Which would be a better option? I shoot a lot of 22 but I don’t have anything in the 1911 platform.

when I first started shooting practical pistol, I picked up one of the Colt floating chamber .22/45 conversion kits... not very accurate, but allowed one shot draw, presentation and a muzzle report for a shot timer... I think today, I'd look at a purpose built design in .22 from the ground up...I'm not familiar with what is on the market as I shoot a tricked out Ruger MKIV for steel challenge... my poor old SW M41 is a safe queen

I bought this a while ago (I think it was about $100-120) and put it on an older frame that I bought from another arfcommer.  Seems to shoot ok, haven't really tested the accuracy of it, was just shooting steel and other things with it.  Was a cheap way to get another .22 pistol together.

https://palmettostatearmory.com/gsg-22lr-1911-conversion-kit-w-10rd-magazine-ger1911conv.html

That's cool, I have a GSG 1911 that works great.  Didn't know they made conversions

This spring, I went on a Tisas 1911 buying binge, a Tank Commander, Raider and JSOC pistols, all in .45 ACP.  Great guns, love them.  However, the price of .45 ACP and even reloading supplies being subject to the current state of Bidenomics, I decided to get a GSG 1911.  I did a lot of research, watched a lot of videos and reviews before taking the -lunge but I’m glad I did.  It’s been fed a steady diet of Remington golden bullet ammo and has had very few failures to function.  Sure, it’s had a few (probably less than 10 out of a couple Remington “bucket o’ bullets”) so I can;t say I’ve been disappointed in my purchase. I wasn’t to thrilled about the plastic sights so I did replace them with a set of Dawson sights but that’s been the extent of any upgrades.
I know detractors will claim that it’s pot metal-zamack-mystery metal construction that will break and what not but I haven’t had any problems with that just yet.  Besides, I know exactly what I bought and it was never with the intention of being some high end heirloom piece like a High Standard Super Trophy or a Ruger 22/45 with “similar controls and feel” I could hand down to future generations.  I wanted something that was a low-cost trainer and plinker.  I wanted something that had the exact same controls in the same locations at a similar weight that I could even use in the same holster and magazine pouches as my .45 ACP models.  And if the day ever comes that it wears out or breaks beyond my ability to repair it, a replacement will have already paid for itself in the cost of ammo savings.

I bought my Colt conversion kit about 35 yrs ago as an understudy for my daily carry 1911.  But for slow fire and plinking still enjoy my Ruger NM Super Single Six.  All depends on your purpose for the gun.


CD

Colt ACE, works well, clean after use. Colt conversion unit, run that occasionally on a series 70 frame, Colt ACE slide on a Caspian frame with Krieger rails. Accurate but finicky, picky with ammo brands.

If you shoot a lot, a dedicated pistol will almost always show some superiority to a conversion in reliability or accuracy.

However marvel/Nelson conversion kits have a great reputation for accuracy and reliability

The old high standard pistols ( the military grip frame models were designed to mimic the 1911 grip angle and feel)

The Marvel unit 1 has been manufactured by various companies for years and get very good reviews for Accuracy.   I bought an Advantage Arms Standard kit which is very similar to the Marvel Unit 2 in design.   My AA 1911 Standard kit shoots better than I can hold it.  Advantage Arms also sell the Target model which is the same design as the Marvel unit 1 where the sights are stationary and only the rear section of the slide reciprocates.   My AA kit locks back on empty and has ten round mags.  I bought a stripped RIA frame from SARCO and have dedicated that frame to my AA 1911 Standard kit.

Lanbo’s Armory has the best prices I’ve found for Advantage Arms kits and magazines.  Lanbo’s have the AA Commander, Standard and Target 1911 kits in stock.

https://lanbosarmory.com/index.php?main_page=advanced_search_result&search_in_description=1&keyword=Advantage+Arms



Here is a picture of my AA 1911 Standard kit on a dedicated RIA Frame and below is the EAA 1911 kit on my RIA 1911A-1 45 ACP Frame.



Nelson manufactures a very accurate version of the Marvel unit 1 kit.   This design has a removable sight rail where you can easily add a rail for optics or have a rail and iron sights.  The AA kit has this feature but only sell the slotted rail with no sights.   The Nelson is more expensive than the AA but is probably worth the extra cost if your really wanting accuracy.


https://www.nelsoncustomguns.com/store/index.php?l=product_list&c=2

It is somewhat of a PITA to swap my Kimber conversion kit on to my Colt .

To me the real beauty is I am getting my exact trigger in both the centerfire and rimfire setups. Weight is of course different but on my setup the sights are very similar .

I believe the Kimber marked conversions are similar to Marvel (made by them maybe?)

Not that it is the only rimfire I have by a long shot but it is fun to shoot with decent accuracy.

Many of the rimfire 1911 clones I have seen and ran a few shots through are pretty sloppy with second rate function , reliability and accuracy which gets boring pretty fast

Thanks all I’ll be going with the AA kit.

I have thousands of rounds through my GSG.  I’ve shot it enough I broke the barrel bushing.  I was able to drop a spare series 80 collet bushing right in.  It’s Ben solid and shoots surprisingly well.

I’d buy another one.



ETA - I removed the magazine safety, swapped to Ahrends grips, and you can get replacement buffers from the hardware store.  They are just rubber o rings.  The can is an Osprey Micro.