been thinking about a 22 mag revolver, need options

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pelo801

New member
i've been thinking i wanted a 22 mag snubby. i really like the looks of the S&W 351 C. but i would rather not pay $650-ish for this type of gun. i was thinking more along the lines of around $400. but i might be convinced otherwise. i would not be interested in one of the mini revolvers. what other choices do i have?
 
About the only other choices that you have are older S&W's kit guns (like the 51 with the 3" barrel" or some of the Taurus 941's. Both of these guns shoot well, but the Taurus has a heavier trigger from the factory, but can be lightened a bit. Even the 351 has a heavier trigger than any centerfire revolver on the same frame. Be careful when lightening the mainsprings on rimfires, because once they get too light, the rounds won't be set off.

All of the above shoot good. I know you said you didn't want a "mini" revolver, but North American does make either the Mini-master or their new heavier framed "Earl" series which does shoot very well, and I've been hankering over since a friend got one.

Another choice if you can find one, is one of the snubby High Standard revolvers in double action. These guns are alloy framed but shoot good and are highly underrated- I wish they were made today.

Lastly, if you can live with a single action, one of the Heritage .22 Magnum revolvers in the 3" barrel will work just fine. I've got one and really like it.
 
Hello pelo801,,,

Try the Charter Arms Pathfinder in .22 Magnum,,,
It's MSRP is $410.00 so you should be able to find one a bit cheaper.

Click here please,,,

My lady friend has the .22 LR version and it's a nice gun,,,
No performance problems at all with this shooter.

Aarond
 
Double action .22 Magnums have always had some issues. Even high quality ones many times have sticky extraction. I've got a really nice S&W M48 that dates back to 1960. It's a beautiful gun and in great condition. The first six fired through it are fine. The next six you have to hit the rod pretty hard with your palm. If you shoot another six without cleaning it, cussing will probably be the order of the day. Different ammo gives slightly different results but I've asked around on the S&W forum and been told "That's just the way they are."

So if you really want a .22 Magnum revolver... it works better in a single action. That extractor rod pushes them out one at a time.

Gregg
 
I have 2 Taurus 941UL's. Both have functioned flawlessly since new and at least half the price of the S&W
 
Colt Buntline convertible with .22 mag and .22LR cylinder.
Good survival gun, can shoot any .22 ammo you scrounge up.

They also have a new frontier with adjustable sights but my Buntline is pretty darn accurate with everything even with those fixed sights (and it looks better).

Out of print but still available on Gunbroker.
Here is one:

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=284583828
 
You may be able to find an old Hi-Standard. They made a very nice, nine shot DA 22 magnum with a 3 inch barrel for quite a while. On second thought I haven't seen anyone who was willing to part with theirs for a long time now.
They do crop up on the auction sites from time to time.
 
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Why?
For what purpose?
The ammo is expensive. And in a pistol there is limited use beyond what a .22lr can do. I have rarely used the mag. cylinder in my Ruger Single Six.
But, each to his own.
 
not worth it

Hey get what want, but you asked........

I'm thinkin a .22 mag from a snubby is pretty much an excercise in futility. NOt enough barrel to capitalize on a ballistic improvement. Big increase in ammo cost w/ no benefit.

I do use the mag cylinder in my single 6, (partly because my mark II semi is all the .22 lr handgun I need) but its a long barrel version and shows a useful improvement over shorter barrel guns.

I always though the Charter Sentinel MkV was a sleek looking pistol, but not wure what advantage it had in .22 mag.
 
The man is interested in a snubbie 22 magnum. I Don't care why, nor will I try to talk him out of it. The high standards I mentioned show up on the auction sites from time to time. Look for a High Standard Sentinel. I saw one sell just a few months ago for about $325. They look good and shoot great.
 
A post from long ago for the doubters of the 22 magnum,
for carry, absolutely. I have a Taurus 941ULB. As some old timers have said it is a wicked round and here is some reading if you are so inclined
By Massad Ayoob

Reprinted with permission from The Complete Book of Handguns 2003.

One of my mentors was a man named Bill Jordan. The old Border Patrol gunslinger was the fastest man with a double-action revolver that I ever saw in person. He was the man who conceptualized the Smith & Wesson .357 Combat Magnum the gun he called a “peace officer’s dream.” There was one other revolver that he never get did to see, though.

A devoted and accomplished hunter, Bill had been impressed with the power of the .22 WMR (Winchester Rimfire Magnum) even out of a short pistol barrel. He wrote in his classic text No Second Place Winner ($19.85 including postage from its current publisher Police Bookshelf, P.O. Box 122 , Dept CH, Concord , NH 03302 ; 800-624-9049) about why he recommended always carrying a backup gun.

Bill did that religiously in his uniformed days. In act, I can honestly say that Bill Jordon once blew me away with his backup revolver.

The year was 1974. Bill had been retired from the Border Patrol for some time, and was working for the NRA as sort of an ambassador at large. His speaking performances always included his famous quick-draw act. Bill was putting on the show in New Hampshire . Apart of the program involved having a cop come up and hold a cocked single-action revolver on him, with finger on trigger, while Bill promised to outdraw the drawn gun and “beat the drop” with his old long-action Smith & Wesson .38 Special Military & Police revolver. Both gun, of course with loaded only with primer blanks.

I had just won the NH State Championship in Police Combatshooting, and as the resident state champ, was elected to be the guy holding the gun on (gulp!) Bill Jordan. I put my finger on the trigger of the cocked Colt Single Action Army .45 and watched his hand. I was young and cocky and thought I was pretty good, and I knew there was not way this old sixty-something guy could take me.

BANG! I was dead. I was aware of a flicker of movement of his right hand and before I could react and pull the trigger, he had drawn and fired the shot that would have killed me had his gun been loaded with real bullets. “We’ll try again,” Bill told the audience with his kind, crinkly smile.

This time I was ready. When I saw his hand move, I fired. Unfortunately, it was a dead man’s shot. Bill had drawn and fired before my Colt’s hammer could fall through its long arc. You see, this was a man who was on film reacting to a start signal, drawing and firing his S&W (and hitting the target) in 24/100 ths of one second.

“I think this boy deserves one more chance,” Bill drawled to the delighted audience. “He almost made it that time.”

Okay, dammit, this time I’d really be ready. I had taken up the slack on the cocked Colt’s trigger. My eyes were on his right hand. When it moved I would…

BANG!

“What?!? His hand didn’t move! His revolver is still in the holster! And…”

Ah, yes. “And…” And, in Bill’s left hand, was a freshly-fired Smith & Wesson Airweight Chiefs Special that he had drawn from his left hip pocket and aimed at my head before he rolled back its smooth trigger on the primer blank that would have blown my brains out had it been a live round.

I got to examine that gun later. It was the exact same two-inch Model 37 that appears in No Second Place Winner . Bill liked the sun-one-pound weight of the aluminum alloy Smith Airweight. Years later, when he was writing for Guns & Ammo , he was one of several staff writers polled on what the single ideal home defense gun would be. Alone among a field of writers who recommended .45s, Magnums, and long guns for the purpose, Bill articulated why he recommended the Smith & Wesson .38 Special Bodyguard Airweight. It was small and light enough to double as a carry gun if it had to, no matter what the weather (Bill lived most of his life in Louisiana and Texas , and appreciated concealed carry needs in hot and humid climates). It offered little leverage to a close-range assailant trying to take your gun. The Bodyguard, with its factory-shrouded hammer, was snag-free on the draw as it came from the box so you didn’t have to slice off the spur of the hammer as he had done on his personal Chiefs Airweight.

But, in the book, Bill made a telling point. He said he wished Smith & Wesson would make that same little super-light revolver in .22 Magnum caliber. It wouldn’t have the nasty kick if the hotter .38 loads in an Airweight and he was satisfied with the caliber effectiveness in flesh. When I asked him about the .22 Magnum, I believe the term he used to describe it’s power was “wicked.” This was a man who saw many bullets go through a lot of flesh. When Bill Jordan talked, believe me, I listened.

Smith & Wesson never did make exactly that gun. The Kit Gun was indeed produced in .22 Magnum, both chrome-moly blue steel and stainless. It was indeed made with two-inch barrels. However, finding a Smith & Wesson.22/32 Kit gun that has both the .22 Magnum chambering and the two-inch barrel will be a tough job indeed. Though it may have been chambered experimentally for the WMR cartridge at the factory, Smith & Wesson’s Airweight Kit Gun was made only in .22 Long Rifle to my knowledge, and never in the distinctly more powerful .22 Magnum that Jordan expressly said was what he wanted.

Smith & Wesson never made Bill Jordan’s “dream backup gun.” But Taurus just introduced it. And theirin lies a story.
__________________
Click to expand...
 
recent shoot out

There was a local shoot out recently here in my area. The details are sketchy, the case will go before the grand jury, but the summary is thus:

Bubba confronts two intoxicated subjects on his doorstep, both beligerant and intoxicated. They allegedly verbally threaten Bubba and one produces a handgun. Bubba draws an 8 shot .22mag and supposedly hits the gunman 5 times, and the other twice. Both assailants depart in their vehicle, which also gets a hole in it.

Both subjects survive are presently telling any and all that they will get even and proudly showing off their scars. The round was a .22 Mag HP unknown type.

Point: As a back up or deep carry gun, 3rd gun etc, a .22 mag snubby may be adequate. As a primary SD, better than bare hands but.... I believe Bubba should have had a bigger gun.
 
I don`t have my note book in front of me ,but the advantages of a 22mag are very small in a handgun over a 22lr. .

I can say both were shot from a convertible Ruger Single Six ! & if memory serves rite the fps gain was only 50 fps or so .
 
We had both the S&W 351 and the Taurus .22mag revolver as range rentals at the range where I work. The Taurus held up to extended use and abuse better than the Smith. Those rentals see more use in a year than most people will ever use a personal gun over a lifetime, especially the rimfires.

I also agree that if you need a trigger job, it's best to get a gunsmith who knows what hes doing or you approach paperweight status.

If I had to use one for SD, I believe I'd use the SJHP from Winchester or the old style Federal FMJs that I have a stockpile of. I would avoid the super light "varmint style" JHPs and "TNT" lightly constructed bullets.
 
My old S&W model 651 4" all stainless that I bought years ago is still going strong and pretty accurate as well ! The extraction problem can be somewhat remedied by keeping the revolver barrel tilted straight up so the empties fall straight down to help keep the debris from getting between the rear of the cylinder and extractor.....I can usually fire a fair amount of ammo through it without binding or sticky extraction in my gun anyway ! While I can't say I'd recommend the 22 mag over a 22 LR in a small revolver...I like mine and will never sell it !
 
doesn't seem that there are a whole lot of options, especially since i think i would like something hammerless or a shrouded hammer. it looks like the only thing that fits that bill is the S&W 351C. to me, i don't really see it will be a waste of money. if it's fun to shoot, it's good enough for me. but i do wonder if some of this "short barrel" 22 mag ammo would give some upgrade over 22 lr. i know hornady has some that claims 1000 fps out of a 2 inch barrel. anybody used any of this?
 
I would be interesting to hear the "why". I have a Rough Rider with both the mag and LR cylinders. I've only put the magnum cylinder in it once or twice just to see how it shoots. I don't see any need for it. I also thought I wanted a Kel-Tec PM30, but it keeps slipping down my want list. So does a Taurus 992 convertible revolver. I bought a Henry Golden Boy in 22 magnum because I didn't have a 22 magnum. Now I wish I still didn't!
 
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