# .22 Shotshells



## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

Took apart a Federal .22 shotshell. It held 47 #10 pellets. Good for rats, gophers, small birds and chasing off feral cats. 10-12 yards max range - my experiences.


----------



## campfire (Sep 9, 2007)

I have often wondered about two questions: What is the effect (on patterns) of shooting a 22 shot shell through a rifled bore? A Thompson contender shot barrell comes with a "choke" tube to stop the rotation caused by rifelings so the pattern does not spread too fast. And what is the effect of shooting 22 shot shells on the rifelings in the bore of the gun?


----------



## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

Great question. My dad always said shothells in a rifled barrel would harm the lands.
Not so says Remington and Smith & Wesson. 
*But *the shotshells leave rifled barrels very dirty. The CCI handgun shotshell loads have blue plastic cups on the end that really leaves a mess in the barrel. It takes forever to clean all the gunk out of the grooves.

The patterns suck; strung out inconsistantly from shot to shot, hence the short range. The TC choke sounds interesting.


----------



## campfire (Sep 9, 2007)

Just for clarification, the TC "choke tube" I referred to is for the 45/410 barrel. I don't know if they make them for 22 barrels. And I am not sure about the Encore shot barrels. It seems that I remember something about the Encore 12 ga barrel being a smooth bore anyway. But the concept of a 22 barrel with a choke tube that can be used or removed and would make shot shell paterns more effective but still have rifelings for bullet accuracy does sound intreguing, doesen't it?


----------



## Loke (Sep 7, 2007)

At one time Marlin made a smooth bore 22 rifle(?) for use with shot shells. They called it the Garden Gun if memory serves correctly. The intended use was ridding the garden of vermin. I'm not sure how effective they were.


----------



## .45 (Sep 21, 2007)

I alway's figured a range of 10 to 12'. Didn't seem like they had enough power to knock down a sparrow.Terrible pattern, never could figure it out. :?


----------



## Loke (Sep 7, 2007)

They are handy for shooting mice in the garage, though.


----------



## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

.45 said:


> I alway's figured a range of 10 to 12'. Didn't seem like they had enough power to knock down a sparrow.Terrible pattern, never could figure it out. :?


Little better than that .45. They'll take a grouse if shot in the head at 25 feet or less out of a rifled barrel. The .22 smoothbores pattern well, tighter, consistant.

Winchester's model 61 smooth bore was popular. Now it's a collector's item. Remington made numerous models of .22 smoothbores.

Just another dimension in shooting. Just need to know it's limitations like anything else.


----------



## .45 (Sep 21, 2007)

You're probably right goob !!  

I've alway's shot them out of a pistol...


----------



## stick_man (Sep 10, 2007)

I recall reading in an outdoor magazine many years ago where a reader had posed the question about suitable game and distance. The response was something like "very small mice at less than about 8 feet". 

I used to have an early T/C Contender with a .44mag barrell that had a removeable choke tube. CCI/Speer put out the .44mag "Hotshots" using 8 or 9 shot (I believe) that was pretty close to a standard .410 load. They worked pretty well and were a blast for shooting clay pigeons with. It also worked pretty well for rabbits up close or an occasional feathered foe.

I also got a .38/.357 barrel with the removeable choke tube but the shot shells were not as effective as the .44's

The plastic casings for the shot tend to dirty the barrels pretty quickly and I always had to clean the barrel before shooting standard slugs again. I would imagine it would be about the same with the .22's.


----------



## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

stick_man said:


> I recall reading in an outdoor magazine many years ago where a reader had posed the question about suitable game and distance. The response was something like "very small mice at less than about 8 feet".
> 
> I used to have an early T/C Contender with a .44mag barrell that had a removeable choke tube. CCI/Speer put out the .44mag "Hotshots" using 8 or 9 shot (I believe) that was pretty close to a standard .410 load. They worked pretty well and were a blast for shooting clay pigeons with. It also worked pretty well for rabbits up close or an occasional feathered foe.
> 
> ...


I found CCI shotshells out of my 357 and 44 mag revolvers penetrated empty pop cans (and grouse skulls) readily at 25 feet.

But it is tough to get that gunk (I think from the blue plastic shot cup) out of the barrel. Acetone seems to help.

My neighbor and I reloaded .357 and .44 mag shotshells together using real CCI blue plastic cups with no success. We used 7 1/2 shot. When we get the same performance as factory on our reloads, the cups blow out of the shells on either side of the barrel. ????????


----------

