Smith & Wesson Model 22-4 .45 ACP: rejoice, big-bore revolver fans

Guns Magazine, Feb, 2007 by Mike Venturino

In my opinion Smith & Wesson is headed down the right track, in large part guided by none other than Clint Smith. In 2004 they reintroduced the Model 21 .44 Special under the guise of a Thunder Ranch Revolver. (In terms of models it was officially the Model 21-4.) Then in late 2005 they followed it (logically) with a Model 22-4 .45 ACP. And again it was billed as a Thunder Ranch Revolver.

Why the TRR moniker? Because it is put together the way Clint thinks a modern revolver intended for home and personal defense should be--with a 4" lightweight barrel, fixed sights and chambered for a cartridge heaving a big bullet at moderate speeds.

I doubt if many of today's readers remember much about the original Smith & Wesson Model 22 .45 ACP since it was dropped from production exactly 40 years ago. Even then it wasn't very popular, with only slightly fewer than 4,000 being built between 1950 and 1966. Actually the concept of a .45 ACP chambered revolver began long before that. When the United States entered World War I our military was desperately short of handguns, so they commissioned both Smith & Wesson and Colt to chamber their large frame (N-frame & New Service frame respectively) revolvers for the Model 1911's autoloading pistol cartridge. This was accomplished by means of little spring-steel "half-moon" clips holding three rounds of the rimless .45 cartridges each.

It Works

The concept went over so well both handgun manufacturers kept the .45 ACP revolvers in their lineup for decades. Eventually Smith & Wesson remodeled the basic Model 1917 into the Model 1950 Army. Outwardly the two versions only differed from each other in that the latter lacked a lanyard loop and in the shape of their wooden stocks. In 1957 Smith & Wesson adopted model numbers and the Model 1950 Army became the Model 22. Another sign the concept of a .45 ACP revolver was popular was when the ammunition manufacturer Peters decided to put a rim on the .45 ACP case, billing it as the .45 Auto Rim around 1921. With such ammunition, the spring steel clips can be discarded and the .45 ACP-chambered revolvers functions the same as any other revolver.

Smith & Wesson's new Model 22-4 is not identical to original Model 22s. The new ones have a frame-mounted firing pin and, of course, Smith & Wesson's lawyer-mandated key-lock. Essentially the only other difference is the original Model 22s came only with 5 1/2" barrels and the new ones have 4" barrels.

When Smith & Wesson brought out the Model 21-4 .44 Special (aka Thunder Ranch Revolver) some marketing weenie insisted it have a rather garish gold Thunder Ranch Revolver logo on its sideplate. Almost no one, most of all Clint Smith, wanted that. Somebody back there at the factory listened with the Model 22-4 project. They put the Thunder Ranch shield and TRR on the wooden stocks. That way if someone doesn't like them, they can give the stocks a heave and be done with the matter.

Barrel Markings

Another change between the Model 21-4 and Model 22-4 is the size of the barrel markings. Somewhere along the way someone at Smith & Wesson must have decided all we old revolver shooters were going blind, so they began putting lettering about a 1/4" high on their revolver barrels. Among many others, I complained about this even explaining to some Smith & Wesson officials that sure, we revolver shooters were getting older and blinder, but at least we are smart enough to wear glasses. And this is where I get to steal just a tiny bit of Clint's thunder. Smith & Wesson didn't have an original Model 22 from which they could copy its modest-size barrel stampings, so I sent them mine. In return I got the chance to own Model 22-4 with serial number TRR006.

How did the new Model 22-4s turn out? Pretty nicely, with just a tiny bit of birthing troubles. The first few hundred shipped out shot several inches to the left and quite a bit low depending on exact bullet weight fired in them. But the company quickly acknowledged the problem and fixed any of the Model 22-4s returned to them. Mine was one.

Also, upon first receiving it I complained loudly to Tony Miele, Smith & Wesson's Business Manager and a close enough friend I can say what I think without couching it in political niceness. What I said was, "What's wrong with you people? The rifling in this thing is so shallow it will never shoot lead alloy bullets. Don't you guys realize most people shoot lead in .45s?" Tony's come back was, "Did you try some lead loads in it?"

Don't Whine--Shoot!

No I hadn't, so before sending it back for the sight adjustment I put it in my Ransom Pistol Machine Rest and fired a single 5-shot group with some of my few precious rounds of now discontinued Remington-Peters .45 Auto Rim factory loads. They contain a very soft 230-grain roundnose bullet. That group measured only 1 5/8" at 25 yards, so I quit yapping about the rifling. In follow-up shooting with a variety of .45 ACP loads in full-and half-moon clips, my Model 22-4 Thunder Ranch Revolver has grouped five shots into 1 1/2" to 2 1/2" at 25 yards. At 15 yards it prints regular 230-grain FMJ "hardball" loads dead center of the aiming point. That is, once the factory corrected its sights.