Educate me on 22LR vs 22 Mag please

[Guest motonut]

I've had an itch for a .22 revolver. I've got .22 pistols (BuckMark & Sig 220 w/ 22 conv.) and 22 rifle so I know a little about the round. Most of what I've shot is .22LR with some 22 MiniMag and Shorts thrown in. However I have no experience w/ the .22 Mag round. How prevelant is the .22 mag?

The reason I got curious is I have been looking at the Taurus 94 which is a 9 shot .22LR and the Taurus 941 which is a .22 Mag. Am I right to assume that a .22LR would also be able to shoot a round such as the CCI MiniMag?

With what I know right now I'm leaning twords the 9 shot .22LR but would like to know a little more about the Mag.

[MacGyver]

MiniMags are .22LR rounds.

As a general rule, a .22LR revolver will be capable of shooting .22LR and .22 short rounds, but not .22WMR. There are plenty of .22WRM revolvers that include or make available .22LR cylinders.

[Jonnin]

you cannot interchange them. The bullets and barrels are close, but the case is a little different and won't quite interchange. So the ones that fire both are typically revolvers that have 2 cylinders or specially made chambers in a long gun like a lever action.

Its pretty common. Most places carry the ammo, its not any more expensive than cheap 9mm, say $10 or so for 50.

My wife tried the S&W airweight and since christmas, the cylinder cracked at the center, repaired but she is gonna sell that one. She is replacing with the taurus, which so far seems to be solid steel and well made but gritty and rough action. Both had horrid DA trigger pulls and decent SA pulls.

It has a lot of energy and low mass, is a flat shooting penetrator of a round. Compare the energy to major calibers, its close... not quite a 38 special and more than a 380 if I remember right, somewhere in that energy neighborhood.

Edited March 19, 2012 by Jonnin

[peejman]

.22 mag has become more common with these new revolvers that shoot it. Still not real common, but readily available. It's makes a bigger bang than a .22LR, but nothing of great consequence.

[JAB]

One good place to start comparisons might be with the info from the North American Arms website. They make mini revolvers chambered for .22LR, some chambered for .22 WMR (Magnum) and some with interchangeable cylinders to allow them to shoot both. Based on the velocity charts on their website that compare the two rounds from the guns they make, it is obvious that even from really short barrels (1 5/8 inch, for instance, in the case of some of their guns) the WMR round still has a measurable velocity advantage over .22LR, generally speaking - sometimes to the tune of two or three hundred feet per second.

The NAA velocity chart for a 1 5/8 inch .22LR:

http://northamericanarms.com/ball_lr58

The NAA velocity chart for a 1 5/8 inch .22WMR:

http://northamerican....com/ball_mag58

The WMR (Winchester Magnum Rimfire) round was developed mostly as a rifle round and apparently it really 'comes into its own' over the .22LR in rifle length barrels. Some folks say that you don't really gain much when firing a WMR from a handgun. I disagree and various info I have seen indicates that a .22WMR fired from a revolver with at least a 6 inch barrel roughly equals the velocity/energy of a .22LR fired from a rifle. To me, that is pretty significant - although the advantage is somewhat lessened (albeit still present, as shown by the NAA charts) when firing from really short barrels.

Further, the construction of the bullets/rounds is different. Most (all?) .22LR rounds use either a bare lead bullet or a lead bullet that has a copper (or other material) wash or plating - not a true jacket and, to my understanding, intended mostly to help cut down on lead fouling in the barrel with higher velocity rounds. Also, .22LR rounds use a bullet that is smaller in diameter at the bottom than the main body of the bullet. These bullets are called 'heeled' bullets. This 'heel' fits into the case of the .22LR round and the case is pretty much the same diameter as the main body of the bullet. A .22WMR, on the other hand, uses a bullet that is the same diameter at the bottom as the rest of the body of the bullet. The WMR bullet fits into a case that is of slightly greater diameter than the bullet and, in that way, is more similar in construction to centerfire rounds than to its 'baby' brother, the .22LR. As I previously alluded, another difference is that, with some exceptions, most .22WMR bullets use a true, jacketed bullet rather than a simple wash or plating. In this way, again, these bullets are more similar to centerfire FMJ or JHP than they are to .22LR. One of the exceptions is Winchester Dynapoint WMR which is kind of an odd hybrid as it is loaded in a .22WMR case but made to closely mimic the properties of the old .22WRF (Winchester Rim Fire) load. As such, the Dynapoint is loaded to lower velocities than many other WMR loads but it still uses a non-heeled bullet (as do true WRF loads.)

There are also now a couple of WMR rounds that are said to be more 'optimized' for handguns. Specifically, I am aware of Hornady Critical Defense WMR and Speer Gold Dot WMR. Of course, these are more expensive than some other WMR ammo. I tested both of them from my own 1 5/8 inch barreled mini revolver and was disappointed with the Critical Defense and not entirely overwhelmed with the Gold Dot. In my completely unscientific water jug tests, the Critical Defense penetrated three jugs, made a hole in the back of the third and was found in the third. The Gold Dot penetrated three jugs and was found partially protruding from the back of the third jug, stuck in the plastic of the jug. The big difference, however, was that the Critical Defense barely expanded while the Gold Dot round came out perfectly expanded, looking just like the pic on the front of the box. That said, even the super cheap Winchester Dynapoint - which is loaded to slightly lower velocities and uses a copper washed bullet - penetrated five jugs, made a hole in the face of the sixth and 'rebounded' to be recovered from the fifth. Obviously much better penetration albeit with no real expansion.

Edited March 20, 2012 by JAB

[Guest motonut]

Thanks for all the info (esp. JAB). That explains what the WMR meant.

For my use I'll stick with the .22LR round. I don't need to add another round to the inventory.

[hipower]

While it is another caliber to hoard, getting a revolver with a magnum cyclinder can be a lot of fun. Or get one of the PMR30, if you can find one, from Keltec. It's quite an impressive little and very lightwight gun. One of my favorite 22 Magnums, right along side my K-22.

[JAB]

I am a bit of a Kel Tec 'fan' but have no real desire for a PMR30. My Rough Rider and NAA mini take care of my WMR handgun needs and my Marlin 925M bolt rifle rounds out my uses for the caliber pretty well. Sometimes I do have an itch for an eight or nine round double action revolver in WMR but there are other things I want more.

The carbine version of the PMR30 - the RMR30 - should be interesting but I won't be shelling out the NIB price for one even after the price settles in. Rumor has it (confirmed by a KT employee who belongs to the KTOG forum) that KT is working on a .22LR conversion for the PMR30 if they can get 30 or so .22LR rounds to stack correctly in and feed correctly from a straight mag. If it works out, there are apparently plans to eventually do a stand alone .22LR only version.

Edited March 20, 2012 by JAB

[Jonnin]

Sigh on again off again with kel tec. I would buy the 22 mag, but the trigger on it is awful -- a bit of slop and not a light pull. Its technically a single action, and I had hopes it would be like the plr or rifles, but its no target pistol. I dunno if it can be fixed or not, but I passed over it because of the trigger pull

Makes a heck of a weapon though --- 30 rounds of that is significant.

[Guest motonut]

No idea if anyone is interested but Bud's has the Taurus 990 SS 4" for $305 (includes shipping) right now. It's a heavier (more expensive) gun than the Taurus 94 I was thinking about. Put one on order.

TAURUS 990 TRACKER® .22 LR IN MATTE STAINLESS

http://www.taurususa.com/product-details.cfm?id=626&category=Revolver&toggle=&breadcrumbseries=

[Will Carry]

The 22 magnum is really a rifle round. It needs a longer barrel to burn off all the propellant to give the maximum performance. That's why you get the really cool fireball out the barrel when you shoot 22 mags in a pistol. The Taurus 992 6" weights 55 oz. which is 2 oz heavier than their Raging Bull 454 Casul.

I have a Ruger Single Six 22lr/22Mag with a 9.5" barrel. It will deliver well over 200ft/lbs of muzzle energy. Equivalent to a 38 special. It's a fun little revolver to plink with.

Edited March 21, 2012 by Will Carry

[hipower]

Maybe I got the exceptional one produced, but the trigger pull on my PMR30 is pretty good. A liitle takeup in it, but not overly long, good clean break and pretty soft. Not hard or difficult at all. And yes, you are right. It's not a precision shooting gun for matches, but it's one hell of a fun range gun, and I can pick off the odd varmint or scavanging crow without problems with it.

[JAB]

This is the Taurus .22 I find interesting:

http://www.taurususa.com/product-details.cfm?id=764&category=Revolver&breadcrumbseries=&search=992

The 992 convertible - a 22LR/.22WMR convertible double action revolver. Being the MSRP is $545, though, the chances of me actually buying one are slim and none and slim just left town.

[Jonnin]

my wife just went for the taurus 941 (steel version!) and we are hoping that turns out well. Since it is in the shop for an action cleanup (its quite gritty and stout), all I can say so far is it is very accurate and seems to be well made, and that the out of the box action is borderline awful. We will see how it cleans up.

This is an exchange for an aluminum S&W 22 mag, something PD, which cracked its cylinder after about 4 months. They fixed it, but we did not trust it to last given the way my wife goes thru ammo.

[Guest msparks]

I've got a Ruger Single Six that has 2 cylinders, one for .22lr and one for .22wrm.

About the only time I use the mag cylinder is if I'm shooting groundhogs or other mid sized varmint. Otherwise for shooting purposes it's not any more accurate.

What I've read on rifle length barrels you can extra 50-75 yards out of it. That might be worth it, but in a hand gun for just target and plinking I would stick with the .22lr.

[Guest motonut]

Picked up the Taurus 990 from the FFL today, it's a very stout gun. While there's a little more "play" in the cylinder lockup (not a gunsmith, don't know if the terms are correct) I don't know if it will affect firing. Finish is nice but it is a matte finish not a polished finish (I knew that ahead of time). It was shipped very "wet", I'll definitely have to give it a good wipedown before shooting. Did not dry fire as it's a rimfire but the trigger released nicely, no graininess I could feel with my limited testing.

Very prompt service from Bud's and UPS, definitely no complaints in that dept.

Edited March 23, 2012 by motonut