Posted on 09/24/2010 8:45:36 AM PDT by marktwain
Mossberg’s unveiling its entry into the tactical .22 market with a product cleverly called the Tactical .22. Here’s the press release:
Mossberg International introduces the Tactical .22–an alternative firearm for those shooters and enthusiasts who want the look and feel of an AR-style .22 rimfire with an affordable price.
Mossberg knows its target market: price-driven firearms buyers (Hecho en Mexico baby!). It’s a bit surprising that they’re so late to the AR-style .22 game. Even slow-mo Smith & Wesson’s tapped the AR gestalt, with a damn nice product too: the M&P15-22, in both standard and CA-compliant version for around $500 – $600 bucks. The Mossie clocks in at roughly half the price. Right answer . . .
With the rising costs of centerfire ammunition, the new Tactical .22 rimfires are a great choice for recreational shooters, as well as those searching for a cost-effective training platform.
Ain’t that the truth. Well, maybe. While an AR .22′s trigger and general ergonomics would help sharpen a shooter’s full-size AR skills, there’s nothing like the recoil. In fact, you wouldn’t even call it recoil, and managing recoil is the Big Kahuna. Also, baby ARs weigh less. So . . . it’s not really the same, is it? There’s no substitute for training on the weapon you’re going to use with the ammo you’re going to fire.
Also, while .22 is as cheap as it gets, and Mossberg’s audience is into cheap, there are a lot of handgun-caliber carbines hitting the market at the moment. They’re a far better choice for less than 5.56 protection; you’d have to hit a human exactly in the right place or many times with .22s to do any damage.
The lightweight and fast-handling Tactical .22 parallels the look and feel of today’s AR-style rifle while being built around Mossberg International’s reliable .22 autoloader. Taking cues from their proven 702 autoloader, the Tactical .22 matches an 18” barrel to a quad rail forend allowing the operator to fit the rifle with lights, lasers or other tactical accessories.
Now we’re getting closer. It’s a toy gun that’s not really a toy but it is but it isn’t.
Two stock configurations will be offered in this series: a six-position adjustable and fixed stock. The six-position polymer stock adjusts the length of pull from 10-3/4” – 14.5” accommodating youth and smaller framed shooters up to adults. The fixed position stock has a standard 13” LOP. The Tactical .22 is integrated with an A2-style carry handle and an adjustable rear sight aligned with a front post sight.
Another smart move. No question: the Tactical 22 will be THE ultimate Christmas Story gift for an entire generation of young boys. I reckon that’s an extremely price-sensitive market, and Mossberg nails it.
The Picatinny handle mount is included, allowing versatility in scopes and other optics while providing the clearance necessary to utilize the AR-style sights. Other features included with the Tactical .22 are sling mounts and a ten round magazine.
The 10-round capacity sucks. A Henry Repeating Rifle gives you 16. But the Henry’s a heavy old thing and it doesn’t LOOK like an AR (Western vs. military). You can’t put lights and lasers and cup holders on a rifle that you use from a horse. It’s only a matter of time before someone offers a 30-round mag for this bad little boy. I wonder why Mossberg didn’t do it straight out of the gate. Lawyers. Bah.
MSRP: $276
There’s your headline attraction, although one wonder just how “cheap and cheerful” this product will be. If it’s a piece of junk for that price, well, who cares, really? Beggars can’t be choosers, even if they’re armed.
“This thing is no more tactical than my Remington nylon 66”
The nylon 66 has an excellent reputation for reliability. They are a light, wonderful .22. I helped an older lady who could not handle a pistol well obtain one for home defense.
The MSM will start refering to the Tactical .22 as a “high power assault rifle” in 3...2....1...
LR Hollow points are $18 a box of 500 at Wally World. Got some yesterday to use at the Appleseed Project next month.
I have a Ruger 22 revolver that chambers LR and Mags. 22 Mag hollow point make for a nice, easy to shoot, accurate in home pistol for a woman.
Too bad this rifle doesn’t also shoot the 22 mags.
Nice! but the trigger pull at 4-6 lbs would need some work.
Have fun at Appleseed. It’s a great program.
I am taking a friend’s 11 year old grandson along. Seems like something one should bring a kid to, great experience.
That looks like a good idea except for the barrel length. The .22 magnum is notorious for requiring a long barrel for anything like normal performance.
Out of a 4 inch it would be hardly better than a .2LR. I would have a tremendous muzzle blast tho.
I have .22WMR in a 6.5” Ruger revolver. You can definitely tell the difference from 22LR at that length.
True. Very true. Need to look for a box of #4 Buck.
Six inches is probably about the minimum for the .22 magnum to start making a real difference.
Many years ago, a friend and I did some chrono testing with one of those tiny .22 revolvers. I can’t recall if it was a North American Arms or a Freedom Arms but it had a one inch barrel and two cylinders.
To make a long story short, there was only around 3 ft. lbs. difference between the .22 short, LR and magnum in that barrel length. Still technically the magnum had the most power but at an incredible amount of muzzle flash and recoil was pretty bad too. For those tiny revolvers, the .22 short is really the ideal cartridge.
ping
I’ve been pondering a ‘stock’ extension system which would provide a ‘slide in’ method for adding a shoulder telescoping stock to a good semi-auto pistol ... for several calibers. Even shooting one handed, a shoulder stock would add stability and ‘from the hip’ targeting improvement. The idea is to construct something which the grip of an auto loader slides into to give the lengthened package ‘against the shoulder’ stability. Modern materials would be ideal for this system since strength can be achieved without thickness.
My friend bought the exact same style,shoots 22’s and made by Smith&Wesson,i believe it cost him about $500...
It’s CA so i am not sure how much the Mossberg will cost with the taxes and all of that crap added on..
.22 magnum semi-auto-
www.excelarms.com
Accelerator, both rifle and pistol. I have one of the pistols- it’s a bit unwieldy, but quite intimidating. I really enjoy shooting it.
For home defense, though, I keep my .45 long slide by the bed- 7” barrel, as used in the first Terminator movie.
If one measures barrel length from the back of the casing, I would expect that until one gets to a barrel at least 2" or so long (probably more like 3"-4", or maybe more) the extra distance a .22 short could travel before exiting the barrel would more than make up for the reduced amount of powder. Since the distance from the back of the casing to the muzzle is more relevant to concealability than the distance from the front of the cylinder to the muzzle, it would make sense to compare firearms where the former measurement is the same. And in such comparisons, at short barrel lengths, I would expect the .22 short to win.
I had not thought about it but you are probably right. When both are used in the same gun with a very short barrel, the .22 short travels about twice as far before leaving the barrel.
http://www.tfproject.org/tfp/tilted-weaponry/30220-weapons-world-snipers-want-arsenal.html
and
Find .22 that expands to1.5x diameter and youve got .33...that's OO buckshot size. And that, my FRiend, will mess up anybody's afternoon.
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