J Frame Revolver 22lr or 22 WMR Information Please

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Rhetorician

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Hello all:

I have been smitten with the thoughts of a J Frame snubbie 22 lr or 22 Magnum.

They seem really pricey and hard to find?

Can any of your "journeymen Smith hands" put me in the know with some good insights or advise please?

Please advise when possible. :D

sdg
rd
 
I have a 34 4'' nickel with Mustang grips and it’s a very nice handy gun to go afield with. I bought it in the late 70s and by now it’s had a lot of rounds put threw it.:)

Gun is small light/ enough that you can actually forget it's on your belt.

It’s not carried for CCW, but for a nice hike or jaunt in the woods and you just want something to be there for casual plinking. That and a box or 2 of ammo in your backpack will also not be noticed!

I have 3 other .22s (heavier/bigger) and this little Smith has gone walking with me many times.
 
I am not a J frame guy but I think now with the .22WMR ammo designed for short barrels it would be a good way to go. If you could find a gun with both cylinders that would be even better. The CCI .22WMR shotshells are good on snakes if that is a concern.
 
I picked up a .22LR 317 Lady Smith for my wife, and a .22 Magnum 351PD for myself a couple of months ago. Both are 1 7/8" barrel snubbies. Both are aluminum frames with steel inserts in the barrels, light as can be, and perfect pocket pistols. I carry mine as my EDC figuring that seven well-placed rounds of the hollow-point ammo designed for short barrels will take care of any self-defense situation I am likely to encounter. There is almost no recoil, so fast re-acquisition of the target is easy. My wife's pistol has even less recoil. We both like the exposed hammer feature allowing single action firing if desired. She is new to shooting, and I'm easing her into it with this little snub.

From what I have seen, $500 and up is what you're going to pay for most any of the .22 snubbies. Does seem high, but then again, these are well made precision tools.







 
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Look for an older M63 - they are out there and are simply great guns! IMHO a .22 Mag is NOT the way to go. Most of us just use a .22 for Plinking and the cost of 22 Mag ammo is way too high and hard to find. If you need more firepower than a .22LR just step up to a .38 Special. I know there are many who love the 22 Mag but I've never had any love loss for them. Just my personal opinion of course........
 
There are a few guns available on gunbroker. 22WMR ammo seems to be scarcer than the guns. Midway has most of it marked "Out of Stock, No Backorder".

Davidsons has a DAO 22lr M43C available.
 
I'm with chief38 above. I have one of the newer M-63s, 3" brl. It has the IL which for me is neither here nor there. I also have a 2" and 4" M-34. I originally got my M-34 2" as a practice piece since my then issue revolver was a 3" M-36. It got a lot of such use and helped my ability with the 36. Now the little J frame .22LRs get a lot of everyday use on my travels around my property.
 
Try a Google search for actual chronographed performance of .22WMR fired from shorter-barreled revolvers and compare that to the actual performance of .22LR from similar revolvers. After you review the results I doubt that you will want to spend the extra money on the magnum ammunition. There just isn't much difference with the shorter barrels.
 
Take your pick. Model 63 .22lr with the t-grip, Model 651 .22 mag with the targets. I have fired thousands of rounds in the 63. I have taught several family members with it. Probably my all time favorite S&W. I have only fired a few hundred rounds in the 651.
ImageUploadedByTapatalk1416850196.716213.jpg

With some Lobo and Safariland leather.
ImageUploadedByTapatalk1416850233.203986.jpg
 
J Frame Already

Rhetorician said:
Hello all:

I have been smitten with the thoughts of a J Frame snubbie 22 lr or 22 Magnum.

They seem really pricey and hard to find?

Can any of your "journeymen Smith hands" put me in the know with some good insights or advise please?

Please advise when possible. :D

sdg
rd
Click to expand...

Just a point of reference: I picked up a J Frame Model 360PD scandium framed 357 snubbie. I have come to really like my Smiths. I also have a pre-Model 10 K Frame from around 1925.

I picked this Model 360 scandium up from a pawn broker who let me have it for $355 or less than $400 otd. At that time they were going for $1015 on the Smith web page. I felt really blest to get it for that price. (But then again I feel really blest all the time!!!!!).

This is just FYI and I thought might add and aid to the discussion. Thanks for all the comebacks.

I really do think I might try to find a gently used 22lr, 8 shot, aluminum framed, J Frame.

One question though, how is the trigger pull in single action with these small Smiths? Mine is a bit tough and no where as smooth as my 357 Ruger LCR.

Thought? :D

rd
 
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Trigger Pull SA?

vigil617 said:
I picked up a .22LR 317 Lady Smith for my wife, and a .22 Magnum 351PD for myself a couple of months ago. Both are 1 7/8" barrel snubbies. Both are aluminum frames with steel inserts in the barrels, light as can be, and perfect pocket pistols. I carry mine as my EDC figuring that seven well-placed rounds of the hollow-point ammo designed for short barrels will take care of any self-defense situation I am likely to encounter. There is almost no recoil, so fast re-acquisition of the target is easy. My wife's pistol has even less recoil. We both like the exposed hammer feature allowing single action firing if desired. She is new to shooting, and I'm easing her into it with this little snub.

From what I have seen, $500 and up is what you're going to pay for most any of the .22 snubbies. Does seem high, but then again, these are well made precision tools.







Click to expand...

Hello friend:

How is the trigger pull of the 22 snubbie in the un-cocked position? I have found my little Model 360PD to be very strong compared to my Ruger LCR 357.

I am not sure I want to give $500 plus for a used gun that has an extremely hard trigger pull.

Opinions and feedback please.

Thanks. :D

rd
 
Rhetorician said:
One question though, how is the trigger pull in single action with these small Smiths? Mine is a bit tough and no where as smooth as my 357 Ruger LCR.
Click to expand...

There are spring kits available to lessen the pull. However, the rimfire J frames can't have their pulls reduced as much as the centerfire models. It takes a bit more force to ignite a rimfire round than a centerfire one.
 
Rhetorician said:
Hello friend:

How is the trigger pull of the 22 snubbie in the un-cocked position? I have found my little Model 360PD to be very strong compared to my Ruger LCR 357.

I am not sure I want to give $500 plus for a used gun that has an extremely hard trigger pull.

Opinions and feedback please.

Thanks. :D

rd
Click to expand...

Rhetorician, as cowart points out correctly, the trigger pull on the rimfire revolvers must necessarily be heavier, since this translates into a harder strike by the firing pin onto the rimfire cartridge to assure positive ignition.

I have been told that the "uncocked" (double action) pull on the .22 j-frames is 10 to 12 pounds. I don't have a way to measure it, or a frame (no pun intended) of reference; only the observation of a friend who is experienced in a number of revolvers including .32, .38 Special, and .357 magnum.

I can say, though, that my wife -- who is petite, has tiny hands, and is new to shooting -- can pull the trigger in double action on her 317 Lady Smith. She likes the single action better (though cocking it takes some maneuvering for her), but the trigger pull in double action isn't anything difficult for her.

Aside from the weight of the pull, the action itself is smooth. It is a well made revolver and I think you would find that even at $500 plus, it is a good value.
 
Rhetorician, just another word in response to some of the other posts above:

There are folks who aren't fans of the 22 magnum (22WMR) round, and that's fine. To each his own, and they do make some good points that you should consider when deciding whether to get into the .22 j-frame business.

Ammo expense: yes, 22 magnum costs more. Premium ammo like CCI, Speer, and Hornady in hollow-point will run from around 28 to 30 cents a round at best, to 40 to 45 cents a round for top-end, compared to 8 to 10 cents per round for 22LR hollow points. I personally don't mind paying a premium for my self-defense ammo no matter the caliber, and I can always practice mostly with the less expensive stuff (including 22 mag rifle ammo, which works for me as I bought a 22 mag bolt-action Savage to play with! :) )

Ammo availability: my local LGS stocks 22LR and 22WMR at decent prices, so it hasn't been an issue for me. I also have purchased from Gander Mountain, Cabela's, and several smaller outfits that one can easily find by using one of the ammo-supplier aggregator sites like ammoseek or gunbot, and sometimes you can find some "bargains" comparatively speaking.

Noise and muzzle blast: for me, these are a plus rather than a minus, in the short barrel 22 magnum. Yes, my night vision might be compromised by it, but I figure I'm only two to ten feet away from my target anyway in an SD situation, so that's not really an issue for me.

Performance: yes, the two rounds do have similar performance (except in the SD rounds, since nobody makes a 22LR SD round that will expand out of a short barrel). 'It is what it is."

Fun factor: To me, it's just more fun to shoot 22 magnum than 22 LR. Your mileage may vary. :)
 
I have the three revolvers pictured below, the one of the left is a .22 mag - Model 51, the center a .22lr -Model 34 and the right a .38 special- Model 36.

I use the .22 lr the most, but it's a tricky little devil to hit with beyond 10 to 15 yards. The triggers on the rimfires are the same as on all the centerfire j frames I have ... don't know why they are come so much heavier these days.

I would think that the Centennial J frame .22 that's being made these days would be a great revolver to pack around. If you're not expecting K22 accuracy.

 
I would like to find an old, pre-lock, 63 snubby. The 4" models are around, but snubs are rare.

I like the all steel versions.

Personally, I wouldn't buy a 22 WMR snub. I checked ballistics-by-the-inch and 22 mag doesn't do any better than 22 lr from a 2" barrel.

All the extra powder just contributes to muzzle flash and noise in a snub.
 
The coolest piece would be a S&W 650

with the optional .22 LR cylinder, though it is a 3" heavy barrel revolver. This would likely set you back $1,200.00+.
randon_gun_photos_022.JPG


A snubbie S&W 34 would be about half that. I have owned several. I had to put larger stocks on them and shoot standard velocity ammo in order to hit anything with them.

I bought this S&W 317 AirLite the first year it came out. Super light, which makes it a joy to carry but difficult to hit with. Killer trigger pull, but a spring kit will fix that quickly.
1312038altph1.jpg


The S&W 63 is a fine revolver, I prefer this to the K22 I used to own.
S_W_63.jpg
 
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