French Unique 22

[Drm50]

I picked this one up at auction. Bought for trading stock. It is ugly gun, but
well made of steel. Has flush hammer that is hard to get hold of. The kicker
is the ugly duckling shoots surprisingly well for a fixed sight pistol of this
size.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[jframejoey]

Its like a beretta 35, Jaguar and colt 1903 were put in a blender.

 

[2152hq]

I've seen a bunch of these for sale in the last year or so at shows. Wondering if someone imported a bunch but no one seemed to know.
Sturdy little things.

I remember a carbine conversion that was sold in the 60's using one of these or a similar,maybe slightly different model Unique 22 pistol.
You removed the bbl from the pistol, then slipped the pistol w/ slide up into the rifle assembly which contained the rifle bbl. That engaged & lock the pistol assembly together.
A push rod at the tip of the forend was used to operate the slide while in rifle mode,,much like a Winchester 63.
Wooden stocked. I think the top of the 'receiver' was grooved for a tipoff mount.

 

[Andyd]

I doubt that it would get enough points to pass the 1968 GCA.

 

[keithherrington]

I like my Unique better. Just sayin...


Keith

 

[Otreb]

Lots of those Uniques were sold at Sears as JC Higgins labeled. Good shooters, keep the extractors clean and lubed, they act as firing pins if they get stiff.

 

[2152hq]

I doubt that it would get enough points to pass the 1968 GCA.

As mfg'd, I agree. Probably wouldn't make the grade.
If they had stuck thumb rest grips on it and some sort of an adj rear sight it probably would pass. That's what InterArms did to get the 1000's of STAR Model S and SI pistols into the US in the 80's.
To be honest though I don't recall what the grips and sights were on the ones I saw. It just seemed odd to see a number of them all of a sudden at a bunch of different shows.

 

[Cyrano]

cprher: Love that Unique target pistol. I'm envious.

Here's my Unique 22. It was lots of fun to shoot. However those French plastic grips are really fragile and don't age well. One of the many foolish things I've done was to sell it to another collector who wanted it more than I did.

 

[amd6547]

I picked up a Unique 22 just like the OP's a couple years ago. It was at a gun show, and the price looked pretty cheap. I knew about Unique, as my Dad brought back a Unique 32 from WWII.
When I looked at it, I immediately noticed that the extractor was missing.
When I pointed it out to the seller (a private individual with a table, not a dealer...), he was dumbfounded, and said he had shot a few hundred rounds through it without a jam...
He lowered the price to $80, and I bought it.
I knew it was possible that it would work without an extractor, the same way a Beretta Bobcat does.
Sure enough, a trip to the range found the Unique worked perfectly.
I've put maybe 200rds through it without a jam, and I have found it to be pretty accurate.
What a great, all steel little 22. I highly recommend it.