Monday 17 February 2014

BROWNING BUCKMARK .22" Pistol

The BUCKMARK series of .22" semi-auto pistols commenced production in 1985 - Mine is a 1990 model and has a 'slab-sided' barrel that is male threaded for fitting a sound moderator or barrel weight. 

Buckmark frames are precision CNC machined from solid 7075-T6 aluminum alloy - unlike many other makes that are stamped or forged. Other than the grips, all other components are machined steel. The blow-back action slide has a rear cut-away area on both sides and is heavily machined in this scalloped area with slanting grooves, to aid grip when cocking the pistol. The top-strap with the rear sights is fixed so the slide requires a firm grip on either side from the rear - rather than "over the top" from above as on most centre- fire guns. - Some later models have projecting slide cocking ears at the back of the slide similar to those on Rugers.

My pistol grips are a very nice pair of polished wood that may be 'Cocobola' wood and the trigger is bright plated in contrast to the rest of the gun. - All round a good looking and well behaved, versatile wee gun. I have three tempered steel (ten round) magazines that have been fitted with foam-rubber 'bumper pads' on the bases that help protect them from scuffing in .22" Action Matches when ejected on the run - and also provide more room to grasp the magazines when "unloading & showing clear". My Buckmark was not as good as it should have been when bought - having a wad of cardboard in place of the recoil buffer pad and a worn firing pin assy. I imported replacement parts including a new extractor from America and the gun is now excellent.

Not fussy on which brand of .22"L.R. it consumes - the Buckmark is a more accurate shooter than I'm capable of, - but when you buy any gun for precision target shooting it's a good idea to grab one pack from each of a wide range of makes and velocities to see which ones the gun prefers to run-on, which is cheapest, and which gives the tightest grouping - before buying that brand in bulk quantity.

The BUCKMARK replaced the previous 'Challenger' model in 1985, that had started production in 1962 - and had flat slant-grooved slides. In our small rural club there are four of us with 'Buckmarks' - and we all speak well of our guns. - The earlier 'Challenger' (mks 1, 2, & 3) was a development from the COLT WOODSMAN Target Model via the FN Browning 150, Match 150 with some influence from the Hi-Standard pistols.
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 A crisp trigger feel, conventionaly located controls, and quality build, make for a handy versatile package. - But I would like to add my usual comment about guns fitted with a "SAFETY"  - NEVER RELY ON A SAFETY  - If I could - I would re-name 'safeties' as 'DANGEROUSES'.
Marty K

After researching & writing 1,036 blogs I've got something NEW to try .. I've signed-up to Patreon. - In over five years I've not made one cent from this .. NOW you can send me a wee support $ - starting from $1. to get all this stuff from New Zealand - over a year that's nearly the price of one Shooting magazine. - Am I worth it?

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