22 Pistols For 2700 - Including Long Line

If you could own/shoot one of the following 22's which one would you choose and why?


Hammerli 208S

1911 Conversion

FWB AW93

Thanks

Susan

If I was just starting…
1911 conversion with a red dot sight

If I was experienced and wanted a dedicated “Match pistol”…, in about this order all with red dots

Hammerli 208s (215), FWB AW93, Matchgun, Pardini, Hammerli 280

Hammerli Xesse, S&W 41, High Standard, Browning Medalist, 1911 conversion

Custom Ruger (including Volquartsen), S&W Victory, Browning Buckmark…etc

Note the European pistols are setup for ISSF Standard Pistol, using them in CMP/NRA Bullseye is like running errands in a Indy car.  It’ll get it done and you’ll be proud of owning it, but it isn’t necessary.

I will pick the one I chose: a 1911 conversion.

I have different uppers set up and pre-zeroed. They are a snap to swap and very simple to maintain. They are in current production with at least two high-quality makers and parts are plentiful. The grip and trigger can duplicate the .45 exactly.

SRP,

IMHO, any of them are good enough to get to the "top table".

Never owned or even tried a FB AW93. I understand that spare parts can be tricky and red dot mounts quite complicated - but many folks love them and an aficionado will no doubt chime in and criticise my comments  

I recently bought a 208S, didn't really need another 22, but lots of folks swear by them so I decided that my life would not be complete without at least giving one a thorough test run. Mine has the 1911 grip adapters and a scope mount, so it was very easy to fit my preferred dot and go shoot. Nice trigger, seems to be quite picky about ammo. Shoots well, but has not "wowed" me so far.

I've owned a very, very nice David Sams built Marvel 1911 conversion for a while. I fitted my preferred sharksin grip plates and red dot. Then my guru breathed on the trigger. It is by far the "easiest" good 22 to shoot that I have tried. Very picky about cleanliness and ammo. Great for training with a 1911 format and it definitely helped me to get more comfortable shooting my 45. But, getting the trigger tuned to suit you is extremely important. My recent experience is that it can be an "Alibi machine", maybe I just need to use different ammo, but I am not going to use it for a match until I sort out the reliability. Frerkin Custom Works offer complete new builds - I recently got an iron sight version - looks great and trigger seems nice, but I have not yet had a chance to shoot it.

I guess that the "Elephant in the room" is; why no mention of Pardini?

Cranky Thunder resides in MI and it’s late there…

At least one of each...

Ric

We, myself, and my two sons all have AW93 and love them.  We all have the feinwerkbau vario-trigger installed on our pistols as well as Aimpoint H-1 red dots.  These pistols are unbelievably reliable; no miss fires or jambs in thousands of rounds, CCI standard velocity ammunition.  The trigger has an enormous amount of adjustability and each of us has adjusted the triggers to our personal preferences.

The smart pick is to see what most of the High Masters and Masters are shooting. Most of us have tried various guns and eventually the cream of the crop comes to the top. The 208 has been used for quite a while but no longer available, you take your chances with used. X-esse is available. Quite a few are using the conversion, they have some slight issues but they can be overcome. May take some experimenting to get it reliable. Pardini is being used by quite a few shooters but is quite a bit costly. It is very popular with international shooters. When at Ft Benning my son said 95% of the international shooters were using Pardini when they hosted international matches. I have an AW 93 and had issues with it, would not recommend it

TonyH wrote:Cranky Thunder resides in MI and it’s late there…

Hi Tony:

Good to hear from you, wish these airline prices would come down so I could take you to that Mexican Shrimp place around the corner!

Personally, I really like my Pardini SP New Bullseye.  purchased it new in 2013 have have not had a hiccup with it.  Only issues that I have had has been a busted magazine base when I dropped the loaded mag on the concrete and failures to fire when the firing pin channel got gunked up at about 40,000 rounds due to operator error.  I have cleaned the firing pin channel five or six times now, about every 30,000 rounds or so.  The competitors that I shoot with that shoot Pardini's have had similar positive experiences.  

I like the FWB AW 093 and own one but the grip is too large for my hand because the magazine goes in to the grip.  Would not recommend it because parts and service are questionable.  

Also own a couple model 41s, Excellent pistols, would be perfectly happy with one and you can get 1911 grips which do fit my hand really good.  

High Standards are really good although the magazine feed lips gotta be perfect.  

I almost purchased a Matchgun when they first became available here in the states.  Thought that they looked awesome and was curious on their loading mechanism, impressed with the grip adjustability and the affordable magazines. Held off and I am glad that I did.  I know of five people including TonyH that have had issues with their match gun and had to return them to California for service.  Some of them multiple times and they are still having problems.  The good news is that the Matchgun Importer appears to be responsible and responsive, addresses issues quickly, and is receptive to customer comments.  

Regards, 
Crankster

I would use a 1911 conversion for your criteria.  I used a 208S for years, shot my best 900 with it.  But, for the sake of consistency when transitioning to CF and 45 I switched to the conversion.  The same smith built my conversion lower as my 45, the triggers are very close in feel and weight.  My conversion will put 10 shots inside 1" at 50 yards, accuracy and reliability aren't an issue.  If you want to go after the 22 Distinguished badge just change the sight rib rather than the whole conversion or gun.

I might add that Nelson has a combination rib, has Iron sights plus slots and Weaver base so simply remove the optical sight and it's good for .22 distinguished matches.

I have an FWB. Beautiful pistol, but you're stuck with the raked Euro grip at least to some extent. Adapting it to resemble a 1911 results in a large grip, a problem for those of us with hands smaller than a teenage girl. Probably the same with the other brands. Maybe more room to work with the forward magazine pistols.
Commercial red dot mount replaces the rear sight. So another hassle if you want to shoot both. It also puts the dot way back. OK for a compact. I drilled/tapped the barrel and made a base with an Anschutz dovetail. Still requires pulling the dot to strip the gun, but it repeats zero and leaves the irons usable.

Some of the Hammerli and High Standard pistols resemble a 1911 in terms of the grip. I've never handled one, but have heard they're not identical. Maybe close enough though.

My M-41 is different enough to be noticeable. And needs work to make it reliable.

I'm also planning a lower for my Nelson whenever I get the parts together for a new wadgun. And then rebuild my LB for EIC.

WesG wrote:those of us with hands smaller than a teenage girl

Why you gotta talk about me when I'm not in the room?

john bickar wrote:

WesG wrote:those of us with hands smaller than a teenage girl

Why you gotta talk about me when I'm not in the room?

I added the 'smaller' comment to avoid violating your copywrite of 'teenage girl size' ... 

And ... my GF's teenage daughter has bigger hands than mine ... and she's a teeny little thing. 

Should I change it to *SMALLER* ?

LenV has the opposite issue.

Froneck wrote:The smart pick is to see what most of the High Masters and Masters are shooting. Most of us have tried various guns and eventually the cream of the crop comes to the top. The 208 has been used for quite a while but no longer available, you take your chances with used. X-esse is available. Quite a few are using the conversion, they have some slight issues but they can be overcome. May take some experimenting to get it reliable. Pardini is being used by quite a few shooters but is quite a bit costly. It is very popular with international shooters. When at Ft Benning my son said 95% of the international shooters were using Pardini when they hosted international matches. I have an AW 93 and had issues with it, would not recommend it

For ISSF World Cup at Fort Benning (or whatever its new name is) the Pardini SP is being used for 25 meter Rapid Fire Pistol and 25 meter Sport Pistol, where it works well for what it was designed for. Often competitors have two pistols at their shooting stand in case of malfunctions.

What batch/production block/year is your FWB AW93 from? They made several modifications during production over the years, just like Pardini and other manufacturers.

I chose a FWB AW93 over a Hammerli 208s/215s as the FWB is still in production and parts are available through several importers in the US. Also, like Pardini, the FWB armorers visit Georgia during ISSF World Cups. I didn't like how the Pardini balanced and several design features.

(Edit: I forgot about a recent ISSF World Cup in the US where many visiting teams could not bring their pistols into the US and Pardini USA did a great job providing loaner pistols to compete with. Kudos to Vladimir, Alex and crew at Pardini USA. Sense of Hospitality Permeates Recent ISSF World Cup Competition )

The choice of gun for anyone is purely subjective...try a bunch and shoot what works for YOU.
Getting back to the OP, my choice, if I could only pick one, would be a 1911 conversion with a decent trigger. Having said that, I still shoot multiple guns and not any particularly better than another....

From what I see on my AW-93 without removing anything is SN 20748
Problems new out of the box was lock-back after last round fired worked 50% of the time with one magazine and 10% the other. I eventually found the problem after getting wrong information from the dealers gun smith at Perry. The slot on the slide was not long enough, when slide returned, slide stop would pop-up but as slide continued back the end of the notch hit the slide stop. Moving the slide slow the stop would work every time. My thoughts were that with speed the slide stop was hit hard, driving the follower down in the the magazine and it would not recover in time. Lengthened the notch, problem ended! Another problem I could not adjust the trigger as I wanted it. Looking at the mechanism I seen the top of the sear bar move but not the bottom, looking close I noticed the pivot pin moving, It is supported on one side, made a Al.bronze cover plate and ended the problem! However I still have an issue with possible slide closing. From time to time I get what feel like and under powdered load, recoil in much less than others. Impact on target is low but I'm using High end Ammo by SK or Eley! AMU armorer thinks recoil spring is not strong enough! I plan to remove that stupid buffer and add a recoil spring in that location. But at this time I'm working on a homemade .22 conversion. My opinion there were too many problems from a high end target pistol! Therefore will not recommend especially to a new shooter to try the AW-93. If I were to recommend any pistol it would be the .22 conversion! They do have issues but with time aftermarket products will correct the issues! From I I see the main problem is the distance form the chamber to the location of the magazine lips and why many shooters are using Ace magazines. Using the conversion by a new shooter will give them familiarity with the 1911 frame and when they shoot the .45 match the experience will help!
In my home made version I moved the barrel back 1/4".
  I would be interested in AW-93 parts.

Having shot a Ruger MkII Gov't model, my go to my iron sights M-41.  The standard grips on a HS don't work for us lefties.  Of the 5 or 6 M-41s I've shot, my current one is the most accurate of the bunch.  Haven't felt the need to try anything else as (knock on wood) it runs great for me.