Question regarding convertable .22 LR and .22 Mag

[Iwantagun]

Since the .22 Mag is slightly bigger than the .22 LR it is obvious that you cannot fire a .22 mag down a .22 lr barrel. But when the .22 LR is fired down a .22 mag barrel, will it not be less accurate? Will it not be too loose in the barrel?

 

[NAA]

The "bullet" [ie projectile] is the same size. The cartridge [brass case holding the powder & priming components] is dimensionally larger in the .22 Mag vs the .22 lr. Therefore, for example you can't chamber & fire a .22 Mag from a rifle chambered for .22 lr as the .22 Mag ctg will not chamber in it.

However, there are handguns [ie. Ruger single six convertible revolver] that have dual .22 Mag & .22 lr cylinders. By switching cylinders allows you to fire/shoot .22 Mag or .22 lr from the same revolver depending on which cylinder you are using.


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NAA.

 

[chalkriver]

The handguns listed as convertibles have 2 cylinders. I have a H&R model 650 22LR/22wmr and you get two cylinders with it...they are easy to swap from one to the other.
You beat me NAA cuz I was adding a pic...lol

 

[tiriaq]

In theory, the bore dimensions of the WMR are slightly larger than those of the LR.
In practice, the convertible firearms work just fine.

This is nothing to do with WMR & LR chamber dimensions, of course. It is poor practice to fire a LR in a WMR chamber.

 

[lyman54]

Bore diameters are different. The bore of a Ruger Single Six convertible is .224 to allow for the larger projectile. A dedicated .22LR bore is .222. 2 thousands of an inch may not sound like a lot, but better accuracy is attained using the 22WMR. A 22WMR would make it down the .222 bore but pressures would be high.

 

[B]

Lyman is right. Bullet diameters are different and it does affect accuracy. IMO it is not really noticeable when you are shooting casually. Off a rest it would be a bit more apparent.

 

[BCRider]

This same topic came up on another forum about the SS in particular. I recall that they said the barrel is .223 as a compromise between the two. A check of the Ruger website and manual for the SS Convertable doesn't indicate the actual size at first glance.