New Equipment

Have been looking at Pardini .22 pistols online, Pardini USA and Champions Choice.  Is there other sources I should be looking at, does anyone have recommendations.  Bullseye is fairly new for me, I am an old High Power Shooter, it’s time to quit laying in the dirt.  I can afford good equipment, so the price is not a big factor.  Used, they are hard to find.  Thanks.

Have you had a chance to shoot one? It's a beautifully made, reliable, accurate pistol...I sold mine. It's not for everyone. Most 22's can shoot high master scores. It's a question of grip angle, balance and quality of trigger.

My personal recommendation is, if you can, try before you buy! Also try a conversion, Feinwerkbau, Ruger (with aftermarket trigger), Buckmark, Smith 41 and anything else you can get your hands on. If you belong to a local club or league, you should be able to try a bunch of different options.

Hope this is helpful!

If you have the time and the $$$, try gunbroker.com. Pardini 22s and .32 combos can be found there. The .32 can be a tricky animal as far as reloading as I understand it. So go for a .22 and when ready or wanting, a .45 for CF and .45 match. Or just go for broke and become a .22 maven. It as gas to shoot 2700s with just a .22.

Also try targettalk.org in the buy, sell, trade forum.

Hammer6048,

If you have not already done so, go visit a Bullseye match in your State and ask the Pardini shooters where they bought theirs. AFAIK direct from Pardini USA or from their stocking dealer Champions Choice seem to be the two most common sources, but I have heard of folks ordering through their local "favourite" dealer.

As for "try before you buy", the only way that I was able to satisfactorily accomplish that where I was located at the time was to buy the guns suggested by others, test them thoroughly, then decide whether to keep or sell on. I sold on a lot! 

The other problem with trying others guns, especially those with anatomical grips, is that they will rarely be a good fit - hence the test is essentially meaningless. IMHO.

Pardini SP22's seem to be quite reliable (OK, some folks have problems with CCI SV ammo, use something else!). From my own experience and casual observation on the line, 41's and conversions suffer a disproportionate number of problems, but, to be fair, many of them are being used by relatively less experienced or whatever shooters.

The biggest issue that is often mentioned is grip angle and comparison to a 1911. It is evident that almost all of the military shooters and many other top shooters use Hammerli 208 or 1911 conversions with slab style grips. That is obviously an important issue and one that I am also considering carefully. Rink (and no doubt Dick Horton and other custom makers) offer "upright" anatomical grips that are closer to the wrist position of a 1911, but that is a very complex and personal issue.

Hope that this helps.

Personally I would stick with American made. Finding a smith to repair a European gun and finding parts is a pain. Plus like someone said most 22s are accurate. There's a lot of aftermarket stuff for Rugers!

Dear Hammer:

In response to the previous poster the rugers, buckmarks, and other american manufacturers are fine handguns but they simply are not in the same ballpark as a pardini.  

Pardini has provided excellent support for their firearms ever since they started exporting them to the USA, from Nygoord to Larry Carter and now, Pardini USA.  

I have owned mine since I purchased it new in 2013 and the support provided by Pardini USA has been flawless when I have purchased spare parts and magazines.   Please note that I have not had a malfunction in mine and I go through between two and four cases of ammo a year.  

The only real issues with the Pardini's is that some of the current batches of CCI SV do not function reliably although I have yet to experience it.  Regrettable since most shooters prefer the CCI SV because of the cost.  

Regards, 
Crankster

The VERY best path I feel, would be to go to a match or some matches and see what people are using and ask them why?
The quality of Hamerli, Pardini, and Walther is hard to dispute.
The Value is too.
A used Pardini is for sale on this forum at this time and the price reflects the value.
Most times a new shooter that starts with a reasonably priced pistol will, if they stick with the sport,
upgrade to a pourpose built high quality pistol.
If you can find a pistol that feels correct to you, fine.
If the forward angle feels too much you can as some suggested and as I have done, have a custom grip 
made by Mr. Horton to fit your hand.
These are my opinions.

IMHO the right pistol will “speak” to you. There are many options available and it can be expensive and frustrating. The best advice is to make friends and try as many pistols you can get your hands on. There are older pistols that are around that will tempt you, but I would resist ( unless you’re a collector and don’t care lol ).
Some key things to keep in mind is wether or not it fits YOU, grips are easy to fix. European pistols tend to have a very aggressive grip angle with some exceptions like the Feinwerkbau AW93. Many have features that you can tune to your liking like the trigger length of pull, etc. This is key as you can adjust to suit your grip.  Some older pistols like the S&W 41, High Standards, Rugers do not have this feature without serious upgrades or gun smithing. Sometimes this can be adjusted for with a particular style grip. These are the things you will need to sort out. 
Another trap to avoid is (If your considering a pre owned pistol) getting another’s nemesis pistol. As I call them. Pistols with issues that were not wrung out, and they just give up on them. 
And…with todays supply chain issues, and with older pistol parts becoming unobtanium, you want a pistol that can be repaired. There are a number of sources for many parts, but they are dwindling. Also, those that can reliably do repairs and adjustments are out there, but you may need to ship here and there. 
If money is not the issue, I would look at the most current crop of top end offerings: 
Feinwerkbau AW93 (Zins has won Nationals with one, Hemphill and some others clean up the line with theirs and while they are like hens teeth, they are still in production) Brenzovich, Champions Choice, ISS offer them.
Pardini (also current, and they have a US office)
Walther GSP etc. (also with a US office) Brenzovich, Champions Choice (Maybe several others) sell these
X Esse (Walther)(Brenzovich, Champions Choice, Red Feather Outfitters sell these) a bargain of a pistol (under $1500) accurate as heck (Hendo shot an incredible 897-60x with one - originally known as the Trailside with some custom features) think of a less expensive simpler version of the Hammerli 208.
MatchGuns MG2 by Caesar Morini…this is the new kid on the block IMHO. Unique design in the European style. Extremely adjustable trigger, and grip alignment. All these are usually pre-ordered. Jon Eulette has info. 

Then we have the collector series (!)>
Hammerli 208s,  M41, High Standards (tho Aronstein has resurrected the brand somewhat), IZH 35M, Sako, I’m sure there are others I’m forgetting. The key here is reliability (read alibis) and repairing/parts convenience.

THEN…we have an alternative theory of employing the Conversion.22 systems. Some shooters feel that they have an advantage over a bespoke .22 in that you have a similar grip and feel as your 1911, especially when it comes to shooting 900, and 2700 matches. I will tell you that while I use one, I am not totally convinced. This is a reasonable option, but you may find that you will want a bespoke receiver for your setup. Which may bring the price back up towards the other pistols mentioned. These you can buy direct, they are Nelson Custom guns, and the ‘Marvel’ by Frerking Custom guns. 

I hope we haven’t confuzzled you completely at this point!  YMMV. Good luck.

Buy an Xesse with grooved barrel for easy mounting of Ultradot Matchdot and don't look back until you make Master.

Make sure you try a euro pistol before buying one, the balance and grip angle is much different than most pistols you've probably used. I prefer more of a center balance, my favorite is a Hammerli 208S followed by a 1911 with 22 conversion. To me they're easier to shoot well.

Welcome to the fine art of Bullseye Shooting.  To answer your question, you did miss a dealer and fine shooter Greg Derr.
 
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