Chiappa 1911 22lr

Picked one up this weekend

To say the least I'm under impressed

The Firearm blog covered it awhile back

The one I picked up came with 3 mags, and with the current ammo costs thought perhaps it would make a good trainer, being near the same costs of a starter Ruger or Browning ($300) I did expect reasonable quality. It is not a 1911, although resembles one, it is a fixed barrel, the recoil rod (plastic) sits in a hole in the frame, and pressure from the recoil spring keeps the slide release in place, with the recoil rod acting as a detent. The trigger was hard, not sure weather it can be smoothed or lightened, I would guess the final break would be around 10 lbs.
The dimensions are slightly smaller than a standard 1911 so it is a bit floppy in the holsters I use.
I've only run one magazine of Winchester standard Vel. ammo and had 2 failures to eject( although manual states one should use ammo at least at 1066fps).
The overall impression in handling take down, and firing was the gun is chinzey, something I would expect in a gun under $200 (Like a Jennings or Lorcin). I have S&W 22A's that I paid $229 for new that are much better quality.

I'll try to get to range today and test a bit more, but overall, if Chiappa wants to sell this gun at this price they need to up the quality. I wouldn't recommend it.