The most useless but beautiful .22 rifle I have seen.

[Armybrat]

Instead of

My brother has a little rifle that shoots salt crystals for flying insects.

The Bug-A-Salt gun.

 

[earlthegoat2]

We had a woodpecker pecking holes in our cedar siding growing up. My dad tried a few things to no avail and then someone from his work mentioned 22 bird shot. He had never heard of it up until then even though he had done a fair bit of pest control around the farm he grew up on and was a hunter.

The ol man went straight to the True Value hardware and bought a box of Federals. Took a crack at Woody and he flew away never to return again.

He gets bats in his barn here and there and has gotten a few with the remainder of those shotshells. Still about half out of 50 left.

He was shooting a rifled barrel Ithaca 49.

 

[entropy]

I used them on bats in our attic.

 

[doubleh]

Yeah, I think I’d rather grab a hoe for snakes than a .22 LR shotshell in anything. Both have the same effective range.

Back when I was a kid I shot snakes but never with snake shot. Then I decided a hoe, shovel, or just a rock would get the job done. Finally I decided to simply walk around them and let them continue their job of helping rid the world of vermin.

 

[P89DCSS]

I never knew smooth bore 22 was a thing. After reading this thread I figured I could find aftermarket 10/22 or similar smooth bore barrels but nope.

 

[Armored farmer]

I remember the crimped 22 shotshells.
I thought they were pretty useless out of my rifle and revolver, which is generally the case out of any rifled barrel. They likely work much better in a smoothbore.

 

[usaral63]

We had a woodpecker pecking holes in our cedar siding growing up. My dad tried a few things to no avail and then someone from his work mentioned 22 bird shot. He had never heard of it up until then even though he had done a fair bit of pest control around the farm he grew up on and was a hunter.

The ol man went straight to the True Value hardware and bought a box of Federals. Took a crack at Woody and he flew away never to return again.

He gets bats in his barn here and there and has gotten a few with the remainder of those shotshells. Still about half out of 50 left.

He was shooting a rifled barrel Ithaca 49.

A 'good ol boy" I once hunted with that proclaimed he never saw an antler he could eat told me in all seriousness that the 'godalmighys' as he called 'em, (pileated WP's)' were delicious.

 

[CraigC]

.22 rat shot might have the range of a hoe out of a revolver but in a smoothbore "rifle" it's a different story. I've long wanted to try a garden gun but never came together with one.

I never knew smooth bore 22 was a thing. After reading this thread I figured I could find aftermarket 10/22 or similar smooth bore barrels but nope.

Not enough backpressure to cycle an automatic.

 

[Carl N. Brown]

For a long time, the standard .22 LR shotshell was the full length .22 LR cartridge brass shell crimped at the end. Some .22s have problems with extracting or ejecting the classic full length crimped casings.

CCI introduced a .22 LR shotshell with a CCI Stinger length case with a bullet shaped plastic shot capsule. The CCI is usually the only .22 LR shotshell I can find if a sporting goods or gun shop has any .22 LR shotshells.

CCI then introduced a .22 Magnum shotshell with a plastic shot capsule.

None of the rimfire shotshells will function a semi-auto action.

Illustrated left to right:
Federal Classic .22 LR Bird Shot
CCI Shotshell 22 LR (plastic shot capsule)
CCI Stinger 22 LR (same extra long case)
CCI Standard Velocity 22 LR (standard long case)
CCI Shotshell 22 WMR (plastic shot capsule)

Ballistics

Federal .22 LR crimped brass shot shell
Shot size: #12 or #10
Shot weight: 25 grains
Velocity: 1000 ft per sec

CCI .22 LR capsule shot shell
Shot size: #12
Shot weight: 31 grains (1/15 ounce)
Velocity: 1000 ft per sec

CCI .22 Magnum capsule shot shell
Shot size: #12
Shot weight: 52 grains (1/8 ounce)
Velocity: 1000 ft per sec

 

[codytrucker]

Now that's an idea that would be cool if it caught back on . Seems like a serious sparrow / starling ,rat shooter at closer ranges , but for an around the ranch / farm gun , would need to be available more of a utility " economical" grade of gun , a plain single shot break action , or a cheap bolt , maybe a pump.


It would be neat if someone would come out with a 410 "mini " shell like they have in 12 gauge ,maybe 1 1/2 - 1 3/4 with a plain wad so a plastic shot cup wouldn't wind up breaking stuff . Maybe 3/8's oz. at 8 or 900 fps ?

 

[21H40]

If you have a smoothbore, don't you use rifled slugs? Does Foster make 22's?

 

[Sudden Thunder]

Mosquitos in Oklahoma get huge lol. Like they escaped from Chernobyl or something!

Those are just stray mosquitoes from the southeastern United States wandering north!

 

[natman]

Shooting 22 shotshells in a rifled barrel makes the shot column spin, so you end up with a rapidly dispersing doughnut shaped pattern, with shot everywhere except where you aim. From a rifled barrel the effective pattern lasts for about 10 feet. Shot from a smoothbore barrel will triple the effective pattern distance, but that's still only 10 yards. Second, the #12 shot used in 22 shotshells is called "dust shot" for a reason. It runs out of steam quickly no matter how good your pattern is.

 

[Hokkmike]

Thanks all for your many responses.

 

[teerex.otw]

Maybe in the lower 48, in AK you'd be under gunned.

Same in Ms.
Our ‘skeeters (state bird) seem to have developed not only resistance, but quite a taste for bug spray…
Skeeter: “Ha-ha, ‘zat all you got ?”

 

[kBob]

Some of the Savage 6 series semi autos will cycle Crimped bird shot. More often than not.

For whatever reason holding the trigger back longer between shots seems to help cycling

I suspect the Rat-shot does not push the bolt fully to the rear, but far enough to allow the trigger to lock back the bolt.

If you are unfamiliar with the old “click-clack” rifles, the bolt stays locked back as long as you hold the trigger back and is released when you release the trigger for reset…. the resulting sound gives those guns their nick names.

Some will also cycle .22 CBLongs in that way.

The Stevens models of the later years can cycle S,L, & LR ….. some of us are old enough that that was a useful thing. Yes, when just plinking I did mix all three types on a single magazine tube and had no issues.

When playing at plinking a tube with 21 shorts in it, it was a hoot and a half when the other boys only had 14 shots of LR. Ten cans at 20 paces could not tell the difference between a short and LR and in the way back Shorts were actually cheaper.

I found out about my rifle’s ability to cycle Rat-shot when another boy bet me it would not. He spotted me three rounds of his Rat-shot and he lost the other 27 rounds in his box when he lost the bet.

I then learned how useless the rat-shot was in rifled barrels and how scary it could be in a concrete floored metal building!

I shot some in the yard about three years back when we were having mouse issues in the old barn.

…. and yet I made it to collect Social Security with both eyes intact.

-kBob

 

[natman]

Those are just stray mosquitoes from the southeastern United States wandering north!

The big ones from Louisiana chased them out.

 

[doubleh]

I worked with a guy from Louisiana that served two years in Alaska with the Air Force. He said you have heard of Louisiana mosquitoes, how big they are, and their numbers. Well, Alaska mosquitoes are bigger, badder, and there are more of them.

 

[natman]

I worked with a guy from Louisiana that served two years in Alaska with the Air Force. He said you have heard of Louisiana mosquitoes, how big they are, and their numbers. Well, Alaska mosquitoes are bigger, badder, and there are more of them.

I haven't experienced Alaskan mosquitos, but I did have an experience with Canadian ones. My wife and I were in Banff, and we rented a canoe and paddled up the river. I needed to pee, so we pulled over to the shore. I got out, stepped a few feet inland and unzipped. I was midstream when a gray cloud surrounded me. My only thought was to keep shaking it so they couldn't land. As soon as I was done, I ran back to the canoe and shouted to my wife to get ready to paddle. I hopped into the canoe and we paddled like mad to get to the middle of the river, trailing the gray cloud behind us. As soon as we got back into the sun they gave up.

If you were caught out there without repellant or netting they'd eat you alive.

 

[Picher]

Many years ago I bought some .22 LR shotshells and hadn't yet tried them in my handgun. My buddy and I were at a local open-pit dump and I was standing on the edge of the access road, so I decided to test-pattern the round in my handgun. I was aiming at a large can about 15 feet away, when my peripheral vision picked-up movement about a foot from my left boot toe...a RAT! So, I moved my foot away and blasted the rat with 144 tiny pellets from one shot from the old handgun. It was quite effective, making a pattern almost 2" across...from only about 4 feet away!!! Red dots appeared all over the back of the rat and he passed to the great beyond within a few seconds. However, the actual distance was only about 3 feet, so I didn't think much of the lethality of the load at ranges beyond about 6 feet...at least on tough vermin.

 

[tubeshooter]

My LGS has one of these for sale. The green/black wood stock didn't strike me as "beautiful", but rather "strangely alluring in a weird sort of way".

It's interesting to read this thread and see the true purpose of the gun. Carpenter bees should tremble at the sight of it.


The shop owner seems a little bummed about having it around. He's had a few nibbles, but no takers. He even has some shotshell ammo he's evidently willing to throw in. I think it's interesting, but not quite enough to pay the asking price. Not yet, anyway. When you've about run out of things to buy, curious items like this might start to pique your interest...

 

[Hookeye]

Dunno how it'd work on chipmunks in flowers by patio.
Would be a hoot to kick back and poof carpenter bees

 

[Buckeye63]

In the 30’s my Grandfather own a Country Store / Feed & Farm supply/ live stock establishment..
He had a smooth bore 22 LR .. Remington single shot .. Model
33 only sight was a brass bead front sight ..
My brother has it now …. He used it for rodent control… really filled the bill …