SP22AWALTHER SP22A
After shooting the Tikka 223 I thought how cool it would be to set up a handgun to target shoot with. The first decision was to decide on a caliber, well again I want to NOT have to use total support to hold it so with my triceps and arm strength situation I decided on a .22 cal. They are cheaper to keep in ammo and virtually no recoil . next to come up with a handgun. I spent several weeks on the internet researching hand guns. When I got serious about this I went to a gun dealer and looked, fondled and played with several. I learned a few things there are revolvers and there are pistols, well the revolver has two styles, western frame and modern frame, the difference is pretty self explanatory but also the western frame is the old west style which you load and unload through the cartridge door and plunger and the modern frame usually has a flip out cylinder allowing all 6/8 cartridges to be loaded or unloaded. There is also a difference in the grip styles. I am sure there are other differences to consider. Then there are Pistols (which are simi-auto type) My first desire was a "western frame" style revolver (I just think they are cool looking) well there was problems there. 1- they are considerable heavier than a Pistol and 2 the grip is hard to adapt something to. The Modern frame has the same problem. I played with a Ruger single six, another ruger, an EAA bounty hunter, (2 of them). This brought us to the pistols (simi-auto style) He had several , a Beretta, browning buckmarc ( camper I think), a Ruger Mark III (Bull barrel), a 1911 clone (ATI I think) and a Walther sp22m1. I gravitated to the sp22m1 right off the bat because I had handled a sp22m3 a month earlier. There were several considerations with the first 4. heavy, cocking slides hard to modify for my use (this was the BIGGIE), other design factors. I decided on the Walther sp22m1 for several reasons. first was the cocking slide were very adaptable (see below) the gun is 22 oz unloaded (compared to 32-40 oz with the others). It also is capable of adding picatinny rails both top and bottom.
I do have the rails ( shown in first picture) but want to leave top rail off so I can use the open sights for now.
Remember that trigger thing above that didn't work, well used it for the pistol holder
well here is the finished product, kind of anyway. The trigger system still needs some thinking on. see the cord loop in the trigger guard ? well it loops around the trigger and I pull it with the left hand but it doesn't work as well as I has hoped. I still might have to go to a power trigger of some kind. The other problem I discovered is if you notice my right hand fingers stick above the pistol frame and right in line with the ejecting spent case, got to do something there.
Well here I got the Picatinny rails on it as well as the Walther PS22 red dot sight. I do not know who actually builds the sight but it is marketed under the Walther brand. It is mounted back behind the case ejector because if it was in front of it it would interfere with my ability to cock the weapon with the added cocking cord.
all worked ok except the trigger string idea. It did work but I can not keep my right wrist straight when I pull the string. By the time it fires the gun my sights are pulled way left. I did ok on a pop can at 30 yards, hit it 2 out of 3 shots. This red dot sight seems much better than the old one I had on the air rifle. All other modified functions on the pistol ( cocking string, brace ands such) worked ok.
two things on the sp22a I noticed however is the clip will appear and feel like it is in but you have to give it a little extra push to get it locked in. Also the safety is the same way.. The gun weighs 22oz empty but it has gained weight quickly. the brace added a little but the red dot added almost a whole pound so with the loaded clip, brace and sight it has probably plumped up to 40oz or better. Fortunately I have to use a forearm support anyway.
One More Try on the Trigger
Well the trigger system didn't work quite as well as I had hoped so went another direction. The trigger mech itself is much like the bite trigger that Be Adaptive uses but I made it much lighter and smaller and attached it to the SP22a bottom rail with half of a scope mount
**SEE NEW VERSION BELOW**
The actuating part is a shifting lever off of a 10 speed (has more needed travel than the other bite trigger actuator). and mounted to my shooting table so it can't move. preliminary test looks like it will work but need to "range" test it to get it adjusted. check back to see how it worked.
My new, much improved trigger actuator
Although my first trigger actuator worked ok, I had always planned on rebuilding it this winter, clean up the hodge podge pieces and such. I had a thought about 3am one morning on a different design. Hopefully this would be a cleaner, simpler design and work smoother. The basic table lever actuator would remain the same as I tried the bite trigger but just didn't have enough throw to fully actuate the trigger and let it reset to firing position. However I think the actual function of the new weapon mounted actuator will work much nicer
on the first actuator the control cable run through keeper "A" to keeper "B" pulling trigger contact actuator "C" back to engage trigger.
the new design uses more of a "pivot roll over" design. actuating cable goes through keeper "C" and connects to "E" and held in place via set screw "F" . when cable is pulled it simply pulls "rotates" trigger control "B" into trigger and does its "bang" thing. There is much less drag on the pivot than the slid of the first design. "A" is a scope mount mounted upside down which mounts to picatinny rail under the barrel (just like first design). "G" indicates the movement of the trigger controller. "D" is a locking keeper to hold the cable sheath in place.
The bottom half of a scope mount turned upside down mounts the whole unit to the lower picatinny rail on my Walther SP22m1
The compleat system, one thing I need to add is a small spring to the trigger actuator to pull the trigger controller far enough to allow the trigger to full reset. If it does not it wont allow the action to "cock" for the next round.
have not tested it under firing conditions yet ( too darn cold out side for me) but it acts much more smoother than my first try.
SEE THE VIDEO http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-b28bVqK9g