Ruger SP101 convertible in .22/.22WMR

I have no experience with the SP101 convertible, but I do have a convertible NAA mini revolver. Just for laughs I shot it at 50' at a piece of notebook paper, 10 shots from each cylinder. With .22 WMR, it put 5 out of 10 shots on the paper. With .22 LR, it put zero out of 10 shots on the paper. Different gun -- may or may not be relevant to your situation.

I’ve never noticed a difference in accuracy with a Ruger Single Six with the conversion cylinder. I read years ago that Ruger tested the Single Sixes and couldn’t tell any difference in accuracy with the barrel being .001 larger to accommodate the magnum.

I wouldn’t personally be concerned about it one bit.

ETA - I didn’t know they were making the sp101 with a conversion cylinder. Can you link me to it, as I didn’t see it at their website? Thanks!

Having owned a few Single Six convertibles, I'v never noticed any difference in accuracy either. I was unaware of a .22 WMR SP-101, or convertible 22M/22LR, being available.

I'm another Single Six convertible experience shooter. In my limited amateur shooting results, my Single Six does shoot higher quality .22 WMR ammo better than lower quality .22LR ammo.

The point being, I haven't tried target grade .22LR ammo to see if it would do as well or better than the slightly higher grade .22 WMR ammo I tend to pick. Because when you get right down to it, the only .22 WMR ammo I've ever used that resembles .22LR bulk ammo is non-jacketed copper washed .22 WMR Winchester Dynapoint.

My Single Six experience matches the above posts. No obvious difference between the accuracy of the two cartridges.

toivo said:

I have no experience with the SP101 convertible, but I do have a convertible NAA mini revolver. Just for laughs I shot it at 50' at a piece of notebook paper, 10 shots from each cylinder. With .22 WMR, it put 5 out of 10 shots on the paper. With .22 LR, it put zero out of 10 shots on the paper. Different gun -- may or may not be relevant to your situation.

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If that NAA is anything like my NAA, the rifling in the barrel is essentially just for show. Meaning, the rifling is not very deep and is barely visible to the eye.

I'd be fine with the SP101 in .22 Magnum without the convertible cylinder. That heavy of a gun would tame what little the .22 wmr has and would really put some zip on a very underrated round.

My only .22 convertible is a Liberty model Single Six. I have not noticed any degradation of accuracy with the long rifle cylinder.

That said, the revolver, with any load seems to be far more accurate than I am. I’ve successfully hunted rabbits with it out to 30 or 40 yards. Which, for me anyway, is an impressive handgun shot.

My only experience was with a single six as well. I could keep a wheel in the bottom of a Dixie cup at 50ft and ran my share of rabbits to their last carrot with it. I always fed it cci and once I dialed in the sight for my eye that was that.

Another convertible Single Six owner here. I shoot 22LR in my Single Six as well or better than my other 22LR handguns.

I do not think I've run a full box of 22 Magnum through the gun in the almost 30 years that I have owned it. So I could not tell you if it shoots 22 Magnum more accurately or not.

These days, I think I know where the 22 Magnum cylinder is, but I'd still have to hunt a bit for it.

"I’ve never noticed a difference in accuracy with a Ruger Single Six with the conversion cylinder."

Same here. If there's any difference, I'm not a good enough shot for it to show.

I can't see where they're offering this as a convertible. For the single actions it makes sense, for double action, unless you like you taking the gun all the way down and separating the cylinder from the crane, it makes no sense. I have the SP101 .22 and it's a fun gun and I think in 22 WMR it would be just as great, but I don't see this as a new item and I highly doubt it ever will be.

Taurus does this with some of their doubles, why couldn't Ruger do the same?

I was actually getting excited for this, and now you all go and bust my bubble!

I'm still waiting for an LCRx three-inch in .327 too though, so...

Tinpig said:

I looked at one of these yesterday and it seemed like a very well-made and useful revolver. Reading around on the internet it was mentioned that although it comes with two different cylinders for the two different cartridge sizes, the bore has to be larger than it would be for .22LR to accommodate the larger diameter of the .22WMR projectile. It was suggested that this could affect accuracy when shooting .22LR. Any experience with this or thoughts about this issue?
Tinpig

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Sorry to have to correct you but the "projectile" portion of a .22 Mag is the same diameter and weight as the .22 LR "projectile". It is the BRASS that is longer and not bigger in diameter. I have a Ruger Single Six Convertible but it is SA where the SP101 is DA/SA.

You don't need to worry about barrel ID from the 22 to the 22 mag. I have measured several 22LR bullets and none have ever measured .223. They everyone have been between .224 and .226. As big or bigger than the .224 of the 22 mag round. And the difference for me has been what brand shot best in that gun. Not the bore diameter.

And I didn't know Ruger was making a double action convertible revolver. Cool

ETA - I didn’t know they were making the sp101 with a conversion cylinder. Can you link me to it, as I didn’t see it at their website? Thanks!

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SteadyD I have looked and can't find them for sale either. But its a neat idea that has my interest.

My Single Six shot .22 mags better.
The .22 lr wasn't horrible, but it was noticeably not as good (with a few diff types of ammo tested).
I dunno why it didn't shoot as well. Maybe bbl, maybe ammo, maybe cylinder.......maybe some combination?

Didn't bother me, I wanted to run it as a magnum.

If I wanted exceptional .22 rf accuracy, I grabbed my AMT Lightning pistol.

Wiki says case dia is different

,226 for long rifle
.242 for mag

Also remember the .22 lr is a heeled bullet, .22 mag isn't.

Yeah, I had the DA Taurus Tracker 22lr/22mag convertible also. The cylinder changes out quickly and cleverly. The DA trigger was stiff, but all in all it was a good revolver.

toivo said:

I have no experience with the SP101 convertible, but I do have a convertible NAA mini revolver. Just for laughs I shot it at 50' at a piece of notebook paper, 10 shots from each cylinder. With .22 WMR, it put 5 out of 10 shots on the paper. With .22 LR, it put zero out of 10 shots on the paper. Different gun -- may or may not be relevant to your situation.

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It's my subjective sense that the NAA mini-revolvers might be more susceptible to cylinder-switching and ammo selection than .22 revolvers in general. My Black Widow is more accurate with the .22 WMR cylinder than the .22 LR cylinder -- and my 3" Earl is the other way around.

Also, my Black Widow key-holes like crazy with .22 WMR Winchester Dynapoints, but prints straight and true with either HP or solid CCI Maxi-Mags...

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