Calico M-900

Thom

I bought this new about 23 years ago and its been in the closet all these years.
I just got it out and cleaned it, wipe it down ect. Thinking of going out to shoot it soon.
I was wondering if anyone has any experiance shooting this and if so what type of ammo
would be the best choice to use. I don't know alot about it and never seen one at any range
Thom

Rimfire

Thom,

Since you've had it for 23 years, we can wave the fine. But do you have a picture?


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gunrunner428

Thom, welcome aboard! Sounds like you've got a pretty interesting critter there. The Calicos always intrigued me, from the original .22 to the pistol-caliber rifle and pistol like your 9mm, I'm assuming by the model number.

Without knowing any manufacturer's recommendations for preferred ammo, I'd say try a box of whatever you can get your hands on, maybe avoiding +P rounds until you know if the gun is rated for them. Standard 115-grain military-pattern hardball should be a good starting point. The gun, if I recall, was a pretty basic blowback design, so I imagine high-pressure ("+P") ammo might put a battering on it. Some European ammo, I believe largely in 147-grain loading, was loaded to function reliably in sub-machine guns, and was loaded to higher pressures as well.

Exotic loads (high-end hollowpoints, Glaser or Mag-Safe specialty loads, and the like) would get VERY expensive trying to keep that hungry Calico fed. might be good to know the gun would function them, though, if it were ever to become a gun to bet your life on!

About the only caut

5280 shooter II

Shoot FMJ ammo through it........don't expect tight groups.....expect 4-6" at 25 yrds........not a lot of people bought one cause they aren't that great............it was a great ideal that didn't perform.

Bigslug

23 years ago, the 9mm "standard" was 115 to 124 grains, with the 147 grainers really just making their entrance.

Main thing with those - don't overcrank the magazine. Use the minimum amount of turns needed to feed the full mag.

Thom

I'm sure this is a very short range shooting weapon, SO I just mounted a barrel mounted laser. and A box of 115 FMJ Winchester ammo and went to the range.
It took a little time but got it to shoot on the dot at 30' feet or so. This was as much fun as shooting my 10-22 maybe more! 50 rounds didn't last very long.
Why did I wait so long to shoot this thing.

Thom

This rifle is as much, more fun to shoot then a 22. I don't know why I waited almost 30 years to shoot it. I have read that the mags. don't feed the rounds all the time.
I did have a no feed 2 times, both in the 50 round mag. out of 400 all new Winchester ammo. It's only the cost of ammo that makes a 22 more fun walking around the dump