.22 LR shot shell range

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Hmmn, I think it's #12 shot - I'm going to say a couple of hundred yards. Next time you're by a lake where you can shoot at a time with no wind, shoot one over the water and you'll have your answer when you see the pellets fall.


As far as effective range - about 12 feet. I recently did a shoot-off with several handguns all with shot shells. 22lr, 22 mag, 38 special, 45 colt, 410 2 1/2 shotshells. The premise was, which one would be most effective at a snake-size target at 10 ft?

You would think the 410 shotshells (Judge) would win, hands down.

Surprise: The 22lr had the most dense pattern at 10 ft, and scored the most hits on my snake target. The other guns were throwing a lot more lead, but at 10 ft the patterns were so loose that you'd be lucky to hit a snake with a single pellet. Yes, the larger pellet from the 410 or 45 is more deadly than a single #12 pellet, but for thin-skinned creature like a snake multiple hits with #12s should be more effective.

And the .22lr CCI shotshell was from a S&W 317 with a 2" barrel. I shot video of the whole thing and will post a video when I'm done with it.
 
With .22 LR shot shells, I would say 20 ft to as close as you can get to snakes, rats, etc. Any farther than that the rifling will cause the shot to spin, usually causing a doughnut pattern. Also note: a pellet can and will bruise bare skin at up to maybe 40 yards and even more.

Any projectile is only to be considered safe after it has hit the ground and stopped moving.

Just MHO and experience.
 
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I doubt no 12 shot would go 100 yards and for killing a snake you need to be close, probably under 3 or 4 feet.
 
I was wondering because I have 30 yards to the woods in my back yard, then 20 yards of light woods, then 25 yards of open space beyond the woods and then to the farmers field with horses. I really don't need to be buying an injured horse just to shoot some squirrels that eat everything in my garden.

I'll stick to coppers on the ground rather than saving a tomato or 10.........
 
I doubt you would be able to get close enough to a squirrel to kill it with no. 12 shot. You might pepper his rear end, but that's about it.
 
I'd say out of a pistol, #12 .22LR shot MAY go out to 50 yards max....there is just too little of it, and the pellets are just too small...about .050 diameter
 
I really don't need to be buying an injured horse just to shoot some squirrels
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What you need is some Aguila Colibri or Super Colibri CB Caps.
http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=2506163096
http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=2506295321

Strangely quiet out of a .22 rifle, and limited range because there is no powder in them, just the primer compound.

About like shooting an air rifle.
But they will put the hurts on pesky tree rats in the garden.

rc
 
I have killed several squirell's at 30-40 feet using .22lr shot out of a rifle, i have a old Mossberg with "AK GRO GRUV" riffleing,this don't spin the shot as much as regular riffeing, giving better patern's, Malin micogruve works also. I don't use CCI shot shell's, like Fedral,Remington,and Winchester better.
 
I have killed several squirell's at 30-40 feet using .22lr shot out of a rifle, i have a old Mossberg with "AK GRO GRUV" riffleing,this don't spin the shot as much as regular riffeing, giving better patern's, Malin micogruve works also. I don't use CCI shot shell's, like Fedral,Remington,and Winchester better.
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I'd have to see that; We found them ineffective on mice beyond 15 feet. They won't even perforate a soda can at that distance.
 
cci 22 mag shot shells are safe to use in the garage on mice with no ricochette (sp) concerns. Dad did it all the time with me next to him when I was a kid. Also know from expierience that a rodent at more than 25 ft will not perish from 22mag cci shot shells. It wil roll them over / stun them a bit but a close up followup is required to finish them off. Ruger single six was the firearm.
 
MachIVshooter; find a marlin or mossberg rifle like I have and you can see it anytime you like, make sure you don't use cci shotshells I find they are not as good as the others this may why most have poor luck.
 
I have a neighbor who built a house 450 feet from my pond (he built 50 feet from the property line on 2.5 acres!) . Because of him I can no longer get a shot off at things taking my geese on the pond from the direction of my deck. I use the #12 shot in .410 gauge and the #11 shot in a smoothbore .22 mag to kill rats and shoo racoons and opossums in his direction. I have fired in a 45 degree angle towards his house in a test with him checking and the shot does NOT reach his property line which is 400 feet away so he is happy. I use a 12 gauge with slugs in buck for other directions tho!
 
When I shoot my .22 target pistol with the CCI shot capsules in LR, I can kill a squirrel or chipmunk out to about ten feet, beyond that and it sometimes just wounds them.

I disassembled one of the blue shot capsules, counted all the pellets and was surprised that there were almost exactly 200 pellets!
 
I have never found the .22 LR shot shells to be useful on anything but carpenter bees and English sparrows out to about 10 yds. But out of a Single Six that was great fun!

At the range I couldn't find any holes on paper past 50 yd. and that was with extreme elevation.

If you want a quiet sub 25 yd squirrel stopper I'd recommend CCI .22 CB Longs. They have the same power level and dead silent operation out of a bolt action rifle as a CB but the longer case length allows them to cycle through LR magazines.

Out of bolt action rifles the only thing you hear is the hammer fall. When fired into modeling clay, this round had 3 X the penetration of a 1000 FPS .177 hunting style air gun pellet. I get full pass through on tree rats and they are usually DRT.
 
I use .22 shot for pigeons inside sheds so it won't ruin the tin. 15' is about the max range you can kill a pigeon at, so I wouldn't be too worried past 50 yards.
 
I used them a lot back on the farm on rats in the grainary. Effective range 6-8 feet max. with CCI mini-mag .22 LR shotshells, but I thought those were #13 shot. Rat's skin is thicker than a snake or bird's.
 
Unless you actually have one of the smooth bore .22 shotguns ("garden guns") of yesteryear ... they are about worthless.

IF you have said gun, you may extend your effectiveness to 15 yards... otherwise, 5 yards is about the maximum.
 
10-12 feet is about the max range for .22 shot shells. They are great for shooting vermin inside buildings, but that is about it. A small to moderate sized rat is about as big as they can handle.

I was goofing with them a few years ago and they will not penetrate paper at 50', and will not travel much farther than that.

I have found that .38/.357 shot shells are MUCH more effective and still have very limited range. If you have a revolver around, it may serve you much better.
 
I have a Remington 572SB (smooth bore) with the enlarged muzzle (for a few inches, choked a bit, I believe) and it is great out to about 15 yards..we used to sit in dad's basement and shoot the sparrows and starlings as they tried to land in the Martin house to nest before the martins returned.
Out of anything rifled, they suck.
Range...short, distance before they die...a little bit longer.
 
We were burning a stump out back for several days. I think on the second day a rat walked out of the hole smoldering. I had my naa .22mag loaded with cci shot. I shot him 5 times at a distance of less than 3 feet and he still got away.
 
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