22 mag for a hand gun. not much benefits

lone ranger

lone ranger

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I bought a Heritage 22LR pistol and you can buy the 22mag cylinder for it.

Kinda a neet idea being both LR & Magnum.
I was all set to purchase the extra cylider, so I researched it first.
Wow what a disapointment. You really dont gain much !

Seems you dont even get 100 FPS more.
The reason- 22 mag is desighned for a long Rifle barrel.
It doesnt have much advantage in a 4.5 barrel at all.
I watch several U Tube video's with people chrongraphing the speed. NOT impressive at all.
In some cases the difference was 58 fps.

Thats a lot of extra money for ammo for only marginal fps from the magnum round.

To slow burning powder for a short barrel.

your thoughts ?
 
I have chronographed at least half a dozen types of ammo, out of a 6.75" Heritage 9 shot revolver. All of it shows me .22WMR is significantly more powerful. Not sure what ammo you or the YouTube folks are shooting but I'm guessing that's it.
 
I was considering to re-chamber a 20" 22 Long Rifle barrel to 22 Magnum - as I recall, a 22 Mag bullet is .224" - almost always jacketed - and a 22 Long Rifle is .222" - almost always naked lead - so not same size bullet - I always wondered how that was done with revolvers with exchangeable cylinders - breech pressures for both rounds apparently identical - the rifled bore can only be optimized for one size or the other, I think? As you say, maybe makes no difference in short revolver barrel lengths?
 
In my experience with my Heritage revolver and other .22WMR guns like the PMR-30, the WMR seems to achieve similar velocities from a handgun as LR does from a rifle. That's comparing same or similar weights of course. It's a rough rule with exceptions but overall it's reasonably accurate.
 
J.Hancock said:
Projectile is heavier too, is it not? This would equate to higher foot pounds.
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I do not think that the weight thing is always true - I have .22 Long Rifle - CCI Mini-Mag, Win 555 and Rem Golden Bullet - are all 36 grain "plated". For 22 Mag, I have Federal Premium at 30 grain with Speer TNT Hollow Point. Also for 22 Mag, have CCI Maxi-Mag and Win Super - X with 40 grain jacketed hollow point. For 22 Long Rifle, I also have some Win Power Point left - 40 grain @ 1280 fps.

If foot pounds are important, "a" formula that I found on Internet is weight (grains) x velocity (Feet per second) x velocity (Feet per second), then all divided by 450,240 to get foot pounds. So, double the bullet weight gets double the foot pounds. But, double the velocity, and get 4 x the foot pounds.

For sure, same bullet weight driven faster, is going to have more foot pounds. But slightly lighter bullet driven slightly faster may or may not have similar, more or less foot pounds - pretty much have to run some numbers to know. And is all a bit of a game - there is numbers at muzzle, but likely want to know the numbers at the impact range - velocity will become very much hostage to the B.C. of that particular bullet, at range.
 
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Thats a lot of extra cash for the bang. LOL
In a rifle its a HUDGE difference.... but worth it.
Not so much in a short hand gun.

500 rounds 22 LR $38 bucks
Magnum $21 per 50 rounds YIKES , Might as well be shooting my 223 rifle.
Thats WAY to expesive nowadays for plinking.
 
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Now if your revolver had a 14 barrel....
you would see a HUDGE difference LOL guessing 1300fps
This is were it would pay to use 22mag.
long-222.jpg
 
My one and only experience with a target type handgun was a Ruger Mark 1 that I had in 1980's or 1990's - 6 5/8" or perhaps 6 7/8" heavy target barrel. Seemed to me that I could get smaller groups with it with standard velocity .22 Long Rifle, versus "high velocity" .22 Long Rifle. Not sure, at all, what would happen with higher velocity 22 Mag?
 
If you don't find the value in .22 WMR because you only shoot paper or whatever that is understandable. There is a very significant difference though. Energy anywhere from 50-80% higher with better bullets makes a big difference to people who will want to hunt or do more than plain target shooting at short ranges.
 
B said:
If you don't find the value in .22 WMR because you only shoot paper or whatever that is understandable. There is a very significant difference though. Energy anywhere from 50-80% higher with better bullets makes a big difference to people who will want to hunt or do more than plain target shooting at short ranges.
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I agree totaly with you.
But we cant use our Handguns for hunting.....so paper , and metal targets it is.
 
B said:
I have chronographed at least half a dozen types of ammo, out of a 6.75" Heritage 9 shot revolver. All of it shows me .22WMR is significantly more powerful. Not sure what ammo you or the YouTube folks are shooting but I'm guessing that's it.
Click to expand...

I would say there is a big difference 22LR to 22WMR. The mag round is expensive but pretty cool to shoot..
 
rustynut1 said:
I would say there is a big difference 22LR to 22WMR. The mag round is expensive but pretty cool to shoot..
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yes..a big difference in a rifle for sure.

there is NO doubt that a 22mag is superior over 22lr , hands down. But its a rifle round, not suited for a 4 inch barrel.
The gains in a rifle are outstanding were as when used in a pistol are Dissmal in comparrison.
 
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