Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Lightweight 22 revolver with good sights

Old school S&W M63/34 is perfect. No doubt my M63 no dash is one of my favorite handguns. However with that said, I'll second the Ruger SR22 mentioned above. The SR22 is an excellent modern day semi auto kit gun. My SR22 is reliable, accurate, lightweight and easy to pack. The SR22 is about half the price of a decent condition M34/63.

S&W model 34 with a 4" barrel combines great sights with good accuracy and light weight. The older 63's are great revolvers, I've had two of them, but prefer the front sight on the 34 since it is all black, a tad narrower and, to me at least, provides a more precise sight picture. A few years ago our range used to have some empty welding tanks out at the 200 yard line and it wasn't that hard to hit them 4 or 5 out of 6 shots with a 34. Any 63 or 34 or going to be mighty spendy these days.

Ruger SP101 is a bit heavier at 30 ounces but I would avoid anything built in the last 3-4 years, IME Ruger's QC has gone in the toilet on that entire product line. Something before 2016 or so should be okay.

LCRx would probably be a good choice but I've never owned one so couldn't say from personal experience.

Been down this path many times and I agree. I just can't seem to shoot the small revolvers as well as the small autos. A good quality revolver is also more expensive. My go to kit gun these days is my nickel Bersa. With a walking stick as a rest, I can hit a jack pretty consistently out to 25 yards. It's an ounce and a half heavier than the Ruger SR22 but I can tolerate that.

Smith 34 or 63. If you can find one the model 63, 5” version is pretty nice, although a little steep. The Model 35 with a 6” barrel is really nice too.

Please tell me about your Bersa. Trigger? Sights? Accuracy? What ammo does it prefer?
Thank you

A Smith Kit Gun with target sights or a Colt Diamondback.

A 15 oz pre-M43 3 1/2" Smith at IIRC 15 oz. lower left.

Model 43s are not found in many gunshops. Not made for many,many years.

The one I had was beautiful but so light the wind would blow it and my hand around sometimes. (Winter in Northern Idaho....) I replaced it with a 4" Model 34. Light enough, and you might actually find one!

I'm the OP and I'm looking for a 22lr revolver, I have my dads 1942 Colt Woodsman for an auto.

I'm laughing with you, not at you, but...

I've tried to keep threads on track before and it's a wasted effort! People tend to talk about what they own and what they've done, regardless if it addresses the original topic. But, in answer to your question about which .22 revolver to use, I use a 58" recurve bow with a draw weight of about 45 lbs. I think you'll find it both fun and useful for rabbit hunting. And, Filson's merino wool boot socks are excellent. Hope that helps!

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(I'm sorry. I couldn't help myself. Personally, I don't have a suggestion for you, but let us know what you get!)

I have had an older standard Model 63 (all SS, 4” barrel 6-shot cyl) , then a 317 (alloy, 8-shot Cyl, super light to carry, but actually much harder to shoot accurately), and currently have a 3” Model 63 (SS, 8-shot Cyl, heavier profile barrel). Of them the 3” fits my needs well. It’s small but has decent capacity and has enough weight to be fairly shootable.

What I wish S&W would make it a modern 63 with the 8-shot Cyl, and a thin/trim profile 4” barrel. Basically the same weight of my 3” all SS model but with the barrel weight transferred from 3” heavy to 4” trim profile. This would produce higher velocities and increase the sight radius. Both good things in a trail gun!

Mark in GA

that 4 shot 63 was a rare bird..... you should have never got rid of it.....grin

Owned several "kit gun" revolvers in the past. Absolute best and most accurate was an M-18 smith. It might have been heavier that the M63's, but only by a tiny bit..

Not a revolver, but the 4.5" barreled S&W 422/622 alloy frame semi-autos with adjustable sights carry better for me than comparable revolvers.

Older M63's had a six shot cylinder...

Geez I typo’d it again. My original Model 63 was a 4” barrel, 6-shot Cyl, square butt. This just isn’t my night!

Mark in GA

I wasn't aware, I guess, that the 317 now has fiber optic sights. Mine was an early one and has real revolver sights, quite easy to aim and hit with.

With regard to the difficulty some have expressed in being able to shoot the 317 accurately, I agree. My 617 6" is way easier to shoot accurately, as are a couple of small autos. I've learned over time, however, that the 317 can be shot accurately. Because it's so little, you need to pay a lot more attention to how you hold it and how you manipulate the trigger. Any flaws in shooting technique have a much more pronounced effect. Another thing that I've found helped accuracy was shooting hyper-velocity ammo, specifically, Stingers and Velocitors. That may seem counter intuitive. My theory, be it right or wrong, is that the lighter bullets apply less torsional force on the gun when they engage the rifling, and the higher speed means they exit the barrel faster, before the gun is able to move off target as far from whatever may be moving it.

LOL... I feel as if you're over thinking it.

Hey I shot a match yesterday with my 43C, believe me, you have to overthink it!

S&W Mod 34