.22 Mag Cylinder Swap to different Ruger Single Six?

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Lastmohecken
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.22 Mag Cylinder Swap to different Ruger Single Six?

Post by Lastmohecken »

I have a blued Ruger Single Six, which I bought used without a Magnum cylinder. It doesn't shoot that great with the .22 long rifle cylinder. I mean it's ok but not outstanding, but I would like to have a throw around .22 mag Ruger and I don't want to use one of my other Ruger single sixes for this. I never have used the mag cylinders on my other Rugers, but I though I would try one of my (new) not used Ruger Stainless .22 mag cylinders in this blued single six and see how it shot.

I didn't know if it would even fit, but it went in place perfectly no play, rolls around perfectly, locks up perfectly, except I have not actually ran anything down the barrel to check cylinder alignment, but as best I can tell it looks good. Cylinder gap with the mag cylinder is probably very slightly tighter then the .22 rimfire cylinder, but is barely perceptible. So, bottom line is I think it's close enough.

I am sure all Ruger .22 cylinders are not interchangeable, but I have a feeling many are, I mean how much hand fitting do they really do? Has anyone done that on here?
I am thinking of going ahead and trying it. Maybe shooting it for accuracy and testing it against some notebook paper or something to determine if it's shaving or spitting lead.

What do you think?
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piller
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Re: .22 Mag Cylinder Swap to different Ruger Single Six?

Post by piller »

It is not my area, so this is just a guess. They are mass produced, so the difference just cannot be much. How much would need to be explained by someone who knows more than I do.
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Lastmohecken
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Re: .22 Mag Cylinder Swap to different Ruger Single Six?

Post by Lastmohecken »

piller wrote: Sun Nov 22, 2020 12:30 am It is not my area, so this is just a guess. They are mass produced, so the difference just cannot be much. How much would need to be explained by someone who knows more than I do.
Yep, that's what I was thinking too. And I have had enough lemons from not only Ruger but other brands too, to know that quality control is not that great at times anyway.

I went ahead and shot a couple of cylinders full out of it off of the back porch tonight, and it worked great, no shaving or spitting lead or anything. That doesn't mean it's accurate, but it shoots just fine. I thought maybe it was shooting high, but I couldn't hardly see the sights in the available light. I will have to put it on paper maybe tomorrow, and see how it does.
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Re: .22 Mag Cylinder Swap to different Ruger Single Six?

Post by piller »

Sounds as if it is going to work.
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Rockrat
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Re: .22 Mag Cylinder Swap to different Ruger Single Six?

Post by Rockrat »

Hope it works out for you. I bought a SS6 with only a mag cylinder and bought a 22lr. cylinder. So far so good, as it seems to work just fine. Most of the cylinders I have bought have worked out well, all except a 9mm cylinder that was too long. Picked up a factory convertible gun, so sold the 357. Worked out well.
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Re: .22 Mag Cylinder Swap to different Ruger Single Six?

Post by elmo123 »

I have a SS with both cylinders and recently bought a Single Ten in long rifle and tried the magnum cylinder in the ST and it works great. I tried the ST cylinder in the SS and it wouldn't index properly.
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Re: .22 Mag Cylinder Swap to different Ruger Single Six?

Post by Larkbill »

If you ask Ruger this is something you should never do. But apparently people do it all the time with mostly good results. My SS came with a magnum cylinder that had a different serial number engraved on it, if Ruger fits it they put the number of the gun on.

No history on the gun but it's one of the most accurate revolvers I've ever owned. I had the 5 1/2" barrel replaced with a 9 1/2" for silhouette shooting ($37.50 from Ruger in the mid 80's) and it was good, but not as good as the 5 1/2 so I recently had a friend put the original back on, and yes, for the $37.50 they even returned the original barrel.

And yes, it seems to shoot as well as it did originally. Though for some reason the sights aren't nearly as crisp as they used to be.
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Lastmohecken
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Re: .22 Mag Cylinder Swap to different Ruger Single Six?

Post by Lastmohecken »

elmo123 wrote: Sun Nov 22, 2020 8:55 am I have a SS with both cylinders and recently bought a Single Ten in long rifle and tried the magnum cylinder in the ST and it works great. I tried the ST cylinder in the SS and it wouldn't index properly.
Wow! I would have never thought that would work between those two different pistols.
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Re: .22 Mag Cylinder Swap to different Ruger Single Six?

Post by Lastmohecken »

Yep, the sights were not that crisp for me today, either. I kept loosing the front sight. I didn't shoot that great to start with, but adjusted the windage a little. I decided to check it out closer and run a cleaning rod down the barrel and tried to hit the edge of the cylinder holes, but I didn't have a full dia cleaning rod to get real precise but it seemed to be lined up pretty good.

I thought maybe the barrel was leaded up some, so I took a wire brush and some oil and cleaned the barrel good, and I think it was leaded up pretty bad. Went out and shot it some more, and I believe it shot a lot better. I done some 40-50 yard shooting at a gong and I was hitting pretty decently. Powdered a few small rocks, also. I think it going to be fine.

I kind of like the idea of having the stainless mag cylinder in the blued frame and barrel. That way, I know at a glance which revolver, I am grabbing. I won't forget it's a .22mag instead of .22 long rifle.
Ruger Blued with SS Mag Cylind.jpg
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Last edited by Lastmohecken on Sun Nov 22, 2020 3:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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765x53
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Re: .22 Mag Cylinder Swap to different Ruger Single Six?

Post by 765x53 »

I purchased a magnum cylinder for my SS Bisley, from Brochardt Rifle Co. http://www.rugercyl.com/
It functions perfectly and is more accurate than the LR cylinder. They are available in 6 or 8 shot configuration.
I spoke with Al Story. He told me they had no problems with any New Model Rugers.
I also have his steel ejector housings and bulls-eye ejectors for all of my Rugers. http://www.rugercyl.com/other.htm
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Re: .22 Mag Cylinder Swap to different Ruger Single Six?

Post by AJMD429 »

I bought a Ruger 9mm Blackhawk cylinder and it has a bit more cylinder gap than I’d prefer in my Blackhawk 357, but it functions...

That got me thinking...I never tried it in my Vaquero 357..... Hmmm....
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Re: .22 Mag Cylinder Swap to different Ruger Single Six?

Post by piller »

Doc, you know that 9mm is slightly smaller in diameter than .357 Mag. If your pistol is on the large size of spec, the 9mm probably will be less accurate. Just reminding you.
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Re: .22 Mag Cylinder Swap to different Ruger Single Six?

Post by Rusty »

Years ago Jr had a .22 Bisleythat didn't come with a Magnum barrel. When I asked the dealer he said it was a target gun and did come with a magnum cylinder. I bought one from Ebay and it worked first try.
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Re: .22 Mag Cylinder Swap to different Ruger Single Six?

Post by AJMD429 »

piller wrote: Mon Nov 23, 2020 12:17 am Doc, you know that 9mm is slightly smaller in diameter than .357 Mag. If your pistol is on the large size of spec, the 9mm probably will be less accurate. Just reminding you.
Yeah it was more ‘for the heck of it’ than anything I’d use much.
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