The .22 Magnum in any revolver is a gun that uses ammunition that is harder to find and costs 6 times as much as .22 LR, and delivers no worthwhile difference in performance on target. Also, the.22 Magnum in any handgun, particularly short barreled revolvers, has an awful, ear-splitting report that will leave you deafened and in pain after a few shots. .22 LR all the way if it was my choice.
The real difference between the LR and the Magnum is apparent only in rifles. And a dramatic difference it is.
Last edited by wildhobbybobby; 12/27/19.
Life is like a purple antelope on a field of tuna fish...
I beg to differ. I've killed lots of stuff like ground squirrels, jack rabbits, skunks, racoons, rattlers ( w/ .22 mag bird shot), and what not. From a 5.5 inch Ruger SS in .22 RFM, vs. a 6 inch K-22 S&W, there is a big difference. E
The .22 Magnum in any revolver is a gun that uses ammunition that is harder to find and costs 6 times as much as .22 LR, and delivers no worthwhile difference in performance on target. Also, the.22 Magnum in any handgun, particularly short barreled revolvers, has an awful, ear-splitting report that will leave you deafened and in pain after a few shots. .22 LR all the way if it was my choice.
The real difference between the LR and the Magnum is apparent only in rifles. And a dramatic difference it is.
There us a definate difference even in handguns on game. At least I've always seen a difference in my experience.
Originally Posted by MontanaMarine
So, for S&G I averaged the speed of all 40gr loads listed in the Gunblast reviews of the LCR 22, and 22 WMR.
22LR - 873 fps (avg of 7 40gr loads)
22WMR - 1074 fps (avg of 3 40gr loads)
Is the extra performance worth the cost in money and noise? For a plinker, no...for personal protection, hell yes! In my opinion.
Exactly.
I got banned on another web site for a debate that happened on this site. That's a first
When 9x19 with 2-3x the muzzle energy is available for the same or lower price than 22 WMR, there's not much point in buying a 22 Mag. handgun. Besides, the long sticky 22 Mag. cases never made for a great handgun round. .
Sometimes the 22WMR handgun makes sense for different people, or different situations. Think about old arthritic hands that hate recoil. Then there are places where one can only carry a rimfire while out for a stroll.
I've only got one 22WMR, and that is a 6.5" Ruger Single Six convertible. It's probably getting 1450-1500 fps from the WMR. It's a real step up from 22LR in the same handgun.
The real hawkeye: First off - I am NOT a contrary. So this real life experience is a direct first hand observation. I worked for a police department that used to aggressively attack first class felons/criminals. Negro's were constantly robbing a particular trio of bank on Seattle's Capitol Hill (negroey area at the time). So our Tactical Squad decided to train some Poh-lice (negro term for police!) to be plain clothes bank tellers! About 8 of the teller trained police were deployed in banks all around Capitol Hill. First week out a hoodied negro youth comes into one of the banks and displays his gat, and demands money or our teller would be shot! Our local hero policeman/teller reaches over a few inches get his secondary gun, a High Standard22 Magnum derringer, and fires ONCE right into said negro's 10 ring! Said negro was dead when the Medic One crew picked him up and transported him a few blocks to Seattle's Harborview Hospital (at the time our nations finest emergency room hospital) there the Doctors revived said negro after heroic efforts. Said negro went on to a lengthy prison term at the Federal prison on MacNiel Island! I have seen two human beings "kill't" with 22 Magnum pistols. I don't recall a shooting with the 22 magnum pistol where the human lived? "I" would NOT want to be shot center mass with a 22 Magnum hollow-point (or round nose for that matter). Hold into the wind VarmintGuy
I have the smith scadnium snubby in 22 mag. I carry the speer gold dot short barrel load in it and it works pretty well. I killed a coyote with it. The speer load expands a bit even at the slow speeds. The hornady ftx didn't seem to expand but it does well from my 5" Taurus revolver because it picks up a lot more speed in the 5" barrel.
I bought a bunch of ftx for under $7 a box on sale. There's been some good sales on 22 mag ammo making it not much more than my preferred 22 lr velocitors.
The trouble with all 22 revolvers is the heavy hammer spring. I had a 3" 101 in 327 that I should have kept and just loaded some light 32 loads. Full house 327 are extremely loud and muzzle blasty. I have a ruger single seven 327 now with a 5.5" barrel that I'm going to work a light cast load up for.
If choosing between them for personal protection, I'd take the WMR, probably load it with the 50 grain Federal load. That load because I would weigh penetration over anything else with a mouse-gun.
^^^This^^^
Great advise !!!
On a related note, I stopped by my LGS today and someone had traded in one of the old High Standard Sentinel Model Revolver in .22 magnum with the 9 shot cylinder that still looked in-fired! It was the all steel blue model with the 2.75” barrel and nice wood grips. I always wanted one as a kid because my best friend’s dad had one when we were growing up.
Anyhow, I was all set to buy it until I saw the $450 price tag !!!
Guess that’s not so bad when you consider a new Ruger LCR in .22 mag is about $400 and a new Ruger titanium j-frame in .22 mag is about $650.
Anyways, wondered if any Camp 🔥 Members here had one and if theirs was accurate or not ???
What say y’all on the $450 price tag ???
Started to offer him $400 but I chickened out 🤠
"Allways speak the truth and you will never have to remember what you said before..." Sam Houston Texans, "We say Grace, We Say Mam, If You Don't Like it, We Don't Give a Damn!"
I have the smith scadnium snubby in 22 mag. I carry the speer gold dot short barrel load in it and it works pretty well. I killed a coyote with it. The speer load expands a bit even at the slow speeds. The hornady ftx didn't seem to expand but it does well from my 5" Taurus revolver because it picks up a lot more speed in the 5" barrel.
I bought a bunch of ftx for under $7 a box on sale. There's been some good sales on 22 mag ammo making it not much more than my preferred 22 lr velocitors.
The trouble with all 22 revolvers is the heavy hammer spring. I had a 3" 101 in 327 that I should have kept and just loaded some light 32 loads. Full house 327 are extremely loud and muzzle blasty. I have a ruger single seven 327 now with a 5.5" barrel that I'm going to work a light cast load up for.
Bb
The Ruger LCR in .327 Fed Magnum with a 3” barrel and adjustable sights would be just about the PERFECT “Kit Gun” IMO.
I’ve suggested it SEVERAL times to Ruger on their “Tell the CEO” part of their website. Apparently Ruger isn’t interested in manufacturing a cool little functional “Kit Gun” that might actually SELL.
A fellow Camp 🔥 member who is in “the loop” at Ruger told me they were going to release the very same gun over a year ago. I’m still WAITING...... But not holding my breath. 🤠
Last edited by chlinstructor; 12/27/19.
"Allways speak the truth and you will never have to remember what you said before..." Sam Houston Texans, "We say Grace, We Say Mam, If You Don't Like it, We Don't Give a Damn!"
I don’t have any chronograph results from a 2 inch barrel, but I do have results from 1 inch, 1-1/8 inch and 3 inch barrels. The .22WMR 40 grain Gold Dots gave me about 200 extra fps from the 1-1/8 inch barrel than .22 LR JHP 36 grain Mini-Mags out of the same barrel (convertible NAA mini). The .22 WMR Gold Dots out of a one inch barrel were still 80 fps faster than the Mini-Mags out of the slightly longer barrel.
Just read where someone did a water jug test with that load on the Kel-Tec Owners Forum.
He said he also shot the Gold Dot load out of NAA Mini Revolver with the 1 5/8 “ barrel and the bullet fully penetrated two water jugs and stopped and got stuck on the back edge of the 3rd water jug and EXPANDED with a nice mushroom shape. I’d say that was pretty impressive out of that little barrel!
"Allways speak the truth and you will never have to remember what you said before..." Sam Houston Texans, "We say Grace, We Say Mam, If You Don't Like it, We Don't Give a Damn!"
I don’t have any chronograph results from a 2 inch barrel, but I do have results from 1 inch, 1-1/8 inch and 3 inch barrels. The .22WMR 40 grain Gold Dots gave me about 200 extra fps from the 1-1/8 inch barrel than .22 LR JHP 36 grain Mini-Mags out of the same barrel (convertible NAA mini). The .22 WMR Gold Dots out of a one inch barrel were still 80 fps faster than the Mini-Mags out of the slightly longer barrel.
Just read where someone did a water jug test with that load on the Kel-Tec Owners Forum.
He said he also shot the Gold Dot load out of NAA Mini Revolver with the 1 5/8 “ barrel and the bullet fully penetrated two water jugs and stopped and got stuck on the back edge of the 3rd water jug and EXPANDED with a nice mushroom shape. I’d say that was pretty impressive out of that little barrel!
For plinking the LR, for any animal hunting or shooting the WMR
I got banned on another web site for a debate that happened on this site. That's a first
Just read where someone did a water jug test with that load on the Kel-Tec Owners Forum.
He said he also shot the Gold Dot load out of NAA Mini Revolver with the 1 5/8 “ barrel and the bullet fully penetrated two water jugs and stopped and got stuck on the back edge of the 3rd water jug and EXPANDED with a nice mushroom shape. I’d say that was pretty impressive out of that little barrel!
I've done that with the Gold Dots from a 1 inch Pug. (Labradar 10 shot average of 983 fps with 100 fps extreme spread.) Shooting from a few feet away, the round sailed through 4 water jugs and kept going. I also did a contact shot with the Gold Dot. If I recall correctly, I recovered the first round in the third jug with a big mushroom. I probably have a picture of that somewhere. I also shot a Hornady 45 grain Critical Defense from a few feet away and recovered the mushroomed round in the third jug. However, I had numerous malfunctions with the Critical Defense in the Pug, so that round is off the list for that gun.
I was so surprised at the result of the contact shot, including being splashed with a lot of water, that I hesitated and then decided to keep shooting. I really flubbed the manipulation of the gun for some of those!
Last edited by Cheyenne; 12/28/19.
"Don't believe everything you see on the Internet" - Abraham Lincoln
I've owned a few snub revolvers in various chamberings over the years. I never warmed up to them.
I think one of the best .22 revolvers for the money these days is the 4" Charter Arms pathfinder with adjustable sights.
A snub .22 sacrifices too much velocity and you can't hit anything with it.
My choice for a .22 revolver is a 70's era S&W model 17,...which shoots like a carbine. I wouldn't have one of the new production models and those from when they were worth having will hit your wallet pretty hard.
Charter Arms is one of the few manufacturers still making a .22 revolver that can be bought without hocking your car.
Charter Arms Pathfinder is okay but it's not svelte and only holds 6 shots. Functionally, the 8 shot Ruger LCR is appealing if you don't mind dropping $500 on a glorified cap gun. I'd like to see someone make a true pocket revolver in something like 380 ACP but that's another story.
"Allways speak the truth and you will never have to remember what you said before..." Sam Houston Texans, "We say Grace, We Say Mam, If You Don't Like it, We Don't Give a Damn!"
