"For self defense using your Pug revolver, the choice is clear: The Winchester Super X 22 Magnum delivers more power more reliably to the target than all of the other cartridges tested."
(NOTE: Scroll through the stats for the conclusions)
With a 4-1/2 inch overall length, 2-3/4 inch height and just a one inch barrel, the North American Arms Pug .22 revolver is the smallest .22 magnum revolver in the world. Its small size makes it an ideal gun to carry when anything larger would be impossible. Think swimming trunks and jogging shorts.
I've seen a lot of discussion about the ideal round to carry in the Pug, but no definitive ballistics tests to decide one way or another. One popular--and expensive--round many people like to have onboard their Pug is the CCI Maxi-Mag HP+V. With a 30 grain jacketed hollow point bullet, CCI claims over 2200 feet per second on their box. Granted, their results were gained from shooting out of a rifle, but impressive nonetheless.
I went to a big box gun store to find some .22 magnum rounds to feed through the Pug. In addition to the Maxi-Mag HP+V, I bought the CCI Maxi-Mag HP 40 grain jacketed hollow point with a claimed 1875 feet per second on the box. I also purchased some Winchester Super X 22 Winchester Magnum jacketed soft-tip hollow points. There was no claim of speed on the Winchester box.
The question many may ask is, "Would you trust your life to the Pug?"
My answer? I already do!
The chronograph was placed approximately 10 feet away from the shooting bench. I shot 10 rounds of each type of bullet, making sure to clean the barrel of the gun with solvent and a brush between each brand of ammunition. The Winchester Super X was first up. The results are under the photo:
Temperature: 68 degrees fahrenheit.
Elevation: 8500 feet above sea level.
Bullet Weight: 40 grain (gr.)
Highest Velocity (Hi): 903 Feet Per Second (FPS)
Lowest Velocity (Low): 852 FPS
Average Velocity (Avg.): 877 FPS
Extreme Spread (ES): 51 FPS
Standard Deviation (SD): 16
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CCI was next to be tested. I chose the Maxi-Mag HP+V's because I was excited to see how they compare to the Winchester:
Temperature: 69 Degrees
Elevation: 8500 Feet
Bullet weight: 30 gr.
HI: 986
Low: 839
Average: 913
ES: 147
SD: 38
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Last, but not least, the CCI Maxi-Mag HP:
Temperature: 73 Degrees
Elevation: 8500 Feet
Bullet weight: 40 gr.
HI: 854
Low: 771
Average: 824
ES: 83
SD: 23
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CONCLUSIONS:
I was surprised by the results of this test. At first blush, the HP+V CCI Maxi-Mags seem to really scream along. They are pretty fast, but when you run a simple ballistics calculation on all three bullet types, the results are surprising. I visited this site to figure out the ballistic energy of each ammunition type and here are the results:
Formula used:
Energy = .5 * weight * velocity^2 / 7000 / 32.175
Where weight is in grains, and velocity is in feet/second.
7000 is grains per pound, and 32.175 is acceleration due to gravity.
It can be re-written:
Energy = weight * velocity^2 / 450450
(Source)
Winchester Super X .22 Magnum: 68.29 ft-lbs
CCI Maxi-Mag HP+V: 55.11 ft-lbs
CCI Maxi-Mag HP: 60.29 ft-lbs
The Winchester Super X clearly comes out on top in this test. Even though the CCI HP+V is moving faster, it's a full 10 grains less weight than the other two in the series. After shooting the magnum rounds out of the Pug, I noticed a lot of unburned gunpowder on my notepad as I wrote down each result. My theory is that the one inch barrel of the Pug is so short you end up with a slug of unburned powder being pushed behind the bullet--especially with the supercharged CCI rounds. If you want a good .22 magnum round to carry in your Pug, you can't go wrong with the Winchester Super X jacketed soft tip hollow point.
The next series of tests were run using .22 long rifle ammunition, and those are even more revealing than the .22 magnum test. I chose eight different types of 22 long rifle bullets from the same big box store for a good representation of what might be available to most people. I'll describe each type above and give the results below each photo.
CCI Mini-Mag 22LR
Temperature: 77 Degrees
Elevation: 8500 Feet
Bullet weight: 40 gr.
HI: 838
Low: 754
Average: 808
ES: 84
SD: 25
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CCI Mini-Mag 22LR HP
Temperature: 78 Degrees
Elevation: 8500 Feet
Bullet weight: 36 gr.
HI: 858
Low: 792
Average: 834
ES: 66
SD: 20
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Winchester Xpert HV Bulk Pack
Temperature: 76 Degrees
Elevation: 8500 Feet
Bullet weight: 36 gr.
HI: 860
Low: 756
Average: 818
ES: 104
SD: 32
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Remington Viper Truncated Cone
Temperature: 77 Degrees
Elevation: 8500 Feet
Bullet weight: 36 gr.
HI: 857
Low: 764
Average: 812
ES: 93
SD: 29
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Winchester Super SpeedHP Plated Hollow Point
Temperature: 78 Degrees
Elevation: 8500 Feet
Bullet weight: 37 gr.
HI: 888
Low: 738
Average: 846
ES: 150
SD: 40
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Winchester Super SpeedRN
Temperature: 78 Degrees
Elevation: 8500 Feet
Bullet weight: 40 gr.
HI: 801
Low: 693
Average: 745
ES: 107
SD: 33
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**Federal Spitfire Hyper Velocity Hollow Point**
Temperature: 77 Degrees
Elevation: 8500 Feet
Bullet weight: 31 gr.
HI: 931
Low: 891
Average: 915
ES: 40
SD: 11
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Peters High Velocity
Temperature: 76 Degrees
Elevation: 8500 Feet
Bullet weight: 40 gr. (Unknown Bullet Weight)
HI: 708
Low: 551
Average: 622
ES: 157
SD: 53
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Conclusions:
I'm going to dispense with one type of ammunition right off the bat: The Peter's rounds are junk in my opinion. I've never seen them before, and I would prefer never to see them again. My hand was black with soot after I shot ten rounds of that stuff, and it performed poorly against all the other brands.
I want to point out the Spitfire ammunition by Federal. Of all of the ammunition tested, including the 22 magnum rounds, this was the most uniform. With an extreme spread of 40 feet per second and a standard deviation of just 11, the Spitfire rounds are made to exacting tolerances. I shot 10 rounds out of a second box just to make sure this stuff was for real... It is.
When compared to the CCI HP+V, the Spitfire is actually faster with a heavier round! Check out the difference in case size and come back when you pick your jaw up off the ground:
My testing shows that the case on the right (!) propels a 31 grain bullet to 915 feet per second. That's two feet per second faster than the 30 grain projectile from the CCI case on the left. It's not quite the most powerful round you can shoot out of the Pug, but it is the fastest of the ammo I've tested so far!
Out of the 22 long rifle rounds tested, the Spitfire, with 57.61 ft-lbs of energy has the highest probability of consistently delivering that level of energy into the target. With a standard deviation of only 11 feet per second, the Spitfire will deliver more power over time than any of the other rounds. It is more powerful (and far cheaper) than the CCI Maxi-Mag HP+V, and very close in power to the CCI Maxi-Mag HP round which delivers 60.29 ft-lbs of energy.
The only other round which outperforms the Spitfire is the Winchester Super X 22 Magnum. With 68.29 ft-lbs of energy, it delivers nearly 10 ft-lbs more energy to the target than any other bullet tested. It is the second most reliable round tested, with a standard deviation of 16 feet per second.
For self defense using your Pug revolver, the choice is clear: The Winchester Super X 22 Magnum delivers more power more reliably to the target than all of the other cartridges tested.
The question many may ask is, "Would you trust your life to this gun?"
My answer? I already do!
Go here to see the accuracy of different rounds out of the Magnum framed revolvers...
