Using a .22lr pistol as a training aid is nothing new. Conversion kits for 1911-pattern guns have been around for a very long time. In the revolver world, rimfire equivalents to full size duty guns go back even further. A major resurgence of .22 training has come about in response to the 2009 ammunition shortage. SIG-Sauer and other companies now offer factory OEM conversion kits for their most popular pistols. Other companies opt for a dedicated training gun like the upcoming S&W M&P pistol in .22lr or the well established Ruger 22/45.
The twenty-two can certainly be a beneficial tool. A .22 pistol eliminates most of the recoil and blast that can be so intimidating to beginners. For more experienced shooters, the substantially lower price of .22lr ammunition often provides the means for more live fire practice than one might be able to afford with centerfire 9mm, .45 Auto, etc. There are also times and places where a .22 — especially a suppressed .22 — can be used but larger, more powerful, louder pistols might not.
The important thing to keep in mind when practicing with a .22-cal equivalent to your normal pistol is that the .22 has essentially no recoil. Ten year old children can easily tame the kick and muzzle rise of most .22lr pistols. From a training perspective, what this means is that the .22 is not suitable for any training that focuses on the speed of firing multiple shots at a single target. Do not trick yourself into believing otherwise.
Far too many people sacrifice grip and proper sight tracking while simply going spasmodic on the trigger of a twenty-two. Then they falsely believe they can shoot a serious duty or carry gun faster, as well. Instead, that person has started to form bad habits that will actually diminish his speed when handling a centerfire pistol.
Skills you can work on effectively with a .22 equivalent to your normal pistol:
- marksmanship
- strong- and weak-hand only shooting
- draw stroke
- reloads
- transitions
- judgmental shooting
- shooting on the move… With SOM, the line between good .22 training and bad .22 training is definitely easy to cross. But like transition drills, SOM training can benefit from a .22 in terms of learning how to move your feet and position your body for a stable shooting platform on the move.
Skills you should not practice with a .22lr handgun:
- recoil management
- sight tracking
- rapid multiple shots on a single target
- failure drills
Also, the more similarity between your .22 trainer and your standard pistol the more beneficial certain drills will be. While you can get marksmanship benefit from shooting almost anything, having the same trigger system and sights (or better yet, the same identical trigger and sights) will obviously translate into more direct skill building. A heel magazine release and single stack magazine is not giving you 1:1 benefit for your button release double stack pistol reloads. Malfunction clearances with an Advantage Arms .22 conversion kit will be more helpful than doing similar drills with a Ruger 22/45. And so on.
A .22lr training pistol can be an effective and economical way to practice many handgun fundamentals, but misused it can also lead to a very false sense of proficiency. By keeping in mind what a .22 can and cannot mimic, both the beginner and the dedicated shooter can wring real benefits from a sub-caliber practice pistol.
Train hard & stay safe! ToddG
That’s the first I’ve heard of the M&P 22lr pistol. That will be a nice addition for economical marksmanship practice.
I have a .22 coversion unit for my kimber compact. I find it useful for getting my trigger finger used to the feel and pull of the kimber. Of course dryfire would also work but this allows a little recoil along with trigger reset practice.
Good timing on the post! I wish I could train more by shooting.
My first pistol is a Ruger Mk II 22/45 and my first and still only rifle is a GSG-5 (.22lr MP5 clone). I was wondering what I should and should not be doing.
Sadly, in my experience most Ciener-type 1911 comversion kits will give you lots of practice clearing malfs. 🙁
I now frequently use a .22 conversion on my G/M frame. Like the author, I find the best uses include shooting while moving, moving from one position to another, one handed and weak handed shooting, and basic marksmanship. Recently I shoot more .22 than duty ammo by a significant margin. It’s particularly nice on steal targets. And the Marvel kit is very accurate and reasonably reliable.
once again, thanks for being the guy to say this Todd. Far too many blurbs I’ve read of late have been about how you can do everything with a .22 and save money at the same time. It isn’t the same and as you say is only good for certain areas of training.
Came here to say the same thing as Tam. With a .22 you’re going to get a lot of practice on failure drills. 🙂
Great post.
I’ll tell you one place that rimfire practice is absolutely invaluable: Shooting a revolver double-action. Dry-firing is helpful, but my 2″ Kit Gun and 4″ K-22 and a hojillion rounds of .22 have improved my centerfire double-action shooting so much.
well since my carry gun is a GP100 i don’t have to worry about using a 22 to practice with since i can just use 38spl to practice with. though compared to .357m a 38spl feels like a 22. i use the 22 for purely killing paper.
\m/ >_< \m/
“well since my carry gun is a GP100 i don’t have to worry about using a 22 to practice with since i can just use 38spl to practice with.
unless ur payin a lot less for 38spl than i am then ur definition of practice probably isnt the same as mine
😉
I’ve written a bit about my experiences using an Advantage Arms kit for a Glock. I used to use it for .22 matches, but it isn’t as reliable as other .22 platforms.
Additionally, I know that USPSA GM Ben Stoeger put ~3-5k a WEEK through his Beretta .22 conversion, mainly working on entering and leaving shooting positions…
Tam: reloads
I agree up to a point.
Someone who has been shooting while planted in a lane can benefit a lot from SOM and sight-tracking using a .22.
Likewise someone who hasn’t been away from the range for a bit too long can get back in the game that way.
Just don’t forget to switch to a full-sized pistol once basic proficiency has been [re-]achieved.
Due to the cost off ammo, yea the .22 is very important.
Nice thing is the Bersa has a .22 counterpart, Smith J frames have a .22 counterpart, and several fill sized guns also have units to convert them to .22
And yes, it won’t replace all full power large bore practice but it will help quite abit. I’d say between gun handling skills and marksmanship skills it will do for 80 percent of the practice.
What is interesting is that all the people who train diligently using a .22/.22 conversion seem to have the same basic idea:
1.) Initial sight picture from draw or ready
2.) Developing field course skills/movement
3.) Developing accuracy/slow-fire trigger control
4.) Malfunction drills (with conversion kits)
Great minds think alike?
That’s one reason I sought out a 22/45 with the fixed 3-dot sights rather than the more ubiquitous adjustable-sight model.
Well, that and, since the gun pretty much lives in my range bag, I don’t need to worry about the sights being knocked askew.
That’s one reason I sought out a 22/45 with the fixed 3-dot sights rather than the more ubiquitous adjustable-sight model.
Well, that and, since the gun pretty much lives in my range bag, I don’t need to worry about the sights being knocked askew.
That is def. one bad point about the Advantage Arms unit… The craptastic plastic adjustable Glock sights are made of suck. They work, but swapping ’em out is the best route. My conversion kit lives in my range bag too.
Who will be making the 22LR for the M&P? S&W?
I wonder if it will be able to be added to ( barrel and slide ) to a 9mm or a 40?
Please let me know!
A friend bought burned-out Meps off the intertubes to put on his Advantage Arms Glock units. It was the most Tacticaller-Than-Thou thing I’d seen anyone do at that point.
Check web forums, gun auction sites, and fleabay: You should be able to find burned-out Trijs or Meps (as appropriate) for a fraction of what new ones bring. 🙂
I swapped mine to mimic the sight picture of my regular sights:
non-tritium Ameriglo sights.
All I need to do now to make it even more tactical is 1.) move out of Illinois and 2.) buy a suppressor.
😉
Pretty much all the can and can’t do skills you listed for 22 practice can also apply to an airsoft gun. As a matter of fact, some airsoft guns feel like they have more recoil than a 22! You can also add in the benefit of not having to drive to the range to practice, plus its even cheaper to shoot.