How accurate can you be with a .22 snub 34 or 63?

[Brooklynite]

I know mechanically these revolvers are plenty accurate, but people talk about the size, sight radius, and weight making them difficult to shoot.
Is it possible that with practice and larger grips to get good enough with them to enjoy them as a range gun?
I've always wanted one of these little 2 inch 22s, but if realistically I could never enjoy target shooting beyond a couple of paces, it may not be worth picking one up...

 

[Protocall_Design]

I had a 2 inch M15 that shot pretty well out to 50 yards. I shot it at Big Bore Silhouette a few times. I could hit most of the Chickens at 50, usually one, sometimes 2 Rams at 200 yards (meters) out of a cylinder. I would say that qualifies as more than a couple of paces. The .22 should be good at least to 15 to 25 yards.

 

[KalamazooKid]

I have a 2" Kit Gun and have a blast just taking it in the woods and plinking cans or leaves floating on a pond etc. Not terribly satisfying to shoot targets in a range setting. That's better done with an M17. JMHO.

 

[Brooklynite]

Yeah, if I lived someplace where plinking in the woods was something I could do easily, it'd be a made decision. But 90% of its use would be at an indoor range.

But oh man kalamazookid, thats such a neat little gun. Maybe I've read too much Hammett and Chandler. Or watched too many film noirs.

 

[TomkinsSP]

My 351c and 43c are capable of better groups than I am. That said, I use five or six inch paper plates as targets and empty either, which is to say seven or eight shots faster than I write this. If all seven or eight are not on the plate, you just need to practice until they are. Really, there is not any substitute for practice.

Remember: if you think you can you are right.
If you think you can't you are also right.

 

[Mike SC Hunter]

IF....You practice a lot. You can do amazing things with a 2" 34/63 at 50 to 100 yards.........I know it was luck. One day plowing on my tractor a crow lit in the field about 75 or so yards away. I stopped the tractor, pulled out 2" 63 and rested over the steering wheel. At the shot the crow flopped over dead......I' don't know who was surprised more......me or him.

 

[Green Frog]

Long range accuracy with a snub of any caliber is not a quick and easy thing to develop. With practice, 25 yard accuracy can be acceptable, but I would never expect Bullseye match level accuracy. A good compromise might be a 4" barrel kit gun if you really want a nice packing package and the ability to hit at beyond hand shake ranges. I know you are asking about a snub, and I have a couple in 32 and 38, but they are not for target use. JMHO-YMMV.

Froggie

 

[rockquarry]

I shoot snub nose .38s regularly and with a lot of practice have become minimally proficient with them at 25 yards. However, it was a different story for me with the snub nose 34 I had some some years ago. I never could shoot that gun well. I won't blame that on anything other than a lack of skill.

I have a 4" 63 which I can shoot reasonably well, but, being a J-frame, still requires a good bit of practice to make consistent 25 yard hits. The guns are very capable, well beyond the close-up distances many limit them to. Most of us just don't practice with them enough to realize their potential.

 

[KalamazooKid]

But oh man kalamazookid, thats such a neat little gun. Maybe I've read too much Hammett and Chandler. Or watched too many film noirs.

Thanks! I also have a sweet little vintage Lawrence to carry it around in.

 

[BigBill]

This is why I started collecting older h&r 22 revolvers there affordable and so many different models being offered.

 

[slipnotz]

My 2" model 34 will hit a 16" plate at 150 yds when I do my part. We shoot my model 17 at distances greater than that. With the 22 it is cheap to shoot at those distances and fun. You don't know what you can do until you try.

 

[Murdock]

The .22 LR handgun is an excellent addition to a Maine bird hunt. At times a grouse will alight in a tree, but I won't shotgun them when they are sitting still like that. So I carry a .22, usually in a pocket of my hunting coat.

While hunting for ruffed grouse several years ago, I looked up the overgrown two-track my dog and I were using to get back to the truck, and saw a grouse standing in the road. They think that if they ain't moving, ya can't see 'em. Usually they are correct, but not that time.

I made my springer spaniel "hup", put my L.C. Smith gently on the ground, and drew my 4" M63. Formerly I shot a lot of field pistol silhouette with a heavy .44 Special Keith load, and the bird looked exactly like the 75 meter turkey steel target. I nailed that sucker. Paced off twice, he was standing at just over 42 yards from the muzzle.

My dog saw the whole thing, so I had proof.

My view is that the absolute best thing about S&W revolvers is that regardless of caliber and barrel length, they all work in exactly the same way, with the same triggers. Shoot one well and you can shoot all of them well. Just pick the caliber and frame size for the task.

It is a long established truism that Smith snubbies are intrinsically accurate. A S&W kit gun of any kind will serve you well.

 

[adwjc]

I know mechanically these revolvers are plenty accurate, but people talk about the size, sight radius, and weight making them difficult to shoot.
Is it possible that with practice and larger grips to get good enough with them to enjoy them as a range gun?
I've always wanted one of these little 2 inch 22s, but if realistically I could never enjoy target shooting beyond a couple of paces, it may not be worth picking one up...

Since you mentioned range use, why not look at a model 18 or 617? The K frames are easier to shoot, sights are not "mini sized" and I always found that the Js heated up and became hard to eject rounds during range visits, not so the K frames.

 

[Peak53]

>>My dog saw the whole thing, so I had proof.<<

Good enough for me!

 

[murphydog]

I think it would be fun and challenging to use a 2" Kit Gun at the range. If you practice a lot and can hit well with one you will probably be good with any revolver, and it will be cheap to try in any case.

Murdock, it is good you had your Springer Spaniel as a witness, because (wait for it, wait for it...) you shouldn't have to let your sleeping dog lie.

 

[rct269]

I had a 2" Kit Gun and a 2" Chiefs Special Target----back in the day of my bullseye shooting. Both of them more than earned their keep when my claims of being able to shoot scores ("with my snub nose") better than some of my competitors were posting with 6" equipment were challenged.

For those of you who'd like to do the same, the secret is the grips---decent grips make for decent scores.

Ralph Tremaine

 

[.38SuperMan]

My wife has a model 317 alloy frame with the 3" barrel. Some people say they have accuracy problems because it weighs just over 12 ounces but my wife does very well with it at 50 feet. I'm quite impressed with her 317.

Last weekend I picked up an unfired nickel 4" barrel 34. I'm not a collector so I took it to the range this week and put 50 rounds through it. Very nice gun!

Neither are snubnose but they sure are fun to shoot.

 

[Abbynormal]

I shot a K-22 and a Walther PPK-22 for years before I got a J-frame J-63 Kit Gun. I was unimpressed with it's accuracy and traded it away asap.

Sorry if I blew your bubble!

 

[Brooklynite]

Since you mentioned range use, why not look at a model 18 or 617? The K frames are easier to shoot, sights are not "mini sized" and I always found that the Js heated up and became hard to eject rounds during range visits, not so the K frames.

I had read this about sticky ejection in the older kit guns.
A model 18 is the other rimfire I've been thinking about.
I realize that it will be easier to shoot well with, and would be closer to replicating the highway patrolman that I shoot best with now.
But for whatever reason I'm drawn to the little snubs. It's not practical, I just think they're neat. And if I could make them work for me on the range, that's good enough for me to get one.
Also, last year I started hunting and think they would make a good choice to carry out in the field. But honestly that'll be only a couple of times a year, and an 18 wouldn't add that much bulk.

 

[MajorD]

My little 2" 34 shots very well with no sticky ejection. I sometimes shoot steel challenge matches with it, some targets as far as 40 or so yards away. We shoot 5 strings on 5 stages so 25 runs of five target strings. I can get through the match usually needing the 6th round only once or twice max. They have a usupsa sized steel at 75 yards on the practice range and can hit that with boring regularity. At ten to twelve yards groups are easily covered by a quarter and most with a nickel.