"FUNKY" 22 magnum question.

[randyt]

I have a question about shooting a 22 magnum, it's a off the wall question for lack of a better term. Maybe it's not even appropriate here.

anyhoo the other day I was thinking about the 45 colt/.410 firearms that are on the market. Also fellas use to shoot .410 in the old trapdoor springfields usually breaking the extractor in the process. What does this has to do with a 22 magnum?

Why couldn't a 22 lr cb cap be shot in a 22 magnum. I have googled this question and the answers range from fouling the chamber to blowing the gun up and leveling the neighbourhood. If that is the case why are the 45/.410 so much safer?

One of the negatives of a .22 mag is the lack of a light loading.

[kyratshooter]

The ones here that have done it will say it works, go for it!

The ones here that are super safety concious will say it is dangerous and you will blow yourself up, don't do it!

The truth is the .22lr case will swell and fill the mag chamber. Accuracy will not be up to par. Occasionally a case will split and be difficult to extract.

But you are not going to blow up yourself or your rifle using .22lr in a .22 mag. If I was down to nothing but .22 lr ammo and a .22mag rifle you bet your booties I would shoot the undersized ammo.

I have a couple of .22lr shooters that swell, stretch and mutilate cases constantly with no loss of life or limb. I have one that allows half the case head to flow into the firing pin hole. Thing looks almost like a light bulb when you extract it.

Now there is a slick trick where you cut the rim off a .22 mag round and use it as an adapter for the .22lr ammo. That fills the space and elimnates the danger, complaints and the warnings. Making the "adapter" wasd an early trick and has been done since the .22mag was developed.

[shaner]

The ones here that have done it will say it works, go for it!

The ones here that are super safety concious will say it is dangerous and you will blow yourself up, don't do it!

The truth is the .22lr case will swell and fill the mag chamber. Accuracy will not be up to par. Occasionally a case will split and be difficult to extract.

But you are not going to blow up yourself or your rifle using .22lr in a .22 mag. If I was down to nothing but .22 lr ammo and a .22mag rifle you bet your booties I would shoot the undersized ammo.

I have a couple of .22lr shooters that swell, stretch and mutilate cases constantly with no loss of life or limb. I have one that allows half the case head to flow into the firing pin hole. Thing looks almost like a light bulb when you extract it.

Now there is a slick trick where you cut the rim off a .22 mag round and use it as an adapter for the .22lr ammo. That fills the space and elimnates the danger, complaints and the warnings. Making the "adapter" wasd an early trick and has been done since the .22mag was developed.

good info here,

[Rick]

Randy, I've done it and it's exactly as KY says. About half the lr's I shot were difficult to extract but they all came out. All the cases expanded but it shot just fine. I can't tell you anything about accuracy because it wasn't a purposeful thing at the moment. Just the wrong cylinder in the handgun.

[kyratshooter]

In my shooting history lie some very innovative, inventive, adaptive and several DA-crazy activities.

I have fired .22lr ammo from things .22 lr ammo was never intended to be expelled from. That list includes water pipe, old style telescoping car radio antennas, aluminum blocks w/holes drilled through, .22 barrel liners without support, and several "conversion units" I cobbled together to keep antique and obsolete guns shooting past their alloted time. The worst thing that has ever happened was having a case rim blow out, and that was with a "real rifle" from a major mfg.

I have reamed .22 chambers with drill bits, changed .22 short chambers to .22lr and reamed out .22 lr revolver cylinders to accept .22 mag ammo using nothing but a new 1/4" drill bit and a hand held drill.

There are some around that claim I view every old broken .22 beater rifle as three or four potential pistols.

Not all of it was bright, but all of it worked! Strangely, nothing I did ever blew up!

(Except for that one Star BKS autopistol and that was a bad reload in an unsupported chamber!)

Modern .22 lr ammo is incredably durable stuff.

[natertot]

Rick, That is a good reminder to look over everything before shooting. Always inspect the firearm, double check you got the right ammo, no mixed ammo for those who reload, have proper safety items, etc.

Kyrat, it will be interesting to see what happens with all the creative minds that have read your post. (I'm off to ream my 9mm so I can shoot a .357mag!)

[Sourdough]

I reamed my S&W Model-17 to .22 Magnum, and now shoot both .22LR and .22Magnum ammo, and yes the cases bulge, and I have the wire brush the cylinder after a days shooting .22LR, otherwise no worries.

[Wildthang]

Randy since a .22 CB Cap is a very low charge, they may shoot quite well in the .22 mag chamber and not even swell. I doubt seriously if it would hurt anything to try it! I would not try a high velocity round but a CB might work OK!

[kyratshooter]

Rick, That is a good reminder to look over everything before shooting. Always inspect the firearm, double check you got the right ammo, no mixed ammo for those who reload, have proper safety items, etc.

Kyrat, it will be interesting to see what happens with all the creative minds that have read your post. (I'm off to ream my 9mm so I can shoot a .357mag!)

Oddly, the 9mm and .357 have about the same preasure curve. Problem is the 9mm is wider at the rim and your .357 rounds will swell when fired!

I do have a .357 that has one chamber reamed to 9mm, just in case.

Back in the 1960s the Air Force converted all their model 15 S&W .38spl revolvers to fire 9mm using half moon clips. All they had to do was run a 9mm reamer into the back of the cylinder and turn down the cylinder a few thousandths. Oddly, there were no known blow ups from making the jump from a 20,000cpu preasure cartridge to a 39,000cpu cartridge! Those S&W guns are built!

[hunter63]

I shoot .32 mag and .32 S&W long in my 7.62 Nagant 7 shooter, yeah they swell, but come out pretty easy, 7.62 ammo is odd and hard to find, and yeah they do make a .32 cylinder for it, cost more than the gun, the last time found one..
Gander Mountain had these gun on sale again last month @ $129 bucks.

Would I shoot a 22lr in a .22 mag, sure, if I was out of .22 mag....have I shot .22 lr out of the .22mag cylinder, yeah, not on purpose, though...yet.

.22 WRF ammo about the same as .22 lr, but cased dia maches the .22 mag chamber
http://www.chuckhawks.com/22WRF.htm

http://www.cabelas.com/rifle-ammunit...nition-1.shtml

One would be wise to make up a couple(few-lots?) of adaptors out of the .22 mag empties.

[Old Professor]

There is a lower powered round for the 22 magnum. It is called the Winchester Rim Fire (WRF). It is the same diameter as the 22 mag and does not chamber in the 22 LR. You can buy them through Cabela's and Midway USA. A 45 gr lead bullet. It is considerably more powerful than a CB cap but significantly less powerful than a 22 Mag. I have been using them for the last several years without problems.

[hunter63]

Guess great minds think alike....? LOL

[randyt]

I've tried the .22 lr in a .22 magnum with no earth shattering consequences. I thought about using one of those bullet forming tools to see how the accuracy would be. I hasn't too concerned with but some guys really are concerned with a mishap.

thanks for the responses.