TargetTalk

I am not a competitive shooter but love accurate guns pistol & rifle. Iv been having my eye on a unique 22 pistol . I need some advice their not exactly cheap, no parts available, But they look soooooo great & I WANNNNNT one, NO I dont need it just WANNNNNT it. Heres the question are they Jammers, I hate a gun that jams, are they worth their asking price. I never miss a tincan when I do my part with my rugermkII. I have a 41 smith & a HS Citation they are accurate & Reliable is the Unique the same quality??????? I dont need another Ruger

Uniques are GREAT pistols, however, it would be a real waste of workmanship to use one to shoot tin cans. There are several models including ones that shoot .22 shorts. That one would be the cheapest to buy since it can no longer be used to shoot Int. rapid fire. Which model are you looking to buy?
Ben

I owned a DES69U for some 20 years. Fine build quality, accurate, very reliable, not sensitive to ammo, can't remember any jamming.
After some 25000 shots there was some wear on the firing pin and the magazine lips developed hair cracks; second hand copies showed same cracks. Availability of spares was dubious (Unique was already out of business at that time) and I decided to trade in for a new pistol (Morini CM22).

In retrospect I wished I had put some more effort finding better magazines.

Greetings Hans.

Any 22 wrote:I am not a competitive shooter but love accurate guns pistol & rifle. Iv been having my eye on a unique 22 pistol . I need some advice their not exactly cheap, no parts available, But they look soooooo great & I WANNNNNT one, NO I dont need it just WANNNNNT it. Heres the question are they Jammers, I hate a gun that jams, are they worth their asking price. I never miss a tincan when I do my part with my rugermkII. I have a 41 smith & a HS Citation they are accurate & Reliable is the Unique the same quality??????? I dont need another Ruger

It would help if you mentioned which model you are considering buying?

Assuming that it's a .22lr, then it could be DES69, DES69U or DES 96U. all of which are reliable, accurate and well made. The DES 96U is top loading and you don't see many of them around. They were the last version made and would be my choice.

If it's a .32 DES32U then the same applies as to the reliability and accuracy.

If it's one of the .22 short pistols, Can't quite recall the model numbers, something like VO79 and another 2000 I think, then they are also well made and accurate but like alot of .22 shorts can be fussy with ammo.

The one thing I always liked about Unique target pistols was that they were made in the traditional way. That is, all machined steel, no cast parts, alluminium or plastic (probably why the company failed!).

I am looking at a des69 standard uit model, I probably wont shoot tin cans with it BUT I MIGHT My sons & I have friendly Skirmishes, I have Rugers , Brownings , High Standards, Smith & wessons I just WANNNNNT one of those Uniques I love 22s hence my screen name. Im also looking at an older 41 with a 7.5 in. bbl. Which would be best their about the same money, Ihave a 41 w/5in bbl. but feel i need to baby it. the older one would prob. be a great kick around shooter& parts would be available.

Uniques are truly awesome pistols and IMO feel they are superior to any S&W-41 of which I own a mid-70's vintage. It's a shame the company fell onto hard times and had to close its doors around 2003.
I shoot my Uniques regularly and haven't had a mis-feed, stovepipe jam, or light rim strike ever, ... I swear you could roll a round into a pile of dirt and the Unique could care less. ... I have several of the model types and they are shooting machines. ... I compete with my DES/69 in a bullseye league and feed it CCI standard velocity ammo, it goes head to head with all the other european models, only exception it never alibis. :-)
There are a couple examples currently running on other popular auction sites you may be interested in. .... To find parts you need to be resourceful and check into several forums and ask questions. Magazines are a difficult find but once in a blue moon one pops up.
Plenty of 41's around and parts are everywhere. Some great deals have been offered right here at TT ... Uniques- well they are mystical and catch my attention every time. I like the .22LR models over the .22 short
Have fun and pick one that feels right for your budget