I was wondering if you can shoot 22 long rifle out of a 22 mag rifle. I'm not sure if firing the shorter casing would damage the chamber or not. I tried cycling the rounds and it went fine, but don't want to damage the gun. I love shooting it but the cost of mag rounds sucks. Any advice would be nice.
I've shot .22 LR out of a magnum,and so have a lot of other folks,but every owner's manual you find will tell you not to.For good reason,I imagine. ETA That was then,I don't do that anymore.
You can, but shouldn't. The case doesn't fill the chamber, and lr is just about guaranteed to split, with the possibility of gas cutting the chamber. Also, the non filled chamber will permit gas to escape backwards and possibly not get the bullet out of the barrel with the obvious problem. I have NOT seen this, it just makes me nervous thinking about it.
The issue is that the 22LR, 22L, and 22S are all the same chamber diameter, where the 22Mag has slightly larger chamber diameter. Hot Gasses coming back around the cartridge case, will start to erode the chamber, and eventually ruin the weapon. Not a good practice and NEVER a Good Policy, if you have children round, as they may think it is then OK, to shoot Non-Designated Ammo from firearms. Lots of folks do STUPID Stuff, that doesn't make it RIGHT, or SAFE..... ..... YMMV....
Yesm but.... Fellow here i Anchorage has chamber adapters, 22LR in a 22WMR, 7.62x39 in a 308 or 30-06 and so on. Nice guy , picked up some adapters at his place in South Anchorage, it's a part time job, so many be a bit slow to answer.
The 22rf (.226" diameter) is noticeably loose in the 22 Mag (.242" diameter) cylinder; so loose they rattle. .242 - .226 = .016. The rim thickness of the 22 Mag is .05" and the 22 RF is 0.043; to add to it the rim diameter is .294 for the 22 Mag and .278 for the 22 RF. Saying it is not a good thing to do is putting it mildly.
DKR, Any link for the chamber adapters? Have seen them to use 22LR in many diff .223/.224 caliber guns, but never seen the 22LR from a 22WMR. Interested
Thanks for the good info everyone. DKR I would also be interested in the chamber adapter if you have the info,
.22 mag also has a slightly larger bore diameter which accounts for the lesser performance in the convertible revolvers. I wouldn't do it. In emergencies maybe.
My .22WMR revolver is the old Tanfoglio TA-76, a direct ancestor of today's Heritage Roughrider. Mine has the barrel marked ".22LR" while carrying a .22WMR cylinder, so I suspect a prior owner lost the .22LR cylinder and swapped in the .22WMR cylindr, as it also has a much better finish than the rest of the gun. I added the Colt M1911 rear sight and Marlin Model 60 rifle front sight as it was shooting a couple feet high at 25 yards - now it shoots dead on at 25 yards. Performance of this little "Il Cheapo" zamac-framed gun has always been flawless! I have shot .22LR in it, but as stated above, the cases do balloon out - not recommended! I actually use it far more often shooting the primer-only Aguila Colibri loads, for combatting our whopping HUGE Huntsman Spiders that sometimes invade the house. Eight kills for this little gun so far! The Colibri will not penetrate sheetrock, but does a satisfying job on the big arachnids. Doesn't alert the neighbors either. I paid $25 for this revolver several years ago, when a guy was selling his Grandad's guns to help pay the old boy's funeral. I later found the cheesy studded holster at a gunshow, and thought it the perfect accessory to add to the cheesy 'cap gun' look of the chromed revolver!
The 22 dates to 1961 sn range: 171403 to 187367; the 357 dates to 1969 sn: 30-00001-30-24975. Both were purchased new back in the day. The 22/22Mag works great on snakes and it is a "fun" gun. I don't remember why the .357 was purchased other than a bud and I were shooting paper with 357, 41 and 44. Revolvers sort of faded when I bought a TC Contender a few years later. All TCs are accurate and depending on caliber, they have a decent set of legs.
i am pretty sure the projectiles have the same OD. Cases are another matter. 22LR the case is truncated onto the bullet. Heel of the projectile is of lesser diameter than the bearing surfaces. 22WMR the case is seated outside the heel of the bullet (not rebated bullet heel) so the case is a few thousandths bigger in OD than the 22LR case.
To be exact, the bullet diameter for a .22 LR is .222 and a .22WMR is .224. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.22_Winchester_Magnum_Rimfire http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.22_Long_Rifle That difference in bullet diameter makes a difference depending on what you are doing. For me, it was squirrel hunting. I ditched the 2x Ruger convertibles I had and purchased a S&W Model 63.... never looked back. A dedicated .22LR pistol will always shoot better than an over-bored .22WMR convertible. What the convertibles do have is versatility. Fine for plinking or fun, but was unacceptable for squirrel hunting... the hit probability wasn't there. I advise anyone contemplating a .22 revolver- if you are going to primarily shoot LR, get a LR dedicated gun.
Al, my experience has been different. I have superb accuracy from my Ruger Single Six convertible with any brand of lr, and garbage from the WMR. I can't explain it at all.
