Smith & Wesson Model 53-2. This one was made in 1974, the last year of production, and sports the unusual 4" barrel. (Most were 6" or 8 3/8" guns.) The .22 Remington Jet cartridge is based on a necked-down .357 Magnum case, and can spit a 40-grain .222" projectile at well over 2000 feet per second from a handgun, rendering the newfangled FN 5.7x28 a touch anemic by comparison. The gun shipped with chamber liners allowing you to shoot .22 LR cartridges as well, and had a selector on the hammer that would allow it to trip either of two frame-mounted firing pins: one centerfire, and one for rimfire. The radically tapered cases required scrupulously clean and dry chambers to prevent them from backing out against the breechface and tying up the cylinder, and this was what kept the gun from catching on with the shooting public. It's tied, by the way, with my 3" .41 and .44 Magnums for producing the most spectacular pyrotechnic displays on a darkened range...
Very nice. Do you have any problems with gas cutting from the Jet cartridge?
ReplyDeleteI wonder if it's listed as a "cop-killer" since, ya know, it can penetrate body armor with that high speed, spitzer profile .222 projectile.
ReplyDeleteMy guess is no, because it doesn't look scary enough. Nimrods.
Thanks for more beautiful gun prOn. And nice photo too.
ReplyDeleteAaaaahhh the old .221 Jet (or, as it's known to the rocket dorks, the scramjet).
ReplyDeleteNothing like using a .357 Mag-sized cartridge case to move a .22 bullet.
I shot a friend's S&W thus chambered once, and the only cartridge which produces anything like the night-time pyrotechnics is the .30 Carbine out of a Ruger Blackhawk.
I know, it's not a S&W, but you should consider this cartridge/firearm combination.
Because you can.
Ooooh...muzzleflash....ahhhh....
ReplyDeleteI've seen a RemJet once at the range. Splendid little idea, that. You're quite correct, they do put on quite the light show. On the .alt side of this, Kim is most perceptive regarding the .30 Carbine in Blackhawks. One of my favorite loads for non-contact mosquito killers is a scary amount of H110 on hot, humid days which approaches M-N44 levels of awe.
Tam, that's one splendid revolver. I assume you have the chamber inserts as well?
Regards,
Rabbit.
So .... when does cosmoline and rust get updated?
ReplyDeleteWe need more obscure gun pr0n.
I thought they only made those in 6"?
ReplyDeleteGeoff
Who has never seen one in hard steel, all the shops in my youth, when they were available had them as a very special order item.
I thought the .22 Jet and the .221 Remington Fireball were different rounds.
ReplyDeleteGeoff
Who is too lazy to go in the other room and get his "Cartridges of the World" off the top shelf.
Oh, mama. Daddy likes.
ReplyDelete"Kristopher said...
So .... when does cosmoline and rust get updated?
We need more obscure gun pr0n."
Word up, Tams!
When will this appear in the Arms Room?
ReplyDeleteI have a .30 Blackhawk, bought it used a few years ago, and as you mentioned, I got it after reading Kim Du T. talk about his. It is a hoot to shoot. Rather like Tam mentions about her S&W, though, if I clean the gun thoroughly, and then fire more than two sets of six rounds, it starts suffering cartridge setback or something. Later rounds fail to seat completely, and the cartridges start dragging in the frame. I think some may be the dearth of good .30 carbine ammo nowadays, and hopefully that will change with the M-1 carbines about to go on the market from CMP.
ReplyDeleteAwesome. I want one!
ReplyDeleteYep. Still learning something new ever day. Thanks for posting this!
ReplyDelete