.22 magnum velocity in short barrels?

[waddy]

Has anyone had the opportunity to put one of the short barrels across a chronograph? I'm thinking of the North American Arms little revolvers chambered in .22 magnum, but more especially one of the Smith J Frames.

I would be really interested in knowing if the magnum velocity generated out of such short barrels is actually great enough to be significantly better than a standard .22LR.

I don't want to start a discussion over whether a .22 is or is not a self defense round. Sometimes (very seldom, but once in awhile) a very small revolver is the only thing that makes sense for me to carry. Much better than nothing! The rest of the time, which is pretty much all my waking hours, I carry either a full size 1911 or a 4 1/4" 1911, so a self defense caliber discussion is not relevant to my question.

Is there a significant difference in velocity between a .22LR and a .22 magnum out of one of the short barrels? Is there even enough velocity generated to allow one of the .22 magnum hollow points to mushroom? If anyone has had the opportunity to run this over a chronograph, I would really appreciate your input. Thanks.

Note: I also posted this on "The Firing Line" forum.

[cartisdm]

I would be curious to know this as well. My usual carry is also a 1911 (Kimber Pro) but it's not always convenient. A .22 wouldn't be ideal but better than nothing. I've seen plentt of deer taken down with a .22 magnum (head shots...)

[santa]

First I carry a NAA 22 Magnum mini-revolver that has a 22LR conversion cylinder. Get the 1 5/8 inch barrel vs the 1 1/8 inch barrel. I recently saw a chart of the ballistics comparison between the MAG and the LR. I will try to find it today, but I think(not sure) the MAG had about 115foot pounds muzzle energy and the LR was 90. You can also fire snake-shot in either 22MAG or 22LR. There is a NAA discussion board forum web site and if you just google 'North American Arms discussion board' Im sure you will find it. One of those people WILL help as they are good people. The gun very reliable,safe, has a lifetime warranty and the NAA customer service is very good. I have owned a NAA for 35 years would buy another in a heartbeat. I have fired thousands of rounds and not had any trouble. Be sure to wear hearing protection as these little guns are loud. Believe it or not there is a suprising amount of accuracy with one of these small guns. Im sure someone will try to tell you that you should forget the 22 and buy something bigger. Thats baloney. Any gun is better than no gun. Many(not all) self defence situations are at close range(about 20 feet). There are times that deep concealment is prefereable and the NAA is a good pocket gun. There is quite a number of holsters for any way you want to carry, a belt buckle,in the waistband,belt,pocket,wallet,even a set of suspenders with a holster sewn in. Remember the 22 that you have with you means more than the 45 you left at home. By the way Charlton Heston owned one. Senator Orrin Hatch owns some as well. Feel free to send me a private message if you wish.

[waddy]

Many thanks Santa! I have owned one of the little pistols for many years, only in .22LR caliber. I bought it back when they were still Freedom Arms in Wyoming. It is amazingly accurate, once you figure out how to hold it. I didn't realize NAA had a forum (Duh, EVERYBODY has a forum now!), thanks for the heads-up. In retrospect, for the type of deep concealment and special conditions I'm talking about, the little NAA guys in .22 magnum would be the most desireable, especially with the significant difference in muzzle energy. If I have room enough to carry a Smith J Frame in the first place, it just as well be in a larger caliber to begin with.

[Speedbump]

"First I carry a NAA 22 Magnum mini-revolver that has a 22LR conversion cylinder."

I do too. It's the only one I can carry concealed the way I dress her in Florida. I am happy to hear about the increased muzzle velocity in the Magnum round. At 20' I can put all 5 rounds into a 6" circle. I feel this is (as has been said before) much better than the .45 I left home.

One thing I did discover is that the bullet lopes. Some if not most holes in the paper are not round but oblong. I suppose that could start a brand new topic of rather loping is beneficial or harmful.

One more thing that helped me was the plastic fold up grip that NAA offers. It allows the gun to fold up into the handle covering the trigger and making it more pocket friendly.

[Speedbump]

"First I carry a NAA 22 Magnum mini-revolver that has a 22LR conversion cylinder."

I do too. It's the only one I can carry concealed the way I dress here in Florida. I am happy to hear about the increased muzzle velocity in the Magnum round. At 20' I can put all 5 rounds into a 6" circle. I feel this is (as has been said before) much better than the .45 I left home.

One thing I did discover is that the bullet lopes. Some if not most holes in the paper are not round but oblong. I suppose that could start a brand new topic of rather loping is beneficial or harmful.

One more thing that helped me was the plastic fold up grip that NAA offers. It allows the gun to fold up into the handle covering the trigger and making it more pocket friendly.

[Almost_Blameless]

North American Arms has all this ammo info for most USA available 22lr and 22mag

North American Arms Ballistics - Mini Master Long Rifle ~ 4inch BBL 22lr

North American Arms Ballistics - Mini Master Magnum ~ 4inch BBL 22mag
-------------------------------------------------------------
North American Arms Ballistics - Black Widow Magnum ~ 2inch BBL 22mag

North American Arms Ballistics - Black Widow Long Rifle ~ 2inch BBL 22lr
-------------------------------------------------------------
North American Arms Ballistics - Mini Master Magnum 1inch PUG 22mag
-------------------------------------------------------------

http://www.northamericanarms.com/ball_lr18 1 1/8inBBL 22lr

http://www.northamericanarms.com/ball_mag18 1 1/8inBBL 22mag
-------------------------------------------------------------

http://www.northamericanarms.com/ball_lr58 1 5/8 22lr

http://www.northamericanarms.com/ball_mag58 1 5/8inBBL 22mag
-------------------------------------------------------------

happy shootin'

[hotti]

2" 22lr's have 60-70 ft lbs of power, depending upon the load. 22 mag derringer has 1100 fps at the muzzle, 40 gr loads, for 110 ft lbs. A 22lr RIFLE has 120 ft lbs, you know. The .22 mag RIFLE has 350 ft lbs, 22lr rifle to the skull drops deer, to 25 yds or so. It's used to drop beeves every day, in private slaughtering conditions. The revolvers typically lose about 50 fps from their flashgaps, but different barrels have 50 fps or so diff, too. So the flashgap means little or nothing. since a DA 22 revolver is the same size as a 38 snub, why have the rimfire for defense? Since the Keltec 380 has a locked breech, it can be handloaded to have over 2x the power of the 22 mag revolvers (2") and it has about 5x as fast a repeat hit as the Mini-revovlers, because they are SA,lack a trigger guard, have such tiny hammer spurs and butts, they are a joke for defensive use, really.j The Kt 380 is small and lw enough to use as a necklace pendant or in a wrist holster, so why risk your life to something even more feeble, and lots slower for repeat hits, which costs just as much, basically?