.22 revolver help please

[bamabluesman]

I just started getting into handguns about a year ago. All of my experience has been with autoloaders. I'm looking for a .22 revolver for plinking and paper fun. I went to the closest store on my lunch hour today and looked at 2. One I didn't care for and one that I almost bought. Didn't care for the Ruger single six. Then looked at a Taurus (can't remember the model) 9 shot and really liked it. It felt really good in my hands but the DA trigger pull was horrible. I don't know squat about revolvers. My questions are. Can anything be done about the trigger pull? How accurate are rimfire revolvers? What other guns should I look at? Thanks in advance for any help you can give me.

 

[Bullet Bob]

I would look at Smith & Wesson model 17's and 617's (stainless version). Model 18's are the shorter (4") version of those. Plenty of people will tell you to buy the old ones, but I have versions from 1948 to the 1990's (10 shot aluminum cylinder) and they're all great. For a general purpose fun gun, I don't believe they can be beat.

You'll pay more than you would for a Taurus, but the quality will be enjoyed long after the money is forgotten.

 

[D&T]

Whichever revolver you get, I can rework the trigger for you if you are interested...

I'm with Bullet Bob when it comes to .22 revolvers. The S&W's will cost more but taken properly care of, they will last you the rest of your life....

 

[El Tejon]

Smith Model 17, aka the Henry Bowman special.

I own many Smith .22s (18, 63, etc.), but the 17 is my favorite.

However, the best trigger I have is on a Colt Diamondback of mine. But Diamondbacks are getting pricey these days, at least around here.

I do have a Colt Trooper .22 with a good trigger and I picked that up for $200.

Just have to hit the shows, estate sales and get lucky in trades.

 

[MrBorland]

All of my experience has been with autoloaders.

It felt really good in my hands but the DA trigger pull was horrible.

Horrible, as in a harder pull weight, or horrible as in gritty, inconsistent, creepy, etc? Going from an autoloader trigger to a DA revolver trigger can be quite a change, but believe it or not, you'll get used to the harder DA trigger pull of a revolver. Gritty, inconsistent, creepy, etc is another matter, though. I'd take hard but smooth any day, but light and gritty would have to be fixed. BTW, if you lighten the trigger pull too much, you may affect reliability (increased FTF).

Here are 2 great articles on DA revolver triggers:
http://www.grantcunningham.com/good_trigger.html
http://www.grantcunningham.com/blog_files/action_performance.html

 

[Tom C.]

I have a 6" 617-5 and a 4" 617-6. While the triggers were pretty good, they each needed a little TLC in smoothing the internals. Both shoot very accurately.

I wouldn't buy a Taurus.

 

[22-rimfire]

If you can afford it and want a new gun (current production), I would look no further than the Smith Model 617. You can spend some time and find an older model Smith 17 or (18), a Colt Trooper Mark III, Colt Diamondback, or a Colt Officers Model Match. Any of those will serve you very well in the quality 22 revolver arena for a long long time. These are all guns that have been made in the 1960's, 1970's, or 1980's. In many cases, older IS better.

One of the big differences between the cheaper guns and the more expensive revolvers is the trigger. In general, the smaller the revolver, the worse the trigger. For plinking and paper shooting, go with either a 4" or 6" barrel 22 revolver in a full size frame such as the Smith 617.

Ruger used to make the SP101 in 22. Lots of people like it. It has a heavy trigger, but if it is like other Rugers, it should smooth out some with shooting.

The best single action 22 revolver is the Ruger Single Six excluding the Freedom Arms revolver. The old Colts are good like the New Frontier or Peacemaker models. I would stay away from Taurus, but I would like to pick up one of their 22's to try out. I'm not expecting much but I do expect it to work. I own or have shot all the others mentioned above.

 

[MCgunner]

The Taurus .22s have heavy triggers. The ones I've tried were pretty rough, but I understand they smooth out over time. They're manageable if you know how to shoot DA, but they're not K.22 Masterpiece type trigger, which is the finest DA .22 revolver I've personally ever picked up. I have an old Rossi that has a pretty stiff DA, but I shoot it mostly SA being a kit gun and the SA trigger is very crisp and light. I do practice DA, though, figurin' if I can hit with it DA, I can hit with any of my carry guns, LOL. It's very accurate, too, just a horrible DA pull. Makes a danged good kit, field gun, though, stainless, quite nice. I think the Taurus would be the same type gun. If you want a smooth, light DA pull, go elsewhere, but I have very little care about the DA pull on a .22. It ain't like I'm going to carry it for defense, more likely will be shooting rabbits or something with it and that will be SA only. Personally, I'd just as soon have that Ruger Single Six or perhaps a Bearcat. DA shooting is pretty worthless to me in a .22, it's not a defense revolver no way no how. I have .38s and .357s, I ain't carrying a mouse caliber. But, if you're buying the gun primarily for cheap DA practice as an understudy to a bigger gun, I can understand the desire for a smooth DA trigger. By casting my own bullets from range scrap and reloading, heck, I can shoot my .38 cheaper, so that's not a concern of mine, either.

 

[NewShooter]

There is a spring kit available for the Taurus that will lighten the trigger pull.

 

[Mr. Designer]

S&W Model 617

 

[Vern Humphrey]

Can anything be done about the trigger pull?

Yes, indeed. You can do it yourself, or some of us here can help you.

The simplest approach is to detail strip the gun and clean it thoroughly. Some people like to use something like an abrasive tooth powder to polish the working parts -- simply lightely lube, apply tooth powder, reassemble and dry fire a thousand times or so. Then disassemble, clean thoroughly and reassemble.

You can also add a Wolff Gunsprings kit -- low cost and does a great job.

But you might ask yourself do you need a good double action pull on a .22? If you're using it as an understudy for your carry gun, sure. But other than that, you'll probably always shoot it single action.

How accurate are rimfire revolvers?

A good .22 revolver is as accurate as any handgun made.

 

[boxerdog]

Taurus 94

have a Taurus 94 99% fired 1 time for sale on the
for sale board.Has a decent trigger.