How quickly can you work a Single Shot .22 rimfire?

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whm1974

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So this story gotten from another thread I started in Reloading... About an old Cree woman in Canada who managed to kill a record grizzly with multiple shots from a single shot rifle in .22 long...

She up close to the bear when she did this too. So just fast can a person operating a single shot rifle firing multiple rounds? I didn't that what she done was even possible, not even remotely....

Can any of one of you folks do this?
https://www.ammoland.com/2017/06/be...-world-record-grizzly-and-more/#axzz6MwGmqKPS
 
It would depend on the single shot, some you can just put a round in and close the bolt. Others you have to feed the round into the chamber. I've shot a lot of single shots, I quite like them.

The cci 50 round packs in a pocket just right can be easy to pick rounds from, I use the pinch style of loading. Pinching with the thumb and index finger, the rim is held by the index fingernail and chambered. Works for me and I have far fingers and nerve damage.

never timed myself but 10-15 a minute sounds doable.
 
The only quick follow up shots I've ever done with a single shot was with my old Winchester 37A 12 gauge, that I kept a 5 round ammo cuff on the buttstock.

On one dove hunt I was on back in the day, I was in position where dove were coming straight at me. I could take a shot on a bird coming at me, and when I missed I could reload and take a shot on the same bird as it flew away. That break barrel 37A had a strong ejector that made it possible.

I almost never hit dove coming at me, but hitting them going away was virtually a sure thing. I never learned how to lead a bird that the barrel covered my view. :confused:
 
troy fairweather said:
It would depend on the single shot, some you can just put a round in and close the bolt. Others you have to feed the round into the chamber. I've shot a lot of single shots, I quite like them.

The cci 50 round packs in a pocket just right can be easy to pick rounds from, I use the pinch style of loading. Pinching with the thumb and index finger, the rim is held by the index fingernail and chambered. Works for me and I have far fingers and nerve damage.

never timed myself but 10-15 a minute sounds doable.
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I was thinking break action, until looked closer at a pic of the rifle. Nope, it is a bolt. I wonder how much ammo Bell had on her at the time?

Were there sayings in Canada after this Event, like "Only a Cree is crazy enough to hunt bear with a .22"?
 
Bolt action single shots are not about speed. They are about accuracy. That's why it was, and should still be, the quintessential boy's rifle. They are the perfect firearm to learn safe gun handling and the importance of trigger manipulation and sight picture. With practice you can hit a running jack. I've done it. You won't hit every time, but you will hit often. And probably get more jacks per shot that with a semiauto or pump.
 
jeepnik said:
Bolt action single shots are not about speed. They are about accuracy. That's why it was, and should still be, the quintessential boy's rifle. They are the perfect firearm to learn safe gun handling and the importance of trigger manipulation and sight picture. With practice you can hit a running jack. I've done it. You won't hit every time, but you will hit often. And probably get more jacks per shot that with a semiauto or pump.
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I know they are not about speed... I was just suprised that Belle Bell was able to work any single shot .22 fast enough and accurent enough to put down a grizzly at close range. Especially with a single shot that cocking is aextra step...
https://www.huntinggearguy.com/rimfire/cooey-ace-single-shot-22lr/
 
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troy fairweather said:
The bear was dead with one shot, she just put more in the near for insurance.
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I do find it nearly impossible to believe that a large grizzly can be killed with one shot of .22 Long... I know that the Cree were renown for their hunting and shooting skills, but still.
 
whm1974 said:
I do find it nearly impossible to believe that a large grizzly can be killed with one shot of .22 Long... I know that the Cree were renown for their hunting and shooting skills, but still.
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So this is just my opinion.....
One little bullet getting into exactly the right place with the critter unaware, or at least unalarmed, might well we better than a dozen big ones going into the mostly right place when its pissed.
From watching stuff die, id be willing to bet that if the first bullet didnt at least stun the bear (and more likely slip into the brain somewhere important) a dozen of them wouldnt have helped any.

Sheer luck sometimes wins out, and if its backed by innate skill, practice.and knowledge, odds get better.

But i could be way off base, ive never even seen a bear in person.


As to how quickly one can work a single shot, as stated it depends on the gun. A bolt gun that will chamber a round without inserting it into the chamber, or a break actions, pretty bloody quick.
Most of my experience is with a break action 20ga, and I could load and fire two or three shots pretty fast. What little experience I have with .22lrs, I couldnt load or fire much faster than a round every 10-15 seconds.
 
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LoonWulf said:
So this is just my opinion.....
One little bullet getting into exactly the right place with the critter unaware, or at least unalarmed, might well we better than a dozen big ones going into the mostly right place when its pissed.
From watching stuff die, id be willing to bet that if the first bullet didnt at least stun the bear (and more likely slip into the brain somewhere important) a dozen of them wouldnt have helped any.

Sheer luck sometimes wins out, and if its its by inate skill, practice.and knowledge, odds get better.

But i could be way off base, ive never even seen a bear in person.
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Aside from polar bears at the St Louis Zoo, never had I.
 
More like "How quickly can you make the first shot really count?"

Great story. Thanks for sharing.

To address the original question, I'll have to reflect back to experience with my Dad's Winchester Model 67. I figure on a good day I can manage around an aimed shot every two seconds. Mind you, that isn't a well aimed shot.....
 
When the animals anatomy is know, a 22 in the right spot will kill about anything. The side of a bears skull is not to think there, maybe 1/4 at most. I've killed a few cows with 22s and they were 1500-2000 pounds, the skull it very thin between the eyes, some farmers even like 22 shorts or cb longs because there more quite.

There was even a hunter in Africa or India that would sit in trees and shoot elephants in the ear with a revolver.
 
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Seriously depends on the gun. A break action with ejectors would be quickest probably. I have heard stories and seen video of the poor boys home defense shotgun which is a cut down cheap single shot 12 or 20 and a butt sock full of buckshot. With a break action shotgun they can rock it to about 20-25 rds a minute. A 22 wouldn’t be quite as fast, but I think 18-20 is doable.
 
I would imagine that necessity is the mother of invention in Cree culture as well and that a lifetime of lean times and having to fill the pot made Belle a lot handier with that 22 than any of us. As to using it on a grizzly, I would imagine that poor judgment, strong drink, or intense optimism for her into it and a life of darn fine shooting, and a modicum of luck, saw her through.
 
DocRock said:
I would imagine that necessity is the mother of invention in Cree culture as well and that a lifetime of lean times and having to fill the pot made Belle a lot handier with that 22 than any of us. As to using it on a grizzly, I would imagine that poor judgment, strong drink, or intense optimism for her into it and a life of darn fine shooting, and a modicum of luck, saw her through.
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Now I'm having the thought the she was out there actually hunting bear with a .22 rifle on purpose.
 
My first firearm was a Marlin 15 single-shot .22... if the ammo is at hand it can be quite quick, but if you are fumbling for ammo, not so much.
 
Charlie98 said:
My first firearm was a Marlin 15 single-shot .22... if the ammo is at hand it can be quite quick, but if you are fumbling for ammo, not so much.
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Should be a lot easier then a break barrel .177 Cal pellet rifle. I must have been seven the first time I watchedsome teen work one of those who had really fat fingers multiple times quickly. He then walked over a few yards maybe and pick four dead squirrels with head shots.

At the time they looked like starving rats with bushy tails...
 
I thought that requiring an extra step to cock a rifle is a rather strange thing to do... I didn't if that was done to simplified product and lower cost, or to slow a kid down so said kid will learn to shoot properly... It's a safety...
 
I shot 40+ chipmunk in a morning with a Winchester 67 single shot bolt action I found in my grandfathers closets after he passed. It was in neglected shape and did not shoot anything super sonic well but it was pretty good with subsonic ammo so with a pocket full of CCI CB longs I tore up some chipmunks one warm sunny spring morning. I shot three without moving my feet, "rapidly" reloading from my left front shirt pocket. Thankfully none of them chose to charge me as I might not have survived if I missed that first first shot. It was a good morning...
 
Tommygunn said:
I'm not sure how fast I could manage this.


I would find the presence of an approaching Grizzly to be ..... encouraging ....:D
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Ii I was gambler I would bet that the vast majority of people will freeze and crap themselves or flee and get eaten alive...

Reminds of the the movie "The Edge" where a party of a plane crash get chased man eating bear(grizzly or Kodak) chases them later the sole black guy is grabbed screaming....
 
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