422 restoration

[shoot summ]

Bought this pistol about a year ago, cheap, abused 422, that had been in a fire. No damage to the frame, although the grips were a little toasted. The seller appropriately named it the "Crispy Critter". I tore it down, internally it was fine although I did clean up the internals a bit. I then went about making some subtle changes to the frame. I cut off the hump on the trigger guard, fit the pistol to my hand better by under cutting the trigger guard, and raising the "beaver tail" just a little. I also did a little milling on the muzzle, similar to the cuts on the 4.5" 622VR. Then I blasted the entire pistol and slide.

Here is the before pic:

This is after all of the first round of work, it shoots great, but I still want it black like a 422 should be:

So I found a local guy that does Cerakoting, and he is very reasonable, had the "critter" done in tactical black. Added some silver accents, and some nice wood grips, really pleased with the final result. Now I want to 'cote all of my 422's.

 

[Douglas8860]

Thanks for the post!
I liked the 'Critter' after the first round of work, but love the Cerakoting and wood grips.
You've done a great job bringing the 422 back to life!

 

[Barrie]

Those grips remind me of the M41 grips which are usually quite nice. You have done a great job restoring this gun as it looks better then new. Good for you.

 

[shoot summ]

Thought I would add an updated photo of "Crispy" sporting a new set of grips! These are copies of the S+W wood target grips in Wenge with custom checkering. He can make the grips in most any wood, lets you combine styles of grips(I have a flat panel on the other side), and can also make the 2206TGT(Herrett) style grips.

 

[cherrypointmarine]

That looks sweet ! I have a 422 and a 622VR , both are great shooters . How about shooting me a pm with the name of the person that made those grips .

 

[Heymatt]

Very nice work on that one! Looks great!

 

[4T5GUY]

That really came out fantastic. You saved it and a job well done.

I always forget to take before pictures. It's hard for people to understand, (or believe,) how bad something was before it was rehabbed.

Jim

 

[jc2721]

Nice! I have a beater 2206 that I've been thinking about rounding off the trigger guard like what you've done. Did you use a Dremel or files?

 

[shoot summ]

Nice! I have a beater 2206 that I've been thinking about rounding off the trigger guard like what you've done. Did you use a Dremel or files?

A combination of tools, it is pretty easy on the aluminum framed pistols, stainless is going to take some time. I marked the rough line and used a stationary belt sander, die grinder, and angle die grinder with a 2" disc. From there it was some flex shaft tool, file, and hand shaping. If you look at the bottom of the trigger guard you will see it is slightly rounded. I tried to continue that over the area I knocked off and blend into the bottom of the muzzle.

I think the pistols look much better without the hump.

 

[Drm50]

I'm surprised that rear sight works with stock front.

 

[tom2]

I picked one up maybe 10 years ago at a gunshow for 150$ in excellent condx. I did find the rough feed ramp was shaving the sides of the bullets a little bit though. I had to buy one of those special wrenches to remove the barrel nut and polished up the feed area really good. Fun little gun but due to it's light weight compared to a steel .22 I find it harder to keep steady for careful accuracy. I also once owned a Smith .22 "Escort" that was supposed to be for CCW and seemed to have the same layout as these later types but it would not feed, always jamming. So those should be looked at as "collectibles" rather than their intended purpose.

 

[shoot summ]

I picked one up maybe 10 years ago at a gunshow for 150$ in excellent condx. I did find the rough feed ramp was shaving the sides of the bullets a little bit though. I had to buy one of those special wrenches to remove the barrel nut and polished up the feed area really good. Fun little gun but due to it's light weight compared to a steel .22 I find it harder to keep steady for careful accuracy. I also once owned a Smith .22 "Escort" that was supposed to be for CCW and seemed to have the same layout as these later types but it would not feed, always jamming. So those should be looked at as "collectibles" rather than their intended purpose.

I typically do a feed ramp clean up on all of my keepers. I tend to focus on smooth over polish but either are better than stock typically. I've played around with using the stainless side plate from a 2206 on the 422, I like the additional weight in the grip.

I have an Escort, the -3 version, it runs flawlessly, but it appears I got lucky with it.

 

[marvin02]

@shoot summ - great job.

On my 422 I had a dovetail cut for the front sight so I could install a fiber optic sight and had it cerekoted.

If you haven't seen this howto on disassembling the 422 it is excellent:

422/622/2206/2213/2214 Disassembly - Reassembly Instructions

 

[wproct]

I can't believe what a difference rounding off the front of the trigger guard made to the overall looks of that pistol. I like that modification very much.

 

[tom2]

BTW I got curious and checked Gunbroker prices for plain unadorned 422's. Mine came with nothing but a holster and factory wood grips. Those GB prices! Wow. Guns are better than gold! Which is kinda sucky if you are looking to buy, instead. I did have a 622? stainless six incher when they came out new and eventually traded that. I liked the Ruger 22 auto but had a Browning Buckmark pistol once and it did not stay either. The weight of the Ruger made it steadier for me, I think. Besides the 422 I got a prewar Woodsman. Now that is a good gun for someone with small hands.