I bought a .22lr suppressor early in 2013 but it was a long painful wait on the BATFE until the paper work cleared in 2014. During that time I started researching what pistol host I wanted for my new toy. The wants / requirements were as follows:
1. Threaded barrel to attach a suppressor.
2. Barrel length below 4.5”. Reason being in my research I found that (supposedly) if you keep a .22lr barrel under 4.5” that you can use ANY ammo (supersonic) and it will remain subsonic due to the short barrel length. Also I wanted to keep the OAL of the entire system with the suppressor attached as short as possible.
3. Adjustable sights. I did not expect surgical accuracy but I hate not being able to aim naturally (having to aim 3” high) to hit what I want.
4. A light rail would be nice for night time vermin so you could see the target and the sights.
Most of the host I came across would have two or three of the requirements but not all of them. I really liked the feel of the Sig Mosquito but I read reports of it being problematic. The Browning Buck Mark or Ruger Mark II or Mark III with a Tactical Solutions upper seemed to be great but with the price of the gun plus the upper it was a bit more than I wanted to spend on a novelty. Additionally if I went with a Tactical Solutions upper for a Ruger that too was a serialized “gun” that would require another FFL transfer which is more money. I had a Buckmark at one point and while I liked it I wanted to try something different. The only other system that was a very close second was the Ruger 22/45 LITE.
I decided to go with a GSG 922 which is a 1911 sub compact style .22lr pistol. It has a 3.4” barrel length so that all ammo would remain subsonic. It comes with 3 front sight posts, a low, medium (installed) and a high to adjust elevation. The rear sight has a set screw that can be loosened and the rear sight can be drifted for windage. The front of the dust cover has a Milspec 1919 rail that you can attach accessories to such as a weapon light. And 80% of the parts are standard 1911 parts so if you wanted to swap something out there are several aftermarket options.
I could not find any reviews for the compact 922 version however there were several reviews for the larger 5” standard 1911 version. Most of those were positive with the only reoccurring issue being the guide rod. Supposedly it was shit but later corrected by GSG and if you had an earlier version you could get an aftermarket stainless steel guide rod and spring for like $25. Once replacing the guide rod the gun would run 100%. Many people said they used this gun for cheap practice for their 1911 and even for .22 steel matches. So I figured I would give it a shot and if it didn’t work out I would just pick up a Ruger LITE.
I ran about 100 rounds through the gun before my suppressor came in. The only problem I had was shooter induced by my thumb riding the slide a few times. The recoil spring is just not strong enough to get the slide home if you are riding it. I also noticed that it was shooting just a bit low for me but I decided that I would wait to see if the suppressor would change the POI before I swapped out the front sight blade.
You do have to buy a thread adaptor for the pistol that I picked up from SilencerCo as they make an adaptor and are the company that made my suppressor so I figured it would be perfect. The gun comes with a small wrench to pull the thread protector off the barrel and install the thread adaptor as well as an allen wrench to change out the front sight post and a nice 90 degree brush to clean out the chamber.
I have since run about 300 more rounds suppressed through the pistol with no issues. Most of that has been CCI Mini-Mag but I have also run some Winchester, Remington bulk pack and Piney Mountain tracer rounds without issue. I only cleaned it once after about 300 rounds total. This pistol is very accurate and with a TRL-1 attached to the rail in the dark you can easily see the silhouette of the sights for a very clear sight picture. I could not be happier as the pistol runs great, is accurate and incorporates all the features I was looking for. It really has a beefy feel to it like it is a “real” pistol not a flimsy plastic POS. It has some weight to it for sure and with the 1911 ergonomics it was an easy cross over from my 2011 which I am familiar with. The only gripe I have is I did change the front post out to the low post and now it is hitting high. So what I may do is put the medium one back in and just file down the front post until it is the correct height.
1. Threaded barrel to attach a suppressor.
2. Barrel length below 4.5”. Reason being in my research I found that (supposedly) if you keep a .22lr barrel under 4.5” that you can use ANY ammo (supersonic) and it will remain subsonic due to the short barrel length. Also I wanted to keep the OAL of the entire system with the suppressor attached as short as possible.
3. Adjustable sights. I did not expect surgical accuracy but I hate not being able to aim naturally (having to aim 3” high) to hit what I want.
4. A light rail would be nice for night time vermin so you could see the target and the sights.
Most of the host I came across would have two or three of the requirements but not all of them. I really liked the feel of the Sig Mosquito but I read reports of it being problematic. The Browning Buck Mark or Ruger Mark II or Mark III with a Tactical Solutions upper seemed to be great but with the price of the gun plus the upper it was a bit more than I wanted to spend on a novelty. Additionally if I went with a Tactical Solutions upper for a Ruger that too was a serialized “gun” that would require another FFL transfer which is more money. I had a Buckmark at one point and while I liked it I wanted to try something different. The only other system that was a very close second was the Ruger 22/45 LITE.
I decided to go with a GSG 922 which is a 1911 sub compact style .22lr pistol. It has a 3.4” barrel length so that all ammo would remain subsonic. It comes with 3 front sight posts, a low, medium (installed) and a high to adjust elevation. The rear sight has a set screw that can be loosened and the rear sight can be drifted for windage. The front of the dust cover has a Milspec 1919 rail that you can attach accessories to such as a weapon light. And 80% of the parts are standard 1911 parts so if you wanted to swap something out there are several aftermarket options.
I could not find any reviews for the compact 922 version however there were several reviews for the larger 5” standard 1911 version. Most of those were positive with the only reoccurring issue being the guide rod. Supposedly it was shit but later corrected by GSG and if you had an earlier version you could get an aftermarket stainless steel guide rod and spring for like $25. Once replacing the guide rod the gun would run 100%. Many people said they used this gun for cheap practice for their 1911 and even for .22 steel matches. So I figured I would give it a shot and if it didn’t work out I would just pick up a Ruger LITE.
I ran about 100 rounds through the gun before my suppressor came in. The only problem I had was shooter induced by my thumb riding the slide a few times. The recoil spring is just not strong enough to get the slide home if you are riding it. I also noticed that it was shooting just a bit low for me but I decided that I would wait to see if the suppressor would change the POI before I swapped out the front sight blade.
You do have to buy a thread adaptor for the pistol that I picked up from SilencerCo as they make an adaptor and are the company that made my suppressor so I figured it would be perfect. The gun comes with a small wrench to pull the thread protector off the barrel and install the thread adaptor as well as an allen wrench to change out the front sight post and a nice 90 degree brush to clean out the chamber.
I have since run about 300 more rounds suppressed through the pistol with no issues. Most of that has been CCI Mini-Mag but I have also run some Winchester, Remington bulk pack and Piney Mountain tracer rounds without issue. I only cleaned it once after about 300 rounds total. This pistol is very accurate and with a TRL-1 attached to the rail in the dark you can easily see the silhouette of the sights for a very clear sight picture. I could not be happier as the pistol runs great, is accurate and incorporates all the features I was looking for. It really has a beefy feel to it like it is a “real” pistol not a flimsy plastic POS. It has some weight to it for sure and with the 1911 ergonomics it was an easy cross over from my 2011 which I am familiar with. The only gripe I have is I did change the front post out to the low post and now it is hitting high. So what I may do is put the medium one back in and just file down the front post until it is the correct height.
I will find out in some number of months. Gemtech makes a Mosquito threaded barrel that does not need an adaptor.
