Current production 22 revolver’s

[3chester]

I've come to love 22 wmr pistols. On small game the shorter Barrel combined with jacketed bullets kill small game really cleanly. Critters that explode with a rifle wmr, are just about right at pistol velocity. And many of the wmr bullets open and harvest a little cleaner on grouse and Ptarmigan. As such my time has been fairly split between a 17 hm2 rifle and an assortment of 22 wmr pistols.


My evolution had been as follows.

Ruger single six convertible stainless, shot super accurate and was bought of the local classifieds for a sweet deal. Remember cold fingers on a big batch of spruce hens outside of paxson when it was -19.... what was easy at 45 was dang near impossible in that cold. Sold it and ordered a pmr. At the time a brick of cheap ammo was 60$ and even decent stuff was 80-100. Ordered a few thousand for whistle pig shoot in Oregon and 5 mags. Around 700 rounds it just started to dissolve, sent it to Kel tec and got another. Around the same amount of rounds we were parked in a field near Christmas valley on a slope and on one shot the slide decided to free itself from this mortal coil and launch itself about 40 feet. It had cracked the rails with a red dot atop... that was atop because the sights had dissolved and the pieces lost in the alfalfa. That one went back for a refund.

Un daunted I ordered a ria pistol, it showed up orange... never seen surface bloom rust like that. Decided to pass on it, as I'm near salt water and need something a bit better on the rust resistance. Few months later a friend of mine bought one and let me put a brick or two through his. It seemed like a decent gun. It's ria 1911 adaption, it's heavy with middle tier fit and finish. It shot fine enough and was a step up from the pmr, but it is as heavy as a 6 inch revolver and has half the capacity of the kel tec. It also only had hiccups with the 30 grain tnt loads.... the ones I bought bogo from reeds in 19'... that I have like 4500 of.

I didn't hate it, but bought a 648 while I still had the ria. The revolver has only 8 rounds, but man does a full size revolver shoot. In my hands birds are not safe to about double the distance with the revolver.

Got a volquartsen for a weekend from an ffl friend of mine. It shot everything well, was heavier than my revolver, cost 1899, and had rails like a 2006 vintage ar15... No doubt it's a sweet unit, but some of my trips are long atv/plane/snowmobile/fat bike/pack raft. Guns are occasionally lost (I haven't yet but I've seen several on our trips go swim or drop out of a holster in a crash) and I've certainly lost mags.... that are 109 on a vq... Was just to hard to justify almost 1500 more than I'd payed for my 648 for that 9 shot repeater.

Wmp came out, and I was pretty stoked. Hoped it was like a better built pmr, kinda split the difference of all of them. My local ffl got 8 in on the second batch and set one aside for me. I was remote and he sold the rest rather rapidly. In the several weeks it took me to get home 3 of the seven had been returned on the 30 day walther money back guarantee. He had one in his possession and since I have a rimfire ammo stash that is a bit over the top we took it out with 8 or 10 flavors of my favorites. We didn't have a single mag that didn't have either a jam or a stove pipe. Honestly it was early college with an amt since I saw a 22 wmr be that miserable (had 3 of those lemmons). I'm not a gunsmith, don't even pretend to be one on tv... but it looked like a magazine fitment/alignment issue. I ended up passing on it. Looking around the web, seems to be hit or miss. Saw an rfc thread the other day that had folks with similar problems and a very similar outcomes, guessing it's more than an isolated batch.


For now I'll stick by my belief that the best 22 wmr pistol is the 648.

Yep that old S&W Model 651 Stainless Steel ,was cool setup, with the option ,to send it to factory to have it fitted for a 22LR cylinder, pretty rare these days. Colt Trooper 22WMR was blued steel, good rig too.

 

[MtPockets]

I love my Single Six and it mostly wears the mag cylinder.
If Ruger would get off their keester and make a convertable Single Ten, I'd have one of them too!

 

[Frog4aday]

1) S&W 617 (older ones were 6 shots; newer are 10)
2) Ruger GP-100
3) Ruger Single Six (do not get the Single Ten; mine starts to malfunction after 20 rounds thru it...very frustrating.)
4) Any used S&W .22LR revolver

Any interest in semi-autos?
1) S&W Victory
2) Ruger Mark IV 22/45
3) Browning Buckmark

Avoid Taurus revolvers in .22LR. Maybe you get lucky, but probably not.

 

[birddog 68]

Kind of off topic, but have you thought about any semiautos?
I have a PMR30 thats a hoot to shoot but feels like a toy. Been thinking about a Walther WMP, too.

Any interest in semi-autos?

Actually after @brcfo_outdoors mentioned the browning buck mark I had to take a look. I will have to handle one but looks like a good pistol for the price.

 

[Greyfox]

I'm very fond of my S&W 617 which I acquired several years ago. Accurate enough for +25 yard squirrels….Smooth, balanced, and reliable for all ten rounds into a pie plate at 10 yards in under 2 seconds….No mods/out if the box. It's a great field companion.

 

[3chester]

Bill Ruger got his start,back in 49, with those little semi-auto 22LR pistols. Today's stainless or blue variety, still good little trout fishN camp rig to pack along. They can handle a snake on the trail.

 

[Mark37082]

I've always been a revolver lover. I've never had a 22LR revolver though. This got me thinking. That is always a dangerous move for me.
brcfo - sorry you had bad luck with Ruger. When I think of 22LR, I always think of Ruger. I've never had a bad one in either rifle or pistol.

 

[biednick]

I love my Single Six and it mostly wears the mag cylinder.
If Ruger would get off their keester and make a convertable Single Ten, I'd have one of them too!

I'm pretty sure 22 mag won't fit in a single ten. From what I remember the rims basically touch, and 22 mag's rim is about .025" larger than 22lr.

 

[edgartwib]

I'm particular to the S&W 617 10 shot
22lr preferably the pre lock models of the 2000s.
IMHO thr 617 is the best current production .22lr revolver espically with a 4" barrel.

My other favorite. 22 revolvers although not current production are the H&R sportsman 999 or 924 top break 9 shot. They are fun.

 

[3chester]

The old Colt Officers Model Match, doesn't even have to be in collector condition, still cool old rig.

 

[bballard]

I own and recommend both the S&W 617 and ruger gp100. I like 4 inch barrels in rimfire. They both shoot well. I also have a Smith 18-3. I have a thing for revolvers too.....

 

[Teri Anne]

After many years of ownership of a S&W K22 I need a good 22. I purchased the K22 from a friend many years ago and after a few months of him pestering me I relented and sold it back to him.
I have a cheap Heritage 22/22 mag that I purchased for shooting blanks for dog training but it doesn't have adjustable sights and isn't very accurate.
So is there anything new I should be looking at or just shop around for a decent older revolver? I would like to keep cost close to $800 but under this would be nice if possible. Or I may have to save up to buy something decent.
Thanks for any input.

For a few bucks over $800 you can buy a new Smith & Wesson model 63, stainless, double action, 8 rounds 22LR and target adjustable sights. Something to think about. Otherwise a good auction house is Kramer in Prairie du Chien, WI. They have a firearms auction going on right now,

Kramer's Spring 2023 Gun, Sporting & Ammo Online Auction

www.proxibid.com/kramer

1500 lots online including 500 Guns plus Old & New Ammo, Dillon & other Reloading Components

Sale Closes: Thurs. March 9th, 2023​

I have both bought and sold here and it is a great place. Several auctions a year and I've never been burned buying or selling.

 

[LanceK]

My vote is for a ruger bisley

Although the freedom arms would be nice.

 

[smokey3]

The S&W Victories are a very accurate pistol although they are not the revolver that you are looking for, reasonably priced also.