April 15th = Buy a Gun (BAG) Day

Smith &Wesson Model 22A with the 7" Barrel.

April 15, notorious for other reasons, also has a good side, as currently being promoted by Cowboy Blob. The idea is that on April 15th. you should go out and buy yourself a gun. Not a bad idea, provided you continue to buy the guns you normally would have purchased anyway. For pete's sake don't hold off your purchase until the 15th., though! BUY ANOTHER GUN just to celebrate BAG day!

If anyone asks, "Why are you buying ANOTHER GUN?", the best reply I've ever heard is "Because I can!". Think about that for a moment. Consider just how many places in the world there are that you CAN'T go out and buy a gun.

My BAG day purchase (it should arrive just about on the 15th.) is a brand new Smith & Wesson Model 22A .22 caliber pistol with a 7" barrel, along with five magazines. I have been working with several new shooters, and they have been looking around for a good mid-priced .22 to use in pin and plate matches. The basic parameters I was looking for were as follows:

7" Barrel
Weaver type sight rail for red dot sight mounting
Iron sights
Ease of disassembly for cleaning
Parts Availability
Price under $400 with four magazines.

There are a lot of good .22 pistols out there with decent reliability and accuracy, but after doing some research, it narrowed down to the Browning Buckmark Hunter and the Smith & Wesson 22A. Both designs draw heavily on the High Standard design, which, of course, traces back to the original Browning .22 auto pistol. Removal of the barrel on the Buckmark requires removing two allen screws holding the sight rail. Field stripping the 22A requires only pushing the barrel retaining button, lifting off the barrel, and removing the slide. With a little polishing and tuning, either the Buckmark or the 22A should fill the bill nicely as an entry level/mid-level rimfire race gun.
After I get a chance to break it in and dial it in a bit, I'll get a post up on how it turns out.......