Which shoots better out of Single Six- 22LR or 22Mag ?

[kemper]

I own, shoot and cherish 3 different Ruger Single Six revolvers.
One old model and two new model revolvers.
I have the spare 22 mag cylinder for the old model and one of the new models, but frankly have never shot the revolvers with 22 mag cylinders
much over the years.

Hoping to hear from some of you that have.
Which one seems to shoot better based on your experience.
I carry a single six with me frequently before and during hunting season
and have always used the 22 LR cylinder, but think I am going to try the 22 mag cylinder and ammo this year.

Thanks in advance

 

[bmnloader]

Mine shot great with either. I carried the 22lr more but the mag also shot fine. Never missed much with either.

 

[tipoc]

Depends on the gun, the ammo and the shooter. Try yours and tell us.

tipoc

 

[Wil Terry]

BOTH.

 

[rule303]

Common sense says the .22 WMR should shoot better since it has the proper bullet diameter for the barrel. I haven't noticed a huge difference with mine. Some mag ammo shoots better than others, and some LR is better. If I want maximum accuracy, I'll shoot one of my autos.

 

[Nom de Forum]

Common sense says the .22 WMR should shoot better since it has the proper bullet diameter for the barrel. I haven't noticed a huge difference with mine. Some mag ammo shoots better than others, and some LR is better. If I want maximum accuracy, I'll shoot one of my autos.

The difference in bullet diameter is so small that the soft lead healed bullet design of the .22LR easily expands from firing to obturate the bore. With my Single Six I never noticed much of a difference. I think most people will notice more of a difference from brand to brand than between the most accurate .22mag and .22LR load.

 

[HankR]

I'm with bmnloader. In my case, I don't shoot well enough to notice any difference. Is anybody even sure that the bore out the convertible models any more?

 

[bikerdoc]

I use 22 mag for critters on my land. Thats about all I use that cylinder for.

Had a lot of fun trying to find the most accurate. Give it a try.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

The difference in bullet diameter is so small that the soft lead healed bullet design of the .22LR easily expands from firing to obturate the bore. With my Single Six I never noticed much of a difference. I think most people will notice more of a difference from brand to brand than between the most accurate .22mag and .22LR load.

Exactly right. The smaller .22 LR bullet slugs up to fill the rifling and there is no difference in accuracy between cartridges. Now, between BRANDS is a different story -- some brands (and lots within brands) will ourshoot others.

 

[cat_IT_guy]

Both shoot better than me. Not sure what it is about the Single Six, but I have to focus really hard to shoot it to what I even consider a decent level of competency (comparing to my buckmark.... longer lock time or different trigger maybe). Love the gun anyway, and the WMRs are sure fun on occasion when you want a little bit of a bigger bang without breaking the bank.

 

[Confederate]

If you want to squeeze the most out of your .22 rounds, check out Paco Kelly's famous ACU'RZR tools. If you find that the price of .22 WRMs is a bit too high, check out what Paco's tool can do to standard .22LR bullets. By just a tap...tap, you can increase the bullet size slightly and accuracy, not to mention stopping power.

I love my Ruger Single-Six pistol and wish I had more of an opportunity to shoot it. My second handgun was an RG chrome plated .22LR cowboy revolver. It was cheap and about as light as the toy gun I had as a kid, and though it was cheap and had fixed sights, when I sold it, I missed it horribly. Later in life, I couldn't stand it any longer and bought a stainless steel Single-Six with both cylinders. Wow...what a difference!



Europeans think we're crazy for carrying and using revolvers. And they think we're even crazier for using single-action revolvers. If they had any sense, they wouldn't have so spinelessly allowed their guns to be taken from them. The only handguns they're allowed to own are real guns that have been deactivated! And they pay as much for them as we pay for the working models.

 

[ThomasT]

I have read so many times how 22LR is undersized that I did what nobody else seems to be able to do. I went and measured 6 different 22 rounds and they all were over .224 in diameter. They all measured between .225 and .226 inch diameter. And I used a real micrometer and NOT a set of calipers to do it with. So you don't have to worry about them "bumping up" to fit your bore.

And no, you don't need Paco Kellys tool. The best thing you can do is get as many different kinds of 22 ammo you can lay your hands on and go do a shooting test. I did that once and was amazed at how much difference there was in accuracy from one gun shooting different types of ammo.

The only way you will know what shoots best out of YOUR gun is to go shoot it.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

Not sure what it is about the Single Six, but I have to focus really hard to shoot it to what I even consider a decent level of competency (comparing to my buckmsrk.

It's mostly lock time -- I have a hard time shooting single actions as well as double actions and automatics. For example, my Ruger Blackhawk in .45 Colt is more difficult to shoot well than my Colt New Service.

 

[Nom de Forum]

It's mostly lock time -- I have a hard time shooting single actions as well as double actions and automatics. For example, my Ruger Blackhawk in .45 Colt is more difficult to shoot well than my Colt New Service.

Ah yes, lock time. A subject recently discussed in a thread in regard to the differences between hammer guns and striker guns. I totally agree with Vern but would like to add it does not help keeping the sights aligned on target when you have the mass of a hammer slamming down, especially on a single action revolver.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

it does not help keeping the sights aligned on target when you have the mass of a hammer slamming down, especially on a single action revolver.

That is indeed a problem. I think shooting a single action is like shooting a flintlock -- what you do AFTER the sear releases and you're waiting for it to go off is critical to accuracy.

 

[RetiredUSNChief]

I gave a brother of mine a Ruger Single Six Conversion and a pile of all kinds of .22 ammo to try in it. In terms of accuracy between LR and WMR, we didn't notice any with what we were shooting.

By darned if we didn't have a lot of fun trying out all that ammo!

 

[Saleen322]

I did a lot of testing with the 22LR cylinder. I got a number of groups around 1.5" @ 50 yards with the right ammo. I can't help with 22 mag as I have shot very little of it.

 

[tipoc]

From RetiredUSNChief
[QUOTE
By darned if we didn't have a lot of fun trying out all that ammo!][/QUOTE]

Which is the point. The op can go shoot as much of both as he can, variety of ammo variety of conditions, then return and tell us which he shot best and liked best from his guns.

tipoc

 

[ojh]

Sorry about an OT, but...

Europeans think we're crazy for carrying and using revolvers. And they think we're even crazier for using single-action revolvers. If they had any sense, they wouldn't have so spinelessly allowed their guns to be taken from them. The only handguns they're allowed to own are real guns that have been deactivated! And they pay as much for them as we pay for the working models.

Last time I checked:
1) I am a European,
2) I own seven revolvers (three single actions) that I absolutely love to shoot, and numerous other fully operational firearms, including semiautomatic rifles, shotguns and handguns,
3) I do not, and will not own any sad lumps of destroyed machinery that once were nice firearms.

There's still some freedom left in distant corners of the old Europe!

 

[tipoc]

Just a note that shooting single action handguns in Europe is quite popular and has been for years.

Both Germany and Italy have had a long time love affair with the American west. In Germany there was for many years a German speaking cowboy hero of action novels called Hammerhand IIRC.

Links to SASS in Europe...

Germany
http://www.sassnet.com/clubs/Clubs_detail.php?Cowboy-Action-Shooting--Germany-604

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B48r5wP888g

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zX1HqQ1wmlw

France

http://www.sassnet.com/clubs/Clubs_list.php?state=European

and elsewhere...
http://sauerkrautcowboys.blogspot.com/2010/01/europe-links-to-cowboy-action-shooting.html

tipoc

 

[arspeukinen]

Sorry about an OT, but...



Last time I checked:
1) I am a European,
2) I own seven revolvers (three single actions) that I absolutely love to shoot, and numerous other fully operational firearms, including semiautomatic rifles, shotguns and handguns,
3) I do not, and will not own any sad lumps of destroyed machinery that once were nice firearms.

There's still some freedom left in distant corners of the old Europe!

I'm european, own 5 revolvers (two SA) from .22lr to .44mag.

 

[kemper]

I did a lot of testing with the 22LR cylinder. I got a number of groups around 1.5" @ 50 yards with the right ammo. I can't help with 22 mag as I have shot very little of it.

I'm curious. What 22 LR ammo shot best for you out of your single six ?

1.5 inch groups at 50 yards is excellent of a revolver...Any Revolver in my opinion

 

[kemper]

From RetiredUSNChief
[QUOTE
By darned if we didn't have a lot of fun trying out all that ammo!]

Which is the point. The op can go shoot as much of both as he can, variety of ammo variety of conditions, then return and tell us which he shot best and liked best from his guns.

tipoc[/QUOTE]
That is actually one of the things I plan on working on over the next couple of weeks as time becomes available. I already know which 22 LR ammo shoots best out of my single six revolvers, but will have to find out with the 22 mag, obviously 22 mag ammo is more expensive and harder to find these days, but I have 150 rounds of each of three different types of 22 mag ammo on hand that I shoot out of my 22 mag bolt action rifle
so I will start with those