Gents!
I have looked into the Hämmerli x-esse (previously called sig Trailside in the us) as a first .22lr pistol, mostly for accuracy shooting but also for a lot of plinking. Is it a good gun for that purpose?
(If I would ever want to become world champion I might choose another gun, but that is not the purpose of this first pistol.)
I want a decent reliable gun that is able to give consistant 47-50 points series at 25 meters, as well as it should be fun to shoot soda cans, milk jugs, waterballoons etc.
It is also a bonus if it can handle both standard and HV ammunition.
It fits my hand very well and I shot better with that than with the walter p22 or S&w 17k(?).
I am a bit hesitant about the trigger adjustment and the plastic magazines though.

Any thoughts and comments on good first .22lr pistols are appreciated.

Sincerely
Daniel

Hi there
I first shot a Hammerli( a rental) at a Indoor gun range in Calgary, AB. It was the nicest .22 semi auto pistol I had ever fired, and that started the gears turning on my plans to acquire one. I finally gave up on tweaking my Ruger semi- auto .22 ( trigger, sights, firing pin, grips), sold it and bought the X-Esse. I have only put target rounds through it, so I can't comment on how it handles HV rounds. I can't imagine it would be a problem.

I've got a Trailside I carry for shooting grouse when deer/elk hunting. I've got the shorter barrel model for easier carrying in a pack. I also added a red dot sight. Much lighter than my Buckmark. Larry's Guns out of Maine used to carry an adjustable trigger for the trailside which I installed.

It's a fine and accurate pistol. I have had to replace the safety plug once. It wore out after a couple of years of use. The new one seems to be lasting much longer though.

I followed a forum when they first came out and there were a considerable amount of failures in the trigger guard which is used to stop the blow back of the slide if HV ammo was used. So I only use target and standard velocity ammo which work fine for my purposes. Lary's Guns also carries an after-market triggerbar spring replacement as this part is also apparently prone to fail. My original spring has been fine.

I hope this helps. It's been a fine pistol for what I use it for but it will probably not be the last 22 pistol I buy.