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Chiappa’ s 1911-22
— Gun World, June 2010 —
by Dave Workman
Plinking, Small Game or Training - This Rimfire 1911 Lookalike Will Do the Job
Modifying the Model 1911 to
shoot .22-caliber ammunition with an
upper unit featuring a lighter slide, small-
bore barrel and lighter recoil spring, and
substituting a rimfire-size magazine is
hardly a new idea.
Firearms instructors and precision
shooters have been doing this for many
years to improve and increase not only
their own shooting opportunity, but also
that of their students.
Many of these conversion units have
been adapted to small game hunting and
target competition, and I frequently see
them advertised in different periodicals
or gun show bulletins. Likewise, I haven’t
attended a gun show in some time when
I didn’t see a couple of these conversion
kits for sale, often in original boxes, and
I think the gun shop down the road from
my office has a couple in the display case.
Now comes Chiappa Firearms Ltd.,
an Italian-based company whose guns are
marketed here by MKS Supply, with a
whole gun devoted strictly to the rimfire
cartridge. While it looks like a Model
Author Dave Workman found the
Chiappa pistol to fit comfortably and
shoot with surprising accuracy.
While the pistol looks like a
Model 1911, it does not strip
down like one. The barrel is
fixed to the frame, and the
slide must be pulled to the
rear, raised off the rails and
then pushed forward.