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stiknstring
Guest
I have a cheap little .22 lr revolver and was wondering why you cant shoot shorts in it? seems as if you would be able to. not much on revolvers so like i said maybe a stupid question.
Welcome Guest!
Luke_M
Senior Member
Because of the head spacing in the cylinder. I've done it before, and haven't had any problem, but having the round bounce down the cylinder could cause you some cylinder problems, accuracy problems, and possibly cause it to spit shaved lead out of th spacing between cylinder and barrel.
Luke
Luke
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stiknstring
Guest
yeah i was thinking that would be the problem. wasnt brave enough to try it so thought i would ask.
Luke_M
Senior Member
The old timers did it without reservation, and you may never have a problem with it, I haven't, but just thought I would give you the generic warning.
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stiknstring
Guest
thanks 
boneboy96
Senior Member
not to mention that if it were meant to shoot .22 shorts, it would have said so! And it will spit lead! 
And it will spit lead! 
germag
Gone But Not Forgotten
Luke, maybe I'm dense, but I don't get it
....the head spacing should be the same between a short, long, or long rifle....the rim is the same thickness, right? I haven't heard it referred to as head spacing on a revolver, but I guess it the same thing. I normally think of head spacing as the space between the bolt face and the cartridge head. Why would that vary from short to a long to a LR? And, why would that cause the bullet to bounce down the cylinder or shave lead? I'm not a revolver guy......Twenty five ought six
Banned
If you fire a lot of bullets of a short round in a revolver cylinder, a ring tends to develop at the end of the brass that will make it difficult to load the longer rounds.
.22's are relatively dirty to start with, and many of the bullets are waxed, making the problem worse.
Plus the bullet is smaller in diameter than the brass (it's heeled), so that the bullet doesn't tend blow out the crap, as would a full caliber bullet in say a .38/.357 siuation.
You can shoot .22 shorts safely, but just may have a problem later loading and shooting .22 LR.
.22's are relatively dirty to start with, and many of the bullets are waxed, making the problem worse.
Plus the bullet is smaller in diameter than the brass (it's heeled), so that the bullet doesn't tend blow out the crap, as would a full caliber bullet in say a .38/.357 siuation.
You can shoot .22 shorts safely, but just may have a problem later loading and shooting .22 LR.
Luke_M
Senior Member
Luke, maybe I'm dense, but I don't get it
You are correct, headspacing is not the correct term. And you are correct in your description of head spacing. Had a momentary loss of mind. Trying to talk on the phone and give the man answer at the same time.
The reason that the bullet will bounce around if because you bullet is smaller than the casing, as you well know. For a .22 LR, the cylinder is bored for that round, if you put a shorted cased round in that cylinder, the shorted cased bullet when fired will travel momentarily through a bore much larger than the bullet. Thus you can get a bounce.
The bounce can cause the bullet to enter the barrel out of center, thus causing the shaved lead. Of course, you can get this from firing the correct ammo too, but it is more common in firing incorrect ammo.
Luke
tv_racin_fan
Senior Member
UUMM actually the chamber is about the same diameter as the bullet. I have never had issue with shorts out of my revolver or rifles.
Just have to clean it really well before going from shorts or longs to long rifle rounds else the dirty line might cause extraction issues. It does in my firearms including my 357 when I shoot 38 rounds.
Just have to clean it really well before going from shorts or longs to long rifle rounds else the dirty line might cause extraction issues. It does in my firearms including my 357 when I shoot 38 rounds.
Luke_M
Senior Member
You are correct, it is the .22 mag that is slightly larger in diameter. As stated above, I've never had issue, but do know of instances where others have. I've even fired .22 LR out of .22 mag without problems, but others have reported problems, and I know that North American Arms don't recommend from the .22 LR out of their mag cylinder.
My first rifle was a Springfield 120A, and I fired shorts, longs (don't know if you can even find longs anymore) and LR out of it, my lever actions, revolvers, etc. No issues.
Luke
weagle
Senior Member
You can shoot shorts, longs, cb longs and cb caps all day and next week out of your revolver chambered for .22lr. There is no safety issue. It's very similar to firing a .38 special in a .357 mag.
You will want to clean the chambers well before switching back to .22 lr ammo as there will be a dirty ring in the cylinder that will make loading and ejecting the longer cases of the .22 lr difficult.
The .22 mag is a different animal. It's case is larger than the other .22 rimfires and thus the chamber is larger in guns so chambered. .22lr will fire in a magnum chamber, but it swells the brass to fit the chamber and therefore ruptures are likely.
Weagle
You will want to clean the chambers well before switching back to .22 lr ammo as there will be a dirty ring in the cylinder that will make loading and ejecting the longer cases of the .22 lr difficult.
The .22 mag is a different animal. It's case is larger than the other .22 rimfires and thus the chamber is larger in guns so chambered. .22lr will fire in a magnum chamber, but it swells the brass to fit the chamber and therefore ruptures are likely.
Weagle
Dead Eye Eddy
Banned
I used to shoot LR's in my dad's old single action .22 WMR revolver. I never had a problem until I tried to shoot some WMR's in it, and the chambers were too tight. If the round would go in, it was almost impossible to get the empty case out. I traded that gun on my first CCW handgun when I turned 21. I probably could have scrubbed out the chambers and solved the problem.
22 rim
some posters have right idea.others are swiming in errors. the 22 LR bullet is same size as the case.is and always was.
they dont mark the revolvers because they dont need to.they will shoot and function perfectly.rifles are different.
you are feeding them from a mag.and some wont feed any thing that is not the right length.22 mags are not 22 rim fir they are 22 W and the latest is the 22 WMR.they are fatter.
some posters have right idea.others are swiming in errors. the 22 LR bullet is same size as the case.is and always was.
they dont mark the revolvers because they dont need to.they will shoot and function perfectly.rifles are different.
you are feeding them from a mag.and some wont feed any thing that is not the right length.22 mags are not 22 rim fir they are 22 W and the latest is the 22 WMR.they are fatter.
polaris30144
Senior Member
.22 bullets do not bounce in the cylinder. The front of the cylinder is bore diameter and the bullet can not be misaligned entering the barrel. The only way to "shave" lead is if the cylinder is out of time or misaligned, in which case all bullets will be shaved. The only time it is not recommended to shoot a .22 short or long is if the gun is marked .22 LR only. This is only because of feeding issues from the magazine, not because of "bouncing" bullets.
A .22 Magnum is actually larger in diameter than standard .22 ammo, thus the reason for a different cylinder in which case the "bouncing bullet" could potentially happen when fired from an over bore cylinder as the .22 magnum.
A .22 Magnum is actually larger in diameter than standard .22 ammo, thus the reason for a different cylinder in which case the "bouncing bullet" could potentially happen when fired from an over bore cylinder as the .22 magnum.
GunnSmokeer
Senior Member
This old thread came up on a search for something else, so I'll throw my two cents' worth in.
Back when .22 shorts were equally cheap as long rifle rounds, when I was a kid, I shot thousands of them through a S&W Model 34 Kit Gun-- a J-frame 6-shot all-steel revolver.
No damage to the gun, no problem with performance (I only used this ammo for close range plinking or rat hunting at the local dumps, shooting less than 30 feet). But Weagle is right about having to clean the cylinders well (with some kind of bore brush with bristles, and solvent) to dissolve the ring that will build up at the ending spot of those short cases. Said ring can make it tough to chamber the longer cases of the .22 LR or even hyper-velocity Stinger ammo.
Back when .22 shorts were equally cheap as long rifle rounds, when I was a kid, I shot thousands of them through a S&W Model 34 Kit Gun-- a J-frame 6-shot all-steel revolver.
No damage to the gun, no problem with performance (I only used this ammo for close range plinking or rat hunting at the local dumps, shooting less than 30 feet). But Weagle is right about having to clean the cylinders well (with some kind of bore brush with bristles, and solvent) to dissolve the ring that will build up at the ending spot of those short cases. Said ring can make it tough to chamber the longer cases of the .22 LR or even hyper-velocity Stinger ammo.
NE GA Pappy
Mr. Pappy
this right here, all day long, and twice on Sunday
Thanks.
