.22LR CB troubles

[rusty65]

I recently purchased a Henry Lever Action .22 which is advertised as being able to cycle and fire 22 lr, longs, and shorts, so I assumed it would also be able to cycle and fire CB rounds. However, I have tried to fire both CB longs and CB shorts through it with no success. Load it up, cock it, pull the trigger, nothing.

I wrote an email to Henry asking about this, and they say that their lever action .22 is not designed or built to fire CBs, yet I have seen countless posts and videos on the internet of people whose Henry lever action 22s cycle and fire the CB ammunition just fine. I also asked in my email if Henry sold a stronger spring that would allow my 22 to fire the CBs, and the answer was again no.

So, my question is, is there any feasible way for me to get my Henry 22 to fire these CB rounds? Would a stronger spring work if it were the same diameter, and would that be a smart path to take? And would a local gunshop be able to take care of this for me, legally?

 

[Jason_G]

My personal opinion, is that I would leave the CBs alone in a rifle. Even if you got the ignition troubles sorted out, that's a fairly long barrel for that round to travel down, without much umph behind it. I know there are folks that have used them in their rifles, but I can't help but think that it must at least increase the likelihood of a round getting stuck in the barrel. Especially if it is already leaded. Perhaps paranoia on my part, and I openly admit that it might be, but again, I won't run them in my rifles.

YMMV.

Jason

 

[clone]

If it is feeding and ejecting them then there is no reason that it shouldn't fire them. 22lr head spaces from the rim and there shouldn't be much difference in the rim thickness. Also the CB's aren't any harder to set off than any other round. I regularly shoot CCI CB shorts in my Remington 512, that will feed anything, with no problems.

Check that the rounds haven't in fact fired and gotten stuck in the barrel.

 

[chicharrones]

Strange indeed. Page 8 of the Henry manual states that the Henry can handle LR, Long, and Shorts. http://www.henryrepeating.com/pdf/lever_action_manual.pdf

Rusty, does your Henry cycle the ammo you have in and out of the gun successfully? Also, does your rifle feed, fire, and eject Long Rifle successfully?

 

[rusty65]

Yeah, it will cycle and fire regular lr ammo just fine, and both types of Cb rounds will cycle properly as well, just not fire. Also, none of the Cbs ever fired, and the barrel is free of obstructions.

 

[chicharrones]

Unless somehow you got a Henry chambered for .22 Magnum I'd have to guess that you got a bad batch of ammo. I don't have the Henry, but my Marlin 39 fires all those types as consistently as rimfire ammo can be.

 

[Bushpilot]

There is no reason why your Henry shouldn't fire the CB caps. Are you getting a good dent in the rim of the cases? Is your Henry firing standard 22 LR ammo with out any problems? Try your CB caps in another 22 if you can and make sure they aren't the problem. If they work in another 22 then call Henry back tell them you want your rifle fixed.

 

[1madss]

That is odd. I've shot the CCI CBs through every rimfire gun I have. My 39a and Winchester 62a chew right through them. Even my Marlin 60's will fire them, I just have to manually cycle the bolt.

I don't believe the threat of a bullet getting stuck in the barrel is as much of a risk with the CCI CBs as some of the other brands of "CBs". The CCI still has a small amount of a powder charge while the Aguila Super Colibri ammo are primer only.

Do the rounds that are FTF have a firing pin strike mark on the case?

Also might want to post your question here;
http://www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=67

Lots of loyal Henry customers, and occasionally a Henry employee with a ton of experience with the brand. It seems that Henry is always able to get even the most irate of customers satisfied

 

[boshoot]

I use CCI cb shorts in several rifles and hand guns, never had a problem with missfires, I would try the ammo in another gun, might just be a defective batch of ammo.

 

[tubeshooter]

I agree with 1madss, I feel okay about using the CCI brand CBs in a rifle. They seem to have more mustard on them, but there is a noise tradeoff.

I am kind of scared to use Super Colibri in my 39A at this point. I'll reserve them for revolver use.



I also think it sounds like a bad batch of ammo. Try them in another gun if possible.

 

[rcmodel]

A friend bought a new Henry last winter and I used Aquila Colbri and CCI CB Longs in it in the basement.

Both worked just fine in it.

BTW: Aquila Colbri has no powder.
Super Colbri uses more primer compound and gives higher velocity then Colbri.

I have used several bricks of Colbri over the years in function testing and preliminary sighting in rifles in the basement.

Never ever had one stick in the barrel on anything.

And I agree with the others.
There is no differance in CB's and regular .22 ammo as far as headspace, case rim hardness, or firing it goes.

If your gun will shoot Shorts, Longs, and Long Rifles, it should shoot CB just fine too.

rc

 

[bigfatdave]

To start out, I run CB shorts in my H001L all the time, and they run just fine

Possible causes (in no particular order):
.22wmr rifle
bad batch of CB ammo
something wrong with the gun in the first place

Seeing the firing pin mark on these non-fired CB rounds might clear up the mystery.
Knowing if these CB rounds light off in other guns might help, too.
RimfireCentral has a dedicated Henry subforum, AND rimfire ammo sub-forums ... and most of the people there run CB rounds through as well.

 

[Kiln]

I've used Colibri ammo in my rifles extensively because of the low noise (nearly silent) and have had no issues. I don't waste them in pistols because it is almost as loud as a .22 short from them.

Strange that they feed properly but still won't fire in your rifle. As another poster mentioned, maybe they had a bad batch of ammo. Are the rims getting struck well or is it just lightly kissing the rim? Checking the indentation can often tell you if it is a problem with the gun or ammo.

 

[rusty65]

Thanks for all the responses guys.

As far as it being a bad batch of ammo, ive purchased two separate boxes from 2 different companies (CCI and Winchester), and neither fired (but would cycle and eject just fine) :banghead: I also considered contacting Henry and asking them to fix it, but their service representative said that they are not designed or intended to fire CB rounds (even though it seems everyone else can successfully use them), so i doubt they would take it upon themselves to "fix" it.

Im probably just going to end up taking it to the closest gunsmith and seeing if he can do something for me, but thanks again!

 

[rusty65]

I just went out and gave firing it another shot.

It failed to fire just like it has been, and i checked the rim afterwards - it didnt have any marks on it whatsoever. Still looked like it had just come out of the box.

 

[Rail Driver]

Sounds like a broken firing pin. Have you dry fired the gun extensively?

 

[bigfatdave]

As there is no real difference between a .22shortCB round's rim and a regular .22lr round's rim ... ... something isn't right.

I suggest that you contact Henry again, after trying a selection of .22short, short CB, and long rifle ammo.

And not to be a jerk, but you're 100% sure that the gun runs .22lr ammunition?