Hi fellas. Don't know if this really belongs in this forum or this section of the forum, but I get the best and fastest responses here, so I wanted to ask, can I shoot modern .22 long (not long rifle, just long) out of an old Columbian Baby Hammerless (.22 long) revolver? The revolver was made approximately from 1893-1898, by the company that would eventually become Kolb and then Sedgley. I've read that smokeless powder was introduced in the .22 caliber ammunition in 1887, but does that mean that all .22 ammo would have been smokeless by 1893, or would my Columbian still have been manufactured for black powder pressures? If not modern .22 long, could I shoot modern .22 short out of it? The guy I'm buying it from says he shot .22 long rifle out of it. Maybe he got his nomenclature wrong and it was actually .22 long, as LR shouldn't fit? Thanks for your input fellas and gals.

IF you value an older gun, don't push it. What I'd suggest is you buy some CB Longs. They're just CCI rounds that use long cases and CB cap bullets. No powder, just a healthy priming charge to propel the bullet. They're fun and quiet to use. No pressure issues at all.

Probably safer than using modern shorts, surely easier on the gun than Hi Speed shorts.

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Dick Burg

Yeah, I have heard of them! Do they make them in .22 long? And what is a cap bullet?

Check out Aguila .22 Super Colibri also. Primer propelled and quite accurate at short range.

A CB cap and BB cap are very similar. CB stands for conical bullet, and BB is just a BB or round ball. They're loaded in standard shape cases, only the European ones are very short. CCI initiated the use of the long case and the conical bullets. They all just use a healthy priming charge. Its more than adequate to propel the bullet at or above pellet gun speeds. Very quiet and I assume no pressure to speak of. Kind of expensive, but no more than brand name ammo.

Many people use them for pest control in urban area's where noise might become an issue. They're reasonably accurate from a rifle out to at least 100' (the outside I've tested them). I think you'll be pleased.

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Dick Burg

These sound like just the ticket. Where can I get them, someplace like Midway or Brownell's? I saw a picture of the European ones with the very short cases on wikipedia, will they work as well? Thanks all.

Found 'em at Midway. Well, now that we've established that these would be best out of my old gun, anyone have the answer to my original question? Would .22 long ammo mfg. circa 1893 have been smokeless or black powder, and would most .22 revolvers have been built to handle smokeless? Thanks.

Most likely black powder. Smokeless powder was still very new in the 1890s.

.22 Long ammo doesn't develop nearly as much pressure as .22 LR does. I'm betting today's .22 L is just fine for your rifle. Even though that rifle was developed in Black Powder times I'm sure it was fired over the past 100+ years with smokeless .22 L ammo. Like I said, the pressure in .22 L ammo is nowhere near as high as in .22 LR ammo. The only reason .22 L ammo is still being made is for those old rifles.

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Freedom is never free!!
SWCA #3437

Arch, it's a revolver, but that probably doesn't make a difference. I wonder if I used modern .22 short (regular velocity) in my .22 long revolver, would that lower pressure be similar to or less than the pressure of a .22 long black powder round? For that matter, would that be similar to shooting .32 S&W shorts out of an old .32 S&W long revolver to be on the safe side? Know what I mean?

I believe if you will google ".22 rimfire pressure", you may reconsider using any of it in your revolver, except for the loads previously discussed. To me, it would not be worth taking the chance when there are readily available alternatives.

Good luck.

Winchester produced this type of black powder .22 Long up to the 1920's. They loaded .22‘s with Lesmok powder (a blend of BP and smokeless) well beyond then.

I would take rburg's advice.




How about some pictures of the Columbian Baby Hammerless?

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"I also cook."

Not to beat a dead horse, I mean I probably will just use the cb caps, but is the modern .22 short pressure considerably less than black powder .22 long? Thanks guys.

Other way around.

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"I also cook."

Oh wow. Okay, thanks.