A friend just found a 617 with a spare .22 Mag cylinder timed to the gun. He's wondering whether this was a standard S&W offering at one time or whether a previous owner bought the spare cyl. & had it timed to the gun? Thanks!

H-F Hank
NRA Bene. Life
USAF Vet

The bore is smaller on a 22LR rifle barreled gun than on a 22 magnum gun, I believe .222 vs .224, so the factory would never ship a aux 22 magnum cylinder with a 22LR gun. I have a (special order) 6" Model 648 in 22 magnum that has a 22LR aux cylinder that came from the factory that way. Your guess would be right that someone bought/found extra 22 magnum cylinder and had it fitted to the gun outside the factory. Hope that helps.

I'm not real up on this stuff, but for me I would hope that it is a stainless cylinder and not one of the alloy cylinders. It would seem to me you could get some extra pressures built up forcing .224 bullets into a .222 bored barrel. Any expert thinking here?

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Dick

Don't all .22 rimfires use the same diameter bullet (.224)?

Ruger has shipped Single Six revolvers for years with two cylinders. S&W also offered their Model 48 (.22 WMR), with a second .22LR cylinder. You could also get the Colt Trooper MkIII with two cylinders, although this option was never catalogued. One of the fellows at our club has one.

The difference is in the length and shape of the casing. The .22 Magnum uses a tapered case, and the .22 LR is a straight-walled case.

rimfire diameter is .222. most guns with both cylinders will have the larger .224 diameter for the 22 magnum and may not shoot all that well with 22 lr. some will,but a dedicated 22 lr will generally outshoot the combo guns.

Yes. At least all the ones I've measured, within a few ten thousnds.

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