Accuracy out of your .22-.22 mag convertible guns

[Jebus35745]

Had a discussion with a gun smith today abt replacing a .22 long rifle bulged bbl with a .22 mag bbl on a K-22. He said the accuracy would be minimal because of the bigger bore in the mag bbl using long rifle ammo in it.

I''m sure a lot of you have a gun with both cylinders, do they both shoot accurate when you change the cylinder? I would assume the bbl would be more a .22 mag bbl because of the bigger diameter of the .22 mag bullet. Isn't the difference in diameter only couple thousands? How do your guns shoot? Larry

 

[BearBio]

No==the 22 mag tends to be less accurate in mine. In theory, it should be more accurate but in mine (all Rugers and one Colt) the 22 LR barrel was much more accurate. None were "barn burners" but the 22 LR had the decided edge. Note the Colt was the most inaccurate of the 4 I've had (shortest barrel=that might have been a factor)

 

[Fishinfool]

Same experience as Bear Bio. My 3 screw Single Six Convertible was notably more accurate with regular .22's than magnums.

Larry

 

[Jessie]

I guess I'm naive, but I never knew that the .22 mag and .22lr were different diameters.
Learn something new every day!
Additionally, I've found that the standard velocity
.22lr was more accurate than the high speed loads.

I just figured that it carried over to the .22mag rounds being higher velocity, thus not as accurate.

 

[Mike in Reedley]

I've heard that Ruger compromised on barrel diameter by splitting the difference between the L.R. and the magnum bore diameter. L.R. ammo would be a little under and magnum ammo would be a little over diameter. I believe S&W makes their barrels to correct diameter to the cartridge, so a magnum barrel on a Long Rifle gun would be oversized. Good luck.

 

[silentflyer]

A friend of mine has a Ruger .22/22 mag with a 10" "Buntline" barrel which shoots either round very well, but it's the only one I have ever shot that does the trick with both rounds. Usually one or the other does better.
My buddy won't sell me his, I have ask him and he just smiles and says "no way"..

 

[Big Cholla]

I have been installing a second cylinder to M 617s which come with S&Ws barrel sized for 22 LR. The second cylinder is then reamed to 22 MRF (WMR). I have been very pleased with the resulting accuracy of the 22 MRF thru the slightly smaller diameter barrel. Several others on this forum have had the same experience. On the other hand, I fitted a 22 LR cylinder to my M 48 22 MRF which of course was equipped with the larger bore diameter barrel and found the resulting accuracy was disappointing. It is not real bad, but it certainly is not real good.

I think your gunsmith/pistolsmith knows what he is talking about.

I also of late have been reloading for my M 53 22 Rem. Jet using Sierra Varminter 40 gr. .223" bullets originally designed for the 22 Hornet. I expected as good of accuracy as the original .222" Jet bullets and was happy to find that at certain velocities the accuracy of the larger bullet thru the smaller dia. barrel is better.

One thousandth of an inch smaller in overall bore diameter is not much and seems to very often work for better accuracy results. ........

 

[BB57]

I can only speak to the Ruger Single Six convertible, which probably won't generalize to a K-22.

But oddly, my experience has been different than the folks above. I've found that .22 WMR is more accurate in my convertible than .22 LR. The difference is most noticeable with standard velocity ammo. High velocity .22LR is more accurate, than standard velocity .22 LR and I assumed this had to do with the higher pressure/velocity load obturating better than the lower pressure standard velocity round.

I suspect it comes down to minor differences in chamber, throat and forcing cone as well as bore dimensions.