Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Rimfires .22LR Bird Shot?

So as I watch the .22LR stocks, I see .22LR bird shot - the Walmart in town even had some last week. I know this has some specialty uses, but at $.25-$.35 per shot, why does this sell out so fast? Am I missing out on something here? Just a curious thought.

feeding frenzy.

My figuring was that people who don't actually shoot but are trying to "flip" the ammo are just purchasing it because it says ".22LR" on the box. Am I right? Or way off base?

Sounds reasonable. I remember when 22 lr was readily available I would usually see the birdshot too. It was usually covered in dust next to the other ammo. We used to use it to shoot rats in my grandparent's grain bin. Worked great, but make sure wear safety glasses 'cause every once in awhile a pellet would come back and hit me in the face.

Remington used to make a .22 pump with a smooth bore, called a "garden gun" for just such use. I remember some of the men shooting short-range trap with one at Boy Scout camp when I was a Tenderfoot. Other than that, I think they're carried in pistols for snake shot.

I carry it in a snub nosed revolver when cutting grass or weed eating.

Mike

And you would have to be right on top of a snake for it to be effective. I patterned some out of a S&W 317 AirLite 22 revolver and decided I was better off with bullets than birdshot. I've got one box of #12 shot that I will probably never use up and gave my other box away.

I agree it is probably the flippers buying it. I have certainly never found a legitimate use for it! Used to go frog hunting a lot as a kid. We had a LOT of swampland, and used .22's for frogs. Found out we were supposed to use shot, not bullets. It will very rarely kill a frog, can't imagine it's very good on snakes, either.

I shot a piece of cardboard at snake in front of lawnmower range and it was softball size.

I will shoot some tomorrow and post a pic or two.

Mike

Used a lot of it in 22 mag on snakes. Can't see why this would not work. Hasbeen

I've used or tried to use both on various things.
Basically, I have found the #12 shot in the .22 LR ammo to be a waste of money. The patterens fall apart quickly, and it doesn't penetrate much.
The .22 Rimfire Magnum, however is alot better. Some of the #11 pellets will penetrate through both sides of an alumnium beer can, for instance. Killed a Side Winder with that load once. At 15-20 ft., it anchored him on the spot. E

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.

Works good on bats when they get in the cabin. The plus is you can't really see the damage to the logs.

I've killed lots of Prairie Rattlers with it --- works fine @ 5-6 feet. If a bird gets in the shop and I can't remove it alive, I can kill it with birdshot and not hurt the galvanized metal (or wood).

Unless I'm hunting a RattleSnake den -- one box of 20 CCI birdshot lasts for years.

We used to use it on rats, when I was growing up.

I am not familiar with the 22 "bird shot" that uses pellets, I guess I am too old school. The 22 "bird shot" I use is the brass case with a crimped end and it shoots small pieces of lead shavings. It does do the job on snakes and puts out a large enough pattern that it usually does the job with one shot. I would think that pellets would no be a great choice, particularly in a 22.

drover

Ruffcutt: "Right on top of" is not a very specific measurement - it is ambiguous and subjective.
Let me relay to you some "objective" first hand experiences of mine.
I have killed quite a number of Rattlesnakes with 22 L.R birdshot and 22 Magnum bird shot.
I have used S&W Model 34's (both 2" and 4"), S&W Model 63's (both 2" and 4") and my 4" barreled S&W Model 651 (22 Magnum) to kill Rattlers.
Ranges have been (as I recall and estimate) from 4' to 10'.
Not a one of the Rattlesnakes I chose to shoot lived to tell about the encounter.
Additionally, assess this, I have seen maybe 10 - 12 of my friends try to engage Rattlesnakes with the pistols firing single slug ammo.
Many of those occassion saw the shooters reloading said pistols with a wounded snake slithering and/or coiling about - I do NOT recall any of those first hand observations ending with a dead snake after one shot!
If I may be crude - when I decide to kill a Rattlesnake (because it is close to civilization or a house where children may be present) then I shoot it in the head with birdshot and then shoot it in the head again immediately.
Then if more rounds are needed to ended these dangerous creatures lives they are administered.
I would much rather carry my rimfire pistols loaded with birdshot whilst in Rattlesnake country.
If I am 15 or 20 feet away from a Rattlesnake I would not be shooting at it with birdshot.
But at normal encounter distances (right on top of?) the birdshot works just fine for me.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

No the crimped 22 shell you are familiar with holds 25 grains of #12 shot----- Bird Shot.

We killed a 5 gallon buck full of rats in my pals chicken house years ago with this stuff.. Out of a long barreled rifle it was deadly much farther than I would have imagined.. When I was a kid, I had a smooth bore .22 rifle for this stuff.. We used to shoot bats on our pond with it.. Again it would kill at distances that amazed me.. Never shot it in pistols though..

Remington made a smooth bore rifle, called the routledge, worth quite a bit.
I have shot a lot of small critters , slimey things and bugs, with the .22 LR shot.
Never had a smooth bore however and the pattern sucked.
You have to be really close to do much damage.
I picked up a Marlin smooth bore garden gun a few years ago in .22 Mag. Marlin dropped them a while ago. The .22 mag with CCI shotshells is much more potent than the LR.