.22 Service Pistol.

M

manta49

New member
Do posters know of any other army issued a .22 pistol.

In the mid-1970s the Royal Army Ordnance Corps purchased about 3000 Walther PPs in 22LR for the Ulster Defence Regiment, an infantry regiment operating out of British-controlled Northern Ireland. These guns were designated L66A1 and described, maybe a touch grandiosely, as a PDW or "personal defense weapon". The choice of a 22LR PDW is an odd one and I've never found a really definitive reason for it. My conspiratorial instincts lead me down some purely speculative avenues, but who knows? Ostensibly, these pistols were used for off duty carry by UDR members, were popular among servicewomen and occasionally used for training.
 

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I was not aware of the Irish connection. Other than the british paint on finish are there any stampings or other marks to Identify one? I have had what looks like a carbon copy of you photo but have never really had a clue what it's history might be. Also I thing that Mosad still use a 22 rimfire for special ops missions but not of any regular military units.
 
I Knew a few guys that where in the Ulster Defence Regiment that where issued with them as a personal protection weapon when of duty a favourite time for IRA terrorists to murder them.

I dont know what the thinking was for issuing .22 for personal protection, at the time civilian's where being targeted by the IRA for doing work for the army cleaners builders ect.

They could get a PPW largest caliber 9mm max rds 25. So why a civilian could get a 9mm but they where issuing the UDR with .22 I dont know.
 
I know the Israelis issue suppressed 22 Berettas to covert squads sent to murder freedom fighters in the illegally occupied area.
 
I know the Israelis issue suppressed 22 Berettas to covert squads sent to murder freedom fighters in the illegally occupied area.

Did the .22 do a good job in these operations. ?
 
Mossad .22s

The Mossad use of the Beretta 70S 22LR was quite effective - particularly in circumstances when the Beretta was used in attempted or completed aircraft hijacking. Everyone would likely agree that a 22LR is effective in very short range assaults on unsuspecting targets, but the Beretta was quite efficient in foiling hijackings.

"During the incident that took place in February of 1969, Israeli Sky Marshal Mordechai Rachamim engaged several heavily armed Arab terrorists as they attacked an EL Al airliner on a snow covered runway in Zurich. Despite the odds against him, the young Israeli sky marshal expertly used his issued Beretta Model 70 pistol to kill one of the Palestinian terrorists, moments before the Zurich Police arrived and took the remaining terrorists into custody. The three surviving male Palestinian terrorists received 12-year jail sentences for attacking a commercial airliner with machine guns and explosives that resulted in the killing and wounding of several passengers and crew. Sky Marshal Mordechai Rachamim became an instant hero at home in Israel.

Rachamim told the author that during this engagement at least two of the rounds fired from his Model 70 hit the mark and were responsible for one of the male terrorists being KIA—pretty good shooting, considering that Rachamim single-handedly charged the enemy position while he emptied his .22 caliber pistol at the heavily armed terrorists. Even though Israeli Sky Marshal Rachamim was only armed with a .22, far too much was at stake for him to miss his target. Failure was not on option.

In May of 1972, Rachamim participated in another daring and equally dangerous tactical operation involving aviation security when he and other members of Israel’s elite Sayert Matkal commando unit rescued passengers and crewmembers onboard a hijacked Sabena Airline flight at Lod Airport (now, Ben-Gurion) in Tel Aviv. At the time, this unit was under the command of Ehud Barak, a future Prime Minister of Israel.
During this operation, Rachamim and other Israeli commandos assigned to Sayeret Matkal disguised themselves as airline mechanics before storming the hijacked Belgian airliner. As the signal to move was given, Rachamim once again used his issued Model 70 to kill one of the Palestinian terrorists. A second male Palestinian terrorist was also gunned down."
 
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