I been looking around for a 22 auto for a few months I was fixed on the Walther but I got to shoot one last week and wasn't impressed. A friend of mine mentioned he was waiting for a 22A. I haven't shot one yet but I did check one out at the sporting goods store and I'm fixed on the 22A now. If anybody has one or has comments, advantages, disadvantages?? I will try one out in a few days but a second opinion is always great. I'm also open to any other suggestions on 22 auto's

I've got one and I love it. It's my second one as I let the first one get away...not happening this time. I like the "no tools" take down, plus it just feels good in my hand. The only problem I have is that I don't have enough magazines for it The only suggestion I have is unless you've tried one, I wouldn't buy sight unseen as the grip is on the large side. It fits me well but someone with small hands might not like it. For comparison, I liked the Beretta Neos but the grip was just too small for me.

Another good thing about the 22A is with the rail on top you can try optics, scope, whatever you please, and you can always go back to open sights. You do have to be careful in that not everything will mount right up due to the spacing of the grooves, but the stuff where only one pin goes down in the groove works great (and scopes are great as well). Good luck!

I've had my 22A since they came out in 1997.

An excellent pistol for the money. Mine is very accurate and completely reliable.

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NRA Benefactor Life Member

It's a fun pistol to shoot, inexpensive, and accurate! I've had mine a bout a year, bought it used ($120) and couldn't be happier.

I have one and love it, don't shoot it enough though....

I've had mine for over a year. I had some failures to feed at first, but once I polished the feed ramp, it's been a good shooter. It's very easy to break down and clean, and the top rail is a bonus for optics. It is a great value plus it's a S&W

S&W M22a left.jpg

The 22A is a great pistol - especially for the price. I have a slight preference for the 22S which is slightly heavier.

Great pistol I love mine, my only problem is not enough mags, but MidwayUSA has the mags on sale right now for 19.99 each so I have 4 more on the way.

The pistol is extremely accurate and just a whole lot of fun, for the price it can't be beat, personally I like my 22a more than alot of more expensive .22 autos out there.

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Drew

Just got one w/7" barrel, Love it!!! I had a Walther P22 w/laser, sold it, was lighter with a smaller grip & frame but doesn't shoot as nice as the 22A. If you want a more accurate target gun the 22A is nicer.

I've had mine for about 6 months. I got the one with the 5" bull barrel. It likes standard velocity non-hollow point ammo. Hollow Points will jam it up every time, specifically the 2nd round will almost always fail to feed. It will also start to have a lot of jamming problems if you shoot about 200 rounds without cleaning it. The finish chips easily but for $300 what do you expect. It's fun to shoot and has great sights. I don't regret buying it, because it's just a fun gun/cheap plinker, not a carry weapon or anything. I have a hard time spending more than what the 22a costs for this type of pistol, so the price is right.

--thanks--

Can you guys post up pictures of your 22a's, If you have an optic on yours please say which one it is. I am 95% certain that I WILL buy this gun the first week of the 2010 year.

Thanks.

here is a pic of mine i won this one at a friends of the nra

How does the two-tone finish hold up in the long run. Is it stronger than the "BLUED" finish S&W offers?

Is it stronger or heavier?

Is the 22a-S much better, and are the easy to obtain if they have to order one. I think they are stainless correct and a tad bit heavier....

Have not added optics yet
DSCN4552a.jpg

The 22s is the stainless version of the 22a, they aren't making them anymore according to 2 different local dealers but a lot of dealers still have some sitting around, locally the 22s is over $300 while the 22a is a little cheaper than $200. The stainless is a little heavier but not a whole lot and I thought the 22a was plenty heavy enough.

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Drew

Haven't bought a new .22 in quite sometime so things might change but I think the Ruger is the best of the low priced .22 semi-auto made. I've had or shot them all and the Ruger is only marginally a grade below my model 41. I'd pass on the all the other ones.

Around here the dealer doesn't carry the new Rugers but the used ones he had were about 1.5 times the price of the 22a and don't have a lifetime warranty on them that was the deciding factor for the 22a for me and I have been very happy with mine.

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Drew

Subject of many conservations, but Ruger doesn't offer a warranty. However, they never hesitate to fix it if somethings wrong. It was is their way of avoiding all the government and legal ramifications of what a warranty requires.

However, I've never sent a gun back for warranty work. I do seem to see a lot (and I mean a lot) of posts on this forum about S&W warranty work on new guns. Makes me think that S&W quality control program is the customer. Maybe has something to do with the price difference?

Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of S&W. And except for the Ruger 22, I don't think most of their revolvers shoot worth a hoot.

They are still going to continue making the Two-Tone finish right?

I also got to hold new 22a's the magazine release buttons seem very stiff compared to the one I got to shoot again today. His has 20K rounds through it. It is very easy to work. The new ones they were selling were so stiff. I really hope I can lube them up and they will loosen fast.

The wood grips felt nicer than the stock ones however I don't like how they are so deep on the bottom and inserting and removing a magazine can be troublesome compared to the stock grips. I'm sure you could chop the grip down a little bit but they should have done that from the factory. The Black or blued finish whatever you guys call it seemed rather cheap which is why I am going to really inspect the Two tone. If I like the way it looks I am going to buy it if not I am going to buy the cheaper one and deal with the finish. It wasn't bad, but It wasn't good either. This gun will last me a long time.

Overall I am still going to get one. They are so accurate and you can't be too picky and you get a lot of gun/fun for the money.

This may be the first and last Semi- .22 I ever buy. LOL

Great job for the most part by S&W for making this 22a.

The black finish is actually painted on, as far as I know they are still going to make the two tone alloy frames just discontinued the stainless frame guns. I haven't really messed with any of the two tone guns but I think that they are painted as well so I would say the finish will be about the same.

As far as finish goes my 22a has a ton of rounds through it and the finish still looks like it did when new, I just keep any solvents away from the outside of the gun.

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Drew

I like to rub my guns down in Hoppes #9 to clean up the dirt on the outside. They have been fine/undamaged. Does anyone clean the 22a like that?

I seen the two-tone 1 time before and the finish felt smooth from what I can recall...

2 more weeks. I am thinking about breaking my 1 gun rule per year this thing is INEXPENSIVE!

Here's mine. No optics yet but hopefully I'll get something soon. I don't know if I want a red dot or a scope. I had a red dot on my last one but I found that I shot better without it. But, it's worth another try

I purchased my 22a-1 a month ago with the 5-1/2" barrel, had a blast with it, purchased a red dot sight, even better, ordered a 4" barrel from S&W and it may even get better for practice with this length of barrel. I love the interchangeability of the barrels, I actually have a hunting gun and a practice weapon all in one. I am +1 on this .22 offering!

jb

BTT.
Not to be disappointed, the 4" barrel functioned 100% and was actually sighted pretty darn close. May relieve some of the rear sight blade to make it more like my defence weapons but all-in-all, a very good addition for 100.00 dineros. An A++++ for S&W on a fully interchangeable barrel system that actually works as advertised!!!

jb

OK, if you insist; here's mine. Not a good picture but a great gun. Always goes to the range with me.

My 22a was the first firearms that my wife and I purchased together (I had purchased some before) in 1998. Both of us love to shoot it. I use a Tasco Red Dot that works great. The biggest problem that we've had is that she's left-eye dominant and I'm not, therefore the zero is different for both of us.
I've had an issue with the finish. Sometime about 2003, I got something on the barrel while at the range that stripped the paint right off (I'll try to post pictures in the next couple of days). I suspect that it was a solvent used on Military Weapons since I was shooting on a range on post in Southern Az. I haven't noticed any damage to the underlying metal so I haven't done anything to try to cover it up yet.
I love the no-tool breakdown/cleaning. This was one of the factors that led me to purchase the S&W instead of the Ruger. Another factor is the ease of swapping barrels and grips. Right now, mine has a 5.5 barrel with the soft touch grips. I'm considering getting a 7 inch and the wood grips. Primarily, I've used it for plinking (and some teaching). But I'm thinking about upgrading for more competitive pursuits.
Good luck,
Doug

I got a S&W 22A mainly because my little boys were too rough on my other rimfire handguns of which some are very pricey. We have shot the little 4" barreled 22A for over 85,000 rounds now. The boys are no longer little. The 22A has gone through 4 firing pins, a sight rib, some springs, and also a cracked frame. I always got the parts from S&W and had sent the gun in for the frame repair.

It is still going strong and has a very special place in the range bag! My kids really learnt shooting with this gun. They would choose it over my K 22, the Ruger Mk-IIs, and even my .22 Korth.

I have one for 2 years, I added Ultra Dot Pan-A-V great for old man eyes.
Mounting on 22 A is easy and the gun shoots well, it is I that needs improvement.

I just got my 22A and have it out only once, to sight in. I put a BSA 2x7 scope on it and it sighted in quickly. I was knocking down sillouettes at 50 yds without a problem. Using a variety of ammo, I had no feeding issues. I have a Ruger 22/45 and this gun shot as well I that one does. The 22A does not feel as solid as the Ruger in my opinion. Bottom line, so far, I am pleased with it and look forward to testing out more in the future.

I got my 22A as a Christmas present from my wife, but I had picked it out for myself. This is my first firearm. It shoots very accurate and has had no problems with CCI Blazer ammo. It is fun to shoot. I like the feel of it. It was also a good value. It was around $230, and I later bought an extra magazine for it. I have 2 concerns about it, one of which I posed as a question in a new thread before I found this thread (my apologies in advance for some duplication). The first concern is there is no good way to decock without dry firing or putting a spent casing into the chamber. And S&W discourages dry firing because it will damage the firing pin. One suggestion I received in the other thread was just leave the gun cocked all the time when done shooting. Does anyone else do this? Does this wear out the spring? The second concern is I almost wish now that I had got a gun with double action that I could cock by a heavier trigger pull as an option. Overall, I have found it reliable so far, accurate and worth the money.

I bought one today and put a truglo red/green dot on it. this is a great pistol and more accurate than I can hold it. Put about 200 rounds of Federal bulk some remington thunder bolt and remington subsonic, no problems with any of them.

Attached Images

S & W model 22 A-1 002.jpg (66.2 KB, 141 views)

Does anyone know if I can get a S&W 22A with a threaded barrel?

Make sure you don't get one with the camo grips. I sold one and it is going back to S&W, clip fits in the grip so far it takes alot of pushing to get it in far enough for the gun to fire. Reg ones I have sold are ok