I'd like to see .22 long rifle loaded with rubber bullets for backyard practice. It would penetrate a paper target, but still be quiet enough to keep the neighbors happy.

When I was a kid, I used to do a lot of dumb stuff.

One thing I did was take a .22 cartridge, pull the bullet out, dump the powder and then stick the case down into a block of paraffin, like a cookie cutter.

I used to shoot thoese across the room, in the house! I don't know how accurate they were, but they sure would punch holes in papaer.

Probably the closest commercial item to what you want is the Aquila Colibri 22 LR ammo carried by Midway.

Ballistics are listed as a 20 grain bullet at 375 FPS. Per the reviews posted it worked fine in a S&W trvolver though it seems to me that in the Midway catalog it is not recommended for revolvers.

Correction, not recommended for rifles due to risk of stuck bullets in the bore.

Still could do damage but even a pellet trap should stop it fine.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Rich W,

You can shoot just about anything out of a handgun that you can stuff into a case.

The Border Patrol's Bill Jordan wrote about using wax bullets for practice back in the 50's. (Note you have to drill out the primer hole, and then the cases are good for wax bullets only).
I've tried 'em, and they work.

I took a shot at a marauding dog with wax in a .45acp one day but probably missed. The noise was nothing.

I've stuffed little pieces of wood dowel rod in .22lr cases. When my dad found out, he made me quit pulling the bullets.

I've made many hundreds of shot rounds in .38 & .45Colt cases. One day Bill Wacaser, myself, and a farmer killed over 100 rats on a hog farm. And for every one we got, we missed 4 more. That farmer used to load shot in a black-powder muzzle-loading pistol and shoot mice and rats in his barn. (I'd test my loads on a potato. If they tore up a potato, they'd work on a rat.)

A young friend got a .41 cal inexpensive caplock muzzleloader from Dixie. He didn't have any lead balls, so he wrapped a ball bearing tightly with paper and tried that. With just some black powder, that ball bearing went through the cardboard holding his target, a piece of wood holding up the cardboard, a plywood splashstop, both sides of an old wood box holding everything up, and clear through the garage wall!! If you want cheap armor-piercing, just use any cheap non-deforming projectile. I later got a couple and loaded them with .410 wads and shot for hunting rabbits in brush so tight you couldn't swing a shotgun barrel.

Conversely, I've loaded round lead ball in a .410 shotgun.

Then there's the famous old Rock-salt-in-12ga for miscreants raiding your truck (vegetable) patch.

The British and French sailing warships used what they called 'langrel' loads, which was loading any loose metal laying about into a cannon and firing it away. I haven't stooped to that yet, but maybe someday...

KeithCarter
NRA Life

Hmmm, the wax load sounds like something I want to try....

I wounder if you could use a potato? Form fitting....

I will second the Colibri.

I go through many thousands of these each year. Both in and around the house and as the initial load for new shooters.

Almost no bang even in a model 17, no recoil, no flinch. It is a great starter load.

In my lever action, the loudest noise is the hammer striking the firing pin. The second loudest noise is the projectile hitting the target. The shot itself is almost silent.