.22 wheel gun with a decent da trigger?

My Model 17 with added Target Hammer-Trigger and a little tuning is pretty smooth.
63 - 2 and a 4, 651, with no mods - not so much!

I’ve got a 43x bought new last last year. The DAO trigger weight isn’t all that bad. Too bad I can say that about the rest of the gun presently.

I’ve also got a Model 18-4 and a 34. The 18 got a trigger job back in the early 90s and is very low effort and smooth. It also came with a tsrget hammer so it may handle difficult primers better. The 34 was incredibly stiff. I tried to have the same action job performed, but all that was done was polishing the surfaces so it’s smoother. They left the springs alone so it would bust primers. I would occasionally get misfires in all three revolvers, have attributed them to duds, particularly if they won’t fire a second time.

While it’s not a revolver, a Taurius TX22 is an incredible value, great shooter, and very reliable. They might be a good option. The trigger is light and crisp. And it comes with a manual safety. The only drawback is the grip circumference maybe a bit much for s hands.

Rule3 said:

Ruger Lcr or lcrx
Great trigger light weight

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i still have a ruger lcr 22lr dao snubbie, but im unsure why. when shooting rapidly for practice (a 22lr bee swarm is how i would use any 22lr handgun for protection) one can short stroke the long trigger reset and thus bind the cylinder. thus the lcr isn’t particularly suitable for protection unless one overcomes the temptation to quickly let it rip. with a short sight radius and no single-action capability the lcr is not accurate enough to serve as an outdoors kit gun.

my s&w 317 alloy cylinder would faithfully heat-bind after 30ish steady range shots. my taurus 94 single- and double-action’s hard trigger pulls were both totally unworkable. these two revolvers are gone.

i have concluded that a 22lr handgun is best had as a single-action revolver (my several are by ruger) or as a top shelf semiauto pistol (mine is a ruger sr22).

I have a few 17's and a pre 17. All have spring kits and a 48. My buddy used to have a 51 that was sweet. I have little interest in new revolvers. My vote would be a older smith.

A rimfire J-frame will never have quite as good a DA trigger pull as a centerfire OR a rimfire in a larger frame revolver. The reason is twofold. First, a J-frame uses a coil mainspring riding on a spring stirrup rather than the leaf mainspring as used on all other frame sizes. The coil spring on the stirrup stacks during compression and also encounters friction as it slides along the stirrup. It's never quite as smooth and linear feeling as a leaf spring. Secondly, the smaller J-frame has a correspondingly smaller hammer of lower mass. It thus must be accelerated with a heavier spring to reliably ignite rimfires, requiring the stronger mainspring.

I have successfully improved my M63 j-frame trigger to a respectable DA pull that is reasonably light at around 8 lbs and somewhat smooth while being 100% reliable (so far). I slightly reduced the mainspring tension with a Wolff 9 lb replacement spring (factory j-frame rimfire hammer spring weight is 10.5 to 12 lbs, depending on model), polishing the hell out of the spring stirrup, and dry firing the everloving hell out of it (with snap caps) until she smoothed up nicely. I also replaced the rebound spring to a 14lb spring (factory rebound spring weight is 18 lbs). You have to be careful with spring replacements, more so in J-frame rimfires, as you can easily go too light and get excessive light strikes.

If you want the best trigger pull possible in a S&W rimfire revolver and trigger quality is more important than the size of the gun, don't get a J-frame, get a K-frame M17 or M617. In general, with the K-frame leaf spring driven actions, somewhere around 7.5 lb and up is where you start to get reliable ignition.

SASFixer said:

The heavy trigger on the 22 rimfire cartridge revolver is the result of the varying thickness/hardness of the 22 rimfire cases. The manufacturers of the ammunition cannot control this variable. To make a DA revolver reliable the firearm manufacturers install a heavy hammer/mainspring. I have tried to install a standard centerfire spring into a M-63 rendering the firearm unreliable in DA operation.

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Oh I understand the rationale involved, I’m just surprised somebody hasn’t found a way to resolve the problem (dual firing pins? Heavier hammer? Different hammer geometry?). I’ve often wondered why mfrs do not put a dual firing pins in their firearms as a matter of course. Two pins, hitting at the same time on opposite sides of the rim should basically resolve the rim fire “ftf” thing.

I’ve shot an old Single Six and a Bearcat for decades without issues, just really want a handy DA with a good trigger. I may just wind up with an older K22

My Colt King Cobra .22 has a great trigger right out of the box. Looks great, too.

A long time ago I ran across the book, "The Secrets of Double Action Shooting" by Bob Nichols.
All I had was an H&R Model 676. It had a very heavy trigger pull. None the less, I was able to consistently hit cans and bottles (I don't shoot bottles anymore) at 25 yards and further.
To this day I rarely shoot my revolvers single action. Even my S&W 34 J frame with it's "J Frame Trigger".

Amazon sells that book. I urge you to get it.

Shibadog said:

I’ve shot an old Single Six and a Bearcat for decades without issues, just really want a handy DA with a good trigger. I may just wind up with an older K22

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A bigger revolver maybe the solution. In the 80 I purchased a M-17/6" which can't recall any FF in DA. I sold it to a friend and purchased a M-63 to replace it. I found the M-17 too large for the female hand. At the time I was training ladies frequently in basic handgun marksmanship. The 63 has had a pot load of rounds fired in it.

Simple answer, if you want lighter trigger pull & accuracy, shoot single action. It is easy to train yourself to to it & greatly improves accuracy.

Since I shot IPSC in the Stone Ages, I very seldom use Single Action. DA just seems to be a better use of the revolver.
Hasn't stunted my growth, either!

Shibadog said:

Oh I understand the rationale involved, I’m just surprised somebody hasn’t found a way to resolve the problem (dual firing pins? Heavier hammer? Different hammer geometry?). I’ve often wondered why mfrs do not put a dual firing pins in their firearms as a matter of course. Two pins, hitting at the same time on opposite sides of the rim should basically resolve the rim fire “ftf” thing.

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Two point firing pins have been tried for over 100 years with no improvement in ignition issues. Savage used a two point firing pin in their Model 19 NRA Target rifle in 1919, mostly because of inconsistent priming issues with the rimfire ammunition of that period. Simple physics will tell you that distributing the force of the firing pin strike over two pins simply reduces the force applied to the rim by each.

Shibadog said:

.. I’ve often wondered why mfrs do not put a dual firing pins in their firearms as a matter of course. Two pins, hitting at the same time on opposite sides of the rim should basically resolve the rim fire “ftf” thing.

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I suspect this is because the force of the hammer would be distributed across twice the area, which would compound the problem rather than resolve it.

CannonMaster said:

I am the proud owner of a S&W Model 17 and a S&W Model 63. The Model 17 is an excellent revolver. Great trigger, 6 inch barrel is well balanced. Lots of fun to shoot.

The Model 63, on the other hand, not so much. I bought it in the early 80’s for my wife so that she would have a quality, stainless, reliable handgun to take to the range. I was most disappointed. The trigger pull was off the charts. The cylinder would often hang up between rounds, though not consistently which made the revolver completely unreliable. I took it to a local gun smith and had him do a “trigger job”. The gun came back in the same poor condition. I suspect the gunsmith either didn’t know what he was doing or did nothing and just took my money.

Anyway, the gun rests comfortably in the back of the gun safe, waiting to find a home as a shiny paper weight.

Cannon Master I

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you original model 63 like mine is a collectors item. Pinned barrel, recessed cylinder, great little gun. But as we both experienced, it is only possible to do so much to reduce the trigger pull, and that is nowhere close to pleasant. All of the other brand copies are the same, hard to pull.

One exception is the Charter Arms, they have a much better pull than the Smith and Wessons. I do take mine out of the safe now and again, I have had it since 1980 or so. We probably should sell them and put money in more enjoyable guns. But as a collector I will not.

I have carried that gun lots over the years. Like the excellent Ruger Single Six, I just use it single action. With snake shot you are going to use single action anyway, just the way it works.

Your gunsmith would have polished all the normal surfaces, at best he might take a pound or tow off the pull, but not possible to create a trigger pull like a centerfire.

Your trigger hanging back is usually a problem when the carbon builds up inside the gun, or the return spring just wears out, they all can over the years.

The solution if you want a fast firing DA in 22 or 22 mag is pretty simple, go to a K frame size gun, they will never be as good as a centerfire, but better.

The other solution as many have stated, for snake duty, is simple a J frame in 38. I have several. For snake duty while camping and taking the dogs outside the RV at night, I use a model 37 with laser grips, I always want the external hammer gun because I can hit targets a very long way. That said, with the laser, the internal hammer guns, like the 442 work great. The laser, at night is important for those snake encounters, especially with the internal hammer guns. Sudden snake encounters usually allow for only one hand on the gun.

Unfortunately those cute little 10 ounces 22s and 22 mags, just cannot be made to have a reasonable DA pull. One of the mysteries of the universe.

If you’re willing to look for one, the original I frame 22s such as the “Heavy Frame Target” or “Kit Gun” models from about the WW I to WW II time frame or a little later will probably be your very best small DA 22. For a smooth action, that leaf spring has it all over the “improved” later small frame guns with coil springs.
JMHO based on personal experience, YMMV,

jstert said:

i still have a ruger lcr 22lr dao snubbie, but im unsure why. when shooting rapidly for practice (a 22lr bee swarm is how i would use any 22lr handgun for protection) one can short stroke the long trigger reset and thus bind the cylinder. thus the lcr isn’t particularly suitable for protection unless one overcomes the temptation to quickly let it rip. with a short sight radius and no single-action capability the lcr is not accurate enough to serve as an outdoors kit gun.

my s&w 317 alloy cylinder would faithfully heat-bind after 30ish steady range shots. my taurus 94 single- and double-action’s hard trigger pulls were both totally unworkable. these two revolvers are gone.

i have concluded that a 22lr handgun is best had as a single-action revolver (my several are by ruger) or as a top shelf semiauto pistol (mine is a ruger sr22).

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Good points. Because the 22s carbon up so quickly, there are only a few tricks to make them run longer without getting failures. We have more than a dozen 22 pistols, the semi autos we shoot suppressed most of the time, a half dozen of them.

The smartest thing you can do with either the revolvers or the pistols is to hone the chamber or cylinder to a mirror finish. I use Flex Hones, and can go several hundred rounds before I start getting failures. I run a 400 grit thru every gun when new, followed by a 800 grit and then use the 800 grit for periodic touch up. I used the 22s for training as a CCW instructor and that just makes sense.

Also, the smartest ammo you can use is Stingers, the nickel plated cases just keep the chambers clean longer and they are slick, so they chamber and eject better with less friction. For the CCW students who opted for a 22 for carry of backup, I encouraged then to NEVER use anything in those guns but Stingers. I think there are now other brands that use nickel cases, those should work as well.

I have a very old gun I call my canoe gun, one I can swim with. It is a Sterling, 22 cal. Tiny gun of entry level quality. I carried it as a backup as a police officer over 50 years ago. When I would go on canoe trips, I would put it in a zip lock in my back pocket, not much but with 2 mags of Stingers, it would be helpful if a gun was needed. Again, I polished the chamber to a mirror finish and only fire Stingers in it. Actually pretty accurate and runs 100%. I take it to the range every year or too, just for grins. If you take the time to keep any 22 with that mirror finish in the chamber, they will all work pretty well for a while. Just the nature of rimfires. We fool ourselves when we try to compare then to centerfires.


Just saying.

haywood said:

I put dummy rounds in and dry fire 2000 times. It makes a noticeable difference. I never had to change springs. Worked on all my J-Frames and worked very good on my 942 Taurus View attachment 765562

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I dryfire revolvers a lot and usually with no dummy rounds even in rimfires. It worked very well with S&W' 22lr's but a Taurus 22WMR would misfire often. I really don't think that there's such a thing as a reliable rimfire double action revolver trigger. I have been favorably impressed by my 32 Charter Arms Professional. I recently shot some cowboy action 110 grain 38 special loads that we're light recoiling. I often practice a two handed grip using both index fingers to pull the trigger. I prefer to shoot double action because I have lost gripping power due to an old hand injury.

I never shoot any revolver double action, only single action. I can not remember a S&W with a bad single action. I also like Ruger Single actions. I still like SA/DA semi auto's with a hammer so I can shoot them single action.

Law-dog said:

One exception is the Charter Arms, they have a much better pull than the Smith and Wessons.

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I was wondering when somebody would get around to Charter Arms. It may be heresy to say so, but my Pathfinder has an exceptionally smooth DA pull.