Smith and Wesson 22A, why no longer made?

R

Recoil spring

New member
For years Smith and Wesson made, in different versions, an aluminum framed pistol in .22 rf called the 22A. I used to see them routinely at gun shows and the range, never bought one as my Browning Buck Mark and my various Ruger Mk. series pistols did the job for me.

S/W came out with the Victory model that is different, anyone know why they did this change, declining sales of the 22A, etc? For those who have both, which is best?

Thanks.
 
I had no idea.
I picked one up many years back and it's been a good shooting pistol
has a full length rail on top, and although the grip is rather thick (potato like) the mag release is very easy to get to on the front strap.

Always reminded me though of a Beretta NEO's rip off.
 
never bought one as my Browning Buck Mark and my various Ruger Mk. series pistols did the job for me.
Click to expand...

I think you answered your own question there. I always thought the Ruger Marks out shot the S&W 22A and the Buck Marks out shot the 22A with a little more class. The only thing I thought the 22A had going for it was that it was almost as good as the others and occasionally you could find one pretty cheap.

I think the S&W folk discontinued it because of the Model 41 for the semi-serious target shooters and the new Victory which is a really solid, nice pistol, for the rest of us.
 
I have one somewhere. It is a cheaply made pistol that eats internal plastic parts, but that shoots pretty well. Think I paid $185 for it, should have bought my Beretta 76 sooner.. ;)
 
yep. plastic killed it. you can go cheap, but there is a line you cant cross before people get sick of things breaking all the time.
ya know...like computers.
 
I have one that my father bought for me, it has been a good gun and ate most of what I feed it. I do agree that I hate the plastic piece thats on the guide rod, it just was a cheap idea.
 
I have the 22/s - which is the stainless steel version of the 22/a.

Same gun design.

I also have three different barrels.
1) 5" Bull Target barrel.
2.) 5" standard barrel
3.) 7.5" barrel.

I have a Red Dot mounted on the 5" standard barrel and a 4X scope on the 7.5" barrel.

Accuracy is superb with the scoped 7.5" barrel.
In anyone's hands, from a rest, this gun will produce 50 shot groups @ 50 yards that will easily be less than the diameter of a quarter.

Decent shots will be able to cut that size down with no problem.

I would expect more than a few to be able to put 50 shots @ 50 yards, from a rest, into a hole the size of a dime.
I've done that myself on a number of occasions.

My 22/s is far and away the most accurate gun in my safe - including the rifles.

It is however a cheaply made POS. An un-Gody accurate POS, but, a POS.

It's also not very "hand held" friendly.
Shooting the gun - sans a rest - produces very unspectacular results.

I'll take either a Ruger Mark or Browning Buckmark over it any day of the week.
 
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