What's the best accuracy/distance I can expect with 22 Short?

[Rockrivr1]

I recently inherited a very nice Winchester 1885 Low Wall rifle from my Dad. It's an old WW I training rifle marked with US and an ordinance bomb behind the hammer in 22 Short. The story behind it is that it was an Army training rifle that "walked" away from the range with one of my great uncles.

I'm wondering what people think would be a good expectation on shooting this rifle. Can 22 Short reach 100 yards or would it be like lobbing a ball with a high arch to even hit the target. I'll start at 25 yards and then walk it out, but just wondering if anyone has experience with 22 Short and it's characteristics.

Thanks

 

[beag_nut]

Well, I sometimes shoot shorts out of my Single-Ten. I know that they are twice as lethal as a typical air gun, but that's at short distances (20 yards, max). I suspect that a rifle chambered for shorts may have less muzzle velocity, since the extra barrel length may be a hindrance. Certainly, they are less noisy! That rifle would certainly be a keeper, if only for history. But it could also be a good pest reducer.

 

[Fyrstyk]

For hunting small game purposes (squirrels & rabbits etc) I would limit the range to 25-30 yards. For target purposes, the sky is the limit. I bet you can lob those little 29 grain pills into a target at 100 yards providing there is no wind to contend with.

 

[243winxb]

I have shot 22 short in a High Standard pistol, to 25 yards. The rate of twist in the barrel may have the most effect on accuracy.

If your rifles barrel is marked "22 Short" it should do ok. The copper plated 29 gr ammo has the higher velocity.

 

[bersaguy]

I've shot 22 shorts out to 100 yards....it has a rainbow trajectory, but I was able to get on paper with it. Can't remember the drop, but it was a couple few inches for sure

 

[starling]

22short was designed as a pistol cartridge from what I know. I have run it through pistols and youth rifles. seems to do fine at shorter ranges with the little cricket riffles. Be interesting to run a chronograph on it to compare rifle vs pistol velocities. I think beag_nut may be right. Nice plinking cartridge though. The kids like shooting it. Started my wife with it in a single action because she had never fired a gun before. Seems like CCI quiet 22 has kind of taken its place these days for a gallery gun type load...little bit heavier and slower....little cheaper as well.

Rockrivr1 .....Nice rifle BTW. Looks Fantastic.

 

[brewer12345]

With an actual 22 short chambered rifle, I would say it is a useful small game round to 50 yards, especially with the CCI 27 grain hollow points. In a short chambered rifle and a lever that likes shorts, I usually count on an inch group or so at 50 yards.

 

[HowieG]

A rainbow trajectory for sure, but it will still kill at quite a distance. I killed a jack rabbit at 75 yards with the round. The rabbit was moving so I led him a some and added some hold over and lobbed one out there. Surprised the heck out of me when that rabbit fell over.

The rifle was a Remington 511 Scoremaster that had so many shorts fired through it that there is a faint ring in the chamber where that short case ended. It's a family heirloom.

 

[Dave DeLaurant]

Depends on the loading, your rifle and whether you're indoors or outside. Shorts all move kinda slow, feature bullets with low ballistic coefficients and are more subject to wind drift than just about anything other than an air rifle pellet.

https://www.sierrabullets.com/exterior-ballistics/22-rimfire-ballistic-coefficients/

There are high-speed .22 Short loadings, but I haven't seen those around lately -- I included my last box when I sold my brother's .22 Short RG revolver. They tend leave a rifle muzzle right around the speed of sound at sea level. CB loadings run around 700 fps, and target Shorts run about 800 fps.

 

[berettaprofessor]

I commonly shoot a Browning SA-22 and a Ruger 10/22 in 22 short at 50 yards. Group size is not that different from a 22lr at that distance.

 

[earplug]

I hit a beer can about 60 yards away with a Beretta Minx.

 

[jmars]

I recently inherited a very nice Winchester 1885 Low Wall rifle from my Dad. It's an old WW I training rifle marked with US and an ordinance bomb behind the hammer in 22 Short. The story behind it is that it was an Army training rifle that "walked" away from the range with one of my great uncles.

I'm wondering what people think would be a good expectation on shooting this rifle. Can 22 Short reach 100 yards or would it be like lobbing a ball with a high arch to even hit the target. I'll start at 25 yards and then walk it out, but just wondering if anyone has experience with 22 Short and it's characteristics.

Thanks

View attachment 1058691

That is a beautiful rifle. Does it have a rear sight?

 

[Rockrivr1]

That is a beautiful rifle. Does it have a rear sight?

It does. It has a peep sight that my dad took off for some reason. From what I can see it easily attaches back with two screws that are in a small baggy with the sight. From a google search the sight looks like this one.

 

[Dave DeLaurant]

Since it hasn't been mentioned so far, isn't this rifle commonly referred to as a 'Winder Musket'?

https://surplused.com/index.php/2020/05/15/the-model-1885-winder-muskets/

 

[Carl N. Brown]

I have found .22 short mostly 29 grain bullets at
_ "CB" velocity 720 feet per second for 33 foots/pounds impact energy,,
_ standard velocity 1060 fps for 72 ft/lbs and
_ high velocity up to 1300 fps for 109 ft/lbs.
I found performance of the old Winchester yellow box .22 short high velocity surprizing out of my Marlin 39.

 

[adcoch1]

I've knocked over a few rabbits with shorts, and one squirrel. All were within 30 yards and did the job with good shot placement. I've only shot at targets a few times, and the groups for me started falling apart over 50 yards. I could hit a soda can half the time with the single six at 100 yards, but I really had to pay attention.

 

[J-Bar]

With .22 shorts in my JC Higgins bolt action rifle, I could count on Minute of Rat at the city dump out to 25 yards. This was back in 1960 when you could still do that sort of thing.

 

[chicharrones]

I recently inherited a very nice Winchester 1885 Low Wall rifle from my Dad. It's an old WW I training rifle marked with US and an ordinance bomb behind the hammer in 22 Short. The story behind it is that it was an Army training rifle that "walked" away from the range with one of my great uncles.

I'm wondering what people think would be a good expectation on shooting this rifle. Can 22 Short reach 100 yards or would it be like lobbing a ball with a high arch to even hit the target. I'll start at 25 yards and then walk it out, but just wondering if anyone has experience with 22 Short and it's characteristics.

Thanks

View attachment 1058691

That looks like a nice rifle. Congrats.

I've only fired shorts out of my Marlin 39 to increase magazine capacity and to pop targets of opportunity like using a gallery gun.

I sure would like to hear how your rifle shoots, considering the chamber is cut specifically for shorts.