Phoenix 22 Range Report

[Guest mosinon]

So I bought a Phoenix 22 from another TGOer (lowbud, smooth transaction, would buy again, +1).

The Phoenix 22 it comes in a lockable box. Inside the case you'll find cleaning instruments and so forth but before you even open the box you're thinking: What is with the lock? You know it is a 22 and not exactly, in your mind, the most dangerous weapon ever made so the locking box seems superfluous.

As soon as you open the box the reason is revealed, you aren't talking about an ordinary 22 auto pistol, you're talking a Phoenix Arms 22. This thing is so full of badassery and killmore it comes with a patch that says Phoenix Arms.

A word about the patch. The patch, suitable to be sewn on to clothing, motorcycle jackets or as a template for a tattoo is about 3/4 of an inch by 2 inches. Which doesn't seem all that big but it says "Phoenix Arms"

Wearing the patch, which I've only done once, is akin to open carrying a friggin bazooka. People see "Phoenix Arms" and naturally freak out. The one time I wore it I was put on the ground for 12 hours while the local police tried to figure out a way to disarm the patch. In the end I painted the edges blaze orange so people would think it was a toy patch. BTW you can't disarm a patch.

Then I took the mighty Phoenix out to the range. Norris Range. They probably have some rule against using such an awesome weapon there but I was determined to shoot it.

OhShoot was in attendance and suggested we tie it to a tree and shoot it in that fashion in case it got all klablooey or something. Well, that was his stated reason but I could tell by the look in his eyes that he was having a hard time processing the pure awesomeness that is a lightly coated, mostly pot metal, 22 pistol made by Phoenix, freakin arms.

After much discussion we decided to shoot it, cause we are manly men and all. And we shot it. And it was a lot better than I had imagined. Instead of the bullets turning in mid air and flying into OhShoots head (because a Phoenix just wants to kill baby) they pretty much went where we pointed the gun. Recoil was negligible and I only had two failures out of about 50 or a hundred rounds. Both were stovepipes but I think the gun malfed on purpose and the stovepipes were actually the weapon's way of giving me the middle finger for not shedding blood.

Okay, so I was joking. It was fun and cheap to shoot. I wouldn't have bought it if lowbud hadn't shot it first but I don't think I'd get rid of it except for a crazy good deal. If you're a recreational shooter having one of these around to plink with is plenty fun.

For a real range report check out Mousegunners review.

Edited January 28, 2010 by mosinon

[mousegunner]

Hi Mo!

Very nice range report! You could write for gun rags!

[jess01999]

So I bought a Phoenix 22 from another TGOer (lowbud, smooth transaction, would buy again, +1).

The Phoenix 22 it comes in a lockable box. Inside the case you'll find cleaning instruments and so forth but before you even open the box you're thinking: What is with the lock? You know it is a 22 and not exactly, in your mind, the most dangerous weapon ever made so the locking box seems superfluous.

As soon as you open the box the reason is revealed, you aren't talking about an ordinary 22 auto pistol, you're talking a Phoenix Arms 22. This thing is so full of badassery and kill more it comes with a patch that says Phoenix Arms.

A word about the patch. The patch, suitable to be sewn on to clothing, motorcycle jackets or as a template for a tattoo is about 3/4 of an inch by 2 inches. Which doesn't seem all that big but it says "Phoenix Arms"

Wearing the patch, which I've only done once, is akin to open carrying a friggin bazooka. People see "Phoenix Arms" and naturally freak out. The one time I wore it I was put on the ground for 12 hours while the local police tried to figure out a way to disarm the patch. In the end I painted the edges blaze orange so people would think it was a toy patch. BTW you can't disarm a patch.

Then I took the mighty Phoenix out to the range. Norris Range. They probably have some rule against using such an awesome weapon there but I was determined to shoot it.

OhShoot was in attendance and suggested we tie it to a tree and shoot it in that fashion in case it got all klablooey or something. Well, that was his stated reason but I could tell by the look in his eyes that he was having a hard processing the pure awesomeness that is a lightly coated, mostly pot metal, 22 pistol made by Phoenix, freakin arms.

After much discussion we decided to shoot it, cause we are manly men and all. And we shot it. And it was a lot better than I had imagined. Instead of the bullets turning in mid air and flying into OhShoots head (because a Phoenix just wants to kill baby) they pretty much where we pointed the gun. Recoil was negligible and I only had two failures out of about 50 or a hundred rounds. Both were stovepipes but I think the gun malfed on purpose and the stovepipes were actually the weapons way of giving me the middle finger for not shedding blood.

Okay, so I was joking. It was fun and cheap to shoot. I wouldn't have bought it if lowbud hadn't shot it first but I don't think I'd get rid of it except for a crazy good deal. If you're a recreational shooter having one of these around to plick with is plenty fun.

For a real range report check out Mousegunners review.

Dang..........sold mine the other day...........makes me wished I had kept it now. You make it sound so awesome..............I am going to send a PM and try to get that thing back . Great story!!

[eapking]

Doesn't mean a thing without pics.

[Guest Bonedaddy]

I have one. The combo, though, with the extra 5 in. "target" barrel. But I swear the 3 in. is just as accurate as the 5 @ 7and 10 yds. and fun to shoot. Did have some FTF and FTE's at first but I polished the ramp and shot a hundred or so rds. of CCI Stingers thru it and now it shoots the cheap stuff pretty damn reliably. Kind of a pain to disassemble at first but once you've done a few times it's a snap. Soaked all my parts in Z-max (Carroll Shelby ya'know) and it functions smooth and cleans easily. I like it.

[Guest mosinon]

Hi Mo!

Very nice range report! You could write for gun rags!

Well, someone else had already done the definitive range report so I just kept it light.

As for the whole "Pics" thing. I'm not sure many people could handle pics of that weapon.

[kwe45919]

Phoenix Freakin Arms.............

Great range report. You ought to start your own Dick Cheney'esk book and describe your hunting trips as well as range reports.

[Guest Foster]

...... Did have some FTF and FTE's at first but I polished the ramp and shot a hundred or so rds. of CCI Stingers thru it and now it shoots the cheap stuff pretty damn reliably.

Maybe that's my problem. I need to polish the ramp. I can't seem to get mine to shoot more than 5 or 6 times without a failure of some sort. It's had probably 500 rounds through it and it does this with 4 different magazines, and either barrel.

It's strange to see all this praise for the little suckers though. I've always thought of mine as a little POS plinker and nothing more and that's the way everyone I know thinks of them. For me it was actually just something to get my wife used to firing a semiauto, so all the failures were actually helpful. If she was shooting something else they would have been few and far between, so she wouldn't get any practice at clearing one.

[extremescene]

My fiance purchased one last year and it has run great, much better than expected and probably better than most of the .380s that American Rifleman just reviewed. She didn't want to spend any more money than she did for a gun strictly for fun.

Federal AM22 and minimags are the best... it ran Blazers pretty well too.

[Oh Shoot]

Good review, Mosey -- the only feature you omitted are the 23 safeties on the thing. Understandable with the WMD nature of the beast.

It's true I suggested we tie it to a tree and use string for shakedown firing.

It's also true that the thing shoots nicely, certainly as accurate as I am. Ran several mags' worth through it, one rapid fire, nada glitches for moi.

Wear the patch proudly, but carefully.

- OS

[lowbud]

phoenix phreakin arms.. lmao!

gotta love that patch. it's kinda like the BM patch from You, Me and Dupree..

[Guest Bonedaddy]

You can delete that mag safety with a dremel tool real easy, just cut the top of it off so the slide lock can't catch it. May void your lifetime warrenty, though. But I don't consider it "safe" if you have to have an empty mag to retrieve a round from the barrel. Cut that off then it's the same as most other weapons. I also slightly rounded the edge of the breech with the dremel. It was so sharp that it was digging into the bullets like a knife and causing FTF's. But don't do it too much of you'll screw up battery and make the firing pin strike weak.

[Guest Guntotn]

Bought mine from jesso1999 and am useing it to train my grandkids to lock and load and have had no problems out of it so far and my wife loves it ,it easy for her to carry and smaller than her Walther P22

[jess01999]

Bought mine from jesso1999 and am useing it to train my grandkids to lock and load and have had no problems out of it so far and my wife loves it ,it easy for her to carry and smaller than her Walther P22

You have got to rub it in...don't you .