Sig/Hammerli Trailside.
I bought this one new for $400 in about 2005 or thereabouts. I don’t think they were popular, and only sold for a year or two. Sort of a stripped-down Xesse. It seemed like a bargain at the time, and I still think the monolithic billet construction is neat, but after shooting it for almost twenty years I can see why they didn’t do well. Mine ate its own plastic guide rod after a few hundred rounds. Literally snapped in half. On the 4” model, the rear sight and barrel weight were plastic. The original plastic grips were shaped strangely and didn’t seem to wear well. They have a reputation for cracking their own trigger guard/slide stop if high velocity rounds are used. I’ve only ever run subsonic and standard velocity in mine. I replaced the guide rod, action spring, and barrel weight with Larry’sCustom parts. Stainless guide rod and aluminum barrel weight. The grips are Rink stippled walnut. Magazines were always pricey, and I was cheap, so I only have the one it came with. It’s actually been a decent test of the plastic magazine though, because it still runs fine after something like 2,000rds. It feels a bit light and jumpy in my hand, but every time I think of selling it I realize I’m still attached. The Izhmash IZH-35M have been completely stellar in every way. I’ve reworked the factory grips to fit my hand better, and swapped all the soft flathead screws for flat socket cap screws. I’m running PowerCustom 10/22 action springs, which are a perfect drop-in replacement. They have downward-pivoting hammers. Triggers break clean and crisp at 1.5 lbs. Factory magazines hold 5rds but I’ve read that the S&W 22a 10rd mags can be easily modified to fit. I’ve probably put something like 10,000rds through them at this point. I just can’t say enough good things about them. I don’t recall experiencing a single failure of any kind. From a bench, they are capable of shooting almost on-par with long guns at our limited indoor rimfire range, if I do my part.
