I’m looking for a .22 double/single action revolver for a “easy on the wallet” practice gun. Who likes what and why?
Smith and Wesson 617.
Good weight, nice sight radius, superb quality.
Mike
Taurus Model 94. Lightweight with older style pencil barrel, good price, stainless construction and 9 shot cylinder.
Ruger or S&W revolvers are hard to beat. I like the .22 single action. Mine was made in 1957 and has never missed a beat.
Taurus revolvers i stay away from personally. I’ve seen TWO different revolvers that the cylinder would occasionally bind up and not turn when you pulled the trigger. One was a .22 revolver the other was a .44 spl. The .22 was sent back for repair and came back with the same problem.
Dan Wesson.
Exceptional fit and finish.
You can run anywhere from a 2" to 15" barrel, and you can swap out the entire grip with the twist of a bolt.
My 2 cents:
Speaking personally, I absolutely adore rimfire revolvers. There is probably no better tool on earth for learning to shoot than a good double-action rimfire revolver.
Which one to buy? That depends on your intended use.
If you want a good all-purpose rimfire revolver that you can hunt squirrels with one day and do serious marksmanship training with the next, then I would suggest something like a S&W model 17 or model 18. I’m particularly fond of the model 18 because it was designed to be a trainer gun for police departments that issued K frame S&W revolvers. If you look around on the auction sites you can find one at a reasonable price sometimes. The model 17 is also superb, but it usually commands a bit of a premium…the way a S&W model 27 commands a premium over a S&W model 28. S&W recently re-introduced the model 17 and 18…and although they are expensive, if you want a brand new gun that will let you shoot unlimited amounts of rimfire ammo and that will last past your grandchildren’s lifetime, it would be a good choice.
I would also encourage you to look at the S&W “kit” guns. They are built on a J frame and are generally compact and a good bit lighter than the K frame guns. That makes them easier to pack out in the woods. With the right grip installed they are almost as shootable as their larger brethren, but the triggers usually aren’t as good in DA mode. You can find them in barrel lengths that run the gamut from 1 7/8" up to 5 or more inches.
My most recent rimfire purchase was a S&W 317 with the 1.8" barrel and the traditional S&W J frame sights. I bought the gun primarily because I wanted something that mimicked the setup of my S&W 442 revolver for maximum training benefit. It’s harder to shoot than the bigger revolvers because the gun weighs almost nothing and has a heavy DA trigger, but it’s still a pretty fun plinker IMO.
There is a lot of reverence in rimfire land for the Colt Diamondback in .22LR, and rightly so. It looks exactly like a Python but it’s chambered in .22LR. It’s suitable for practically any task, be it target shooting, training, hunting, or just general plinking merriment. They also command a significant premium in the market. It’s nothing for a rimfire 60’s Colt Diamondback to go for 900 or more dollars.
The best advice I can give you is to look at the purchase of a rimfire revolver as an investment. You are buying a handgun that has the potential to give you countless hours of fun…a handgun you can almost see your grandkids shooting at soda cans with. The kind of gun that can be the center of treasured memories that will stay with them all their lives.
Old blued S&W rimfire revolvers would be my first preference…but if I saw a Diamondback or Trooper in .22LR at a reasonable price I’d jump all over it. Barring that I’d look for an older kit-gun from S&W. Barring that, I’d consider biting the bullet on a new production model 18 or 17 from S&W. Barring that I’d consider something like the 617. I’d only look at older Taurus .22 revolvers.
Single action .22 revolvers don’t do much for me since I don’t really have a single action revolver fetish. Ruger’s Single Six is always a good option if you want to go that route, and Colt made some nice single action revolvers in .22 years ago. Avoid anything made by Heritage, as those guns are excrement.
Excellent recommendation on the Model 18, I need to track one down. For a J frame I’d recommend the Model 63. Hard to find on the used market but worth the look. Mine is a butchered 4 inch that someone had cut down to 2.5 inches or so but is a very accurate shooter.
Model 18 S&W, preferably an older one. Not cheap, but the best there is or was.
I’ve had mine since 1982 and like it more every day. Not for sale, ever.
I appreciate the feedback but I’m wanting just a little bit more.
I suppose my principal reason for purchasing a .22 revolver is to get some cheap range time shooting double action as I frequently carry either a Ruger LCR or SP101. I’ve been looking closer at the S&W Model 317 Kit Gun and Model 63. They seem pretty similar to me. Am I missing something in the comparison of these two models (other than weight–aluminum vs. stainless) and any significant reasons one would be preferable over the other as a training gun?
I’d rather have a pre-lock 63 than any of the 317 models currently offered…if I could find one at a reasonable price. They are seriously neat revolvers. It’s worth mentioning that Ruger did make an SP101 in .22 LR. Whether they still offer it or not I can’t say. If you have Rivers for carry and you want to practice with a similar .22 for carry…that might be your ticket.