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Grand Power K22 X-Trim Plus

Grand Power K22 X-Trim Plus

Thanks to a kneejerk reaction from our government, we can no longer own .22 LR pistols in the UK; however, that has not stopped the rise of the long barrelled firearm. This is essentially a pistol with an extended barrel over 300mm long and an overall length of over 600mm thanks to an extension arm protecting off the bottom of the pistol grip. Some of these guns have the balance of a pistol and others do not. I have owned and shot a Long Barrelled Pistol (another name for LBFs) for seven years, even picking up the odd prize at Bisley with it. The Buckmark I have was the only LBP readily available for years and is massively front heavy.

There is more choice for UK shooters now, though, and the Caledonian Classic Arms Grand Power K22 is one of the few LBPs that feels like a pistol, you can even shoot it onehanded. They are so popular now we even have three in our small rimfire club. The centre of balance even in LBP UK legal mode is within the trigger guard. Grand Power pistols are used in law enforcement as well as competition shooting; an example of the Centre Fire version has fired over 100,000 rounds without any failures!

The Grand Power K22 is made in Slovakia and was designed as a training weapon, utilising cheap .22 rimfire ammunition but having the same basic frame and controls as their 9x 19mm centrefire pistols. CCA saw the potential as a UK legal long barrelled firearm and Grand Power make the CAA K22 version for them. It has clever design touches to ensure the balance of the pistol frame is not ruined by the addition of a 300mm barrel in .22 opposed to the 117mm long 9mm one. The barrel is only 14mm in diameter (the Buckmark barrel starts at 22.5mm and tapers down to 18mm). It is also fluted to keep the weight down. It has a threaded barrel end in 14mm metric not the usual ½ inch UNF thread normally seen, onto this thread is attached a faux or functional moderator. The top slide on the X-Trim version seen here has been skeletonised to keep the weight down even more. The extension arm to take it to 600mm long is lightweight and has Grand Power on one side of the disc at the end and the CCA logo on the underside. The CCA logo is also on the top slide, they really want people to know who’s behind the gun in the UK. There are two types of magazine available, a standard 10 round and an extended 19 round version. The frame is modern polymer, with fully ambidextrous controls. The magazine catch, safety catch and slide release are good to go for both normal people and ‘lefties’. It also has a last round hold open facility and a two-year warranty from CCA. There is a front Picatinny rail in front of the trigger guard; you can fit a saddle mount onto this if you want to use a red dot or optical sight. CCA now have a side mount for red dot sights available for the K22.

Engineering Masterpiece

Being a qualified mechanical engineer, I looked long and hard at the design, fit and finish of the Grand Power. I was impressed, the steel top slide on the X-Trim Plus has sections machined out, and in front of the barrel/ejection port it has more slots. This latest model has a slot running along the same plane as the axis of the barrel on the top slide between the front post sight and the ejection part. Older models do not have this and have a solid side to the left of the ejection port; this is cut out on the latest model. It saves weight and again is the reason the CCA K22 balances like a ‘real’ pistol and not a LBP. The steel top slide is finished with a TENIFIER QPQ (Quench polish quench) surface finish; this makes it a very hard wearing and looks a lot like traditional bluing. As well as lightening the top slide, the slots also provide superb grip areas.

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The ‘Plus’ version has a tuned trigger, and using my electronic gauge it measured 9lb 5oz in double action and 2lb 12oz in single action, that is really good. I did try to get CCA to supply me with what the standard K22 trigger weight is, as they do not publish it on the website either, and for me as a customer I would want to know how much better the plus trigger really is. CCA did send me trigger average weight figures they obtained from Grand Power, these were 2.87lbs in single action and 7.94lbs in double action, and I had to convert these from Newtons.

X-Celling All Areas

The adjustable Elliason micrometric sights are topnotch on the X-Trim Plus; with the sight base a tad over 150mm. The front post has a 1.5mm diameter, 14mm long, fibre optic red rod which does stand out, although one owner at the club has changed it for a white one to match the Glock he shoots in his day job as an Army firearms instructor. The gun never missed a beat; I tried it with various types of ammo, even mixing them in the same magazine. This is an accurate pistol with 100mm groups easily achievable at 50 metres. At less than 25 metres you can single hole a double tap, if you are good enough that is… I would not buy the standard K22 but go for the X-Trim Plus, as it has all the features you need to get the best out of LBP shooting, good trigger and adjustable match sights with a fibre optic front element.

The last shot hold open feature is a must for semi-auto weapons. The larger magazine release button is useful too; the only feature that the firearms instructor and I were not keen on was the very large safety. On the left-hand side it interfered with our two handed grip, sitting too low really. If possible I would have all the features of the X-Trim Plus but with the smaller standard safety catch. You can remove the 28mm diameter faux moderator and shoot the gun with it off, or order the K22 with a moderator, which has holes drilled in the barrel and baffles, but the same outer tube as here. I have to admit it looks better with it on, also being so light, basically a hollow 190mm tube, it does not adversely affect the balance. The gun does shoot in a different place with the faux moderator fully on or off though. Many owners have told me they are convinced it shoots better with it screwed on.

Conclusion

For your £915 you get the X-Trim Plus in a hard case, with two 10-shot magazines and an instruction book. That is cheap in my book for a quality firearm; they even do chrome versions too now. It is easy to see why there are so many CCA K22’s in the clubs around me. I am saving up for one myself. Thanks to Oliver and Feroza help in production of this article.

PRICE:
RRP £915.00 (£980 moderator version)
10 round magazine £32.00
19 round magazine £50.00
Red dot side mount £39.99

DISTRIBUTOR: Caledonian Classic Arms Ltd, [email protected]

  • Grand Power K22 X-Trim Plus - image {image:count}

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  • Grand Power K22 X-Trim Plus - image {image:count}

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  • Grand Power K22 X-Trim Plus - image {image:count}

    click on image to enlarge

  • Grand Power K22 X-Trim Plus - image {image:count}

    click on image to enlarge

  • Grand Power K22 X-Trim Plus - image {image:count}

    click on image to enlarge

  • Grand Power K22 X-Trim Plus - image {image:count}

    click on image to enlarge

  • Grand Power K22 X-Trim Plus - image {image:count}

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gun
features

  • Model: Grand Power K22 X-Trim Plus
  • Action: Blow-back
  • Type: Long barrelled firearm
  • Capacity: 10 (higher capacity magazines and magazine extensions are available)
  • Barrel length: 305mm
  • Overall length: 633mm
  • Weight: 1.03kg
  • Calibre: .22 LR
  • Sights: Open (153mm sight base) fibre optic front element
  • Trigger: Single and Double action competition trigger
  • Trigger weight: Double action 4.2kg (9lb 5.5oz) Single action 1.2kg (2lb 12oz)
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