Bullseye .22 pistol

What are your thoughts on the S&W 22A for bullseye shooting? Does this pistol have what it takes for competition?

Thanks

The reports I've read indicate it may be accurate enough, but the trigger will keep the shooter from using the accuracy. A Buckmark or Ruger would be better.

Ive owned one, they are ok entry level and did ok at a indoor league but I wouldn't shoot one for bullseye matches unless I already owned one. Your better off buying a ruger or buckmark as entry level. But if your budjet is better, champions choice has the sig/hamerli exsse target pistol for sale below 900.00 that's a deal as it was over a thousand last year.

For a cheaper choice, a used Hamden High Standard is a good place to start.  You can get an iron sight version for under $500 in some cases.  They have fantastic triggers and great accuracy.

I completely agree with Rob Kovach; get a High Standard Victor, Trophy, Citation or whatever is similar. It doesn't have to be mfgr'd in Hamden.   Hartford made excellent ones and the very latest Texan stainless steel framed versions are also excellent.


You would have to spend $$$ to modify the Ruger mks and Browning BuckMarks to shoot with the HS pistols.
 

To jump back to your original question, No, the S&W 22A doesn't have what it takes to shoot bullseye as easily as other traditional Bullseye pistols; But you may have what it takes to overcome the mod 22A's deficiencies.  So, you might give Bullseye competition a go for 6-8 months, learn and then employ the basics principles and by then you'll be ready to shoot a suitable competition rimfire pistol that will be a rational choice, based on your prior bullseye shooting experience.


Tony

The reason I said Hamden is because 99% of Hamden guns don't have the manufacturing problems that certain E.Hartford and Texas guns had.  While MOST of the E.Hartford guns are AOK, I didn't want to lead a new shooter astray if he happened to get unlucky.

tonyg wrote:You would have to spend $$$ to modify the Ruger mks and Browning BuckMarks to shoot with the HS pistols.

For the Ruger, a $30 Volquartsen sear will do wonders for the trigger pull. That's not a ton of money. You can take it further with a $30 target trigger which will give you pre/over travel adjustment.

As for the Buckmark, flipping the factory spring is said to make a good trigger excellent.

I have shot a friend's High Stardard and while it is true that it had a wonderful trigger, I think you can be competitive with a Ruger and $30-60 of Volquartsen bits.

I should add that while my Ruger has been happy with all kinds of ammo, my friend has struggled with the reliability of his high standard... The magazines seem picky and need to be cleaned/tuned often. Hollow points are out of the question and not all round nose will feed reliably either.

High Standards while good shooters are notorious for feeding and magazine issues. A gun that cant be shot thru a whole match without multiple alibies  is worse than one that is less accurate. A 300.00 ruger preferably a MKII, but a MKIII will work good too with 75.00 worth of upgraded parts makes a entry level gun that will take you to master and beyond if you have the talent.

Pat,
You are a Master already buy a great 22, (Pardini, 208s, etc.) and become a High Master.

I have a nice 22A -1 and like it a lot.
It is not a bullseye gun
I would suggest a Mk II or a model 41 for not a lot more money.
MK II slabside is best of breed IMO add some VQ parts and you have a nice pistol.
My 22A is accurate enough but internally it is not made well and does not hold up
I like my Benelli but that one is finicky about ammo

Thanks to everyone for their inputs to my question. The comments on the hi-Standard are interesting as I read very little of Hi Standard. I'll have to keep an eye open for them. I also notice that their are no aftermarket accurizing parts for the 22A such as there are for the Rugers.

That's to bad. It might make an interesting winter project.

Pat Nemes wrote:Thanks to everyone for their inputs to my question. The comments on the hi-Standard are interesting as I read very little of Hi Standard. I'll have to keep an eye open for them. I also notice that their are no aftermarket accurizing parts for the 22A such as there are for the Rugers.

That's to bad. It might make an interesting winter project.

Pistol Champ is exactly right..
Jerry

desben wrote:

I should add that while my Ruger has been happy with all kinds of ammo, my friend has struggled with the reliability of his high standard... The magazines seem picky and need to be cleaned/tuned often. Hollow points are out of the question and not all round nose will feed reliably either.

The Mags are very reliable but you do need High Standard mags... not aftermarket. Once you adjust to your ammo choice, your good to go for a very long time unless you drop it. My first outing with my old HS's was a mess. Many FTF, and jams. a quick read up, and a hand made tool, and about 20 min at the range had them humming, and not a issue since. You are restricted to SV ammo though. That could be a issue these days with scattered avabilty of 22LR.

Pat Nemes wrote:What are your thoughts on the S&W 22A for bullseye shooting? Does this pistol have what it takes for competition?

Thanks

No.
What did you shoot to earn your master card?  That should tell you the 22A is not a serious level target pistol. 

Ron Habegger

Pat Nemes wrote:Thanks to everyone for their inputs to my question. The comments on the hi-Standard are interesting as I read very little of Hi Standard. I'll have to keep an eye open for them. I also notice that their are no aftermarket accurizing parts for the 22A such as there are for the Rugers.

That's to bad. It might make an interesting winter project.

I briefly owned a TALO edition 22A-1 last year, and aside from the lack of aftermarket parts (particularly grips and trigger stuff), I found it OK for Bullseye shooting. With my left hand (I usually shoot with my right; I decided to learn the gun with my off hand just for grins), I was able to consistently shoot Master-level scores with the gun. The Talo grip was way too big for me; the plastic/rubber grip fit a lot better. There aren't m/any other grips available, unfortunately. The Talo edition 22A features a metal trigger with adjustable trigger stop, which I'm sure really helped.

If I started learning Bullseye on the 22A (instead of the revolvers I chose to make Master with), would I have made Master? Perhaps. There are certainly worse guns to learn on -- I experimented with a Beretta U22 Neos at the same time as I was messing with the 22A, and the 22A was definitely the better gun (better trigger, better grips) -- but in my case, I'm not sure the 22A would really have been a hinderance: I made Master with my revolvers by practicing a lot and sending a lot of rounds downrange, and I don't think that would have been different if I decided to use a 22A instead.

In short: I think it's OK.

After reading all the comments I decided to be be my normal contrary self and bought a 22A with Bull Barrel. I mounted a cheap BSA dot on top and went the range. I was surprised that it does shoot well and my first slow fire targets at 50 yds were in the 90s. Timed and rapid at 25 yds were also in the high 90s. I then took it completely apart and worked over the trigger to smoothen it up. That's when I could see that this is not a pistol that can be shot forever without an occasional rebuild. My previous target pistols were a Unique DES 69, S&W 41 and 2 .45s. one by Clark and the other by Don Nygord.  These guns were built to shoot forever. The 22A uses stamped and plastic parts, (they even provide 2 additional recoil buffers with the gun knowing that they will quickly wear out). In my judgment reliability could be an issue.

So in my short experience the 22A does show excellent accuacy potential but I would be wary of using it in a match where reliabilty is just as important to winning.

Most any good 22 will shoot 10 ring or better at 50yds, so if comfortable with the feel and trigger and its reliable, shoot it till something you like better comes along.

Sorry to say the two 22As I owned were very ammo sensitive and unreliable.

I would stay away from this model if it can avoided.

I've owned a Sig Trailside, Model 41, Smith 22A, BuckMark, Ruger MKII, and MKIII 22/45 and HS Victor.

All the other listed above were reliable for me except the 22As.  I hate alibis.

Accuracy wise the 22As were decent.  Trigger was fair to poor.

I currently shoot a stock Ruger MKIII 22/45 which is great.

To answer the question NO 22As for bullseye.

I hope this helps.

Curious to find out who still sells High Standard pistols (new manufacture), anyone know?

I have my father's HS Model C (.22 short) but only one mag.  I like the gun a lot, but I'm told the .22 short isn't good for 50yds.  Tried to locate a second mag without much luck.  I placed an order with Triple-K for an aftermarket mag @ $55, but I got an email saying they were backordered for 90 to 120 days.

I don't know who told you .22 shorts are no good for 50 yards.  I'm sure there are some very slow .22 shorts that wouldn't be very good, but if you shoot a 40grain .22LR at 900 feet per second out of a high standard, or a 40 grain .22 short at 900 feet per second out of a really old high standard, I don't think it will shoot differently to 50 yards only because it's a .22 short.

Maybe High Standard can help you track down a magazine:
http://www.highstandard.com/index.php/weapons-hs/hs-pistols/hs-22-s
otherwise
www.gunbroker.com

If the model 101 mag is the same thing as a model C they have one on ebay

101s and c's don't have similar magazines, but ebay isn't a bad place to look...

You can get them direct from Triple K for 46.00.   SKU2071M.

High Standard Model C is a mostly prewar gun.
http://www.histandard.info/models/pistols/letter.html

Magazines are where you find them.  Like here once
http://www.gunauction.com/buy/7239975/magazine-clips/hand-guns/high-standard-model-c-22-short-magazine

Oh try here  http://www.gunclips.net/hdmihist.html


From my experience with Model 103 and 107 High Standard Olympic short shooters with the aluminum slides are not good bullseye guns. 
Heavy use will wear the slide.  It's fairly soft aluminum.  Accuracy is nowhere near what 50 yd regular 22 will do.

Longslide,

You say you really like the HiStandard C that you already have.  Instead of taking rumors about it's accuracy as fact, shoot it at 50 yards and see how it does.  Every gun is a little different.  Shoot what you have and have fun.  If you learn that you would have more fun shooting something else, THAT's the time to buy something else.