Maybe dumb ? 22lr in a 22mag revolver?

[Brian48]

Please forgive my ignorance but. Can you shoot 22lr in a 22mag revolver? I am thinking about getting a 22mag revolver like a Taurus 941 and was wondering if you could safely shoot the 22lr in that gun to save on ammo. I have never done anything with 22mag other that shot a friend's gun. Is it safe or totally stupid? Would it damage the cylinder?

Just make it easier on yourself and get a Ruger Single-Six if you really want to have dual capability of both .22lr and .22wmr. It's built for it and comes with two cylinders that you can switch out in seconds. It's also a great gun period that will give you years of service and shooting fun.

[Motownstan]

+1 on the Single Six, 22lr plus 22wmr, how can you go wrong? There is no way I will ever part with mine.

[gkdir]

As in a lot of cases here--nobody answered the mans question !!

[laytonj1]

As in a lot of cases here--nobody answered the mans question !!

And, as in a lot of cases here, nobody reads all the posts in the thread... the first response to the OP's post did answer it.

Jim

[valkabit6]

Another vote for the Ruger Single Six. I don't often use the .22 mag cylinder, but I love having the option.

[Lost Sheep]

Originally Posted by w_houle

Hey! Before we get into a caliber war: can anyone evaluate my last statement?

On the subject of making a sleeve or adapter to allow shooting 22 RF in 22 Mag RF chambers, I will render an opinion contrary to wiser, more experienced shooters.

It could be done. Particularly considering the experience with the 22 Jet cartridge.

The 22 Jet was a 357 cartridge necked down to .22 caliber. As far as I know, only S&W made a revolver chambered for it, but memory tricks tell me there might have been a Thompson-Contender barrel, too. It's too late for me to look it up and the trivia is irrelevant anyway.

The way the cartridge was tapered (not so much a shoulder like you would expect from a bottlenecked rifle-type cartridge, but more of a gentle taper), the guns had some extraction problems, but performed very well most of the time with clean chambers and in all other respects. Still, the centerfire 22 caliber full-size revolver was not a commercial success and was discontinued.

There were inserts to allow firing the much cheaper 22 rimfire in the 22 Jet chambers. You would insert 22 RF cartridges into the inserts. Then load the inserts just as you would regular 22 Jet cartridges. Ejection was typical. I believe the inserts were made of aluminum. (Anyone know for sure?) Just as the masking tape solution? does not require strength, the aluminum was supported by the strength of the steel of the chambers.

But the experience does tend to suggest that one could do it. One could also, theoretically, machine inserts for any 22 magnum chamber to accomodate 22 RF in Long Rifle, Long, Short or CB Caps.

The thinness of the walls of the insert would probably be a design and manufacturing challenge.

Having said all that, it is probably a VERY BAD IDEA. (See FrankenMauser's post right after this one. I believe he knows more about this than I do. And we agree.)

Lost Sheep

I think High Standard made an interchangeable cylinder 9-shot double action 22 rimfire revolver in 22 RF and 22 Mag. Can anyone confirm? I think it was the Sentinel or the Longhorn back in the '70s.

[FrankenMauser]

There were inserts to allow firing the much cheaper 22 rimfire in the 22 Jet chambers. You would insert 22 RF cartridges into the inserts. Then load the inserts just as you would regular 22 Jet cartridges. Ejection was typical. I believe the inserts were made of aluminum. (Anyone know for sure?) Just as the masking tape solution? does not require strength, the aluminum was supported by the strength of the steel of the chambers.

Chamber inserts have been made of many types of materials. The chamber does support some of them. (Aluminum is not common; as it compresses easier than steel, and has a very short working life) However, masking tape and .22 WMR hulls allow expansion. Chamber inserts usually do not. Another thing the masking tape solution does not fix, is that of the throat. The .22 WMR has a typical center fire chamber; not a rimfire-style chamber. As such, the .22 WMR has a lip, where the case ends and the bullet is exposed. If a .22 LR bullet was to hit the lip; it could cause tumbling of the bullet, or severe fouling (to the point that subsequent rounds could reach an over pressure condition and rupture).

Many, many chamber inserts are still available for many chamberings. However, almost 100% are made of steel (even for .22 rimfire calibers in larger original chamberings).

As I said in my last post:

Firearms are not toys. Don't arbitrarily experiment with them.

(Unless you are a certified engineer, with the proper equipment. But, that wouldn't be arbitrary, would it?)

[Lost Sheep]

gkdir
As in a lot of cases here--nobody answered the mans question !!
__________________
"Normal "is just a setting on your dryer.

Which question did you find unanswered? Please be specific. A quote of the particular one would be best.

I found that the main question,

Originally Posted by surfzombie

Can you shoot 22lr in a 22mag revolver?

was answered here, and very specifically:
Post #3, Paragraph 1 Sentence 3
Post #8, Paragraph 1 Sentence 2
Post #10, whole post.
Post #21, Paragraph 3 Sentences 1 and 2

Lost Sheep

What is the setting on your dryer?

[Murdock]

I can't speak for any other convertible .22/.22Mag revolvers, but the S&W Model 48's rate of twist was set up for the .22 Mag. Accuracy, even at 15 feet was abysmal with .22 LR. Apparently the slower rate of twist was insufficient to stabilize the slower .22 LR bullets for anything other than casual plinking.

That has not been my experience, but YMMV. I have been very happy with my S&W M48 with a .22LR cylinder. It serves as a wonderful understudy for my S&W centerfire revolvers.

I would suggest trying a variety of .22LR ammo, if you have not already done so. Luckily, mine has been happy with Federal 550 bulk HP's from Wally World. I have certainly had the experience of terrible accuracy from some varieties of .22LR in a S&W M17, which is of course a dedicated rimfire platform.

[Maineboatman]

The BS factor here is fierce; I cannot even finish reading this thread. Opinion yourself to death posters, but the OP asks a question;

The diameter of the .22LR is slightly smaller than the .22 Winchester Magnum Rimfire (WMR) & the extra space allows the cartridge to expand & rupture dangerously to the user & bystanders when fired in a WMR cylinder. Always SAFETY First. I am attaching a photo of ruptured .22 fired in a WMR cylinder.

Maineboatman
Maineboatman at cox dot net


PS; my Yada,.... I own Taurus Model 94 (.22LR) & Model 941 (.22WMR) revolvers & enjoy them. Model 941 3" is a fireball to shoot. The M94 is hard to extract after continued shooting & I use my pocketknife to tap on the extractor as after 100+ rounds your palm will be bloodblisters. I do not believe this to be an uncommon problem among all .22 revolvers.

[gyvel]

That has not been my experience, but YMMV. I have been very happy with my S&W M48 with a .22LR cylinder. It serves as a wonderful understudy for my S&W centerfire revolvers.

I would suggest trying a variety of .22LR ammo, if you have not already done so. Luckily, mine has been happy with Federal 550 bulk HP's from Wally World. I have certainly had the experience of terrible accuracy from some varieties of .22LR in a S&W M17, which is of course a dedicated rimfire platform.

LOL Actually, I got rid of it. If I shoot .22 Magnum at all (very rarely any more), I use a Ruger Single Six that I picked up in a pawn shop a few years back. But I do agree with about trying different types of ammo.

[Newtire]

I had a friend who used to do this in his NAA .22 mag mini-revolter. He had more than a few split cases. Later on in life, I obtained a Savage 24 in .22 mag/20 ga. configuration. I tried the .22 mag. case cut off to act as a sleeve and it did fire without splitting cases. I was pretty amazed and filed it away in that "for emergency use only" section of my brain.

While this did work and wasn't at all difficult to remove as far as the sleeve went, the thought occurred to me that this makeshift sleeve was acting as a short section of barrel would, once the bullet left the .22 l.r. case. Probably not a real great idea for long-term use. If my life depended on it, I would probably do it and have no second thoughts on it. It did work amazingly well with that improvised sleeve but seems that sleeve is going to wear out real fast.

To add to this, someone did this "for science" in his convertible cylinder revolver. He fired .22 lr CCI out of the .22 mag cylinder with no sleeves. He got very bulged cases and a velocity drop of 1/3. Those .22 l.r. speeds were 300~fps less than when fired from the proper cylinder. I would think the sleeved cylinder would not have experienced that drop in velocity. Search deuce & guns channel on youtube for the film on the guy doing this. Here it is actually.
https://youtu.be/NlE4jjFsMOU

So, to address the original poster's question directly, I would say yes. One could do this. Is it such a great idea for other than an emergency situation? Not really if you ask me. If that were my survival option, I would have some prepared "sleeves" stuffed into the bug out bag along with some .22 lr ammo in addition to the proper ammo. Hope that answers the OP's original question.

[Sudo]

The OP said he was considering a 22 WMR revolver for a Bug.

I think 22 WMR is a reasonable round for a Bug. Particularly if you have a primary gun in a larger caliber.

I'm sure I'll get some push back on this, but I also think 22LR, with high velocity rounds like CCI Velocitors, is a useful Bug round. Especially given the 8 round capacity of most modern 22LR revolvers.

Perhaps the OP should consider an LCR in 22 LR as an alternative to the Taurus he mentioned.

Smith and Wesson also has some small/light 22 revolvers, but they are pretty pricey.

[ThomasT]

Instead of dragging up a 7 year old zombie thread why don't you start a new thread on the same subject. The new post will be more relevant that way.