Hi CGN, I'm new to the sport and just wanted to share my first experiences with the GSG 1911 .22lr. There are many Youtube videos and web reviews for this pistol, so I'm not contributing anything new, but just adding my two cents (or about $0.08 a round as it were at current prices where .22lr are available). I had chosen this as a first gun because I wanted an inexpensive way to learn how to handle a full-sized weapon - the GSG 1911 definitely fits the bill, as it is inexpensive (and .22lr ammo is so much cheaper than anything else), and full-sized (almost the same weight as a 1911 .45ACP). Plus, it's a 1911, and ever since handling one in the CFSC I knew this was the type of gun I wanted to learn how to shoot.
So far I've taken it to the range twice, and put 325 rounds through it, with five brands/models of ammo... more on this later.
I bought the tactical black with brown grips, primarily because I thought it looks cooler with the tactical rail on the frame (and I can always remove it if I want to)
View of the business end (some weird scratching on the guide rod plug after the first day of firing - from rubbing on the barrel bushing? - zoom in here)
Disassembled, and my $0.05 snap cap lol - I did, before first use of the gun, lightly sand the rails on the frame with 400 grit sandpaper until the paint was just removed, to speed up the wearing in process, and I think it helped - again, more on this below
What I've tried so far
So, after two trips to the range, to pretty much reiterate what I've read about ammo in the GSG 1911 .22lr... from what I feel is best to worst with what I've tried to date:
Federal Ammunition Champion lead round-nose (blue box)
- this ammo shot perfectly - I put in maybe 80 rounds now, and not one malfunction; I won't comment on accuracy because I'm new to this but I feel I had the best groups on this
Remington 22 Subsonic (1050 FPS rifle)
- this surprised me - I didn't expect the subsonic to cycle the slide, but I bought the little box just to try it out for the fun of it - it also shot perfectly, though I only tried 15 rounds, no malfunctions!
- note that I didn't try this cartridge until I had put maybe 130 rounds through the gun with all the other high velocity ammo; accuracy on this round I felt was excellent also
Remington 22 Thunderbolt
- this also surprised me - I read mixed reviews on this ammo, but for me it shot near perfectly; on the first day I had 2 or 3 malfunctions (ejected casing but failed to feed) in 70 rounds, but only in the first two magazines - since then, no more issues, probably about 150 rounds so far
Winchester Super X - 37 grain, 1330 FPS (rifle)
- man, you would think if it came in a nice box it would work well - first day, two magazines of this had 50% malfunctions - fail to extract (I had to extract the casing from the chamber with a pocket knife), double-feed, failed to feed, stovepipe
- second day, with the gun slightly worn in, it worked better - shot 10 rounds, still had a double feed and failed to feed, that's 20%
Winchester 222
- this really sucked on the first day - 70% malfunctions on 30 rounds, and it was really depressing until I quit using them (double-feed, failed to feed, stovepipe, failed to extract - jammed in the chamber)
- second day was better, 50% malfunctions on the first magazine - still all the same problems though, including two times of the casing jammed in the chamber requiring a pocket knife to extract
- second magazine at the end of the day actually functioned decently - only 2 malfunctions out of 10 in the mag; maybe other parts of the gun are quickly wearing in to match the sanding/smoothing of the frame slide rails I had done?
Point is, don't try Winchester ammo until you've broken in the gun - it's too discouraging otherwise. Don't know how it can be that Winchester ammo can be so bad, even though the non-high-velocity Remington Subsonic rounds worked without issue.
Also, my two times cleaning the gun after the range (and of course I cleaned the gun before first use), I noticed some gritty stuff and tiny shiny metal flakes around the slide and rails on the frame, no doubt a part of the wearing in process? Or at least I hope it's normal and it'll go away soon. It's a little disappointing too, how quickly the slide-stop notch gets dinged up - I understand it's normal for this gun and the slide should last a long time, but the way it's wearing away right now doesn't fill me with confidence. Otherwise, I'm really enjoying the GSG 1911.
Can't wait to shoot this gun some more and continue breaking it in, and maybe get to try some other brands of ammo!
So far I've taken it to the range twice, and put 325 rounds through it, with five brands/models of ammo... more on this later.
I bought the tactical black with brown grips, primarily because I thought it looks cooler with the tactical rail on the frame (and I can always remove it if I want to)
View of the business end (some weird scratching on the guide rod plug after the first day of firing - from rubbing on the barrel bushing? - zoom in here)
Disassembled, and my $0.05 snap cap lol - I did, before first use of the gun, lightly sand the rails on the frame with 400 grit sandpaper until the paint was just removed, to speed up the wearing in process, and I think it helped - again, more on this below
What I've tried so far
So, after two trips to the range, to pretty much reiterate what I've read about ammo in the GSG 1911 .22lr... from what I feel is best to worst with what I've tried to date:
Federal Ammunition Champion lead round-nose (blue box)
- this ammo shot perfectly - I put in maybe 80 rounds now, and not one malfunction; I won't comment on accuracy because I'm new to this but I feel I had the best groups on this
Remington 22 Subsonic (1050 FPS rifle)
- this surprised me - I didn't expect the subsonic to cycle the slide, but I bought the little box just to try it out for the fun of it - it also shot perfectly, though I only tried 15 rounds, no malfunctions!
- note that I didn't try this cartridge until I had put maybe 130 rounds through the gun with all the other high velocity ammo; accuracy on this round I felt was excellent also
Remington 22 Thunderbolt
- this also surprised me - I read mixed reviews on this ammo, but for me it shot near perfectly; on the first day I had 2 or 3 malfunctions (ejected casing but failed to feed) in 70 rounds, but only in the first two magazines - since then, no more issues, probably about 150 rounds so far
Winchester Super X - 37 grain, 1330 FPS (rifle)
- man, you would think if it came in a nice box it would work well - first day, two magazines of this had 50% malfunctions - fail to extract (I had to extract the casing from the chamber with a pocket knife), double-feed, failed to feed, stovepipe
- second day, with the gun slightly worn in, it worked better - shot 10 rounds, still had a double feed and failed to feed, that's 20%
Winchester 222
- this really sucked on the first day - 70% malfunctions on 30 rounds, and it was really depressing until I quit using them (double-feed, failed to feed, stovepipe, failed to extract - jammed in the chamber)
- second day was better, 50% malfunctions on the first magazine - still all the same problems though, including two times of the casing jammed in the chamber requiring a pocket knife to extract
- second magazine at the end of the day actually functioned decently - only 2 malfunctions out of 10 in the mag; maybe other parts of the gun are quickly wearing in to match the sanding/smoothing of the frame slide rails I had done?
Point is, don't try Winchester ammo until you've broken in the gun - it's too discouraging otherwise. Don't know how it can be that Winchester ammo can be so bad, even though the non-high-velocity Remington Subsonic rounds worked without issue.
Also, my two times cleaning the gun after the range (and of course I cleaned the gun before first use), I noticed some gritty stuff and tiny shiny metal flakes around the slide and rails on the frame, no doubt a part of the wearing in process? Or at least I hope it's normal and it'll go away soon. It's a little disappointing too, how quickly the slide-stop notch gets dinged up - I understand it's normal for this gun and the slide should last a long time, but the way it's wearing away right now doesn't fill me with confidence. Otherwise, I'm really enjoying the GSG 1911.
Can't wait to shoot this gun some more and continue breaking it in, and maybe get to try some other brands of ammo!
