alternatives to 22 rimfire

[randyt]

where can I ssssg buckshot, thinking it ay work well in a 22 hornet light load.

[hunter63]

a man needs more than one gun

That would make a good signature..........No ship.

[randyt]

That would make a good signature..........No ship.

that's what I was thinking LOL.

[cwlongshot]

I have always enamored the T/C Cherokee and Seneca in the smaller 30 calibers...

Shot a friends years ago and was hooked, but never bought one.

CW

[kyratshooter]

I am sitting here looking at a .32 Green Mountain 3/4" barrel 42" long and thinking I need to get off my butt and finish stocking it.

Got walnut stock and a small Dixie Flint lock and all the parts, I just need to turn off the computer and get to work.

I have a reworked halfstock .32 that shoots real well so I decided to build a North Carolina mountain rifle in 32.

The .310 round ball is right at 40 grains and a 35 grain charge will get you around 1500-1800fps, so you would be right on top of .22magnum performance.

RandyT, #F buckshot is .22 caliber but I would want to run it through a .22 sizer before I used it for a hornet load. I think they weigh out at around 19 or 20 grains. About the same as a .22 pellet.

Yep, I have a mold that casts #F. PITA to work with.

The little .55 grain .22 bullets are just as easy to cast and easier to work with. Pretty accurate too.

Which does bring up another thought, has anyone ever tried a .22 pellet in a Hornet case. Two or three grains of Unique under a .22 pellet???

I think I have invented myself another project. Wonder how they would do in a .223 case?

[Lamewolf]

LOL....The old run up thru the smoke trick.....I hear ya.

To all new kit builders....Do not start with a Navy Colt revolver kit....LOL...What a PITA

You guys are gonna cost me some money.........

I was just thinking out loud on the .32 or .36 in-line....but make sense.

Hey man, a 32 inline would be great. Especially if they made it with modern steel and was one designed to use small charges of smokeless powder like some of the big bores are now ! I forget which manufacturer makes it, but there is now a 50 caliber inline that is designed for smokeless, so a 32 should be easily doable !

[kyratshooter]

Why would on want to have an "inline" that required the same smokeless powder we can not get to load out cartridges with?

I can not see the sense in switching from the .22rim fire, due to a shortage of ammo, buy turning to another item that is in just as scarce supply conditions.

If you look on the wholesale powder websites and on the shelves at the gun shops you will find a severe shortage of everything except Pyrodex, 209, Triple Seven and any other BP substitute.

You can buy that stuff by the case but You can't find smokeless powder to save your life!

But "back in the day" the old settlers never hesitated to pot small game with the 40-80 caliber rifles they had on hand. The small bore "squirrel guns" were not developed until after all the big game in the east had been shot out, and most of the "small bores" were actually 36-40 caliber in original form.

Even Jim Bridger "squib loaded" his Hawkin rifles as a regular habit. There is at least one Hawkin he owned at his death that has a fixed powder charger set at 50 grains hanging from the powder horn. That would be a half charge for the .52 caliber rifle it is with.

Using a modern .50 caliber and keeping the ball at a speed anywhere at or above 750fps (duplicating .45LC original loading) would kill any small game one encountered. You are not talking about a small bore slug zipping trough the game, you are dealing with a slug that will kill through concussion if it hits near the game!

Half charging a modern in-line would even allow the use of patched round balls in the fast twist rifling, would be cheap to shoot, easier on the shoulder and still have good accuracy.

I have done this using a cheap in-line I picked up a few years back. I played around with it at the range and had good results using real BP and patched round ball, but I have never hunted with that setup in the field.

[hunter63]

A .32 in-line could still use BP or Pyrodex.....I was thinking about just a simple cheap....blister pack rifle.
Got caught with out a BP rifle 2 years ago....season was still open and I had to wait on a shed getting done.....so a shopping trip to Cabalas was in order.
Traditions .50 cal w/scope advertised as everything you need except powder and primers....out the door $150 bucks
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Still can't get over the blister pack.....That ain't right.

BTW scope shot dead zero at 50 yds form the first shot.....didn't have to adjust anything.

[Lamewolf]

Why would on want to have an "inline" that required the same smokeless powder we can not get to load out cartridges with?

Using a modern .50 caliber and keeping the ball at a speed anywhere at or above 750fps (duplicating .45LC original loading) would kill any small game one encountered. You are not talking about a small bore slug zipping trough the game, you are dealing with a slug that will kill through concussion if it hits near the game!

Because you could still load it with blackpowder or Pyrodex, and smokeless powder as it became available !

And been there, done that with the half charge or even lower charge on my 45 Southern Mountain rifle which sports a Bill Large barrel and is plenty accurate enough for headshots of bunnies and tree rats.

In the old 45 CVA I had, I even tried it with #6 shot charges and found it done just as well on small game as my old single shot 410 out to about 25 yards. To do that, I poured the measured powder in the barrel, then shoved a wad of paper in on top of the powder, followed by a cup made from rolled index card with a card wad on top to hold the shot in. It was fun on running rabbits, but only did it a few times just to try it out.

And the "killing by concussion" you speak of is called barking. I always liked doing that when a squirrel flattens out on a wrist sized tree limb trying to hide. Just shoot the limb right under his head and it blows him out of the tree and knocks him cold !

[Lamewolf]

Which does bring up another thought, has anyone ever tried a .22 pellet in a Hornet case. Two or three grains of Unique under a .22 pellet???

I think I have invented myself another project. Wonder how they would do in a .223 case?

Haven't done that, but I have and old 22 barrel that I have been thinking of turning into an underhammer muzzleloader and using 22 pellets in. Or maybe even a rifle that uses pellets propelled by a 209 primer ?

[kyratshooter]

Been there, done that.

Be advised that if one cuts the .22 barrel just ahead of the chamber area they can use a standard 1/4 inch tap and thread a #11 nipple directly into the back of the barrel to make a 22 inline.

The pellet also remains engaged with the rifling rather than dropping into the empty space that was once the chamber.

[hunter63]

Have .38 ammo, that takes a pellet and 209 primer...came with a loading press.....
Called Pip Squeak.....
http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f.../t-15042.html?

If you recognize the thread, and name....LOL....I actually did business with the guy....and was lucky

[kyratshooter]

A .32 in-line could still use BP or Pyrodex.....I was thinking about just a simple cheap....blister pack rifle.
Got caught with out a BP rifle 2 years ago....season was still open and I had to wait on a shed getting done.....so a shopping trip to Cabalas was in order.
Traditions .50 cal w/scope advertised as everything you need except powder and primers....out the door $150 bucks
Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.

Still can't get over the blister pack.....That ain't right.

BTW scope shot dead zero at 50 yds form the first shot.....didn't have to adjust anything.

Hunter, there is the possibility that one could take a cheap "blister pack" in-line and use the simple expedient of relining the barrel with a .32 barrel liner!

The Dixie Gun Works catalogue of olden days recommended this as the easiest way to restore old shot out black powder guns to use. They even had instructions on how to EPOXY the new liner in the old barrel.

Track of the Wolf still sells rifled barrel liner stock by the foot. They have everything from .22 caliber up to .50.

[Rick]

I'll say you got lucky. Nothing like striking a deal with the devil.

[hunter63]

I'll say you got lucky. Nothing like striking a deal with the devil.

No ship....Imagine my surprise when others dealing went south.........Oh Well.

[hunter63]

Now that I think of it, haven't shot a squirrel in maybe 25 years.......BYB are another thing...and yeah I do use an air rifle so as to be quite......range about 10 ft max.

Wouldn't be opposed to owning another ML though.

[randyt]

This thread is interesting, all kinds of good ideas. I have a little 45 grain .22 hollowpoint mold that would probably fare well as a light load.

[hunter63]

Hunter, there is the possibility that one could take a cheap "blister pack" in-line and use the simple expedient of relining the barrel with a .32 barrel liner!

The Dixie Gun Works catalogue of olden days recommended this as the easiest way to restore old shot out black powder guns to use. They even had instructions on how to EPOXY the new liner in the old barrel.

Track of the Wolf still sells rifled barrel liner stock by the foot. They have everything from .22 caliber up to .50.

That would be interesting....but the breach plug would still be 50 cal.....so there may be a breach leak up against a .32 cal liner.....Hummmm

The only reason I'm bringing up the in -line is cost....would like a little 32 cal flinter....but most are over $300 and up....

I would guess that smokeless powder would also work in a .32 cal. lined .50 cal barrel if necessary.

[kyratshooter]

If you had the liner set back against the breech plug there would be no problem at the low pressures the BP and substitutes produce.

If you had a high pressure liner you could probably use smokeless in the small amounts you would need for a .32. You are not talking but perhaps 3-4 grains of Unique.

But if you have 3-4 grains if Unique why are you shooting a ML rather than loading the Unique into a cartridge?

I am still a strong proponent of using only BP or subs in ML guns.

Savage has had enough trouble with their smokeless ML gun that I do not care for the concept.

You can build a ML that uses smokeless but you can never insure the loader is going to be able to hold reloads to the 1/10th grain tolerances smokeless powder uses in the pressure curve.

[COWBOYSURVIVAL]

Been there, done that.

Be advised that if one cuts the .22 barrel just ahead of the chamber area they can use a standard 1/4 inch tap and thread a #11 nipple directly into the back of the barrel to make a 22 inline.

The pellet also remains engaged with the rifling rather than dropping into the empty space that was once the chamber.

Would modifying a really old pump action .22 to be an inline be legal? Just dragged out an old Stevens, I have shelved and it looks pretty straight forward?