sp101 22 magnum

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chet15

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Swamper said:
I am not picky. I would even accept a "lowly" six shooter SP101 with adjustable sights, half shroud, chambered in 22 magnum. I think they would also be well advised to bring one out in a 5.5 or 6 inch barrel version as well. The older I get, the more I am thinking that the heavy hitters I embraced in my youth will be less seen on my dance card. Much can be done with the 22LR and the 22 magnum.

Swamper

Maybe Ruger had an engineering reason for not bringing the SP out in .22 Mag. Just heard 2nd hand who got the info from an employee that the reason the Bearcat .22 LR/.22 Mag. convertible was dropped (besides the nin-com-poop who likes to quick draw and stretch the small parts of a Bearcat) is that shooting the .22 mag. was found to stretch the frame. The SP is around the same size as the Bearcat. Something to think about.
Chet15
 

Cholo

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chet15 said:
...is that shooting the .22 mag. was found to stretch the frame.
I'm not doubting Ruger in that I'm sure they'd love to sell a boatload of SP101 22 Magnums. What I do fund surprising is that Ruger over-engineers their DA revolvers, SA not relevant to the thread. The 22 magnum has a SAAMI pressure of roughly 23k and the 32 magnum about 21k. 2k more pressure can stretch the frame?
 

NikA

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Aren't we ignoring that the SP-101 frame is regularly used for .357 magnum at 35ksi and .327 magnum at 45ksi? I don't see any way it would have an issue with .22 magnum.

That said, .22 magnum revolvers are something of a novelty to me, and I'm not sure they would sell enough to justify the engineering cost.
 

diyj98

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TacoFrank said:
I wonder if an old six shot SP 101 .22 cylinder could be bored out for the magnum round ? Don't see why not?
TacoFrank

Yes, it could. It's been done with various revolvers for years. Although I'm sure there is a slight pressure increase, the 22WMR bullets go through the 22LR diameter bores just fine. Several places do the conversion on the Bearcats.
 

Cholo

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diyj98 said:
Yes, it could. It's been done with various revolvers for years. Although I'm sure there is a slight pressure increase, the 22WMR bullets go through the 22LR diameter bores just fine. Several places do the conversion on the Bearcats.
What guns would those be that have a .222 bore that also shoot 22 magnums? None that I know of. The newer Bearcats have a .224 bore.
 

diyj98

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Cholo said:
diyj98 said:
Yes, it could. It's been done with various revolvers for years. Although I'm sure there is a slight pressure increase, the 22WMR bullets go through the 22LR diameter bores just fine. Several places do the conversion on the Bearcats.
What guns would those be that have a .222 bore that also shoot 22 magnums? None that I know of. The newer Bearcats have a .224 bore.

I know of people fitting magnum cylinders to various S&W revolvers like the 63 and others. Google will show you a few articles about various gunsmiths doing the work. I've even read of rifles being rechambered. I'm not promoting the change, I'm just stating that it can and has been done.
 

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