GUNS Magazine The Smith and Wesson 2206

; .

Once you get started in sound suppressors it can be tough to stop.

Sound suppressors make you a better neighbor, help preserve your hearing, enhance accuracy and look cool. Hanging a decent can on the snout of your favorite gat will reliably land you dates with supermodels, regrow lost hair, add a dozen IQ points, cure malodorous feet and instantly render you muscular, svelte and handsome. Okay, so maybe none of the last bit was technically true, but you are nonetheless substantially more likely to be killed by lightning or sharks than by a sound-suppressed weapon. Second Graders ought to sell these delightful devices door to door out of sacks to raise money for the homeless.

A decent .22 rimfire suppressor is most everybody’s gateway drug. Once you’ve realized you can drop a brick of .22 shells in your range bag in the space that formerly held your hearing protection you are invariably smitten. Finding the perfect gun to host your spiffy new can is half the fun. Tracking down the ideal .22 rimfire suppressor host became a holy crusade of sorts for me.

; .

The unusual architecture interfacing the slide to the frame keeps the bore axis low and looks cool.

Considerations

I wanted something reliable with a decent trigger and proper controls. I also coveted a gun where I could still use the sights with the suppressor installed. That last bit was fairly daunting. Our great republic is covered in a thin patina of .22-caliber pistols. They come in all shapes, sizes and configurations. Some are more amenable to sound suppressors than others.

My full-sized Smith and Wesson M&P .22 feels like a “real gun” and encourages positive habit transfer. It’s a great training tool. However, in both cases the can sits so high it effectively occludes the gun’s sights. There had to be a better way.

Too Much, Too Soon

Smith and Wesson debuted their Model 422 in 1987. This was before sound suppressors really hit the big time. Sporting an aluminum frame and either a 4.5″ or 6″ barrel, the 422 also featured a nice single action trigger, a 12-round magazine and a weird kind-of ambidextrous magazine release. The mag release is a little push lever located vertically along the front of the grip. You have to either sport little pixie fingers or enjoy the dexterity of a concert violinist to wrangle the thing easily. However, it yet remains entirely serviceable.

The thumb safety is left-sided only and fairly stiff. The slide release is in the expected spot. Sights can be either fixed or adjustable. While the slide was steel, frames could be either aluminum alloy or stainless.

The real magic, however, is in the orientation of the barrel relative to the frame. The barrel sits low in the chassis so as to minimize muzzle flip. The distal end is secured via a proprietary retaining nut. This geometry allows a standard rimfire suppressor to be fitted such that it does not occlude the sights.

The factory barrel nut will not accept a suppressor, but there are aftermarket threaded versions available online. I had to buy a proprietary wrench to get the old nut off. Fortunately it was cheap.

With the can in place the S&W 2206 (stainless frame and slide) runs fast and well. The gun is pretty heavy, but reliability on my sample is fine. The sights work great despite the can. This tidy little gun even saved my life one time, sort of.

; .

The S&W 2206 is the perfect rimfire suppressor host. Though they were
only made for nine years some three decades ago, these unusual guns can
still be found online and at gun shows. The Silent Legion can is as good as it gets.

War Story

I was walking out in the woods with my three kids in tow. Our rural Mississippi farm was our refuge, homeschool science lab and playground. It also hosted more than a few dangerous creatures. As I am armed whenever I am not asleep or in the shower I was packing my S&W 2206 in a shoulder holster. My first inkling something was amiss was when I felt what seemed to be a big muscular arm moving underneath my GI-issue jungle boot.

The water moccasin in question was as big around amidships as a robust tangerine. His massive head pivoted toward my shin in an instant. My young son was half a step behind me.

My next conscious thought the kids were screaming, the slide was locked back on my little Smith, and the empty magazine was ejected on the ground. I was instinctively pawing for the spare mag I had actually left back at the house. Fortunately my heart restarted of its own accord.

About two thirds of the gun’s dozen rounds had connected with the big snake. It is an absolute miracle I didn’t blow my foot off. However, all the humans involved lived to fight another day.

; .

The magazine release is located on the front strap and is weird. It works just fine, however.

Epilogue

I have read about 4% of these Smith and Wesson .22 pistols had significant reliability problems. This was purportedly one of the reasons for their abbreviated nine-year commercial run. Buying a used version today is therefore not without risk. Like an idiot I actually sold my old 2206 before I bought my first .22 can. I subsequently had to track down another copy to right that grievous wrong. These old guns, particularly the versions with stainless steel frames, are quite spendy nowadays. However, both of mine ran like a chimp after Cheez Whiz.

It takes a special tool to strip these pistols, though that is easily improvised. Additionally, stuff you might actually need like spare extractors is rarer than honest politicians. However, I have indeed found in my vintage S&W 2206 the perfect suppressor host.

SilentLegion.com

Subscribe To GUNS Magazine

Purchase A PDF Download Of The GUNS Magazine October 2021 Issue Now!

; .

Winchester Model 150

I’ve used many Winchester rimfires of ’30s, ’40s and ’50s vintage that — more or less — fit the...

Stone-simple...

From its 1864 founding through its eventual 1920 absorption by Savage, the Stevens Arms Company was responsible for...

The MAB Model D

Even if you ignore the caliber limitations, the MAB Model D is probably not a first-line choice as a carry gun, but...

; .

We think you'd be interested in this, too