Trophy.


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James

I have a couple of the Ruger Mark I Targets,a Colt Match Target,a Colt Targetsman,a couple of High Standard GE's and this old veteran. It belonged to a now deceased friend who shot bullseye,and did so extremely well. It's a K-22 with a King's cock-eyed hammer and mirror front sight. Don't know who made the grips.



f.t.

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South Carolina-God's country

Here's what I started with in 1954. Traded it for a S&W 41 a few years later, and my scores went up about 10 points over the NMC. Still always wanted the High Standard; I found this one at a local gun show last year. It's a keeper.

Still have the 41, 9K Sn. Also have the box, and the aftermarket weights. No pix, yet, sorry.

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