Revolver questions.

[OldBroad44]

Can ALL .22 LR revolvers also shoot longs and shorts? I have a lot of the latter, and no longer have anything to shoot it in

Yes. .22 long rifle, long, short, and CCI snake/rat shot shell loads.

Most I've handled seem to be more suitable for women or children, what models/brands are full size?

In SW get a medium-frame ( K frame) revolver. Not a J frame, which is very small. Even the K frame guns often have tiny grips that barely cover the grip frame and might seem suitable for small hands. But actually, SW is expecting you to dump the wood slabs the gun ships with for some after market grip that fits your hand perfectly. So the funny grips don't mean the gun is designed for use of women or children. They are not designed to be used at all. The SW K frame revolvers in square or round butt configurations have myriad after-market grips available.

What brands to look for or avoid?

SW, Colt, and Ruger are the elite brands in revolvers but in .22 there are at least a dozen other brands often beloved. My only experience in other brand .22 revolvers is the the Charter Arms .22 Pathfinder, which fired unreliable because of a hammer that fell too softly and often failed to fire and left shallow firing pin indentations.

I have no particular preference between DA and SA, other than DA being a little quicker/easier to load. Not concerned with capacity, either, a six shooter would be fine, although more would be nice. As this will mostly be a range toy, good triggers and sights are fairly important. Later.

Dave

Sounds like you want a target revolver. In new guns available from SW now, the Model 17 seems to be their target gun. It's a 6" blued steel gun with Patridge sights, only six rounds, and weighs about 40 oz. It is probably inferior to the older pre-lock versions. There is a 617 in SS, but 4" barrel only. 10 rounds. In SW I'd look for a used pre-lock version. Basically that's all they have in production target .22 revolvers. Fact is, .357 mag is where the action is in target revolvers. This gun seems to have the worst features of older and modern versions. Rust sensitive metal, redesigned inferior modern design, square grip frame, lock. If you can find a used pre-lock version, grab it.

Ruger has a SS 5.5" GP 100 Match Champion in a 10-round .22. Not quite a target gun, but in the right direction. Subject to its having a good enough trigger or whether Wolfe spring kits are available.

SA revolvers aren't my department, but others here can advise you on them.

 

[Member 34319]

Why do I have so many single action .22 revolvers? Good question. My wife wonders that too...

"So many" is an offensive term.

 

[daved20319]

Good info, my thanks to all that responded. Still thinking about it, if I go this route, I'll be looking to trade my Ruger 22/45. Limited income, so that generally means something old has to be go to get something "new" . Which also means a S&W is going to be well out of my reach. Leaning towards a SA, so I guess I'll focus my research there. Again, my thanks to you all. Later.

Dave

 

[tac]

I had a beautiful S&W K22, heavy lug version, that was my one and only .22cal revolver. I bought it second-hand at around half the UK price [still over £400, mind] and used it for shooting target and mini-skittles. It had a gorgeous trigger and broke, in single action, at exactly three pounds. The double-action was not far off as good to shoot as single. It was made like a watch, almost as well as my .357 Mag Korth - yet another handgun that disappeared forever in 1997.....

 

[RX-79G]

If I was spending Ruger Single Six or Bearcat money, I would buy a much more attractive Uberti or the like.

 

[Biblethumpncop]

I'm new here, but have owned my Colt Diamondback since 1985-ish. I was a 12 year old kid that shot informal small bore handgun tournaments at my Dad's work Sportsmans club. Dad used his S&W 17-2 and I was using my mom's model 63. I saved money from lawn mowing (2 years), birthdays and I found a 6" blued Diamondback 22lr in the paper for $235 if I remember correctly.

Dad and I went to see it and he bought it for me with my money from the elderly gentleman.

I have customized it over the years. I had a 4" barrel fitted to it and can swap back to the 6" if needed (I've swapped 2-3 times, but prefer the feel of the 4".). I also had it hard chromed by Mahovsky's (Metalife). It will eventually get handed down to my daughter, who loves to shoot it.

I wish I kept a S&W model 18 I had several years ago. I would pick up another at the right price, or a model 17.

I had a Charter Arms Pathfinder 8 shot revolver last year. That was the gun that I wanted to like, but it had too many quality control issues. It went back to the factory twice and still had issues so I sold it.


I recently picked up a NEF R92 (H&R) which has 9 shots and adjustable sights. I didn't care for the grips so I made a set this past weekend out of scrap pieces of Cocobolo my friend had. The gun is a good plinker, but not in the same league as my Colt. You might keep your eye out for one of these. I traded about $60-70 worth of powder and primers to the guy so it was worth the gamble for me.

The High Standard Sentinels from the 50's-70's are another option. I think they are similar quality to the H&R's. I owned two and gave one of them to my best friend.

I shot my friend's Wrangler and the sights were pretty tiny. I've owned Single Sixes and prefer their larger, adjustable sights. I would recommend looking for a used SS6.

 

[DirectDrive]

That's a very nice Colt.
I was able to find a 1983 S&W K-22 (17-3) Full Target recently.
They are about $900 on the used market.

 

[41mag]

The DA trigger is usually horrendous on rimfire DAs due to needing to strike the rim hard enough.

if you cock the hammer first, the DA trigger is transformed to usually a very good SA trigger. That horrid DA trigger pull starts with the increased mechanical effort to rotate the cylinder while cocking the hammer via pulling the DA trigger back. Small but significant point IMHO.

 

[41mag]

There is a 617 in SS, but 4" barrel only.

I have factory 6" 10 shot 617 as well as factory 4". Both excel on the range. I mounted a red dot sight on the 6". Golf balls at 60' are virtually unmissable.

 

[DeanMk]

So it occurs to me that I seldom shoot my .22 auto pistol, mostly because it requires at least standard velocity ammo, and really doesn't function well with anything subsonic. It also can only run .22 LR, of course. So I'm thinking a revolver might be more useful for me, depending on the answers to the following questions.

Can ALL .22 LR revolvers also shoot longs and shorts? I have a lot of the latter, and no longer have anything to shoot it in.
Most I've handled seem to be more suitable for women or children, what models/brands are full size?
What brands to look for or avoid?

I have no particular preference between DA and SA, other than DA being a little quicker/easier to load. Not concerned with capacity, either, a six shooter would be fine, although more would be nice. As this will mostly be a range toy, good triggers and sights are fairly important. Later.

Dave

If you stick with modern guns, all will shoot all .22 rimfire except for Magnum.
That is going to require its own cylinder.
There are "convertible" models that allow you to switch, but most are either "S/L/LR" or "Magnum".
Modern DA's feature swing out cylinders, which can make loading/unloading a little quicker than something that looks and operates like it won the west.
If you start looking at vintage guns, then you have to be more careful.
Some were made to ONLY shoot shorts and/or longs, or just long rifle.
So read what's printed on the gun CAREFULLY.
Also, some of those old guns (*cough*H&R*cough*) used a "push-pull" system, where the pin the cylinder rotates on, actually comes out and that allows for the cylinder to fall out of the gun.
You then eject the cartridges either one at a time, by shoving the pin into each chamber, or put the pin in the center hole and eject them all at once.
...so, a couple of things to look out for.
As for modern guns to suggest, I'm with the others....K-frame Smith (model 17 or 617), or Ruger GP100.
The GP100 and the 617 both hold 10 shots, but the good ol' Model 17 still soldiers on with a 6 shot capacity.
Ruger's a little less expensive and built like tanks, but the operation of any S&W revolver is still smoother than any other gun ever made.

 

[DeanMk]

I'm new here, but have owned my Colt Diamondback since 1985-ish. I was a 12 year old kid that shot informal small bore handgun tournaments at my Dad's work Sportsmans club. Dad used his S&W 17-2 and I was using my mom's model 63. I saved money from lawn mowing (2 years), birthdays and I found a 6" blued Diamondback 22lr in the paper for $235 if I remember correctly.

Dad and I went to see it and he bought it for me with my money from the elderly gentleman.

I have customized it over the years. I had a 4" barrel fitted to it and can swap back to the 6" if needed (I've swapped 2-3 times, but prefer the feel of the 4".). I also had it hard chromed by Mahovsky's (Metalife). It will eventually get handed down to my daughter, who loves to shoot it.

I wish I kept a S&W model 18 I had several years ago. I would pick up another at the right price, or a model 17.

I had a Charter Arms Pathfinder 8 shot revolver last year. That was the gun that I wanted to like, but it had too many quality control issues. It went back to the factory twice and still had issues so I sold it.


I recently picked up a NEF R92 (H&R) which has 9 shots and adjustable sights. I didn't care for the grips so I made a set this past weekend out of scrap pieces of Cocobolo my friend had. The gun is a good plinker, but not in the same league as my Colt. You might keep your eye out for one of these. I traded about $60-70 worth of powder and primers to the guy so it was worth the gamble for me.

The High Standard Sentinels from the 50's-70's are another option. I think they are similar quality to the H&R's. I owned two and gave one of them to my best friend.

I shot my friend's Wrangler and the sights were pretty tiny. I've owned Single Sixes and prefer their larger, adjustable sights. I would recommend looking for a used SS6.

View attachment 1195423 View attachment 1195424 View attachment 1195425 View attachment 1195426 View attachment 1195427 View attachment 1195428 View attachment 1195429 View attachment 1195431

It should be noted that, by the pictures you posted, the NEF R92 you wrote about is an R92 ULTRA.
These had longer barrels with a full length rib and fully adjustable sights.
The regular R92 was more of a "belly gun" type, with a shorter (2"-4") barrel and the sights are fixed.

 

[titsonritz]

I wish I kept a S&W model 18 I had several years ago. I would pick up another at the right price, or a model 17.

I was torn between the 17 and 18, went with the 18. Beautiful gun and fun to shoot.

 

[titsonritz]

I love my Ruger single six convertible, shoots everything 22 rimfire.
From antique 22 flobert bb caps to 22 Magnum

Hard to go wrong here. If I pick up another 22 revolver this will be it.

 

[titsonritz]

Long ago.....
I bought a S&W M18 for "Practice" sessions. Back then, the PD used the S&W (M15) revolvers. So, the M18 was used as an "introduction" for the new recruits.

It was a cheaper and an easier to learn on.....platform. For many first timers.......think about the: (in no particular order) draw and fire drills, learning marksmanship skills, reloading drills, handling, etc... etc..... Yeah.....while using 22LR ammo vs. centerfire .38 special ammo.

Yes, CBs, shorts, longs, long rifle.....they all work in a revolver such as mine.

View attachment 1188368

Nope....it's NOT for sale.

Aloha, Mark

This is my thinking. I've got the 18, need a 15.

 

[DeanMk]

You and me both, Ritz.

 

[ma96782]

This is my thinking. I've got the 18, need a 15.

The PD that I was with, used the M18 (22LR) as a trainer before moving the recruits up to the M15 (.38 special-duty revolver). I liked it so much.....that I bought one (M18) and I still have it today. That being said, I never purchased my "duty revolver" when they were retired in favor of the S&W 5906 (9mm).

Aloha, Mark