Spoiler alert...the 22.5 is a shooter
Got to hit the range this AM and do a quick eval. Ammo is tight so tried to make it count. Brought my 17.5, 22.5, USP 40 V3 and PX4 .40 to shoot. Shot 2 rounds of the Hackathorn Test (10 yards) Bill Drills (7 yards) and also shot a TRex Arms drill (5 yards) with the 17.5 and 22.5 (ran out of those targets so didn’t shoot them with the USP or PX4). Ammo used was Tula 115 for the 17.5 and WWB 165 for the .40s. Shot all drills from high ready as I only have a holster for the G17.5 and PX4.
First up, my early G17.5 with factory Ameriglo’s as a control. Gun is stippled and has the Kagwerks raised slide stop. Other than that it is bone stock. Disclaimer...haven’t shot any timed pistol drills in quite a while because of the ammo shortage and have been busy with non-shooting stuff so I was a little rusty with the 17.5. At any rate, here’s the target:
Next up was the G22.5. It is 100% bone stock with the shitty Glock plastic sights. I fell into a groove with this gun pretty quickly...my second “The Test” is among the best I’ve ever shot considering my part time...especially with a gun I had a grand total of 10 rounds through. Bill Drill was right there with the G17. G22 performance:
Following the G22 was my HK USP 40 V3. It’s got Trijicon HDs and the USP Match trigger kit sans the adjustable overtravel trigger. Also has the decocker only variant plate. It’s not as flat shooting as the G22.5 but as long as you clamp down on the grip it can be shot pretty well. Gets a tad “bouncy” when shot at speed on things like a Bill Drill but not too terrible. Ran “The Test” twice and the Bill Drill once because I was out of TRex Arms targets at this point.
Last up was my Beretta PX4 Inox .40. This gun has the Beretta Competition Trigger pack, Langdon 12# hammer spring, G conversion (decocker only) and Langdon Ameriglo sights. Inadvertently locked the gun open on the Bill Drill due to my grip hitting the slide stop upwards so I will be ordering the Stealth slide release soon. This gun also desperately needs a stipple job.
After the “formal” targets I loaded each gun with 7 rounds and blindly shot into the berm to gauge each gun’s recoil impulse. The PX4 was sharper than both the USP 40 and G22.5. Not by much, but it was noticeable. Loaded the USP and G22 and did the same thing again and I couldn’t pick a clear winner between the USP 40 and G22.5. Both recoil about the same and feel very pleasant with 165s. 180s should be softer yet.
Had 36 rounds left at this point so loaded two full mags for the G22.5 and installed one of my TLR-1s to check function. Zero issues with the light mounted albeit this is a sample size of 1 gun and only 36 rounds. Will do more testing in the future with WMLs to see if any issues arise. Had 6 rounds left and decided to run one more Bill Drill with the 22.5/TLR-1:
All in all my initial 100 round impression with this 22.5 is very positive. I’m highly considering picking up a 23.5 before the end of the year. Ejection was 2-3’ in a nice rainbow arc at ~ 3 o’clock. The gun does have the breechface cut like newer Gen 5 9mms but did not launch them with near as much authority as my G45. I’m going to swap the sights, get it stippled/undercut and call it good. Hoping Kagwerks comes out with a raised slide stop for these new Gen 5 .40s because I did have a few failures to lock back due to my grip riding the factory slide stop. Hope this helps any prospective buyers.