S&W 22a Pawn shop find

[Deadeye Dick]

Last Saturday my wife and daughter went boutique and junk shop hopping a couple of towns over. So, with nothing better to do, and some Christmas bonus cash burning a hole in my pocket, I decided to check out the local gun and pawn shops to see if there was anything interesting in the used gun cases. My first couple of stops yielded a few interesting pieces but nothing within my budget. Then on my final stop of the day I discovered a S&W M22a that was pretty dirty but otherwise seemed to be in good shape. It was going on 4:00 and the owner, an acquaintance of mine, was trying to get everything packed up for the day so that he could get out to his deer stand. So, not wanting to hold him up, and figuring it would give me time to do a little research on the gun, I handed it back and didn't press any further.

I found lots of praise and not too much negative on this model on the internet. And the asking price was inline with the information that I found on the internet. So I went back on Monday after work and negotiated a deal. I ended up paying $200 out the door for it. It came with one magazine and no box or manual.

I cleaned it up and got a chance to shoot it a little today with some Browning BPR. It stove piped on me the very first round but then ran like a Swiss watch after that. Great trigger and accuracy may be on par with my Ruger MkII target. But I need to run several different brands of ammo threw it to get a better idea of it's performance.

I would love to pick up another mag. or two for it if anyone here has a spare or two they are willing to part with for a reasonable price shoot me a PM.

 

[IAM Rand]

Luv me some 22A. I bought 1 and inherited another. Every now and then I will experience some ammo issues but, both are great shooters.

 

[diyj98]

I had a couple and they weren’t very reliable.

 

[HOUSTON RICK]

I bought the 22S (same gun made out of steel) about 20 years ago and it has been a great, reliable plinker in whatever 22LR that I find. Not a Model 41, but accurate enough for those old eyes. It will be in my estate.

 

[m.p.driver]

A friend years ago wanted a .22 pistol, i told him go with a Ruger MkII, he bought a 22A instead, he found FTF FTE was a norm, first thing that went wrong was the cast hook on the upper broke off, S&W's cure was a bent piece of sheet metal shaped like a hook and then riveted in place, the second thing was a big gouge taken out of the feed ramp, S&W's cure was just to grind the gouge out (Now FTF really took off) He later traded it off and got a MkIII

 

[Ameshawki]

Have one, mine works fine. Never had any issues with it. Like most 22 pistols it likes to be kept clean and well oiled.

 

[AveragEd]

Mine runs flawlessly too. For $450 brand new several years ago, it's a great shooter.

Ed

 

[first-model]

The 22A was, in my opinion, a great little pistol that never quite got the respect that it deserved. Its only real shortcoming was the fragile little plastic piece at the back of the recoil spring. They had a nasty habit of splitting in half if the gun wasn't taken down or put back together correctly.

I had a 22A some years ago and sold it to make room for an early Model 41. I enjoy the 41, but the 22A gave me just as many smiles at a fraction of the price.

Mike

 

[g-dad]

I really like my 22a Talo. I have the same one AveragEd posted a pic of. Took the overly large wood stocks off and replaced them with the standard 22a plastics. Just recently put a Bushnell reflex dot on it and the granddaughters love shooting it!

Picked up extra mags from Midway when I got the gun 9 yrs ago this month. Also contacted S&W and purchased extra plastic recoil pads that were mentioned in a prior post.

I gotta say its been a fun shooter!

 

[Ky6906fan]

Nice I had one several years ago. S&W would send you a few of the white buffer things for free back in the day. Great guns.

 

[Heinz]

I am glad you got a good one. I bought one back in the 90s and went through 1000 rounds of 22 rim fire trying to find a brand it liked. I load 5 round strings as a habit from my bullseye days in college. I do not recall it ever finishing a five-round string without a misfire. I called the factory several times. They said they could improve the performance "some" but they were notoriously finicky about ammunition with the preferred ammo varying from gun to gun. I liked the gun's looks and feel; it shot well when it shot. That is why I hung with it for so long. That and memories of my Model 41 back in the late 1960s.
As I said, glad you got one of the good ones and they are out there. This is a caution for anyone shopping for one, Shoot it before you own it. I think you will know with the first box of ammo

 

[gunny4053]

Great find! I picked one up in that same $200 range. Mine shoots great with S&B, and when I want to really impress the neighbors on the range I shoot CCI Stingers. Something about a fireball coming from a .22 draws some attention. As mentioned, the 22A needs those small plastic buffers for the end of the recoil rod. They can be found for sale online, but folks who are selling them are also really proud of them. A call to S&W and asking about them will usually yield a few coming for free.

 

[glenwolde]

I bought mine new for less than $300 some years ago. It has the 7" barrel. I like mine a lot. Turns out it seems to prefer Remington Golden Bullets. Mine's been super reliable. As mentioned, pay attention to the recoil buffer. I've replaced mine a few times. I shoot them until it gets a crack. One day those will be hard to find. I'm keeping an eye out for something to make them from.

I didn't really expect it to last that long. There's a lot of aluminum in the thing. But it's held up really well and has one of the most comfortable grips I've found. Takes down like my High Standard.