Got to ask...22 short in a 22 long rifle

H

hunter22mag

New member
Have read up on it but cant seem to get a definite answer.
Will modern 22 short ammo cause damage/ loss of accuracy in a 22 long rifle firearm?
Some say to just clean it often ( no problem) some say it’s fine, others say never ever.
My savage mark ii will actually cycle them except for the last round.
Reason why I’m asking is if I have the opportunity to trap this season I’d like to just use one gun. 22 long rifle for small game and targets of opportunity and shorts for dispatch.
 
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When I got my first S&W K-22 I used .22 shorts all the time for plinking as they were fine for popping cans out to 50 yards or so and were so quiet that did not even need muffs. But this was back in the days when .22 short ammo was cheaper than .22 lr stuff was. Been a while.

Even though I have owned a few bolt .22 rifles that digested shorts just fine I see no need to pay the extra money for what it cost now. I dont see how it's possible to damage any .22 made to fire the long rifle round, but yeah- most autos will not function with them and some might not shoot quite as accurately but if you have a hankering to shoot them then I would say go ahead.
 
If you shoot a lot of shorts it can be hard to chamber a LR, but it just needs to be cleaned real well. They used to make longs, 22 Short power but the case would fill the chamber. Cheap standard velocity lead LR's will work fine to dispatch as most of the stuff, Beaver and raccoon on a long chain and coyotes will need a shot most everything else a club works fine. I used to have a sawed off single shot shotgun in the canoe and used just the barrel to knock them on the head and then put it back together to put a duck or goose in the pot for dinner. Shorts got too hard to find.
 
The only problem I could see is what AWS said. Shooting a lot of shorts might eventually leave a carbon ring that would need to be cleaned out eventually for the LR's to chamber easily.
 
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I believe its the priming compound more than carbon. Seem that stuff is pretty corrosive. But Ive got a old single shot 22 thats been fed shorts and crimped birdshot still running fine after 70+ years
 
Most tube mag rifles are designated for S,L,or LR because they will cycle all of them ,clip mags will not hold shorts to cycle . Stuff em in and they are good to go .
 
Go for it, I think it would take thousands of rounds to make any king of mark in your chamber. They don't use corrosive priming compounds any more and that was what caused the damage to a barrel.
 


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