Was looking for a light 22 revolver for my mole gun and at the gun store they showed me the 43C. Perfect ! Just what I was looking for but was not looking for that price,,,, yikes ! Oh well, not that many years left to enjoy the hobby, so went ahead and took it home. Incredibly light and is very easy to forget it is in your pocket. Took it to the range today and actually was able to get most rounds where I wanted them to be. We have hundreds of ground moles in our property and I get a huge kick out of seeing those buggers pushing up dirt and dispatching them with a couple of rounds of .22 short hollow points,,, works perfect. I used a Ruger SR 22 for a while, but you can't shoot shorts in it and my Ruger SP 101 .22 is just too dang heavy. I'm happy.

Yes the 43C is a little pricey j-frame .22 but it is a fantastic little revolver.
I bought my wife one a couple years ago for concealed carry/car gun because she never liked the recoil of her Mod 642-1. I took the 642 and got her the 43C, which is better than a stick for self defense. I have actually shot it much more than she has and it has never given us a problem of cylinder sticking or difficult extraction. We shoot mostly CCI Minimags and carry it loaded with CCI Stingers. Also like the front site much better than my 642.

Glad to hear the 43C is serving you well. There has always been a special place in my heart for snub nose .22 revolvers. I have no clue why as they likely don't serve any one purpose well (although you gave a pretty good example), other than just a fun gun to carry in your pocket!

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Got my first kill today,,, a good sized mole wreaking havoc on our yard. Getting used to the trigger as I have never used a DA only revolver. Love the air weight of the gun and is a better shooter than I really expected. Could see using this for CC with the right ammo.

I like the Velocitors because they are 40 grain /1435 fps rather than 32grain /1620 fps (out of rifle length barrels). CCI says "HP cavity design derived from GDHP technology." (Will it expand? Who knows, it WILL be 20 percent heavier vs 11 percent slower.)

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Certified Curmudgeon

Used .22 Short on the Mole in the 43C. Bet that was like a CO2 pellet pistol.

LR's in my 43C are super manageable, but i've never though about running any other .22 (Long, .22RF, or Shorts) through it.

Yea, I see the "That much for a .22 revolver?" reaction often at the shop. I've even felt it myself a few times. Still, it's not hard to understand when you consider that the same materials and workmanship go into building a 22 as a 357 mag.
Just ordered a Model 63 myself with the same logic as yours BTW.

p.s. Take a look at the CCI Quiet fragmenting ammo. 710 fps and has a bullet that breaks up into 3 pieces on impact. Nice for keeping the energy where you want it and also nice for taming ricochets. I find it very accurate too.

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Dave

They actually GAVE me a box of that quiet ammo at the shop when I bought the gun. Blast is noticeably quieter than regular long rifles and even on par with the CCI HP shorts. What I like about the shorts is the 1105 FPS which reaches into the ground and always gets the job done. Yes, the quality shows on this gun and I don't regret the purchase for a minute.

Is the 43C cylinder steel?

No, aluminum. It may have steel sleeves in the bores though. All I know is that this sucker is light !

Put a few tiny drops of oil down the sides of the hammer and in the openings inside the frame.

After 4-500 rounds, the trigger on my 43c smoothed and lightened up considerably.
My wife shoots it easily now.

I agree, there aren't many practical applications for this gun, but it sure is fun to shoot.

I wouldn't worry about the aluminum cylinder.
There's a small chance that S&W knows what they are doing. ;-)

And, they use an aluminum cylinder on their .22 magnum revolver, and I've not heard of any of them self destructing.

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You could have saved some cash by getting some neighborhood kid to shoot them with an air rifle for free. Hell, i woulda dunnit for free