22 Short in K22

jsfricks

jsfricks

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 7, 2012
Messages
2,679
Reaction score
5,867
Location
Kennesaw,Ga
After searching threads I'm unable to find anything about this. Can you safely short 22 Short in a K22 Pre 17 or 22/32 Kitgun. With 22 so hard to find I don't want my 22 Shorts to go to waste. Of course they will work in my Ruger 77/22 bolt action if I load them one at a time but would like to use them in my revolvers too.
 
Usually 22 shorts are much harder to find than LR. The short will leave a carbon ring in the chamber, but easily removed with regular cleaning and a good brushing. I heard locally that ammo was starting to be more available again, "provided the hoarders don't grab it all as soon as it hits the shelves".
 
22 Shorts are a favorite for rabbits and squirrels. There is a high speed version that's a little obnoxious, and a low speed ~ 650fps that has less bark and doesn't wander far in limited range shooting areas.
 
One of the advantages of the 22 LR has always been its ability to digest shorts and longs as well as long rifles. It probably won't be as accurate with them as with the LR because of twist, but at the short ranges at which most shots are taken using a revolver, they should do fine. I would reiterate the caution about cleaning out the carbon ring. I had a 22 HFT that had apparently been carried and shot extensively with shorts and it had developed a little ring at what would be the mouth location for a short case in each chamber. Unless squeaky clean it extracted LR cases with extreme difficulty. :( Otherwise, no problems! :D

Froggie
 
way back when my hands were steadier i took many a tree rat with .22 shorts from a mod 17 w/8 3/8" barrel. like they said above, scrub the chambers before you shoot LRs again. lee
 
+1 on the previous replies. I would also suggest for your 77/22 the Volquartsen magazine for the 10-22, modified to shoot .22 shorts. If you can find one, it works great in my 77/22 with shorts. Cleaning requirements remain as stated.
 
My K-22, as I suspect most are, is chambered a little tighter than my 17-8 or 63. Even when shooting LR's, I will occasionally run a copper brush through the chambers to help out the ejection.

There's certainly nothing wrong with shorts, but I would keep up with the brushing. With the .22 LR shortage I have been thinking about picking up some shorts. I actually have plenty of LR's, but might concentrate on keeping a few extra squirreled away and use the shorts while I'm getting that done.
 
.22 shorts are perfect for a lot of different kinds of shooting. Accuracy won't be an issue until you get beyond 80 or 90 feet. At least, that's been my experience. They are a bit quieter than .22lr as well. And yes, a little more scrubbing will be required.
 
I guess its fair to say "don't get your shorts in a bunch" over it. BB, CB, Shorts, longs and long rifles seem to work just fine. Long ago I was considering tossing out my "tornado" stainless steel brush because I feared for the chambers and rifling. But its really nothing to fear if you only use it in the chamber area. I have no idea if those are still available or not, but they were loops instead of individual bristles. The idea was they'd scrub the lead and hard powder fouling right out.

I don't even understand why I was afraid of it, since I shot LRs almost all the time. I always thought the bath tub ring I saw in chambers was lead, but I really don't know what the hard ring was made of. I know there were times when it took a lot of brushing to get rid of it, and then it might come back the next time I went shooting. I sure wish someone smart would step in here and explain what it is.
 
H Richard said:
Usually 22 shorts are much harder to find than LR. The short will leave a carbon ring in the chamber, but easily removed with regular cleaning and a good brushing.
Click to expand...

I can verify this. When I purchased my 17-6 K-frame several years ago, there was a distinct carbon ring in each cylinder chamber, left by the use of 22 shorts by the previous owner. Notwithstanding the fact that he/she should have thoroughly cleaned it before sale, a good, thorough soak with Hoppes #9 and a subsequent brushing cleaned it up nicely.
 
Main problem is that .22 Short can be difficult to find and are always more expensive than .22 LR.

Back when I first started shooting in the mid-1950s, .22 Shorts were 25 cents a box and Long Rifles were 40 cents. Guess which I shot the most.
 
K-22

My 1952 K-22 has shot everything from CB caps to LR to birdshot to blanks.. I have found the Mexican Aquilla ammo that does not have any powder but just a primer works great on ground squirrels at about 20ft.. Bullet passes through their heads and makes little noise..
 

Attachments

  • DCFC0054.JPG
    DCFC0054.JPG
    122.8 KB · Views: 12
DWalt said:
Main problem is that .22 Short can be difficult to find and are always more expensive than .22 LR.
Click to expand...

Not always sometimes you can find some where the price hasn't changed in decades.

IMG_0307_zps005acb72.jpg
 
Last edited:
Thanks for all the replies. I have ALOT of 22 LR but had a couple of 22 Shorts bricks sitting around that I didn't want to go to waste. I shot some of the short in my Model 18 today, and they were as accurate as the LR.
 
Since all the .22 LR in my area was hogged up by the hoarders I checked around the local gunshops and they seem to have lots of .22 shorts, longs and CBs. I've used them in my revolvers and rifles when I want to get rid of rats and grackels and didn't want to make a lot of noise.

SWCA 892
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top