22 blanks from the hardware store

do not fire them out of a firearm, they are stronger then what your typical blank would be, they are dirty, powerful, and not meant to be shot through a gun

think about it, the blank catrige will drive a nail through concreat, sometimes even the head can go in, not something you really want to play around with

I would say you can...

but why would you want to?
Shooting blanks from a .22 is like drinking non-alcoholic beer...

@kingcheese, I do believe the nail gun loads have LESS powder than a standard .22lr.
I'm also pretty sure that blank loads usually don't have enough power to cycle a semi-automatic action and almost every one uses corrosive powder.

I think the power tool blanks may be hard on a gun barrel--more erosive than purpose-made .22 starter blanks.

Once when I was maybe 7 or 8, I asked my dad that same question, and he answered the question by chambering one in his .22 PPK. It did go bang, but if I remember correctly, it did not cycle the action enough to eject the round. Besides the fact that they dont shoot a bullet, they are more expensive than regular .22 ammo too. As far as corrosivness, I cant say, but I imagine it could be true. If you just want to make noise, but some firecrackers.
Just because it fits doesn't always mean you should try it.

I take it many folks don't use ram-set nailers to often.

They are way more powerful than a .22 blank. I use #4 loads to shoot wooden members into I beams #2 loads for driving a nail through 2x material into concrete. A #4 load will sink a 3" nail to the hilt in 50+ year old concrete. So what about this makes someone think they are punny????

DO NOT PUT ONE OF THESE IN YOUR GUN>>>

Actually, I use nail guns all the time.

I own two of them and I'm pretty sure that even the hottest nail gun loads are still less than a regular .22 lr as all the nailers I've ever used fire a Remington or Federal .22 short that's been crimped. Most nailers now operate an internal hammer head piston between the cartridge and the nail rather than directly firing the nail which needs even less powder for reduced noise and smoke.

Just like any other tool, they're perfectly safe so long as you know how to use them safely.

They work. Doesn't really matter how much powder they have in them. Without a projectile, pressure will be negligible. They're semi-useful for scaring skunks out of your cat food.

And if you attach a golf ball launcher on your AR15 and load one of these in your ciener conversion it will not send a golfball anywhere near as far as a milspec .223 miles gear training blank.

A .22 caliber air rifle pellet in front of a yellow power load out of a bolt action .22 will flat kill a crow at 20 yards. Did it many years ago just because. One of the stupid things kids will do.

And Gary how would you know this?

The work great in an adapter (Hammond game getter) for my 45-70. Shoots round or swedged lead balls from "you can follow the ballistic arc or the bullet to the target" to driving a regular lead ball on through a pressure treated 2x8 plank. Just pick the strength... I use the #3's mostly...


http://www3.telus.net/gamegetter/operate1.html

if I was in a tree stand and had a 25-40yd shot or so It would DEFINITELY kill a deer with a #3 or 4 strength power load.

medalguy said:

And Gary how would you know this?

Click to expand...

Well, that's what I was told......

"I own two of them and I'm pretty sure that even the hottest nail gun loads are still less than a regular .22 lr as all the nailers I've ever used fire a Remington or Federal .22 short that's been crimped. Most nailers now operate an internal hammer head piston between the cartridge and the nail rather than directly firing the nail which needs even less powder for reduced noise and smoke."

That is how they have all operated from the start.

The nail does not seal the bore like a bullet, the piston does.

They may be made by Remington and Federal, but they are NOT just a .22 short.

i mostly use higher caliber Hilti tolls now, but the power level of even the old .22 Remington ones is well above even a .22 LR.

They use different powders and are loaded for their application.
the fact that the piston travel is VERY short should tell you something about how much pressure they are delivering.

I just opened a #4 powernail load and there is a good bit of powder in it.

They are pretty corrosive... not something I would want to do on a regular basis... and If you try it...... and you probably will.... CLEAN it afterward... then oil it...

If memory serves, the Hilti's are 5mm...

I think that GaryM and JeffF and I went to the same school of "Hey, Hold My Beer and Watch This!" Sometimes being young AND dumb was fun...!

@brickeyee

From Wikipedia, for what it's worth:
"A powder-actuated tool (often called a "Hilti gun" or a "Ramset gun" after their manufacturing companies) is a nail gun used in construction and manufacturing to join materials to hard substrates such as steel and concrete. Known as "direct fastening", this technology relies on a controlled explosion created by small chemical propellant charge, similar to the process that discharges a firearm.

Powder-actuated tools come in either high velocity or low velocity types. In high velocity tools the propellant acts directly on the fastener. This process is similar to a firearm. Low velocity tools introduce a piston into the chamber. The propellant acts on the piston, which then drives the fastener into the substrate. (The piston is analogous to the bolt of a captive bolt pistol.) A powder-actuated tool is considered to be low velocity if the average test velocity of the fastener does not exceed 492 feet per second. High velocity tools may not be made or sold in the United States, however some made decades ago are still in use in shipbuilding and steel industries."

My dad still has one of the old school Ramset guns with NO piston but he hasn't used it in years...
The nails for it are hard/expensive to find as they have a special rubber or plastic sabot that trapped the expanding gas.

I only use the loads for what they are designed for, wouldn't feel safe prying one open, and was only comparing perceived noise and direct shell comparison as my measure. The nail guns I have now are the piston type and use what looks like nothing more than a crimped .22 short in a plastic clip.

Kinda resurrecting this thread, but is it possible to convert a .22 caliber nail gun to fire .22 ammo?

I read that most people don't recommend firing the nail blanks in a firearm, but what about firing a .22 bullet through a .22 nail gun. Doesn't seem like it would work, or be accurate if it did. Just curious.

The Hammond Game Getter uses .22 rimfire nail-setting blanks.

The Game Getter uses a special cartridge case, with a steel head and an off-set .22 chamber. To use it, load a buckshot (properly sized) in the mouth of the case and a .22 blank in the chamber. The firing pin of your center-fire rifle fires the blank, which drives the buckshot out the muzzle.

Mine is in .30-06 and shoots about a 1" group at 25 yards, just at the top of the thick section of the lower Dual X crosshair. I've taken several squirrels with it while deer hunting.

You can also get similar devices for hard-to-find rimfire cartridges (like the .32 Long) that use nail-setting blanks in off-set chambers to allow you to fire old, obsolete rifles.

Kinda resurrecting this thread, but is it possible to convert a .22 caliber nail gun to fire .22 ammo?

Click to expand...

Well, if you removed the driving ram that propels the nail (in the low-velocity version), I guess you'd have a clear barrel, but that barrel would be oddly shaped near the chamber (where the ram sat).

Either version would be greatly oversized for the nails and plastic bushings it's supposed to fire (something around .30 cal). And, of course, it would be smoothbore, thus likely creating an unregistered Title II "Any Other Weapon" which is not a very good idea.

So, SURE, but NO.

But if you were to attach a rifled barrel... ? Still Title II or now a home made Title I?

If it's rifled, then Title I. Unless they happened to think that it looked too much like a piece of construction equipment after the conversion and was thus a firearm disguised to look like something else (a'la cane gun, pen gun, etc.) and so was still a Title II AOW.

Who knows?

Somebody should pose this quandry to the Mythbusters.

I found a couple nailer loads in my garage a few months ago and tried one in a gun. It stuck in the chamber because of the crimp opening up. It came out with a tap from a cleaning rod.