You want an inexpensive .22 pistol – you get an inexpensive .22 pistol, but that does not mean it has to be a bad experience. The German Sports Guns 1911 designed .22 caliber pistol is just all that–inexpensive and not a bad experience–so long as you agree that you get what you pay for.
Who can argue with the beauty and impressive nature of the 1911 design? One mag, garbage box, set of instructions and that’s all she wrote till you’re ready to fill ‘er up and shoot. The slide is light and racks back easily. The magazine fits nice and flush. All the controls are pretty much the same as any government issue. The gun feels as good as a 1911 should in the hand–which may be an issue for some of you smaller-fisted shooters out there, and unfortunately that’s where the good ergonomics stop.
First shot out of the gun wasn’t bad, but we did notice the very firm grip safety that many other people have complained about in this pistol. This causes even more of an issue to smaller-handed shooters who now have to hold the grip in an awkward way to get the gun to even fire. The trigger is mushy with a noticeable creep and travel, but this is a plinker so it’s okay.
Two hundred rounds in, the pistol started to show a few problems here and there. Nothing major, , just a misfed round or two. Some extra gun oil to the slide and the problem seemed to go away for a while. Accuracy was just okay.
Takedown for cleaning was kind of a pain. Some would say that about any 1911 model, but even for those of you who are use to the process, there’s an extra step with an extra screw that has to be undone to disassemble the pistol. This is also where you may notice some quality differences between more expensive 1911’s as compared to this plinker.
This is a fun gun to shoot and for the money, it really cant be beat for some fun at the range. We wouldn’t use it as a trainer for a “real” 1911 or as an option for a new student or youth shooter; but if you’re looking to blow through some cheap ammo and take out a line of recyclables from yesterday’s trash, the GSG 1911 .22 will certainly get the job done.