Scoping .22 Semiautomatic Pistols

As a devoted shooter, a wide variety of firearms have always been of interest to me, including handguns. Back in the early sixties I became particularly interested in semi-automatic .22 pistols. I had used these little handguns in sport shooting, hunting, and competition, exhausting most means of conventional testing of these fine little guns limited only to my visual acuity and the most efof holding them steady. Why Not Scope Little Pistols?

One day while shooting several .22 handguns, I studied it and wondered just how well it would shoot with a precision mounted scope. Several features had to be incorporated into such a unique 22 semi-automatic pistol scope mounting system, the author elected to use common one-inch inverted scope rings, solidly positioned top-to-bottom. Shown here are inverted Redfield Jr. high rings, solidly interfaced together. The Redfield dovetail lock was removed to accomplish this. 22 semi-auto pistols.

The space between the top of the barrel and the bottom of the scope tube must be determined in providing proper height for the mounted scope lens housing to clear all parts of the gun. This was found to be 0.850 inches for those scopes I had in mind with ocular lens diameters no greater than mounting system. The scope bases would need to be solidly attached to the barrel and there had to be sufficient space front and rear for the rings.

The mounting system needed to solidly attach the scope above the front sight and the ocular lens housings had to be high enough for the handgun slide to freely move beneath it. The total package needed to be well balanced and function well without flaw, as well as being aesthetically presentable. Of those three guns I would scope, two were target versions with 6 3/4-inch target barrels. The Browning Challenger also had a 6 3/4-inch barrel but of a lighter, sporter weight tapered to 0.540 inch at the muzzle.

Things appeared to be all go. I never attempted to alter trigger pull on these guns, being selfloading as they were. The Browning Challenger trigger broke at 2 pounds 10 ounces with minimal slack. Both the Hi- Standard Tournament Model and the Ruger Mark II triggers were just over 3 1/2 pounds with a very crisp feel.

A special tongue-and-groove was used by author in uniting these inverted rings with absolute precision. Other types of scope rings can be modified in mounting a scope to a .22 semi-automatic handgun in this way. Closer Detail The primary components in bringing this scope mounting concept to fruition turned out to be inverted pairs of one-inch scope rings from Redfield, Conetrol, and others.

As the illustrations here show, the vertically opposing pairs of one-inch scope rings made up an integral scope-ring and base combination with the top rings clamped to the scope, while the opposing, lower half of the ring set is clamped to the barrel. Special nylon split shims were used to interface the lower, one-inch scope rings to the respective barrel diameters.

This A pair of Conetrol inverted horizontal split rings along with a special adapter are used here to interface the opposing rings with conepoint jam screws. The lower half of the front ring is removed to show the nylon shim used to join the ring half to each respective barrel. The scope can easily be removed for open sight shooting by removing the lower ring halves. made up a most solid, coaxiallymounted scope with identical ring sets that could be reversed end-toend or vertically.

Here I will cover the unique method that I used to interface or join the scope rings used in making up the various barrel-to-scope mounts—the heart of the system. First, the space between the top of the barrel and the bottom of the scope tube must be determined in providing adequate height for the mounted scope lens housing to clear all parts of the gun. This was found to be 0.850 inches for the scopes I had in mind with ocular lens or object lens diameters no greater than 1.50 inch.

A careful analysis of various scope ring sets revealed that high-height scope rings placed with opposing flat surfaces together provided the 0.850 inch required clearance. I chose the Redfield Jr. scope ring conversions for use on the Browning Challenger along with a Sightron 2.5-10×32 rifle scope. Other barrel combinations would require careful measurement. Scope parallax was corrected from 25-50 yards on all scopes I used. This would also enable shooting much past these distances as well.

Though the eye relief on these rifle scopes was shorter than some of the traditional pistol scopes I could have used, they worked out fine for my precision sighting, resulting in a brilliant sight picture as the reticle centered nicely through the scope exit pupil. The scope visual field is somewhat decreased at normal pistol eye relief, but it doesn’t take long to get on target with a quick view over the scope and then through it. The resultant sight picture is very clear.

Attaching the opposing flat surfaces of the scope rings together was performed with utmost precision. I first milled off the dovetail portion of the front Redfield Jr. ring, leaving the milled surface perfectly flat and square. This ring was then inverted and solidly attached to the rear Redfield Jr. ring of the set, with flat surfaces squarely together. This would make up one of the two barrel-to-ring mounts needed. Another set of rings were fitted to match.

The ring parts were solidly joined together with a countersunk 10-32 flat head, hardened screw that passed through one ring

22 semi-automatic pistols. From top, Ruger Mark II Target model with Conetrol split rings and a 2-7x Redfield scope; Browning Challenger with modified Redfield Jr. inverted rings and Sightron 2.5-10x scope; Hi-Standard Tournament model with Weaver-style inverted rings and Sightron 2.5-10x scope. This unique scope mounting method produced spectacular accuracy with all three .22 handguns, otherwise attainable only with a well-tuned rifle. threaded into the base of the other.

Coaxial congruity was assured by clamping all four rings to a oneinch rod for drilling and tapping in a milling vise. As completed, each ring set was a perfect match to the other. I had made up two similar ring sets using regular Weaver style rings milled down to fit and a set of Conetrol, low height, horizontal, split rings with a special adapter utilizing the cone-point jam screws.

Each of these ring-mount sets was totally interchangeable for scope mounting one handgun to the other by simply using the required barrel-to-ring split shims on the one-inch rings. Scopes can then be switched with minimal disturbance by simply removing the top ring halves and mounting another scope. Few things could be more convenient. As aforementioned, special halfround, fitted shims were used in attaching the one-inch scope ring to the respective pistol barrels.

This half of the joined ring set then essentially served as the scope base, along with the shims, which were made of black colored nylon. These ring/base sets could actually be reversed or used at either end of the barrel or interchanged one gun to another. They are so compact and durable they would easily withstand the recoil of a heavy magnum cartridge. In the mounting process I used Brownells Sleeved Scope Alignment Rods to verify coaxial ring alignment, which proved to be perfectly concentric.

A well aligned scope, in this way, also serves to reduce barrel motion while firing—further improving accuracy. It becomes an integrated unit. This places the back of the scope turret housing just clear of the rear ring and the ocular lens housing just over the open rear sight with 0.150 inch clearance. Scope tube space over the receiver was 0.700 inch. All-in-all, things were very well balanced. The Browning Challenger weighed in at 3 pounds, 12 ounces and formed a mechanoaesthetic (my word) appearance.

Browning Challenger Testing Having tested the Hi-Standard Tournament Model and the Ruger Mark II Target Model with my mounting system, I knew what to expect in the way of performance with the Browning Challenger. Earlier I was using two of the older Redfield 22 pistol shows the rest method used in testing them. Outstanding accuracy was achieved, quite comparable to some rimfire target rifles. Sportster scopes with 3/4-inch tubes, course reticle, and a fair amount of parallax present.

Accuracy at 25 yards at that time was good, but I knew it could be improved. I had read accounts of best group, 25-yard accuracy of around 1 1/4 inches with open sights being delivered with the Browning Challenger—which I felt I could easily improve upon and I most certainly did. With all systems go, I was finally prepared to embark on some pretty serious evaluative efforts.

The optics and mount systems were far superior to anything I had ever seen or heard of being used on a semi-automatic .22 LR handgun, and my method of shooting this type of gun would be much improved. I would also be using some of the best ammunition available today. I had gone over the bores on these pistols with a special cleaning and lapping technique that was working very well on my match .22 rimfire rifles. My primary testing was at 25 and 50-yards.

I used a special, adjustable rest with the gun supported on medium firm, leather-covered sandbags. The square-bottomed pistol butt rests squarely and firmly on a level sandbag controlled by my firm right hand. I’ve always relied on the premise that sustainable, top-line accuracy with any gun hinges on precision of equipment coupled with a reliable and proven shooting technique. These elements, along with total familiarity with the individual gun and its ammunition are the prime ingredients for better shooting.

A peculiarity I quickly learned in shooting the .22 rimfires involves a

22 pistol with special mount system designed by the author, used to achieve the ultimate precision from this spectacular little .22 pistol. As described in text, 25-yard, fiveshot groups averaged 0.286 inch with a 50-yard average of 0.478 inch. This is most unusual accuracy attained with a .22 semi-automatic pistol. Selected .22 rimfire ammunition was used in testing the three .22 pistols shot under ideal conditions.

Hyper velocity ammunition should not be used in semi-automatic pistols which operate on the blowback principle. 22 Sporter pistol shows a unique, balanced scope mounting system developed by the author in mounting a 2.5-7x Sightron scope. This is one-of-three .22 semi-automatic pistols mounted with this unique scope ring system. need to condition the bore as different brands or types of ammunition are used or following cleaning of the bore.

Not unlike most bores, including the high powers, this kink doubly applies to .22 rimfires when attempting to extract the highest degree of accuracy and precision from them. The latent accuracy within any firearm often goes quite undiscovered The slide retains the firing pin and spring and the recoil spring remains intact. The semi-auto pistols are well made, capable of extreme accuracy. 22 LR cartridges are suitable for use in semi-automatic pistols.

Those made especially for the .22 pistols like the Lapua Pistol King, CCI Pistol Match, et al, are perfect. The hyper velocity or those labeled "high velocity" should be avoided. by not knowing about conditioning the bore. This means firing a shot or more whenever there is a change in ammunition preceding any attempts at serious group shooting. This reestablishes the coefficient of friction within the bore.

I conducted such tests using all three of my scoped .22 rimfire handguns and the result was invariably the same. One must also be aware of temperature changes of rimfire ammunition, particularly the lower velocity, match types. Older .22 LR ammunition can pose a particular problem when cold as the bullet coating congeals. Temperature extremes should be avoided. Variance in ammunition temperature from one cartridge to another can also produce sporadic performance.

Uniformity in all aspects of shooting is an absolute requirement when trying for best accuracy. This information is valuable to the hunter as well. I had some of the best ammunition available, from such companies as Federal, Lapua, CCI, Remington, Winchester, Wolf, Dynamit Nobel, et al; some extraordinary performance was manifest here. For example, the 25-yard Browning 5-shot group average was 0.286 inch for eight groups.

Then, as I switched over to 50 yards with minimal disturbance of my rest, a 0.375 inch, five-shot group followed. This was followed by two more 50-yard groups, which measured 0.490 inch and 0.570 inch for a 0.478 inch, three-group, 50-yard average. This is almost beyond the realm of possibility with a .22 rimfire semi-automatic pistol, usually attainable only with a well-tuned match rifle. Considerably more testing was conducted at 25 and 50 yards and the three scoped .22 pistols compared quite closely.

Scopes remained perfectly sighted-in throughout long periods of shooting. Such performance adds a whole new dimension for the hunter too, extending the effective range of the pistols. AG