American Handgunner July/August 1977

Author's 1922 Browning sports anew elongated barrel bushing andthe slide from a Model 1910 gun.Flea barrel is longer than normalbut does not extend out of the endof the newly installed bushing.back to its original configuration andchambering in less than a minute. Startingwith the longer M1910 slide, a homemadebarrel bushing that accommodatesthe slightly longer .22 Flea barrel, and asomewhat modified follower in the magazine-andpresto, he had created the firstFlea. And it is this Flea that bit me, andhard too!The Browning Flea, thanks to theheftier and longer bushing, has the firstglanceappearance of some of the now-defunctshort bull-barrelled target pistols. Ascan be seen, the gun carries the originalBrowning sights which should be replacedfor serious target plinking and huntingwith either Bo-Mar or Micro sights. Davedid not have the time to install differentsights on the Browning, and I did notfeellike fooling around with his gun, hencehad to live with the rather miserable originalsights during my testing of the Flea.After running some disappointing accuracytests from a sandbag rest, I set theBrowning into the Lee pistol rest and thenthe gun delivered reasonably good groups.Some years ago I had bought an unchambered.22 TIC Contender barrel withthe idea of dreaming up a .22 centerfirewildcat. After playing with the Browningfor a week or so, I shipped the Contenderbarrel and an action to Dave who chamberedthe barrel for me and then ran sometests. When this rig came back from theWest Coast, I topped the Contender offwith the TIC ll/zX Lobo scope, and pron-to-there was a handgun-cartridge combinationthat did everything you or anyoneelse could expect from it.The long barrel and the heavier slideextension' bushing of the Browning simplycontinue the military ideas that made the1922 Browning possible with slide modifications.These features are not absolutelyessential, but they do serve to reducestress on the frame when heavy recoilloads are fired. As a matter of fact, youcan even use the short bushing with thelonger barrel in this .32 ACP gun. Slowerpowders tend to function the Browningbetter than faster burning powders, especiallywhen the heavy. bushing and thelong barrel are installed. With Bullseyeand powders burning faster than Unique,the light bushing can be used for loads developingless than 1000 fps or the velocitiesdelivered by 1.5 grains of Bullseye.Making brass for the Flea is simple, andLeft: Group from the scoped T/CContender, shot from a rest. The37 gr. Corbin bullet and 2.0 gr.of Bullseye gaveffine accuracy.Original Browning barrel (withoutspring) is shown with a Fleabarrel. The same spring is used.AMERICAN HANDGUNNER JULY/AUGUST 1977