.22 shotshell

I've never had much luck with the shotshells but, and I hesitate to say this for fear of getting ripped apart, I'm actually fond of the Super Colibri. I have fairly reliably taken dove with them ( maybe dove are just too stupid to know they aren't supposed to die or maybe I just have beginner's luck all of the time ). Anything bigger or smarter needs something heavier and faster.
 
i had a bat problem in the house one year, and used them to get rid of the bats in the house, and without leaving any damage to the walls or floors....lol

guess i aint all there :p
 
The only time I've used a .22 shotshell was through a 5.5-inch Ruger Single-Six many years ago.
The CCI load put a fairly large snake down easily at about 15 feet.

On the bore issue- since the lead pellets never touch the rifling, you may build up some plastic shot cup residue over time if you shoot a LOT of the shotshells, but nothing else.

Denis
 
The 22 shot charge is #12 shot and small amounts of that. Compare the 44 which has 1/4 oz of #9 which is significant.
 
my experience with .22 shot is that it's okay on snakes at very close range, or mice. I keep some around and if I'm in snake country I'll have a round as the first shot in the revolver. That being said, I wish someone would make a #10 shot load. And, honestly, a .32 or .38 shotload is going to be WAY better.

But at snakebite range it will do the job.


I have and use the Aguila SSS 60 grain subsonics. Here's what I find:

1: it's dirty. doesn't bother me as I'm one fo the weirdos that cleans a .22 after shooting it.

2: it hits *hard*. most often in subsonics you trade velocity for noise reduction, without an increase in mass to offset the lower energy. The Aguila SSS adds the mass back into the equation and makes the round useful for varmints and small game.

3: it tumbles. Pretty much period. if you have a rifle that has a tighter barrel twist it won't keyhole, but any revolver or longarm I've fired it out of does keyhole at range. For my purposes, this isn't a factor. It actually shoots more accurately at 7 and 15 yards out of my .22 revolver than any of the other 6 loads I have around. with more muzzle energy than some of them. At 25 yards it's still squirrel or bunny hunting, if not competition, accurate out of the pistol. I'ts hunting accurate at 50 yards out of the rifle, but -

4: it is not reliable in cycling semi auto .22 rifles. People have different results with this, so it's worth a 100 shots.

5: I think it's the ideal load, in all respects, for a close range (out to 15-25 yards depending on the shooter) .22 revolver and, as much as it is possible for a .22 to be used in an emergency for defense, I like the way it hits.
 
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When I was a kid I used to shoot stray dogs in the ass with it that were in our yard trying to nail our female husky that we had on a run. Worked great for that at about 10-20 yards. I would just wait until they were broadside, aim for their tail and they would take off like they were shot from a cannon with no real harm done. So, I agree, it does have some uses...
 
When I was a kid, my dad shot a mouse in the house with a .22 shot shell through some cheap dropped ceiling tile. The little devil had managed to escape all the traps, and finally, when he heard it scrabbling along in the ceiling, he let fly with a semi-auto Marlin.:eek:

Funny story, but a deplorable display of irrisponsible gun use.
 
On another note, can you load individual sub sonic rounds in a 10/22? I understand they won't cycle if you put them in a mag, but what about single loading. Any issues with that?
 
I grew up shooting the 22 shot at rats in the barn. I used them so I wouldn't shoot holes in the tin roof. They would run along the rafters and I would have a flashlight strapped to the singe shot 22. Killed many at 5 yards or so. Much more than that and it wouldn't always kill them.
 
Iboschi said:
On another note, can you load individual sub sonic rounds in a 10/22? I understand they won't cycle if you put them in a mag, but what about single loading. Any issues with that?
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I have 3 ruger 10/22's and all feed and function with the 60 grn. SSS aguilas They also work fine out of Ruger mk1 pistol and Colt huntsman
 
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Ironically, i went to visit my dad tonight. He told me that he had shot and killed a feral cat on his farm. He shot it with a .22 cci shot shell, the ones with the blue plastic shot capsule. Range was less than 15 feet. Cat ran a short distance then dropped dead.
 
To echo some others, the Aquila 60 gr I've used have all keyholed at 25 yards out of my 77/22. I'd recommend 22 short.
 
RescueRiley said:
Yeah I'm mostly concerned with the .22 lr abiltiy to travel a mile and a half, looking for around for plinking and informal small game hunting, bunnies and squirrels... .
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As others have said, 22 shotshells are only a hair away from being useless. I have some, but I don't know why. They won't penetrate much of anything and will shoot a donut shaped pattern unless you have a smoothbore.

I've heard that some stunt shooters used them to do tricks. Joining the circus?

You should be using hollow points for small game anyway and they won't survive much of a deflection. There are very few places where you can fire very far without something, even a small branch, deflecting or stopping a bullet. Once it is deflected even a little, tumbling and no longer spinning, it's gonna hit the dirt soon. The squirrel's or rabbit's body will make the bullet destabilize.

Understand that 1.5 mile figure is probably the absolute worst case scenario, firing the rifle at 45 degrees or so (mathemeticians help me), with a tail wind, from a higher elevation down a steep hill etc.

I would guess under normal circumstances shooting at roughly parallel with the ground I'd be surprised if it would go more than 300 yards. There aren't many 300 yard stretches of clear land where I live. When I shoot my 22 on a rifle range, I run out of elevation on my scope before I can dial in a hit on my target.

I remember seeing a video with a guy shooting at some long range (500?) and the guy was using some SERIOUS holdover. Gravity is your friend as is the fact that even small bits of cover will stop a 22.

BE CAREFUL, don't get me wrong, but you don't have to be paranoid.
 
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For avoiding massive amounts of overtravel, stick with regular solid standard velocity.

Personally, I don't hunt with a hollow point in .22- the loss of weight bothers me and I've never seen consistently good expansion results. Squirrels have armor plated skulls.

At 200 yards, a .22LR standard velocity will have a drop of anywhere from 30 to 56 inches. If you are shooting eye level or below, that's your nickel.

Really, if my primary concern was worrying about what is further away than that, for game like that, I'd stick with a shotgun. #6 or even #4 bunny shot are going to be dust falling from the sky at any range.
 
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