By Jim Dickson | Contributing Writer
When I went to pick up the new Charter Arms Pathfinder .22 pistol at Reeves Ace Hardware in Clayton, Georgia it reminded me of a gun show long ago in Gainesville, where my old friend Frank Stahlkuppe and I shared a table.
Frank wanted a S&W .22 Kit Gun and he got it.
This new entry from Charter Arms is a direct competitor to the S&W .22 Kit Gun at 7¾ inches long by 5 inches high and 1 1/8 inches wide. Weight is a trifling 20 ounces. You sure won’t get tired out by this gun on your belt. It is an 8-shot revolver with comfortable rubber grips and a 3½-inch barrel with a full length ejector rod shroud making it muzzle heavy enough to hold steady on target. That’s important because light pistols are usually harder to hit with than full size pistols.
The Pathfinder’s weight is kept down by the use of anodized 7075 Aircraft Aluminum for the receiver and a polymer trigger guard. Polymer was chosen instead of aluminum for the trigger guard because it won’t break if the gun is dropped like some aluminum trigger guards have in the past. The receiver is anodize in a choice of three colors, Green, Black, or Silver. There is no side plate so the receiver is just that much stronger.
The rear sight is adjustable and the front sight is anodized red for high visibility. Double action trigger pull is 13 pounds and the single action trigger pull is 4 ½ pounds as measured by a Lyman mechanical trigger pull gauge from Brownells Gunsmithing Supplies.
This pistol has only 48 parts so it is not over complicated. It is an entirely U.S. made gun. The Pathfinder is also available in .22 Magnum if desired.
A lot of people like a small, lightweight .22-caliber pistol when they go into the woods. They have fun plinking with them as well as potting small game. A handgun of any kind is comforting protection once you are off the beaten path. Domestic dogs running wild have attacked many folks and I know of two hunters in Georgia who were attacked by coyote packs.
Then of course there are the two-legged varmints running loose in our society. Fishermen like to have something that they can kill snakes with, and trappers often favor them for finishing off the game caught in their traps. When running a trapline you end up with a lot to carry. A small, lightweight .22 LR pistol that can place its shots precisely at a range of just a few feet makes life a bit easier.
This is especially so if you are running a 100 mile trapline on snowshoes in Alaska where you will also be carrying a .45 or a rifle or shotgun for protection against things that seriously outweigh you and may decide to take you on without warning.
The best open and concealed carry holster design is the pancake holster. These hold the gun comfortably yet close to the body where they disappear completely once a coat is put on. El Paso Saddlery makes a fine one called their Tortilla holster to fit this gun and it is well worth the price.
While self-defense is usually not high on the list of things a .22 pistol is expected to do they have often come through for their users in emergencies. They may not stop as quickly or definitively as a .45 but they will ultimately kill just as dead. Making the transition from the virtually recoil free .22LR to a more powerful bucking centerfire and still hitting as well as they do with the .22LR can be difficult for the casual shooter not willing or able to shoot enough of the high priced centerfire cartridges to master them. Until they do, using a sidearm with which they can repeatedly hit the target just makes more sense as only hits matter.
Plenty of women want a small light weight .22LR pistol for their personal gun and this one is made to order for them. As they discover the Pathfinder, I predict it will become extremely popular with them.
A lot of people want to dismiss the idea of needing a pistol to shoot snakes with thinking “If you leave them alone they will leave you alone.” That’s not necessarily so boys. If you have a passel of young ‘uns running about, you don’t want a rattlesnake in the midst of them unless you are trying to get out of paying future college tuition for them.
As for the old saw “You leave them alone and they’ll leave you alone,” let me tell you about one I met a few years ago. I was stepping out of my house onto my front porch when I saw a short fat rattlesnake in the driveway in front of the steps. Upon seeing me he began angrily rattling while furiously trying to get up the steps to bite me. I fetched a shotgun and blew his head off. Another local recounted a similar experience that had happened to him. For some snakes, your being alive bothers them and they aim to fix that problem their way.
Since this is a revolver it doesn’t care if you shoot .22 short, .22 Long, or .22 Long Rifle in it so I shot all three. I had 1,275 rounds (not that much when you are shooting a .22 pistol) consisting of:
500 rounds of German SK Pistol Match .22LR imported by Capstone Precision Group in Mesa, Arizona. This proved to be super accurate. German precision is legendary for good reason and that certainly applies to their ammunition.
320 rounds of Federal Champion Value Pack .22LR
300 rounds of CCI .22 Long
150 rounds of CCI .22 Short
The little pistol happily digested all the ammunition accurately and being a revolver it could care less about the differences in the various .22’s.
After shooting, the gun was decidedly dirty so it was cleaned using a Shooters Choice .22 cleaning kit and it was then lubricated with German Ballistol oil before being returned to Charter Arms.
With Ballistol oil I did not have to worry if the package got wet or sweated during shipment for Ballistol forms an emulsion with water and as long as it remains at least 5% Ballistol, the water will evaporate without rusting the gun. I don’t want a gun entrusted to my care going back to its owner with rust on it because the shipper did not take good care of it while it was in transit.
As for me, I had a most enjoyable task burning through that little pile of .22 ammo. I liked shooting this pistol. You can hit with it easily and that is more than I can say for a lot of light weight pistols. After all, a .22 pistol is supposed to be a fun gun and this one sure is. It fills all the roles laid out for a small .22LR revolver nicely and I think that it will be very popular.
