Originally Posted by
Nick Riviezzo
In a pinch you can shoot .22 S,L,& LR in a .22 mag. cylinder. First,accuracy might not be "minute of beer can" it depends on the boring of the barrel. Second,it is a pain, but if you take empty .22 Mag. casings and cut the primer end off, de-burr and you can insert the .22 S,L,&LRs in the tube that is left. Put these "shimmed" .22 rounds in the .22 Mag chamber and fire them. They will not rupture and will function fine. Most times you can remove the .22 s from the mag"shims" and re-use them several times if you don't squeeze them out of round.
About 1967 or '68 I bought a Ruger Super Single Six Convertible that would not shoot anything but .22 Mags accurately. Shortly after I sold it, I read that Ruger had changed the bore spec, in the barrels and solved the problem. I don't know because I had bought a Colt SA .22/.22 Mag. that suited me for accuracy with both cylinders.These many years later I have a small collection of Colt New Frontiers with steel frames and adjustable sights and all shoot both cylinders with equal accuracy but, I have used the procedure above with a few guns just experimenting. A word of caution here is important though, NEVER try to shoot .22 Mags in a COLT barrel that is bored for .22 S, L, & LR s [I don't know about Rugers] Colt barrels that have ROUNDED muzzle crowning are bored for BOTH .22 Mag. and .22 S,L,& LR. If the muzzle crowning on a Colt is flat, it is bored for ONLY .22 S,L, & LR never use .22 Mags in these guns[Note:Any G- series Colts after SN. G200,000 were made with a crossbolt safety in the loading gate. All of these guns were made for .22 S,L, & LR, No guns in this range were produced for .22 Mag. and consequently have flat muzzles to the crown]
Although long and "windy" I hope this info is helpful to all and is written clearly enough so as not to confuse. Regards, Nick