I have search and read most of the pages and have seen little feedback but not enough to answer my question(s).

I plan on having my family start shooting and I just got my custom SS TLE II and love it. Is getting the conversion kit the best for my 13, 12 and 8 year old to practice on, or should I just get a complete .22cal pistol? I did see a Browning and Ruger mark III/22/45 that looked nice for avg $275-475. I guess I am asking for your opinions/feedback on accuracy and quality and is it best to have 2 guns or a gun and a half, because if my kids drop my TLE, I'll just freak out.

Thanks;
Chris

Total waste of time and money. Did I mention that they are dirty and inaccurate. The only thing 22 pistols are good for is malfunction drills because thats all they do.... MALFUNCTION! Some JA will surely tout how wonderful they are and what a great experience he had with them. I call BS......

Just my $.02

singlestack00;

Thanks for the quick reply. So what do you suggest for a good training pistol, 9mm pistol? I probably will eventually get my wife a Glock 19, which should fit perfectly in my kids hand with out any trouble. Keep the comments coming

What are you talking about? .22cal target pistols are some of the most accurate in the world.. Did you have a bad expireince with one? or are you just ranting about something you obviously know nothing about.
USMC MP check out link: http://www.ssaa.org.au/OFFICIALREVI...argetpistol.htm
http://www.findarticles.com/p/artic...50/ai_112646118

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No, I Didn't Know My Hammer Was Cocked, Thank You!

a good 22 pistol, such as a ruger mark 2 or browning buck mark (i have one of each), are reliable and extremely accurate and some of the most fun you can have with a handgun, especially with kids. i have no experience with 22 conversion kits so i cannot comment on accuracy or practicality but i think i would prefer a whole separate pistol in 22 rather than have the conversion kit.

steve

I have a Kimber Team Match II and a Kimber 22 conversion I shoot on it. I love both of them. I also have a Ruger mark II as well as several 22 revolvers. By far I like the conversion best. It is much more accurate than I am and I think shoots better than any of my other 22 pistols. What I like most about it is the 1911 platform and the ease to clean and care for. It can be particular in regard to the ammo I use but is less so after breakin.

If you like 1911's you will love shooting the conversion.

FH

He had problems with his conversion kit!!
However mine has been flawless since day one,If you read thru the sight here you will find MANY others with the same results.Dont let one (JA) person scare you away from having more fun for less money

Yeah, they had to drop the .22 portion of the National Matches because the constant malfunctions made the match take six months to shoot. That, and lack of any hits on target due to the inaccuracy of .22 pistols.
In addition, most ammo makers have stopped production of .22 ammo, since nobody can use it.

JA checking in here!

To address the original question:
I have a Kimber Rimfire Target (complete gun). I've only had it a couple of months, but it's been fine so far.

Function-
I had two malfunctions the first time shooting it (a little under 150 rounds fired). One was a case of the slide passing over the round without picking it up, and the other as a failure to fire (although the round fired on the second hit). The second one could be blamed on ammo.
Although Kimber is very clear in their advice to use Hi-Velocity ammo only, I shot some of each- Std and Hi-Vel that day. The first malf (slide ride-over) was with Std Vel.

I haven't used any Std Vel since (Hi-Vel is what I have the most of), and have had zero malfunctions.

I have read several reports of malfunctioning Kimber Rimfires and conversion kits, BUT- Each report I've seen mentioning a lot of malfunctions fails to say what ammo they are using. Any report that mentions using the reccomended ammo has been favorable.

Accuracy-
I don't think it's as accurate as my High Standards or S&W 41, but I'll probably never know. I doubt I'll ever bench or Ransom Rest the Kimber. I didn't get it to shoot IHMSA or Bullseye. I got it to play with.
But it does pretty well. I shot several types of ammo that first time out, just to get a rough idea. I shot it from standing, unsupported, shooting as fast as I got a sight picture. Ten-shot groups at 15 yards were all around 2". Some were a little over, some a little under. That's not earth-shaking, but pretty good for the effort I put into it. I think I was most impressed at how consistent everything grouped. Nothing stood out as particularly good or bad, and point of impact was essentially the same for all.

Complete gun or Conversion Unit-
You will have to decide that, of course. But...My mind was changed by this gun.
I had thought a Conversion Unit would be all I needed. It's less money, of course. I have plenty of 1911s, so I wouldn't have to take it off the frame every time I was done using it to have my .45 back.
But I found this gun, which was used/unfired, at a good price, and got it.

There are advantages to the complete gun:
-The first reason is it's weight. It doesn't weigh anything. Besides being just plain "neat", my kids may be able to start shooting earlier with a lighter gun (although the grip size will probably determine that).
-I said it wouldn't be a big problem to leave one of my 1911s "converted" for a while, but it sure is nice to never have to mess with it. It's been handy having it there, ready to go, anytime.
-If I did mate a Conversion Unit to another frame, it would probably one I seldom use, like my SA Loaded. That gun has a different feel to it than the Kimber TLE I usually carry, due to different grip and thumb safetys, trigger, etc. Although the weight is a lot less, my Rimfire feels like my TLE. The only difference I can feel is the lack of frontstrap checkering. I have to "look" for it, it isn't obvious. Some grit tape would probably fix that if it was obvious.
-In your case, it would probably be nice just to have a second gun. It would be a pain switching parts back and forth at the range. It is nice to have two guns- a 22 and 45- ready to go at the same time.

I bought the complete rimfire all in all still didn't cost that much. And last trip to the range at 25ft it shot as good as my IZH 35M.

I have owned and shot dozens of .22 rimfires.Colt ,High standard,walther, smith and wesson ,kimber ,beretta, ruger and probably some others i can't remember.the best of these are incredibly accurate especially at ranges up to 25 yds.The kimber i have now will shoot 1/2 inch at 40 feet,Thats the distance i have in my indoor range.I have had a few misfires .they seem to have gone away as the pistol was broken-in.the only other problem has been to occasionally fail to pick up the second round in an after the market magazine.These pistols are excellent training tools particularly for beginners who may be noise and recoil sensitive.Additionally the kimber being a 1911 aids in acquiring familiarity with the 1911 platform for shooters who wish to move to a larger caliber in 1911.