.22 Birdshot

K

KRASHED

CGN Regular
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Central Ontario
I have never seen this before, my Opa has birdshot for his .22. I'm pretty reluctant to put this stuff through my .22 as I can't see how a bunch of bouncing shot would be safe in a rifled barrel.

Am I being overly paranoid? I also have some doubts that this stuff is effective in the first place.

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ya im kind of interested in setting up a target to check the shot groupings at certain yardages, I have a feeling this stuff is super ineffective for taking out pests.
 
With rifling the pattern opens up very quickly.
Some farmers like it for shooting rats in their barns for close in work.
I also read on another board that some guys down south have 22's without rifling and they are able to kill starlings on the wing with the shot. I guess it is quiet compared to a shotgun for more urban type settings.
 
Timberwolfe said:
I also read on another board that some guys down south have 22's without rifling and they are able to kill starlings on the wing with the shot. I guess it is quiet compared to a shotgun for more urban type settings.
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They work decently in shot-out barrels, and they are still louder than CB Longs (word to the wise!)...;)

KRASHED said:
..... I have a feeling this stuff is super ineffective for taking out pests.
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Super-effective for "killing balloons", though...:D
 
They are not quiet!

I hoped they would be as I'm in a rural but 'no shoot' area.

It really did sound like a rifle shot, :(

Ted
 
They have a very small niche which they fill nicely. Using them in a rifled barrel destroys most all usefulness as well as being hard on your rifling.
 
B said:
Using them in a rifled barrel destroys most all usefulness as well as being hard on your rifling.
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I would disagree about being hard on the rifling. It's no more damaging than a lead bullet getting pushed down the pipe.

But the rifled barrel does cause the shot to 'spray' out the end - it's not useful beyond 10 feet (if that), but it's not gonna hurt the gun.
 
I have a rifle dedicated to those things, but I use the CCI brand. I use them daily for indoor shots on starlings and other birds that make their way in to buildings.
I just bought an old Cooey, I refinished the stock and am now working on removing the rifiling, in the end I will end up drilling out the end of the barrel and tapping a custom choke in to it.
Out of an average rifled .22, they suck, at best. Fun? Hell ya!
 
canucklehead said:
I would disagree about being hard on the rifling. It's no more damaging than a lead bullet getting pushed down the pipe.

But the rifled barrel does cause the shot to 'spray' out the end - it's not useful beyond 10 feet (if that), but it's not gonna hurt the gun.
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A bullet passes through the barrel, it does not strike and bounce off of it. Think of it like shooting sandblasting media down the barrel. It won't hurt your barrel to run a box through but it will certainly accelerate wear.

It gets your barrel filthy too. I ran about 100 through my old Ruger 10\22. I wasn't worried but likely won't do it with the new one. There are new production firearms that are designed for them. I wanted the Remington pump for a long time, something about a tiny pump shotgun was really interesting.

PS Pyd, That sounds awesome. A lot like something I was going to do. The choke is a nice touch :p.
 
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I tried the Winchester #12 ones in a old Cooey single shot I have.
Stood 20 feet away and shot at a piece of sheet metal to gauge the pattern.
I was pretty spread out to say the least.
They MAY be good for Grouse...but can't say yet.
I hear the guys in the U.S. like them for close quarter shots on poisonous snakes.
 
canucklehead said:
I would disagree about being hard on the rifling. It's no more damaging than a lead bullet getting pushed down the pipe.

But the rifled barrel does cause the shot to 'spray' out the end - it's not useful beyond 10 feet (if that), but it's not gonna hurt the gun.
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X2. I don't think damage to the riflings to be an issue as they are loaded with soft #12 shot. The ammo pictured looks like the old CIL Whiz-Bang stuff I used as a kid. The pattern at 10 feet was kind of a loose doughnut shape from rifled barrels. My Dad would always put a couple boxed in my Christmas stocking if ya can believe that. Man, have times changed!
 
I've shot from rifled barrels, both rimfire and centerfire. They aren't hard on the rifling, but the do have a characteristic donut shape to the pattern. It doesn't just spray, it actually has a hole in the middle, because of the centrifugal force spinning the pellets out.

I vote no.
 
canucklehead said:
I would disagree about being hard on the rifling. It's no more damaging than a lead bullet getting pushed down the pipe.

But the rifled barrel does cause the shot to 'spray' out the end - it's not useful beyond 10 feet (if that), but it's not gonna hurt the gun.
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Gatehouse said:
Great for whacking mice and packrats at close range. It's no grouse load, that is for sure!;)
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Absolutely concur.

As far as effectiveness pertinent to hunting.....I tried that for a while on Snipe (in rice fields) more for safety reasons than anything else. There were more than a few ocassions where the small bird simply jumped up at the shot (aprox 10 feet distance), landed at the same spot and resumed feeding without any apparent concern :D. I finally gave up and resorted to using an air rifle for those ground shots that had water surface.
 
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