Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Rimfires Rifle to handgun velocity loss test.

Did a little test a few days ago just for fun but it's one that I have wondered about for some time.How much velocity is lost when you switch from a Rifle to a Handgun?

Tested the 22Magnum and the .22LR. Here is what was found.

For the 22LR Rifle; a Brno #1 (23.5" barrel) was used and for a pistol; a Ruger Mk 2 Target. (6 7/8" barrel)

For a 22WMR Rifle- Savage 4m deluxe (22.5" barrel) and a Ruger Single Six (5.5" barrel) for the pistol.

All velocity was based on a 5 shot average over a chronograph placed 10' from the muzzle.

1) Brno #1 22LR shooting CCI Standard Velocity yielded 1,070.2 FPS. Advertised velocity for that load from CCI was 1,070.

2) Ruger Mk2 Target shooting CCI Standard Velocity yielded 963 FPS. Again. Advertised at 1,070fps. (Subtract 51FPS for this load in the single six with 22LR cylinder.

Total velocity loss of 107 FPS between rifle and handgun. Not too bad.

1) Savage 4m Deluxe 22WMR shooting CCI MaxiMags came in at 1,948FPS. Advertised Velocity from CCI was 1,875 FPS.

2) Ruger Single Six shooting CCI MaxiMags produced 1,351 FPS. Again advertised at 1,875 from CCI.

Total velocity loss in the 22magnum from rifle to pistol was 597FPS. This was surprising and a little disheartening as I'm a big 22magnum fan. I'm not sure that the extra noise, and cost of ammo is worth the extra 388FPS. I would be curious to see if some of the 22magnum loads optimized for short barrels fare better.

Good stuff - I recall Bob Milek used either a 6.5 if not longer version of a Single Six with WMR, on Mountain Lion, it seems it was FMJ loads. I'd trust that more than a 22LR on an animal like that.........

But I share your sentiment, too bad the WMR loses that much speed in a handgun......probably quite efficient in say a 10-12" Contender.........I'd guess about 1700ish.......

Good test, thanks for sharing.

With the short barrel 22 WMR ammo, I believe the main difference is bullet design, to expand at the lower velocity.

Keep in mind that the .22 Magnum revolver is still pushing a 40gr.bullet FASTER than a .22LR rifle shoves a 40gr.load.

In your instance, the .22Mag revolver is still shooting that 40gr. bullet almost as fast as a Velocitor out of a typical .22 rifle. Maybe it's not so bad after all?

After all, that MaxiMag ammo listing at 1875fps. is out of a RIFLE, not a sixgun. Methinks you're giving the WMR sixgun too little credit. It's not quite as pitiful as you're thinking.

Interesting. Thanks for posting!

Similar tests have been published over the years. Your results seem typical, IIRC(!).

Some .22LR loads fare better than others. Velociters and Stingers come to mind. I clocked Stingers and .22 Mags (forget which 40gr load, in a 5 1/2” Single Six back in the 80s, plus shot a bar of laundry soap and concluded the mags weren’t all that much more effective. Both ran about 1280 as I recall. Don’t want any of ‘em headed my way regardless.

Good test. Thanks.

I realize there's a pile of rimfire ammo out there and results may vary. I tested what I had on hand and what I use most often. Test is worth about what y'all paid for it. Lol.

My Savage 93 in 17hmr did 2450 with the Hornady 17 gr bullets. My 6 1/2" Tracker did 1750.

Was out at the range today chronographing some centerfire loads but had my 10/22 Tactical with a 16" barrel and Ruger Mk IV Standard 6" along so measured 5 shots each from them. Measurements are at 10' from the muzzle.

Load was CCI AR Tactical, a 40 grain plated lead bullet with an advertised velocity of 1200 fps.

From the 16" 10/22 it averaged 1188 fps, pretty close. High 1207, low 1169 with an extreme spread of 38 fps.
From the 6" pistol it averaged 1050 fps, high of 1060, low of 1039, extreme spread of 21 fps.
Avg. velocity loss was 138 fps going to the shorter barrel.

Not enough data to be statistically significant but it was interesting to see that the bullets got within 12 fps of advertised velocity from a 16" barrel. I've read many times that a .22 achieves it's maximum velocity in 16" of barrel and that longer ones actually slow it down some. I'll set aside a few rounds from this same box of .22's and next time I'm out with the chrono will measure it in a 22" barrel to see what happens.

I have a 17" .920 bull on a 77/22........handy, and yes efficient.

Great info for free here, good job KY221

My Savage 93 .17HMR, 2400+/-. My Taurus Tracker 6 1/2", 1750. My brothers Taurus 5", 1550.

45 yrs ago i guessed a .22 mag in 5.5" revolver about like .22 lr in a rifle.

No chrono, just shooting chucks.

Longer bbls in the mag help. Pops ran an 8 3/8" M48 for a good while. Wicked. 20 yrs ago I ran a 6" 648.
Was plenty good up close.

My current .22 mag is a Contender 14"

What was the barrel length on the Ruger SS??

My single six has 5.5 in inch barrel on it and with the 22 mag cylinder (1400 FPS) in it there is a noticeable change in thump compared to 22 lr cylinder. G-hogs do not like it one bit!

Reason I asked, is because the Ruger SS can be obtained with a relative plethora of barrel choices... If the difference between handgun and rifle are that large, I'm thinking the barrel used on the test was rather short.. I wonder what the difference is if used with the 9.5" or similar barrel..

The Single Six was a 5.5" barrel. I posted its barrel length in the original posting.

Ahh, sorry - somehow I missed it...

No worries. I'm sure a longer barrel would pump the numbers up a bit. But 5.5" is a good middle of the road length I feel like and representative of what most people have/carry/use. IMO.

In a 22LR, max velocity is reached in 16-17". After that, it s lows down.

I have stuck Super Colibri bullets in the barrel of my CZ.