Here is my opinion (based on 40 years of informal sandbag tests with each gun's favorite ammo) of the accuracy rankings of "modern" S&W .22 LR and .22 Mag revolvers with .22 LR cylinders, in descending order. I never tested a model 45, so someone else will have to say where it ranks. Models include "pre" models, and 17's and 48's include 617's and 648's. These are general rankings only; each revolver is a law unto itself in comparison to every other revolver ever built.


18 and 17/48, 8 3/8 inch (tie)

63, 5 inch (only one of these tested)

17/48, 4/6 inch

35

34, 2/4 inch

51/651 (all)

63, 2/4 inch and 43 (tie)

317, 2/3 inch

Here is my opinion (based on 40 years of informal sandbag tests with each gun's favorite ammo) of the accuracy rankings of "modern" S&W .22 LR and .22 Mag revolvers with .22 LR cylinders, in descending order. I never tested a model 45, so someone else will have to say where it ranks. Models include "pre" models, and 17's and 48's include 617's and 648's. These are general rankings only; each revolver is a law unto itself in comparison to every other revolver ever built.


18 and 17/48, 8 3/8 inch (tie)

63, 5 inch (only one of these tested)

17/48, 4/6 inch

35

34, 2/4 inch

51/651 (all)

63, 2/4 inch and 43 (tie)

317, 2/3 inch

Thank you or the info, Look like the 17 and 18 are the finest shooting irons, (but also the only ones with 8 3/8 barrels ) if I read right.
Now what was the grouping size at what distance?
Peter.

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Need 1/2 moon Chiefs special

The 18's only came with the 4" barrel. So I read it as the 4" 18 and the 17/48's with the long tube lead the pack.

And the lowly Model 35 sits where?

bdGreen

I'm not so sure about that one. 17s and 18s both had the wrong barrel length from time to time.

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Dick Burg

I'm a little skeptical that the allegedly superior accuracy of the 8 3/8" guns is due to some inherent quality lacking in the others. There have been a lot of studies done which show that barrel length is not necessarily an indicator of accuracy. On the other hand, PERCEIVED accuracy sometimes is greater with a longer barrel length because of the longer sight radius. I have an 8 3/8" 17, a 6" 617, and a 4" 617. I also have 63 year old eyes that do not focus really well (even with correction) on objects that are held at arm's length. I get superior accuracy from my 8 3/8" gun because I can see the front sight better with than gun than I can with my other two. That's me, not the gun, which accounts for the "superior" accuracy of the 8 3/8" model.

Interesting list but..........
With the .22 RF, ammunition has proven to be the greatest accuracy factor in any particular gun. All competitive shooters have known this forever, and its greatest manifestation has come in the Rimfire Benchrest events.

Good shooting!

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Good shooting.

homie raises a good point. different guns favor different ammo. from personal experience i found that premium target ammunition was well worth the added expense. eley tenex shot the smallest groups in most, if not all of my rifles and handguns. testing is the only way to be sure.

Bruce; From what I've seen "Most" of them are sitting in your Gun Safe!!!

...I guess I should've qualified that with "according to SCSW"...

I find it interesting that the 5" 63 is up so high. Mine seems to be very accurate, but I haven't really tested to compare it to my 17 and 617s. I really need to get a Ransom Rest.

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Tom

I am sure my Ruger MKII KMK-678GC was more accurate, ie, would group closer, than the new 4" 617 I replaced it with in September. It just stands to reason - longer barrel, no b/c. In three months I have shot that 617 more than that MKII was shot in the last three years (I had owned it ~10 years since my wife bought it new for me.). There is no comparison as to the fun I've had plinking with the revolver. It's grouping - with the cheapest Fed .22s Wally World carries ($13.47/525). Anyway you cut it - a 4" .22 DA revolver is just fun.

Stainz

Maybe this should be looked at as a ranking of guns that are easiest to shoot accurately. Heavier guns with longer barrels would generally be easier to shoot accurately, because of the stabilizing effect of the weight and the longer sight radius. Quality of the sights is also important. I'll bet the innate accuracy of these guns would be nearly identical if placed in a machine rest with the ammo each prefers and the groups of multiple samples of each model were tested.

pred, I've tested at all distances up to 50 yards, but mostly 10, 15 and 25 yds. The group sizes depend on the ammo and distance, of course, but 25 yd, five-shot groups, with each gun's favorite ammo, has been my standard.

For example, in the case of my one-and-only Model 63-4 (the new 5 inch), I average about .75 inch groups with Lapua Midas L. My 4-inch pre-18's, and an old 48 8 3/8-inch with a LR cyl, gave just slightly smaller groups with their respective favorite brands of ammo. The 48 liked Win Super X FMJ (go figure). At the other end of the spectrum, the best I could average out of a 3-inch 317 was 3-inch groups.

All the other models I listed above, with their favorite ammo, gave 25 yrd groups falling in between, in the order listed.

Bruce, thanks for calling attention to the Model 35; I had erroneously deleted my reference to it in the opening post. In my experience, its accuracy is better than the Model 34's; at least a half inch better at 25 yds. My 35's averaged about 1.62 inch groups with Fed Copper Plated 38 grain HVHP's and the same with Wolf Match Target. The best I could get out of my 34's was about 2.25 inch groups with better ammo such as Fed Gold Medal Match and Rem Club Xtra. I've corrected the list by reinserting the 35.

"The 18's only came with the 4" barrel. So I read it as the 4" 18 and the 17/48's with the long tube lead the pack." Yes, Jetstream, that's what I meant. I've never even seen, much less owned, one of the longer-tubed 18's that Dick mentioned.

bhk, there is a lot of truth in what you say about easier-to-shoot guns and about the equal inherent accuracy of all .22 revolvers. However, I firmly believe that longer, better bored, less vibrating barrels are what makes the difference between a half inch group and 3-inch group at 25 yds.

For, example, I've owned about six, four-inch Colt Diamondbacks, none of which could compete with my six-inch D'backs. I think six-inch barrels are better able to settle down bullets which just cleared a b/c gap than are four-inch barrels. That may be the reason why there seems to be little difference in accuracy among two, three and four-inch barreled guns with less than perfectly bored barrels--like the .22 LR D'backs, which were not optimally bored for .22 LR bullets.