Last updated August 2026 · By Nick Hall, has carried a snub-nosed revolver as a backup and shot enough .22 WMR out of short barrels to know what it does and does not do
Quick take: Charter Arms has launched the Walker, an ultra-compact revolver chambered in .22 LR and .22 WMR and marketed for self defence. Rimfire defensive guns are a genuinely contested idea. This one is aimed at the shooter for whom the alternative is no gun at all.
- What it is: The Walker, an ultra-compact Charter Arms revolver offered in .22 LR and .22 WMR, positioned as a self-defence gun.
- Price: Confirm with a dealer. Charter has historically priced below the major revolver makers and this fits that pattern.
- Where: Charter Arms dealers, with both rimfire chamberings catalogued.
- Why it matters: Rimfire defensive revolvers are contested, and the argument turns entirely on who the buyer is.
Recommend a .22 for self defence in most gun shops and you will get a lecture. The lecture is correct and aimed at the wrong person, because the buyer who ends up with a rimfire defensive revolver is rarely choosing it over a .38.
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Table of Contents
The Case Against, Stated Fairly
Rimfire ammunition is less reliable than centrefire. That is not a preference, it is a manufacturing reality: a priming compound spun into the rim of a case cannot be inspected the way a centrefire primer can, and the industry accepts a failure-to-fire rate that would be unacceptable in a defensive centrefire round.
In a semi-auto that means a stoppage. In a revolver it means you pull the trigger again and the cylinder indexes to a fresh round, which is a meaningfully better failure mode and the single strongest argument for a rimfire revolver over a rimfire pistol.
Terminal performance is the other objection and it is real. A .22 WMR out of a two inch barrel loses a great deal of the velocity that makes the cartridge interesting out of a rifle. Anyone selling you .22 Magnum as a .38 Special equivalent from a snub barrel is not being straight with you.
The Case For, Stated Honestly
Recoil and grip strength. A lightweight .38 snub is one of the hardest handguns in common circulation to shoot well, with a heavy double action trigger and a recoil impulse that punishes weak hands. Plenty of shooters simply cannot run one, and telling them to try harder is not advice.
For that shooter the practical comparison is not a .22 versus a .38. It is a .22 they will carry, practise with and hit with, against a .38 they flinch through, shoot twice a year, and eventually leave in a drawer. Framed that way the answer is obvious and the gun-shop lecture is answering a question nobody asked.
And .22 WMR specifically is the sensible pick of the two chamberings here, because it gives up less than .22 LR does to the short barrel and the modern short-barrel loadings have improved considerably.
Where Charter Fits
Charter Arms occupies an unglamorous and useful niche. It builds simple, light, inexpensive revolvers, most famously the Bulldog and the Undercover, and it has never pretended to compete with the premium makers on fit and finish.
What it does well is put a functional small revolver in a buyer’s hands at a price that does not require a second thought, which matters enormously for a gun somebody buys because they need something rather than because they want it. The Walker sits squarely in that tradition.
The Trigger Is the Other Half of the Problem
Recoil gets all the attention in this conversation and the double action trigger deserves at least as much. A small-frame revolver trigger runs somewhere around ten to twelve pounds through a long stroke, and for a shooter with reduced hand strength that pull is often the harder obstacle of the two.
A rimfire revolver does not automatically fix this, because the trigger weight is a function of the lockwork and the need to reliably strike a rim rather than a centrefire primer. Try the specific gun before buying, because the difference between two small revolvers on this one measure is larger than most buyers expect.
Ammunition Selection Matters More Here Than Anywhere
If you land on a rimfire defensive revolver, the ammunition decision carries more weight than it does with any centrefire gun, because the performance spread between a good short-barrel .22 WMR loading and a bulk-pack round designed for a rifle is enormous.
Buy loadings developed specifically for short barrels, then test a full box for ignition before you trust the gun. Rimfire failure-to-fire rates vary noticeably between manufacturers and even between lots, and finding out which brand your particular revolver likes is not optional homework, it is the single most important thing you can do to make the setup defensible.
Who Should Buy One
The shooter with arthritis, reduced grip strength or a genuine recoil aversion, who has tried a centrefire snub and could not shoot it acceptably. The person who wants a trail gun that will also account for a snake. The owner who wants a cheap practice companion to a centrefire carry revolver with matching manual of arms.
But if you can shoot a .38 well, shoot a .38. This is a solution to a specific problem and it is a poor general recommendation, which is exactly what its detractors get right and its marketing tends to blur.
The last group worth naming is people buying for somebody else, often an ageing parent. That purchase goes wrong more often than any other in the gun shop, because it is almost always made on the buyer’s judgement rather than the shooter’s hands. If you are buying for someone, take them to a range that rents first and let their grip strength decide the calibre.
A .22 you can shoot beats a .38 you cannot. That is the whole argument, and it only applies to some people.
Frequently Asked Questions
What chamberings does the Charter Arms Walker come in?
It is offered in .22 LR and .22 WMR, and .22 WMR is the more sensible defensive choice of the two because it retains more performance from a short barrel.
Is a .22 revolver good for self defence?
It is a compromise. For a shooter who genuinely cannot manage centrefire recoil or a heavy trigger, a rimfire revolver they shoot well is better than a centrefire they avoid. For anyone who can run a .38, a .38 is the better answer.
Why a revolver rather than a .22 pistol?
Rimfire ammunition has a higher failure-to-fire rate than centrefire. In a revolver that means pulling the trigger again to index a fresh round. In a semi-auto it means clearing a stoppage under stress.
How much performance does .22 WMR lose from a short barrel?
A great deal. The cartridge was designed around rifle-length barrels, and a two inch revolver barrel gives up a substantial share of that velocity. Modern short-barrel loadings mitigate it but do not eliminate it.
What is Charter Arms known for?
Simple, light, inexpensive American-made revolvers, most notably the Bulldog and the Undercover. The company competes on price and weight rather than fit and finish.
Is it good as a trail gun?
That is arguably its strongest use case. A light rimfire revolver handles snakes and small game, weighs almost nothing on a belt, and the ammunition costs very little to carry in quantity.
How many rounds does it hold?
Capacity varies by chambering on small-frame rimfire revolvers. Confirm the exact count for the configuration you are buying with the dealer.
Related Reading
- The best .22 revolvers
- The best .22 WMR rifles
- The best revolvers for concealed carry
- The best .38 Special revolvers
- The best home defence revolvers
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