Erma Werke ESG 22

The Erma ESG 22 was first imported into the United States by Excam, Inc. of Hialeah, Florida starting in 1982. As the boom of paramilitary type weaponry peaked sometime in the mid to late 1980s, Iver Johnson, an American company that produced the commercial M1 Carbine, began importing the M1 .22 clones from Germany to be marketed alongside their production .30 caliber counterpart. Among the many import clones that were offered in the American market, only Jager and Erma offered their look-alikes in .22 Magnum chambering. However, Erma produced the only gas operated .22 Magnum with their ESG 22 truly simulating the action of the US M1 .30 Carbine. Externally, the Erma clone is nearly perfect. However, the weapon comes with a standard 5-shot box type magazine (and an optional 12-shot magazine was available) rather than the standard 15 and 30-round magazine of the original.