22lr revolver to 22mag
What would need to be done to a 22lr six shot revolver to make it safe to shoot 22mag.
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sell yours and buy a 22 mag revolver. The bore size of the 22 mag is .224 vs 223 for a 22 lr, this would increase the pressure on the 22 lr gun and it may not be able to take it. 0 -
quote:Originally posted by SamsDad1911
What would need to be done to a 22lr six shot revolver to make it safe to shoot 22mag.
Depends on which gun you're talking about.
If your gun is built as a .22LR/.22 mag conversion gun (and many are), then all you'd need to do is remove the 22LR cylinder and drop in a FITTED .22 magnum cylinder.
If your gun is NOT built as a potentially convertable .22mag gun, then conversion may or may not be possible.
Its going to depend on the cylinder length and strength of your gun. IIRC, .22 magnums use .224 caliber bullets, but .22LRs use .223 bullets, so accuracy in this conversion may not be optimal.
Whether or not a conversion like this is cost effective is a whole other issue, and in general, its probably NOT going to be. You're probably going to be better off selling the .22LR gun and buying a .22magnum (or better, .22LR/.22magnum) that you like instead.
EDIT:
In case I didn't make this clear, basically all you need to do the conversion is come up with a suitable and fitted .22 magnum cylinder for your revolver. Whether or not this is possible depends on the gun in question.
In terms of bore diameter, I think that's really less of an issue then it appears. Nominal bullet diameter of .22LR and .22magnum bullets is nearly identical and in fact, I think you're likely to find greater than 0.001" variation in diameter between different manufacturer's bullets anyway. Perhaps you'd even see that variation within different bullets in ONE box of cheap ammo from the same manufacturer!
I know as a fact that there are greater than 0.001" differences in groove and land diameter between different manufacturers barrels.
So, I don't think an extra 1/1000 of an inch here one way or the other is going to present any real danger, especially at the relatively low pressures that these rimfire rounds operate at. It may affect accuracy, though that's going to depend on the match of the bore to the bullet as much as anything else.
Also, just to "tweak" things further, Ruger has been supposedly using the magnum sized barrel diameter on ALL its single-six revolvers (whether nominally convertable or not) since the early 1960s. This is probably also true of the other manufacturers that make convertable guns. (IE it probably doesn't make sense from a manufacturing standpoint to keep two very slightly different barrel types stocked and sorted). So if its a Ruger you're talking about, this is probably not an issue at all.
In terms of cost, its possible to find decent .22 magnum revolvers for as little as $200.
Even if you could find someone willing and able to convert your .22LR revolver's cylinder to .22 magnum, you're probably NOT going to be able to get it done for less than the difference in price between the two guns.
Further, converting a gun like this will completely void its warranty and likely destroy its resale value. After such a conversion, you may well end up with a gun that is worth LESS than the gun was worth when it was a .22LR!0 -
The difference in bore size may not seem much, but remember the LR uses a LEAD bullet that pretty much fits itself to the bore- 22 Mag is jacketed, does not squeeze as well. The presto changeo 2 cylinder revolvers are usually bored to the larger diameter. Bad idea to try if gun not bored for this. 0
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