Would it be irresponsible to fir .22lr shotshell in the house?

It would be a lot like firing a bb gun in the house. Not really that dangerous provided a richochet does not put your eye out, but certainly a quick way to damage your home. The little shot is still going to embed in various things, and covering your home in small pieces of lead is never the healthiest thing either.

Not unless no one is home, you wear ear protection, and everything in your house is garbage.

Guns are loud. Guns create unsafe smoke. Gun smoke smells bad. Hot speeding lead destroys a lot more than just rodents.

And then there is the ineffectiveness of the .22 shot shell....

I would advise using an air rifle... if it came down to that... but getting rid of whatever they are eating usually does the trick for most of them, and cleaning up the rest with traps has always worked for me (they come in every fall)

I think the more pertinent question is: Is it legal to fire a weapon in my house? I'd hate to see ya get fined or locked up for trying to eliminate a rodent problem.

DustyVermonter I apologise. I didn't have an idea of the area you lived in and I figured it'd be best to err on the side of caution.

I would go at it in a heartbeat.
22 birdshot is only good up close, no more than say 10'.

Yes, there may be a bit of lead, more than is in an old house anyway? I doubt it unless you fire off 100 rounds.

Have fun and be careful what is behind the backstop.
As others stated - no other people around would be a plus.

I know a farmer who used to have rats all through his barn.
Since I got my Ruger Mark II target pistol and have used bird shot on chipmunks and squirrels that come into my own barn, I called and left a message telling him I would shoot the rats. He never called back. I would do it all for free, for the entertainment of blistering rodents.

DustyVermonter said:

So, I guess the real question is, would firing one or two shots be any substantial amount of harmful lead and smoke to cause concern. Also, I clean my guns right in my living room, is that a bad idea as far as lead and harmful vapors from solvents and whatnot? Its kind of a small space, maybe I should find a new place to clean them?

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No, man people used to clean guns anywhere they could, in the kitchen on the kitchen table, in bedrooms, you name it. Just have fun and be careful. If you have any young ones, I would not do it with them around. The "authorities" can frown on things THEY think are harmful.

Have fun, be glad you can shoot them, in some countries you would have to apply for a gun to borrow, then the government would give you five cartridges to use, and expect the cartridges back (or the empty cases) with the gun.

Remember, for every one that you see, there are something like 20 or so that are still in hiding!

Have you tried a CAT? If so and that didn't work, I'd get a .177/BB Crossman or the like and have some fun. Make sure you use flat nose lead pellets and only pump about 4 times. The BB will bounce all over the place, but the pellet will usually just die after impact if you don't pump it up too much.

I have a rodent problem and I have pretty much neutralized it, but there are a few remaining that have outsmarted the traps I set out.

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Try putting a 1/2 full bucket of water in the middle of the room and make sure there is not any other standing water in the house (sink, dishes, close toilet lids)

They climb in there to get a drink and then drown. My wife and I have a horse boarding barn and I find about 5-10 dead rats in water buckets every week, and I only do chores in the morning 3-5 times a week.

Granted its not as much fun as your other idea it might prove a little less destructive to your house...

I built a blow gun for that exact same problem. I use nails sharpened on a bench grinder for ammo. A peice of rolled manilla envolope with tape in the shape of a cone works best around the nail head. Just fit it to whatever size pipe you have. It seemed like a novelty when I made it but I have five dead mice out of about a hundred shots.

From what I gather, his house is a typical old Vermont farmhouse or cottage.

I doubt very much anyone would ever notice a 'pattern' from tiny 12-shot pellets on the baseboard (if he EVEN HAS baseboards, that is!). Heck, it will look like antique wood!

LOL

When I was a kid, my dad and I made "instant antiques" by shooting stuff with the shotgun for the 'worm-hole effect"! He could go around and shoot up all his doors, baseboards, etc. and have a grand time!

DEFINATLY WEAR HEARING PROTECTION! ALTHOUGH those CCI shotshells are not real loud, they are loud. Also, realize you need to single-feed each one in certain guns as they lack power to fully move the action all the way back on a semi-auto.

I've shot the .22 shotshells in my basement before. They don't have much power, don't have much noise (although I was still wearing hearing protection). My wife stood outside the house and couldn't even hear the report from the shots.

I was just testing if I could shoot them in the basement without attracting attention. The pieces of shot that made it through the cardboard and paper (not much did) didn't even mark up the concrete wall, and I didn't find any pieces that ricocheted.

I'd imagine it might mar up some wood, and those little rats do have a surprising amount of blood in them, so be ready for a mess if you hit one. But as for 'safe', I don't see why not, as long as you're careful.

BTW, the CCI Long Rifle Shotshell (with the blue capsule) contains 12 shot, I believe. Anyway, I took one apart to count the pellets. There were nearly EXACTLY 200 pellets in that little blue 'pill' (199 or 201, something that close).

So, if you do shoot rather close (within say 5' - 10' of the critter), that is pretty good firepower considering how calm they are and the damage they can inflict at CLOSE-RANGE!

Locally, shooting a gun in the house is a legal problem if the neighbors report the noise to the police or if any projectile crosses a property line or public street. The risk of getting police responding to a 911 "shots fired" call is the gravest risk. Out in the boonies out of sight of any neighbors is something else.

I shot a particularly bothersome norwegian wharf rat (the size of a small opossum) with .22 shot. Nobody outside the house heard it. I had to repaint one wall.

I also shot a copperhead in my mother-in-law's bathroom with .22 shot. It was coiled under a clothes hamper, and the clothes hamper covered the powder burn and #12 shot marks.

Whether I am responsible or irresponsible depends on who you talk to.

Sounds like you might have a guy playing a banjo on the front porch.

WHAT ARE YOU THINKING!???????????


NO NOT SAFE.

Buy mouse traps, I bought and set up like 7 and I caught what I needed!

.22lr goes flying at 1000fps! what are you thinking??

why would you discharge a firearm in the house ?

I had a mouse that somehow found its way into my stove. I'd see his head pop out through one of the range cutouts just about every other night.

After a week or so of glue traps, I finally decided my best option was my Crosman 760 air rifle. So I got it ready. Next time he popped his head out of the stove, I shot him from 6 feet away. I used only 3 pumps and a lead pellet, and the mouse was dispatched instantly.

Point being that at ranges this short you 1. do not need a lot of power 2. You do not need a shot pattern.

If you don't have an air gun, you might try Aguila Colibri, powderless 22LR. They shoot a 20 grain projectile in the 300-400 fps range. This is air gun level power, but with a larger, heavier projectile and less penetration. They will bounce off plywood/hardwood beyond 10 feet or so. They are also quieter than the average air gun when shot out of a rifle or long barreled pistol. Unfortunately they are much less accurate than even a Crosman 760, but if you can get close enough this shouldn't be a problem.