Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Rimfires .22 WMRF

Does anyone know the bore size of Taurus .22 MRF (only) revolvers? I have been told that S&W .22 MRF revolvers are all .224 and that Ruger�s are .220. A phone call to Taurus did not provide that info. The nice lady at customer service told me �We do not provide the bore size to our customers.� Do any of you gunsmiths or dealers out there know? And will post the size? Also what is the effect of firing a .224 jacketed bullet (.22 MRF) thru a .220 barrel?

Thanks for your help.

Richard

I've been told (by Ruger) that their .22 revolvers are all .224 now, and have been for many years. Don't know about S&W, but back in the day they offered extra .22LR cylinders for their Model 51, 651, and 48 .22WRM revolvers, so the bore size must be appropriate for both .22 WRM and LR like the Ruger dual-cylinder revolvers are. I have such a cylinder for my 48 and it shoots both kinds of RFs with no signs of trouble.

Hi Mesa,

This morning I was told by a young lady that Ruger uses .219 barrels for all their .22 rimfire guns. I just called Ruger again and was told by an older man that Ruger uses .219 barrels for .22 LR and .22 WMRF guns. I called customer service both times. I have a Ruger .22 LR revolver that I can measure tonight but don't have .22 WMRF revolver, yet. I do have a Ruger 96 rifle in .22 WMRF that I can check also.

Thanks,

Richard

A .219 bore diameter is a .224 groove diameter. Are you perhaps comparing apples and oranges?

I think we're confusing bore and groove diameter; the usual "spec" quoted for barrel interiors is groove diameter (the "widest" spec): .224 in this case, and for most "combination" revolver barrels like recent Single Sixes.

Rugers had "tighter" .22LR only barrels in the beginning, but normalized on .219 bore/.224 groove dimensions when they started making two-cylinder Single Sixes in the 1960s. As far as I know ALL their .22s--rifles, pistols, and revolvers-- have had this spec since (But I could be wrong....).

The info I got about S&W bore size was from a gunsmith. I will call S&W tomorrow and get both the bore & groove diameter. I understand now I should have been asking for the bore and groove diameter.

From what I have been told and read here, I believe both S&W and Ruger are using .219 bore and .224 groove diameter for all their .22 magnum barrels. And Ruger is using the same barrels for their .22 LR revolver. I have no clue about Taurus. But I would expect theirs to be .219B/.224G also to meet SAAMI specs for a .22 magnum barrel. Also Taurus tries to clone S&W guns. I tried to measure my Ruger 96/22 MAG barrel but I either do not have the correct tool or the skill to do so.

Thank you all for the good information. From all this data, I conclude that a .22 mag should shoot better than a .22 LR in the combo guns and in the Ruger .22 LR revolvers because of barrel specs of .219B/.224G. But the best .22 LR ammo may out shoot any .22 MAG in a MAG barrel because it is just that much better ammo.

Thanks everyone for all your help.

Richard

Rifling for 22lr is much shallower than centerfire.

I've no idea what's the bore size of that Taurus. You could slug it and find out.

The effect of a 22Mag jacketed bullet through a 22lr barrel? I've had several 22mags. The two best shooting ones have 22lr barrels.

First was the T/C super 16....as 22lr accuracy was just fair to mediocre no matter which ammunition. Rechambered to 22Mag with a very good reamer by Mike Bellm, and the thing became an unbelievably accurate death ray. He said it was tight 22lr barrel.

Second is a 77/22 fitted with a screwed in Walther heavy 10/22 barrel. Chambered with my own 22Mag reamer. It shoots really well.

Barrelling a 22Mag, my choice would be a tighter 22lr blank.

Interesting. .22s are a study unto themselves; can be picky and just plain weird. You can't assume that they are just "little centerfires" and what's true for most centerfires will be true for any given .22....