# .22LR Bird Shot



## jo_dawg69 (Aug 27, 2010)

so i picked up a box of Federal .22lr bird shot today to help fight off the pesky varmints around the house. i am curious as to whether or not the bird shot will do any harm to the rifling in the barrel?


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## Gumbo1 (Aug 27, 2010)

Nope, it should be find as long as you don't shoot 6 or 7 hundred rounds through. Even then i don't think it would make that big a difference.


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## Richard P (Aug 27, 2010)

I hear it does a lot of harm to pesky woodpeckers that love to interrupt your nap.  Not that I have any direct knowledge of such action.


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## Gunplumber Mike (Aug 27, 2010)

The worst thing about the birdshot is that the rifling in the barrel tends to make the shot spin out as it exits the barrel.  This tends to make them have a pattern like a small donut, complete with a hole in the middle.  You ought to try yours on a box or two.  This is why the major manufacturers used to sell smooth bore 22 "rifles".


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## Coweta Redneck (Aug 27, 2010)

Yeah, I'd like to have a smoothbore...


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## donald-f (Aug 28, 2010)

Richard P said:


> I hear it does a lot of harm to pesky woodpeckers that love to interrupt your nap.  Not that I have any direct knowledge of such action.



You might want to check the law about killing woodpeckers. I think they are on protected list.


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## tv_racin_fan (Aug 30, 2010)

My expreience with the 22 shot shells was not good. I had squirrels in the attic of a two story A frame home on a basement. I stepped out the basement door and let loose on one of the pesky varmints as he was getting set to go in the hole at the peak of the roof. He just kinda seemed to look at me and laugh and then went on in the hole. This was out of a revolver with a 6 inch barrel. I turned around and blasted a plastic flower pot that was on the ground nearly at my feet and had about ten pellets actually hit the pot... far enough apart that a pesky varmint could have been standing there and not been hit. less then ten feet for certain and I think it was a measured 6 feet. (course it has been some years) I still have some of that shot (I think I got four boxes at a gun show and I know it was wasted cash...)


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## danlnga (Sep 17, 2010)

If you want to shoot "shotshells".  Buy a cheap 410 sgl barrel. Cut the barrel to 18 1/8 inches. Now you have a " pesky varmint" gun.


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## BuckMKII (Sep 18, 2010)

.22 rat shot is useless as Edited to Remove Profanity ----Edited to Remove Profanity ----Edited to Remove Profanity ----Edited to Remove Profanity ---- on a boar hog.


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## Clemson (Sep 21, 2010)

It's useful at close range (<6'), much quieter than a .410, and it won't hurt your rifling.  Clean the barrel occasionally to prevent leading buildup.


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## PopPop (Oct 17, 2010)

The only problem with .22 ratshot is limited range. Some of the best fun I have ever had was shooting rats in the chicken house with a ratshot loaded revolver in each hand. At 6 to 10 feet it would mess up a rat. This is so much fun that we have 2 S&W 617s for nightime raids in the chicken house.


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## frankwright (Oct 17, 2010)

For pest control, I recommend the Colibri .22 round. It has no powder and fires off the primer. It is accurate to about 25 yards and loses power.
It sounds like a pellet rifle.
I shoot it in a semi auto but it won't cycle the action so I have to work the action after every shot.
Local gun shops sometimes have it but don't get the Super Colibri, too loud.

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewproduc...imfire - Blasting-_-PriceCompListing-_-946854


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## CAL (Oct 17, 2010)

jo_dawg69 said:


> so i picked up a box of Federal .22lr bird shot today to help fight off the pesky varmints around the house. i am curious as to whether or not the bird shot will do any harm to the rifling in the barrel?



I don't think so.Clean the barrel regularly with a compound that removes leading.I would do this anyway.


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## Clarke123 (Dec 8, 2010)

Used rat shot in my Savage .22 rifle to kill mice in a trailer I rented while going to UGA ... killed mice at about 15 feet with no noticable damage to kitchen cabinets that were my "backstop"!  Laying in the "master" bedroom, it was a clear shot down the hall into the kitchen.

The walls of the trailer were made of cardboard ... So thin that (as my Mother used to say) "you could shoot a straw through it with a strong wind blowing".  In weather like we have had the past few days, the water in the toilet would freeze ... with the heat going full blast!    I used to cover my bed with my dirty clothes to keep from freezing to death myself.

Of course back then you could keep as many guns as you liked right on campus ... everybody had one or two.  Never an incident or problem ... certainly no creeps even thinking about coming onto campus to slaughter a bunch of unarmed kids.

 Ah, the good old days!  Days when our government had respect for the citizens of this country.


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## GAnaturalist (Dec 13, 2010)

PopPop said:


> The only problem with .22 ratshot is limited range. Some of the best fun I have ever had was shooting rats in the chicken house with a ratshot loaded revolver in each hand. At 6 to 10 feet it would mess up a rat. This is so much fun that we have 2 S&W 617s for nightime raids in the chicken house.



must scare the crap out of those chickens. 

I would use duel Taurus Judges...


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## Niner (Dec 14, 2010)

Works pretty well for carpenter bees.  
I like 22 CB Caps for squirrels and such.


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## markland (Dec 15, 2010)

Yep CB caps love those rounds, those are the "backyard, in the city, squirrel killing rounds" as I call them.  Get the CB longs and you can feed them thru the magazine of most rifles of course by chambering by working the action.  They are actually quieter them my high powered spring air guns I believe and much more accurate and effective.


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## ol mike (Dec 31, 2010)

Right on Clarke123..

A friend has one of the smooth bore .22's -i looked them up they're also refered to as a Garden gun.
His didn't shoot worth a hoot so he cleaned the barrel -it shot like a champ then.It shot through a few pieces of cardboard and an  aluminum  can -will kill sparrows at 15-20 steps everytime.


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## jo_dawg69 (Jan 3, 2011)

yep those aguilas and the bird shot are always a blast to plink and tinker around with. nothin beats the fun of a good ol .22


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## Twenty five ought six (Jan 3, 2011)

ol mike said:


> Right on Clarke123..
> 
> A friend has one of the smooth bore .22's -i looked them up they're also refered to as a Garden gun.
> His didn't shoot worth a hoot so he cleaned the barrel -it shot like a champ then.It shot through a few pieces of cardboard and an  aluminum  can -will kill sparrows at 15-20 steps everytime.




I purchased a smoothbore Targetmaster at an auction one time.  I was so smart, I didn't realize it was a smoothbore,


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## crackerdave (Jan 3, 2011)

donald-f said:


> You might want to check the law about killing woodpeckers. I think they are on protected list.



Anybody know the bag limit on red cockaded woodpeckers and some good recipes for cooking them?

.22 shotshells are _fun,_ and a lot better than they used to be - back when they were all metal with a crimped end.Those would jam after firing almost every time,because of the end flaring out.


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## Big7 (Jan 8, 2011)

crackerdave said:


> Anybody know the bag limit on red cockaded woodpeckers and some good recipes for cooking them?
> 
> .22 shotshells are _fun,_ and a lot better than they used to be - back when they were all metal with a crimped end.Those would jam after firing almost every time,because of the end flaring out.



True on the jam thing.. BUT a lot more chamber pressure.

If you have an old gun, have it reamed out almost to the throat. 
It then is still a rifle barrel and as far a johnny law..
You are good.

You might get into some crap about doing it but technically
it is still a rifle barrel, even if only a quarter inch of rifling  
so, you are good. 

That turns it into a scatter-gun w/o the bull...


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