Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Best Trail Carry 22 lr Pistol Ever Made

This would make a nice "little" trail gun also...a Model 35 with an extra .22 Magnum cylinder....guns S&W should have made...





Or a Model 18 with an extra .22 Magnum cylinder...







Or for those with small hands...a round butt Model 18...








...but then there is the Model 51 .22 Magnum with extra LR cylinder...

Hard to beat a 63 though..especially when it has a extra Magnum cylinder...





Decisions...decisions....

LOVE that 63...especially the front sight!
Bob

I bought the gun used with stock grips on it as is... Would love to know who the smith was who worked on the gun as they milled off the front ramp, mortise the front base, made the Patridge front blade and pinned it in place.

The front blade has a white dot and the rear blade one small white dot on each side of the notch. The action has also been gone over. I added the target grips and found the .22 Magnum cylinder on ebay from the estate from esteemed pistolsmith Austin Belhert.

If I had to cut down to one .22 revolver left this one would be very near the top of the list...

Love your Heritage....

Bob

I have a K-22 and while it is a fantastic revolver, I don't see the size of it as a "trail gun." There is considerable difference in weight and overall size between the 4" J-frame and the 6" K-frame guns. Same for the size of the standard Ruger MK series of semi autos vs. the little SR-22. If I'm going squirrel hunting with a handgun or pure target/plinking the 6" K22 or MKIII Hunter 5.5" is going with me. If I'm poking around scouting or otherwise working outdoors the smaller guns are better suited for me personally.

My first NIB .22, bought back in about '87, was one of those. I had it for a few years, then sold it to fund something else. I've owned 12-15 more single six .22s since. Aside from a 9-1/2 inch barreled gun that liked *one* .22 magnum load, none of the others have shot well enough to keep around.

Tom

...have been in the same boat. Have had a half dozen Single-Sixs and only one shot ok with .22 LR...but that was 4 5/8" stainless * stamped that was supposedly made just for LR ammo.

That said I do now own a 7.5" Hunter that is a tack driver with both cylinders...but it is a little long for a daily trail gun...

Bob

Its difficult to describe the BEST Trailgun. Certainly the S&W M-18 and the H&R 999 pictured above make the short list.
In my my experience the .22lr and the .22 RFMagnum come up just a bit short on the heavily muscled critters such as the adult Raccoon ans the larger Jackrabbits.
For me the .32’s seem to fill the bill.
Polished stainless steel will not make the cut due to sunlight reflection. The good trail guns are blue or frosted.

Model 632 4” .32 H&R Magnum and Model 36 “Trail Masterpiece” (a .38 Spl but well done)


Model 632 Carry Comp .327 Federal


Its too bad the M632 is polished stainless with the red ramp front sight. Too bad the M-632 Carry Comp has the compensator. They are close.

This one has been down the trail a bit.

S&W Mod. 34 or 63 with 4" barrel has worked for me for a lot of years. Have both.

I had one for a few weeks. I took it home, did a trigger job, threw a Leupold 2X on top .. or maybe it was my old Simmons 2-7X Gold Medal .. and headed for the range. I ran probably 25 different long rifle loads through it and 10-12 different .22 mag loads through it. Nothing shot very well so I sold it.

If I remember right, I bought a Ruger Mk III .22 LR (which I still have) and a used S&W 648 (which sucked so it went away, too ... didn't take long to figure out why it was for sale in the first place) to replace it. Today my .22 magnum is a 10" TC barrel which began life chambered for .22LR that my gunsmith rechambered for me. It shoots very well.

I might try another of the blued 4-5/8" single sixes. I might try another "hunter". Dunno. Itches gotta be scratched, logical or not.

Tom

My SS New Bearcat carries easy and shoots to the sights, so adjustments aren't needed. I did blacken the rear notch with a Sharpie. The blade needs to have the rounded face squared off a bit and I'd like to cut some fine grooves across it to cut glare, but that might be beyond my skill.

I replaced the ejector rod housing with a steel one from Ham Bowen and replaced the mainspring with a lighter one.

Great little guns.

who doesn't?.....

Assuming a "trail gun" is one carried and used primarily for small game, my favorite is a Ruger 5 1/2" bull-barrel Target Model. Mine is a Mark I that will consistently put 5 shots into a 1/2" group at 25 yards (about as good as I can hold). I've owned this pistol since 1975.

I own and use various revolvers such as the K-22, Model 63, Colt Officer's model and Ruger Single Six, but never found one that was as accurate or fast into action as the Ruger Target Model.

I never noticed any difference in a heavier gun (bull-barrel/standard or K frame/J frame) as far as carry, but I do find that I tend to shoot better with the heavier weapons. In fact one of my favorite revolvers (which I unfortunately traded away) was a full-size copy of the SAA in .22 LR. This gun was heavier than a similar SAA in .45 Colt due to the smaller hole in the barrel and cylinder....but was dead steady to hold and shoot.

I never could find a reason to use the .22 Magnum in a revolver as it was (to me) just more noise and cost with little gain in power/effectiveness over the LR.

Due to the fact that we are over-run with hogs in my area, there are a lot of times where I find the .22 LR to be just a bit light.

My most common "trail gun" is likely a 4 5/8" SAA in .45 Colt, or if I am looking to fill the pot with small game, a 5 1/2" SAA in .32-20 (which can be used on hogs if you are careful). If it weren't for the hogs I would always choose the Ruger Target Model for all my woods walking.

I had a nice Ruger Government Model that my son talked me out of.
I think a 4" Colt Diamondback is the easiest pistol to shoot well. It was the first handgun I ever bought.

So your going to make me choose between a Ruger MK model, a S&W 617, and any High Standard ever made? U ask too much my friend.

Rick, I would have guessed you saw quite a few .22 Magnums in East Texas. I'll admit the .22 Magnum is a more specialized trailgun. This Model 51 spent the majority of its life in the pockets of trappers. This little handgun has dispatched many bobcat, fox and raccoon in snares and wire box traps using Winchester solids. This little three incher is handy and reliable. A far better killer than the .22lr.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.......

Yeah, the difference between a 22LR and 22Mag in a 3 1/2" gun is NOISE.