# Chiappa 1911-22



## stumpie

Any one here own and shoot this pistol, if so please give a honest review of what you like and dislike about it .Thank


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## bruce333

http://www.gunblast.com/Chiappa1911-22.htm


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## Jimi_l

Hi All,

I just bought one of these and apparently they are NOT the same weapon as when they were first introduced. At least that is what the dealer told me. The metal is better quality, there is a lifetime warranty with it and it's a little "looser" out of the box.

I have not shot it yet but I can tell you that the CCI Mini Mags he gave me will not chamber, cycle or eject well if at all. Either they are too big (Bad batch?? Seems unlikely) or the barrel is too tight. I plan on this being my SD weapon so I researched ammo and decided on Remington Yellow Jackets which chamber/cycle/eject perfectly. The also load in the mags WAY better.

The front sight is pretty crooked (sloped to the left) and it was full of red grease but other than that a quick hands on seems fine. I'll let you know after I put a few hundred through it. I can tell you right now I don't really care how well it shoots from any kind of distance because I know the ammo is not up to it. It's a nightstand and walking around pistol so if I can shoot reasonable groups from room distance I'll be happy.

Jim


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## dayid

I had one. Past-tense. The sights require you to file the front sights and re-blue it. Chiappa isn't going to be bothered to actually put proper sights on such a cheap gun. Now, they make this clear before you buy it (if you read their paperwork and such), but I still thought that was stupid.

The 1 magazine wasn't so great either - and even with filing never "dropped free" like most modern pistols do. It required pulled the baseplate to remove from the well. Additional magazines were way too expensive (shouldn't be more than $10-15 for that scrawny piece of plastic).

I put probably 15 different types of LR through it (and probably 1500 rounds total), and never made it through a brick of 50 without having some type of failure - be it to feed or eject.

The soft-metal of the hammer on mine had physical depressions on it from being fired also. I never dry-fired this gun.

Cleaning it and the take down is easy and fine.

All in all, you're far better off with a GSG-1911-22 or a more proven 22 platform like the Ruger MKII/MKIIIs or even the MKII/45.

I sold it for what I got it for and still felt ripped off on the quality of it. Chiappa's responses to inquires were "try other ammunition" etc. My co-worker has one also, same problems with his.


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## Jimi_l

I did get two mags with mine and they both drop out fine. I also got a cleaning brush, blow molded case, paperwork, etc. As I said it seems this gun has evolved somewhat from the early shipments even though it has not been out long. It does not feel cheap at all and I read somewhere that Chiappa is actually an Italian company (for what that is worth). I hope to get out from the rain and shoot this thing tomorrow and I'll let you know.

Jim


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## ronmail65

Jimi_l said:


> I did get two mags with mine and they both drop out fine. I also got a cleaning brush, blow molded case, paperwork, etc. As I said it seems this gun has evolved somewhat from the early shipments even though it has not been out long. It does not feel cheap at all and I read somewhere that Chiappa is actually an Italian company (for what that is worth). I hope to get out from the rain and shoot this thing tomorrow and I'll let you know.
> 
> Jim


Hope this works out for you. I'm interested to hear more after you shoot some.

I too was very interested in this gun, but decided on a Sig Mosquito instead. I've been very happy with that.


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## Overkill0084

I was thinking of getting one a while back. From what I read, the GSG 1911 (.22) is a better all around product. YMMV.
Products


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## Jimi_l

Rained again on Sunday so no time off until the weekend. I may take Thursday off though and spend a day working it out.


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## Jimi_l

Alright I finally got a chance to fire this weapon a little. Here is what I found. 

Out of the box, field stripped and cleaned were the only things I did before hitting my Dad's back yard. I started with 8 in the mags and none in the chamber. This is an arbitrary number I came up with after doing some reading on topped off mags verses a few shy.

CCI mini mags simply will not shoot through this gun. They act as if they are too large and jam even in loading. The best I could get was MAYBE 2 or 3 in a row before if did not load fully or simply jammed in transition. Most times it stuck at 1, even after multiple other ammo rounds had been fired so it is not a "break in" issue. My Dad's rifle shoots these same rounds fine so it has to be the Chiappa.

Winchester 333 "bulk loads" shoot pretty good. I would say maybe 2 or 3 jams per 50 and no misfires at all. I would certainly consider these for daily plinking.

Remington Yellow jackets shoot DN (dead nuts) by the box full. No jam even with 10 in the mag. These are easily the loudest of the three and most damaging to the targets as well. These are what will stay in the mags when I carry it and yes I am going to carry it because it's all I got.

I did find that it shoots a little low and to the left but not horribly so. From the first mag I could easily hit a plastic coke bottle probably 4 out of 8 times from 30 feet or so (guessing) and I have not shot a pistol in probably 10 years. My old man had similar results and he has not fired a pistol since the 60's. Either way it's close enough to EASILY get a fast group in the "fat part" of a bad guy if I had to.

Lastly I did find that one mag clearly has some sort of issue but damned if either of us can tell what it is and we were both machinists for years. Actually when I removed it (the mag) from the testing loop I don't think I had another jam of any kind except for the CCI rounds that I tried again at the end. I will keep the other mag but marked it BAD with a paint pen and keep the good one loaded and in the gun.

Also of note is while everyone and their brother (and the manual) says to NEVER dry fire it but on a few occasions you have no choice. The weapon will cycle without reloading which results in a dry fire. As far as I can tell there is no way to stop this short of never testing unknown ammo.

I like it and everyone who I have shown it to likes it as well including a few local dealers. They all agree it is a good piece. Granted the machining is not exactly "Swiss Timing" but it works as advertised and for under $275 in hand you won't beat it in my opinion.

Jimi_l


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## ronmail65

Jimi_l - Glad the gun is performing to your expectations! I have a couple of questions / things you may want to look in to.



Jimi_l said:


> CCI mini mags simply will not shoot through this gun. They act as if they are too large and jam even in loading.


I'm still kind of a newbie, but this seems very odd to me. I've heard of bullets not chambering properly because of the roundness of the slug, but not because of their general size. I would think that all 22LR rounds should fit.



Jimi_l said:


> The weapon will cycle without reloading which results in a dry fire. As far as I can tell there is no way to stop this short of never testing unknown ammo.


By this statement, do you mean to say that the slide does not lock open after the last round is fired? If that's the case, this is generally considered a problem for most (if not all) semi-auto pistols. Dry firing is not good for rim fire guns. Unless this is a "feature" of the gun (not locking open), then I'd consider it a potential defect and have it checked out. You don't want to ruin the firing mechanism as a result of this. Plus if it's a defensive weapon, you don't want to be thinking there's a round in the chamber when there isn't.


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## Jimi_l

It has to be the gun. CCI's simply will not feed or chamber in this gun and everything else does. I have since found other Chiappa owners who have the same problem. I think it's the wax coating all over them because you can actually stuff them in there but after the wax builds up they will not eject. Many semi's are ammo fussy and these are apparently "Chiappa Kryptonite".

The gun will lock open after the last round every time. However if it fires and then fails to reload for whatever reason it will dry fire and not lock open. For example the CCI's sometimes don't even appear to start to ramp up into the chamber but the slide closes and it is ready to go with nothing in it. That's the best way I can explain it.

I hope this helps,

Jim


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## ronmail65

That's cool as long you understand what's going on and you're comfortable. I misunderstood. Just wanted to make sure you have a sufficiently reliable gun. IMO, you don't compromise on safety or reliability when you're buying a gun. Good luck!


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## swizzin

do not buy chiappa mine did not make 150 shots they do not respond to emails they want you to go through a ffl to get parts waste of time and money better spent else where.


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## Sgt45

I have one, I shoot Remington Thunderbolts through it and it seems to work fine. I have one magazine that is bad, I ordered two extra at a price that made my eyes bleed, but at least they work. The gun is fairly accurate and is fun to shoot, but I would NEVER, EVER, EVER, depend on it for anything other than fun. In a word it's junk, but it's a fun piece of junk to shoot and so far it seems to be doing OK, but due to the cheapness of the metal and workmanship, I would never trust this gun.


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## Scorpion8

ronmail65 said:


> I would think that all 22LR rounds should fit.


CCI Stingers use a different shell-length than typical 22LR's, which is how they get greater velocity. Sounds like they are headspacing on the case rim and not the base rimfire rim. I think Minimags are the same.


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## Steve M1911A1

...And if you continue to shoot low-and-left, you may be having a small trigger-control problem. It's called "milking."
To correct it, try "isolating" your trigger-finger movement during each press, so that the other fingers of your hand don't squeeze along with it. It also helps this "isolation" technique if you grip the pistol very tightly, but leave your trigger finger a little loose.


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## Aesop

Jimi_l said:


> Hi All,
> 
> I just bought one of these and apparently they are NOT the same weapon as when they were first introduced. At least that is what the dealer told me. The metal is better quality, there is a lifetime warranty with it and it's a little "looser" out of the box.
> 
> I have not shot it yet but I can tell you that the CCI Mini Mags he gave me will not chamber, cycle or eject well if at all. Either they are too big (Bad batch?? Seems unlikely) or the barrel is too tight. I plan on this being my SD weapon so I researched ammo and decided on Remington Yellow Jackets which chamber/cycle/eject perfectly. The also load in the mags WAY better.
> 
> The front sight is pretty crooked (sloped to the left) and it was full of red grease but other than that a quick hands on seems fine. I'll let you know after I put a few hundred through it. I can tell you right now I don't really care how well it shoots from any kind of distance because I know the ammo is not up to it. It's a nightstand and walking around pistol so if I can shoot reasonable groups from room distance I'll be happy.
> 
> Jim


I have the 1911-22 by Chiappa. It's horrible, just horrible. I have never had so many misfires in my life and with about every type of ammo. Today it was CCI. It misfired about 5 out 10 rounds. I spent most of the 20 minutes I was there picking up unspent rounds instead of shooting. This has gone on since I purchased the gun. Further one of the magazines swelled up and won't go into the gun. The front site fell off too.

Do not get one of these.


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## kperlow

I agree with Aesop. This has been the worst purchase I have ever made. I have never been able to shoot more than 2 rounds without having to manually remove the spent casing and I also have a magazine that will not slide into the gun. I bought this in July and it is getting ready to ship back to Chiappa for the 2nd time and they do not even pay the shipping like Ruger and other more reputable companies do. Of course they say it is the ammo, did you dry fire it and on and on. If I get it back again and it still doesn't work I do not know what I will do except put it in the safe and never use it. Stay away from these guns!


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## woppendorf

I just got rid of a Chiappa 1911-22 on Saturday. Had all the same problems as noted by others above. 
Never again !


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## Spike12

I'm posting this for the newbie readers... I AM NOT sticking up for the gun in question.

1) I guess I might have tried match grade ammo for some of these problems. .22 ammo is about the loosest stuff you can be involved with; case sizes, lengths, dirt quota, etc.
2) In the center fired pistol world it is not uncommon, in fact quite common, for a gun to need a break in period before it will eat all different ammo and bullet types. This applies to 1911s, whatever.
3) Cleaning the new gun thoroughly before visiting the range is required._ Period._ _That includes cleaning your mags._ Do not be surprised at what you find on the first cleaning. That's why you're cleaning it in the first place. The mags are the central piece to a pistol's successful operation. You can have the best pistol in the world, but if the mags are dirty, bent lips, etc., forget about it. The whole timing of the gun depends on the mags. 
4) DO NOT over lube a small caliber pistol. Less is more. I run all my .22 everythings as close to bone dry as I can get. I even have a SIG P230 in 380 that unless I only oil just a few parts it becomes a jam-o-matic. Only the lightest of oil is best. Don't worry, you're not going to wear it out.


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## hillman

I am only going to say that if you intend to *rely* on your 1911-22 for anything, Chiappa isn't a go-to gun. My personal experience has been with a Walther/Colt Gold Cup .22. It didn't really like Remington Thunderbolt much, but everything else was happily digested. That gun can be had 'new street' for $340 or so.


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## Stevegoetsch

I have had the same miss firing problems, I say had because I took it to a gunsmith with 60 years experience and after some tinkering found the problem. The set screw that holds the barrel is to small and the barrel will "creep" away not allowing the firing pin to hit solid. He drilled the hole bigger and put a bigger set screw in and no problem since, I can use any ammo and shoot fast with no trouble.


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## bertha01

Overkill0084 said:


> I was thinking of getting one a while back. From what I read, the GSG 1911 (.22) is a better all around product. YMMV.
> Products


+1


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## RmcBreezy

stumpie said:


> Any one here own and shoot this pistol, if so please give a honest review of what you like and dislike about it .Thank


I broke the barrel bushing first time trying to disassemble it because i was not at a 90 degree turn


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