I wouldn't say that it's dying exactly, but it has suffered a serious decline from its heyday. I'm old enough to remember when a box of 22 Shorts was considerably cheaper than a box of Long Rifles, but those days are gone. You don't see many guns chambered in Short Only anymore either.
Is the .22 Short dying?
- Thread starter Texasred
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Finprof
Member
The .22 short used to be fired in Olympic rapid-fire events and several manufacturers made guns specifically for them. High Standard made one of their target guns for shorts, but it was mostly the Euro guns like Hammerli and Walther. The short has less recoil than a long rifle and could be brought back on target more quickly. Now the high-end manufacturers catering to ISSF shooting have recoil reduction devices in their pistols that eliminate the recoil, so long rifle is used for all events now.
C-grunt
Member
My uncle still uses the short to dispatch hogs in his traps.
brotus2
Member
I love to shoot my two Model 90's in 22 short. Great starter for the kids, too.
351 WINCHESTER
Member
Back in the day most stores sold shorts, long & long rifles. Shorts were about .20 cheaper per 50 & longs were about .10. Most rifles back then shot all 3. Now it's much cheaper to buy long rifles and most guns only shoot them.
T Bran
Member
I have an old Winchester take down gallery gun chambered in .22 short it was my daddys rabbit gun. Hate to think of the ammo going away since I still shoot it now and then for sentimental reasons. Its so quiet with .22CB you have to look at the spent casing to see if it fired. Not much use for one these days but they are still fun to shoot!
T
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Elbert P . Suggins
Member
Back in the late fifties when growing up and just starting to shoot, I used shorts in a bolt action Savage for target practice. One day dad came to the house and got the Savage to put a cow down that had cancer eye and she was suffering in the heat of summer. A well placed bullet between the eyes usually would do the job but not in this case. Not with a clip full of 22 shorts. He shot her five times and she just got madder and madder. They wouldn't even penetrate her skull. He had to go back to the house to get long rifles after figuring out why that ole cow was so hard headed. They would bust glass but they wouldn't go thru bone at 20 feet.
barnetmill
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It used to be that carnivals had gallery shooting which pumpacton .22's that were fired with shorts. Perhaps some galley rifles were .22 short only chambered. There use to be a .22 short rocket that was a little higher speed with a short/lighter bullet. I believe it was meant to shatter and not rebound when hitting the back stop.
I read story years ago about some kid in idaho with a .22 short in a pistol that decided to see if it would penetrate an elephants skin. Supposedly the elephant died. Perhaps the slug reached a vein and caused an embolism.
I read story years ago about some kid in idaho with a .22 short in a pistol that decided to see if it would penetrate an elephants skin. Supposedly the elephant died. Perhaps the slug reached a vein and caused an embolism.
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sansone
Member
my 20ga pump is the go-to for pest control.
I don't shoot the 12 anymore
aka108
Member
When I was a little kid in the late 40's a box of 22 shorts cost about 30 cents. The long rifle, which everyone preferred was about 45 cents. We'd buy shorts when our money was tight, long rifle when we were "flush rich" with extra change. Now the shorts are more expensive than the more commonly use low end 22 rfs and hard to find. I noted in a earlier post that someone mentioned the 22 short would die alongside the Win 30-30. I think the 30-30 will be around about as long as the 30-06 will be. Well into the end of this century, politics allowing. Still the best brush gun for white tail deer in the East and Southeast you can get. The '06 will handle anything else.
Dr T
Member
Just remember that the 22 short was one of the first commercial cartridges ever produced (1857) and has been in continuous production ever since. Sure, the powder is now smokeless (not black) and the primers are now non-corrosive, but how many other commercial products can you think of that have been in continuous production in a relatively unchanged state for 154 YEARS?
bhk
Member
Absolutely. And back then it wasn't even called the .22 short (because there was no long or long rifle). I believe it was just called the .22 Smith and Wesson, at least to begin with. It was first chambered in the Smith and Wesson Model 1, a seven-shot revolver. I have one of these - they are kind of neat.
Rail Driver
Member
They're great for short range pest control and idle plinking. I keep a pile of them stocked up for "rainy days".
GooseGestapo
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I still have a "soft spot" for the .22short. I used to before 1968, buy them at the local Economy Auto hardware store (CIL brand), for 27cents a box. Hollow Points were 34cents (what I ususally bought), but LongRifles were 69cents and hp's were 74cents. I've got an old Mossberg 341KA that with the CIL's would shoot dime groups at 25yds with the short hp's. Killed many, many squirrels after school with it.
Nowdays, it's the bargain bulk pack .22lr's that are cheaper. Last box of CCI .22short HP's I bought cost me over $8/100 !!!. But they sure are fun through my S&W 2" Mod34
Whats strange is that the CCI "CB's" are loaded to short "standard" velocity level (800fps). Only .22shorts you can find anymore are the .22short HighVelocity loads that AREN'T "sub-sonic" standard velocity, and nearly as loud as the .22lr's.
Nowdays, it's the bargain bulk pack .22lr's that are cheaper. Last box of CCI .22short HP's I bought cost me over $8/100 !!!. But they sure are fun through my S&W 2" Mod34
Whats strange is that the CCI "CB's" are loaded to short "standard" velocity level (800fps). Only .22shorts you can find anymore are the .22short HighVelocity loads that AREN'T "sub-sonic" standard velocity, and nearly as loud as the .22lr's.
clutch
Contributing Member
Shorts are used in replica Gatling guns. One seller of plans D&E's version shoots shorts. RGG shoots LR.
Szumi
Szumi
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