We used to shoot rats and mice on the porch of my uncle's cabin up at his mining claim. We'd sit out there at night, throw crackers out, listen for the scurry of feet, then hit them with the flashlight in our left hand and shoot them with the revolver in our right hand.
I also ran the Mo-Skeet-O range at our Scout camp for a few years as a teenager with smoothbored Remington single-shots (and shot bats at night...)
My son and I have shot several rattle snakes from 6-inch .22 LR revolvers at up to 10 feet. With head shots, they die just fine. I also load the #12 shot into the Speer capsules for .38/.357, .44 and .45 Colt as it makes for a dense pattern and is deadly further than the .22 LR shells.
As to the OP - I think there may be some trying to take advantage of the shortage and there may newer shooters just trying to find ammo and not knowing any better.
