Which .22 Revolver - SP101 or Single Six/Ten?

[22-rimfire]

I'd like to get a Single Ten, but have little interest in the Single Six with or without the two cylinders. I have a number of 22 handguns, but I don't really have a good single action 22 that I shoot. Yes, I have Colt SA 22's. Hence, for me, I would buy the Single Ten.

But I have S&W M17's, M18, Colts, and the Ruger LCR-22 and SR22P, not to mention a Mark II. In general, I prefer double action 22's. My preference probably has more to do with my experience than any significant dislike of single action 22 revolvers relative to loading and unloading. I can't imagine not liking a Single Ten if it works.

I have yet to see the new SP-101 in 22. But from the reviews here and elsewhere, they have a typical stiff Ruger trigger than could probably be improved with shooting or spring replacement. I tend to leave them stock however. So, kick me if you want to, but I would spend the extra money for a 3" S&W M63 or 4" M617. The 3" M63 is on my buy list, but like the new SP-101 in 22, I have yet to see one in the flesh. I may buy the new SP-101 eventually. I like to spread the joy around.

 

[tubeshooter]

I really like the SP101 in .22lr, but as of right now, they are just asking way too much for it

I guess it depends on your perspective... as well as how bad you want it.

It appears that if I were to find the SP around here, it would be about $535. This seems high, but Smith wants another $100 for their equivalent. You're going to pay about $350 for a Charter or Taurus. That's about it for brand-new and readily available .22 DA choices.

In a "normal" market, I would say $450 would be a good and fair price. But as we all know, this isn't a "normal" market right now. Prices are up across the board, especially for in-demand handguns. I bet 10 years ago nobody thought they'd have to come up with the better part of $400 for a Buckmark today - provided they could find one.

Ruger evidently is selling all they can make at the price. I just hope they don't go up.


In fairness, my only Smith purchase (another .22 revolver) had an issue. They resolved it, but I wanted to give Ruger a chance this time around. So I do have some bias at play. But I totally understand where you are coming from. I think about a Bearcat sometimes, but absolutely do not want to pay what they're charging as of today for a new one.


P.S. @weblance: I wanted DA for cheap practice and training for my centerfire revolvers. That's one thing you just can't do with a single action. Past that, your points are well-taken.

 

[weblance]

What's your evaluation of the accuracy of the three .22lrs?

They all seem equally accurate. They all will easilly connect with whatever target they are aimed at @25 yards. I have not formally tested them with anything other than my hands rested on the bench, but the Single Ten is very accurate on paper, putting all shots into a 6" circle at 25. It also isnt ammo sensitive, grouping well with all. I have checked the barrel, and it IS .224(22 magnum)like all Single Sixes are(for a very long time now). The Single Sixes seem a little sensitive on ammo choice, and the SP101, I havent had much chance to shoot. The LCR-22(I know you didnt ask about it) is surprisingly accurate for such a short barrel, and shoots to point of aim with its fixed sights.

P.S. @weblance: I wanted DA for cheap practice and training for my centerfire revolvers. That's one thing you just can't do with a single action. Past that, your points are well-taken.

Thats whats great about the LCRs. I have the LCR-22 and the KLCR(357). Its nice to shoot the 22 and know that the 357 is the same, controls and feel. NOT the same when the trigger breaks though!

 

[Confederate]

When I was in school, my first gun was a Ruger Security-Six. Then I found out I couldn't afford to shoot it. So I went back to the gun store and began poking around. Didn't have much money, so I settled on an RG 88 cowboy gun with nickel or chrome plating. Price...$68. Bought it and a few boxes of .22LR ammo.

Over the next several months I began to love that gun. It was very light, being mostly aluminum, but the barrel and the cylinder were steel, so it was just right. It had about the same heft as the toy gun I had as a kid. The shooting was great and I could take it and a few boxes of ammo up into the mountains and into the canyons where Nutnfancy now haunts. After shooting, it was easy to clean -- then it was time to tighten the brown plastic grips and into a gun rag.

After that, my next gun was a Ruger Standard Auto. But even with that, I still enjoyed shooting the RG. It was great to let other people shoot and still fun. Funner in many ways than the Ruger.

I ended up getting rid of the RG and have been sorry I did so ever since. It ate at me for years. When I couldn't stand it any more, I found a Ruger Single-Six in stainless and bought that. It's one fun gun to shoot and yeah, I got it with the magnum cylinder, which I recommend. Afraid you won't use it? Just get it and then buy some .22 magnum ammo. You'll find that you'll try it...and then you'll find that you like it. You may not shoot it a lot, but it gives you great versatility. Plus it turns your lowly .22LR (which isn't so lowly in my opinion) into a pretty decent defense piece! Some have said it's about equal to .38 Spc. ball ammo. I think it may be a bit more because no one knows where a .22 bullet will end up once it enters a human body. A .38 ball round also tends to over-penetrate, so energy can be lost.

I've told this story more than once here, so I'll make it brief when I say I knew a guy who was hit by a .22LR fired by a pistol just over a mile away. What seemed like a nasty wasp sting caused him to lose consciousness. And when he came to in the hospital, the doctors told him he came close to losing the farm. A magnum round I imagine is substantially worse. Just something to consider.

You can't go wrong with any of the guns mentioned, but there's only two .22s that I would go with if I was looking for fun shooting:

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[Hondo 60]

A single six with 2 cylinders gives you twice the fun!

 

[sixgunner455]

Single Six convertible, of your choices. I have one, and it is lots of fun. Accurate, fun shooter. I have a 4 5/8" blued, fixed sight one (looks like a Vaquero that got stuck in the dryer), and it is fun to plink at rocks and steel at ridiculous ranges with it. My 15yo daughter says it's her favorite gun. She has yet to start calling it hers, but I anticipate that is only a matter of time.

I also have a MKII Standard, like Confederate, except it's blued instead of stainless, like his. It was my first firearm, and is still very much a favorite of mine, and it is my wife's absolute favorite gun.

 

[mdauben]

I in general don't care for the looks of the Ruger DA revolvers. Purely a personal choice. On the other hand, I think their SA revolvers are sweet looking. I would probably chose the Single-Ten, as I don't see much need for the magum cylinder on the Single-Six.

 

[Orion8472]

Not planning on using .22mag was a reason why I chose the Ruger Ten as well. I'm getting the Ten so I can shoot cheaply and not wear out [further] my Ruger Mark II Government Target Model. Of course, IF the Single Ten is as accurate as my Mark II, I will be very pleased.

 

[BCRider]

From where I'm sitting I find that there's a world of difference in SA guns and DA guns. The grip shapes and how I hold each is totally different.

My SA guns all are shot one handed as that's how I shoot my center fire SA guns in CAS. After all Clint and John never used no wussy two handed holds in the movies.... Call it silly but that's how I enjoy shooting my SA guns.

The DA guns are all shot two handed. Again for the practice and for events such as the rimfire category in my club's local Speed Steel events.

I strongly suspect that the vast majority of the Magnum cylinders are only tried a time or two. Once the box of Magnum is spent the Magnum cylinders likely don't see the light of day any more. After all the whole point of rimfire is to get in some cheap shooting. And the .22WMR is anything but cheap.

All in all I'd say that a great combo would be a Single Six for that style of shooting and either the SP101 or the .22LCR.

In fact I really like the idea of the .22LCR. But sadly those guns are not imported to Canada due to the short barrel putting them into our Prohibited category. But in the US a Single Six or Single Ten paired with a .22LCR would be a sweet combination that would give you two widely different rimfire revolver experiences.