Handgun Roundup: 1911s Chambered in .22 LR

By Jed Henson - Last updated: Wednesday, May 16, 2012 - Save & Share - One Comment

At last count, roughly 25 manufacturers are producing nearly 400 different 1911 models. They are available in a wide variety of calibers, including .45 ACP, 9mm, .38 Super, .40 SW and even .357 Magnum.

Oh, and one really small cartridge: .22 LR.

Why build the combat-oriented 1911 in diminutive .22 LR? Cost, for one thing. .22 LR ammo costs much less than .45 ACP ammo, so shooters can send a lot of them downrange without breaking the bank. Thus a .22 LR 1911 can provide plinking fun, and you can also use one as a wallet-friendly training gun. Finally, .22 LR produces very little recoil, so young shooters can enjoy and learn on a .22-caliber 1911 more easily than they can a big-bore 1911.

This article pulls together info on the eight .22 LR 1911s in production today into one place. (Note: These listings feature complete guns and don’t touch on .22 LR conversion kits, of which a number exist.) Each pistol’s listing is an excerpt from its main-info page, which contains the full description, specs, more photos, pricing info, user ratings, editor ratings (when available) and links to online stores selling the pistol. To go to that pistol’s page, click on the link included in the excerpt (i.e., the word “here” in blue text).

The actual retail prices and price ranges listed below reflect prices seen recently in online gun stores. Those numbers certainly aren’t absolute—you might be able to find better deals at other online stores or brick-and-mortar gun shops.

I’ve organized these pistols alphabetically by manufacturer. If I’ve failed to include a model, please let me know via the Contact form at this link, or via the Comment form at the bottom of this article.

Pistol	User Rating	# of Votes
Colt Govt. 1911 .22 LR	6.8	12 votes
Chiappa 1911-22	6.7	9 votes
SIG Sauer 1911-22	6.5	99 votes
GSG 1911	5.7	6 votes
Kimber Rimfire Target	4.3	4 votes
Kimber Rimfire Super	3.5	17 votes
Rock Island XT22	3.3	108 votes
Browning 1911-22	3.0	26 votes

Finally, I’ve added a table showing the user ratings each pistol has accumulated so far (on the right). Note that some of them have few votes so far, which renders their ratings statistically insignificant. Feel free to visit each gun’s page and rate them as you see fit! I’ll update the table periodically to reflect changing ratings and vote numbers.