Pachmayr .22 Accuracy Conversion Unit

huthike · Jul 29, 2023

I picked this unit up recently- here it is in the box after cleaning up some.

Interesting to me that the instructions say 39/59 and 52. I’ll have to try it on one of my 52’s. Need different mag for 59’s.

Here it is on my 39, achieved with only a small amount of foul language. Did I say instructions? They are nothing near that. They are more conceptual than practical. I am also all thumbs and a slow study. Oh well.

With some toying with the magazine it will feed about half of my snap caps. We’ll have to see how it does with live ammo. Hope to get it out soon.

sceva · Jul 29, 2023

That is neat. I did not know they existed.

VASCAR2 · Jul 29, 2023

I’ve never seen one of these in person and never heard much about this conversion. I have numerous 22 LR conversions so I’m interested in how your Pachmayr functions!

Thanks for posting!!!

AJ · Jul 29, 2023

Did you pick that one up on Ebay? There was one there recently.

chief38 · Jul 31, 2023

I found conversion kits to be reasonably accurate although don't expect them to be a M41 - lol. I've had Seiner's on my Colt and Colt Ace kits and they do work nicely and are reasonably accurate. I would expect your Pachmeyer to be about the same. Enjoy!

AJ · Jul 31, 2023

chief38 said:
I found conversion kits to be reasonably accurate although don't expect them to be a M41 - lol. I've had Seiner's on my Colt and Colt Ace kits and they do work nicely and are reasonably accurate. I would expect your Pachmeyer to be about the same. Enjoy!

I picked up my Series 70 Gold Cup National Match with a Colt Conversion Unit included for $1K about 15 or so years ago. The conversion unit does well, but other dedicated .22 pistols will out shoot it. Never have shot a Ciener's upper even though they are made up the road from me. The Kimber uppers worked well.

cougar015 · Jul 31, 2023

I installed one of those on a model 39 for a friend 2 years ago. The instructions were somewhat confusing and there was a little trick to get the slide installed but it seemed to work great. I'm not sure how it would fit a M52 but it's basically the same gun with a longer slide. Hope we get a range report soon.

dave1918a2 · Jul 31, 2023

I have one for a Colt 1911. Haven't tried it yet. This one is made by Peters Stahl of Germany. Gentleman I know has one on an Essex frame and shoots bulleseye with it against 41's and Victors and often wins.

gdogs · Aug 2, 2023

I've got one for a Hi Power that I fit to an old Inglis frame, and also one for a Colt Commander. They are (or certainly can be) a pain to fit, and if possible I highly recommend a dedicated frame for them. I've found both of mine to be accurate and reliable once fit correctly. Magazines for the Hi Power are non existent, I lucked into a few some years back, but figure you'll never find an extra one outside of a complete kit. I've found that the Commander model works fine with modern 22lr 1911 mags.

Jim Watson · Aug 2, 2023

I wish they had made the .22 M&Ps (also Glock 44) like that instead of with mung metal slides and flyweight construction overall.

huthike · Jun 27, 2024

Well, the conversion kit finally made it into the range bag today for a trip to the range. Fed it CCI SV and Mini Mags, along with Federal Champion. It was very accurate - as good as I can hold. The most it would feed is maybe two rounds in a row and then a stoppage - usually a failure to feed, with the round hung up on the chamber. Looking at it, the feed ramp is miniscule and very short, and that may be the problem. I may fuss with it some more at some point.

There is another one that looks nice on another auction site that is for the 59 series.

AveragEd · Jun 27, 2024

About ten years ago, I owned four Kimber 1911s. Figuring that a Kimber conversion kit would work best on a Kimber gun, I bought a target version of their kit. I had nothing but problems with it so I sent it back. The repair paperwork stated simply, "Replaced small parts" and it didn't work any better. Shucks, the whole kit is a "small part."

I sent it back again but this time on my Stainless Gold Match II frame and insisted upon a detailed repair description. They said they replaced the mainspring housing (how that affects the slide is beyond me) and test-fired it. It still was unreliable so I asked for an exchange. They agreed and swapped it out (and I put a small mark on the inside of the slide so I would be able to tell).

I took the gun and the new kit to my club with 100 rounds of their required ammunition, CCI MiniMags, which is what I had been using all along. It failed to feed, failed to fire, failed to extract or failed to eject 74 times. I don't accept a failure rate of 74%. Then they blamed me for limp-wristing the gun but since I carried a 297x300 average in PPC competition, I disregarded that.

Instead, I bought an Advantage Arms Rimfire Target Conversion Kit and it functioned flawlessly. They are a clone of the very costly Marvel kits and even hold the slide back on an empty magazine like a Marvel. But Kimber did teach me one thing - that their customer service is nonexistent so I sold the Kimbers and now own four S&W 1911s plus a used Rock Island Armory frame on which I keep the kit for my grandchildren to shoot since I bought a Model 41.

Perhaps a year after my Kimber ordeal, I was at my club when two young guys arrived to shoot their 1911s wearing Kimber conversion kits. I watched with great interest as they fought with their guns, experiencing the same problems I had. I had my 1911 with the Advantage Arms kit on it in my range bag so we tried the kit on both of their frames with zero problems.

I wouldn't own anything with the Kimber name on it with the possible exception of an older bolt-action rifle. Even if it was still under warranty, I would have my gunsmith repair it. I have to acknowledge that their 1911s come with a lot of desirable features at an attractive price but I can't deal with the headaches and poor service.

Ed

Green Frog · Jun 27, 2024

I inherited a Pachmayr kit for the 39/59 & 52 from a gunsmith friend. AFAIK, he fitted it to one or two pistols but I don’t know whether it was ever fired though. I guess I should pass it on to someone who really wants one, but it IS kinda neat.

Froggie

AJ · Jun 28, 2024

AveragEd said:
About ten years ago, I owned four Kimber 1911s. Figuring that a Kimber conversion kit would work best on a Kimber gun, I bought a target version of their kit. I had nothing but problems with it so I sent it back. The repair paperwork stated simply, "Replaced small parts" and it didn't work any better. Shucks, the whole kit is a "small part."

I sent it back again but this time on my Stainless Gold Match II frame and insisted upon a detailed repair description. They said they replaced the mainspring housing (how that affects the slide is beyond me) and test-fired it. It still was unreliable so I asked for an exchange. They agreed and swapped it out (and I put a small mark on the inside of the slide so I would be able to tell).

I took the gun and the new kit to my club with 100 rounds of their required ammunition, CCI MiniMags, which is what I had been using all along. It failed to feed, failed to fire, failed to extract or failed to eject 74 times. I don't accept a failure rate of 74%. Then they blamed me for limp-wristing the gun but since I carried a 297x300 average in PPC competition, I disregarded that.

Instead, I bought an Advantage Arms Rimfire Target Conversion Kit and it functioned flawlessly. They are a clone of the very costly Marvel kits and even hold the slide back on an empty magazine like a Marvel. But Kimber did teach me one thing - that their customer service is nonexistent so I sold the Kimbers and now own four S&W 1911s plus a used Rock Island Armory frame on which I keep the kit for my grandchildren to shoot since I bought a Model 41.

Perhaps a year after my Kimber ordeal, I was at my club when two young guys arrived to shoot their 1911s wearing Kimber conversion kits. I watched with great interest as they fought with their guns, experiencing the same problems I had. I had my 1911 with the Advantage Arms kit on it in my range bag so we tried the kit on both of their frames with zero problems.

I wouldn't own anything with the Kimber name on it with the possible exception of an older bolt-action rifle. Even if it was still under warranty, I would have my gunsmith repair it. I have to acknowledge that their 1911s come with a lot of desirable features at an attractive price but I can't deal with the headaches and poor service.

Ed

Had a Kimber conversion unit many years ago. It functioned flawlessly. I am not a Kimber fan in any sense of the word. I used it on several Colt frames. Then I picked up a Colt Conversion Unit in .22 LR along with an original Series 70 National Match Gold Cup. After that the Kimber unit was expendable and away it went. I too, don't own anything with the Kimber name on it. That said the best group I ever shot was with a Kimber 82 from CMP. The group measures 0.167" for five shots at 50 yards. Maybe should have kept that one.........

6string · Jun 28, 2024

AveragEd said:
Instead, I bought an Advantage Arms Rimfire Target Conversion Kit and it functioned flawlessly. They are a clone of the very costly Marvel kits and even hold the slide back on an empty magazine like a Marvel. But Kimber did teach me one thing - that their customer service is nonexistent so I sold the Kimbers and now own four S&W 1911s plus a used Rock Island Armory frame on which I keep the kit for my grandchildren to shoot since I bought a Model 41.

Ed

There's a bunch of good reasons for wanting any of the available .22 conversion units. But, as Ed points out, if you're interested in target accuracy, the Marvel and Advantage Arms are the way to go! IF (!) you are super-lucky, maybe you can find one of the Bob Day Conversion units. He was a gunsmith for the Air Force Pistol Marksmanship team.

Attached are a couple pictures of a .22 conversion built on a real Neuhausen made SIG P210 (ca 1967) by a gunsmith in Switzerland. It is very near to the rare .22 caliber SIG P210-7 variation. Beautiful blued steel throughout, runs and shoots great!
Accuracy is not quite comparable with a Hämmerli P208, but much better than "service pistol".

Grayfox · Jun 28, 2024

I like .22 conversion kits. Years ago I caught a Ciener Platinum Cup 1911 unit on close out at a very good price. I liked it so much that I built up a 1911 frame to mount it on permanently.

I have since acquired .22 conversions for my Sig P226, AR-15 and Browning Hi-Power.

44wheelman · Jun 28, 2024

I have one of the pachmayer 1911 conversions in .223. They used to make interesting stuff...now, I just end up with shoe boxes of their rubber grips.

AveragEd · Jun 28, 2024

Here are some (poor) photos of my Advantage Arms Rimfire Target Conversion Kit on the Rock Island Armory frame. The two magazines that come with it are polymer but do have bumpers on them.

Ed

cougar015 · Jun 28, 2024

Green Frog said:
I inherited a Pachmayr kit for the 39/59 & 52 from a gunsmith friend. AFAIK, he fitted it to one or two pistols but I don’t know whether it was ever fired though. I guess I should pass it on to someone who really wants one, but it IS kinda neat.
Froggie

Hey Froggie, if you ever want to get rid of it PM me and let me know.

Baxter6551 · Jun 28, 2024

About 15 years ago I bought a used no box Kimber .22 conversion kit with one mag while traveling for work in Georgia. When I got home I bought a spare Kimber mag (recall it was made of plastic). Wouldn’t fit. Called Kimber and learned that my unit was made by Ciner and branded Kimber before they started making their own. The mags were not interchangeable. I then bought a spare mag and an assortment of spare parts from Ciner to have on hand. It runs great. Lucked into some more used mags later on. I believe it is the platinum cup model with adjustable sights. Ciner had a bad reputation for customer service and I believe the owner retired and they closed. I wouldn’t hesitate to buy another of their units.

Pachmayr .22 Accuracy Conversion Unit

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