I have a chance to trade for one, wondering if there is some first hand experience with this gun out there.

Are you talking about the older ACE or the newer imported guns?

I bought one of the newer versions, A Colt/Walther/Umarex 1911-22 LR Government Model.

Reviews were good on this dedicated COLT authorized version, even compared to other 'clone' brands out there.
I bought mine because of the 'price', under $300 from CDNN (Liquidators) and I wonder if a lot of these 1911-22 pistols
are being discontinued after a booming & over-saturated market? I see fewer on the shelves now and at lower prices.
Also a lot of online dealers are listing them as 'Out Of Stock' or 'Unavailable'.

I like mine, it shoots and runs well, although I had 'trading stock' in mind when I purchased it. It has kind of grown on me!

Review > http://ezine.m1911.org/showthread.php?86-Colt-Government-1911-22LR-Umarax-USA <

Buy a Kimber 1911 that's a dedicated .22 lr. Not the conversion unit.
Mine is the Custom Shop version and will shoot 10 shot 1" groups @ 25 yards with almost any brand of .22 ammo. It's definatley the most fun handgun I own to shoot, too.
And a great practice gun for all my other 1911's in 45acp.

Here's a pic. Not sure what I'm looking for on these, pardon my ignorance. Is this a new model? Definitely a dedicated .22, not conversion.

Yep. That's one of new ones. Made by Umirex, which is owned by Walther, I think. The one I looked at in my LGS looked like it was made of plastic and pot metal. Kinda like the old Daisy BB pistol I had as a kid. Felt very "cheap" when I handled it. Doesn't mean they don't work though.

An Ace?




Travis

I have an old Ace I use for practice infrequently. It's OK for practice if I haven't loaded 45 ACP practice ammo, because all the controls are the same. The floating chamber design provides a bit of simulated recoil but not the same as the 45 cartridge.

I found it at my LGS a long while back and bought it out of interest. Mostly stays in the safe. I don't think I would buy a dedicated 22LR 1911 today - solely for practice purposes - with rimfire ammo availability and prices as they are and the ease of reloading centerfire light loads. YMMV

Don't know anything about the outsourced 'new versions' so can't help you there.