Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Rimfires 22 CB short and long

In my years of full time coyote trapping my methods of dispatched evolved over time. I used 22 LR in the early years, whatever I had on hand, mostly high velocity HP stuff. I was always disappointed by how much blood it produced from either head shots or heart shots. I tried the nose tap and heart stomp for a couple years but that seemed to take longer than a shot to the head. An old trapper suggested I try the CB shorts. I did and was pleased with the results. With a head shot, the death was immediate and nearly bloodless. a few drops compared to a large gob with the 22 LR. When I became aware of the CB long I switched because it was easier to manipulate the longer cartridge with cold fingers.

At 50 feet neither will win any accuracy awards over the LR but at 5 feet they work fine for dispatching critters. And they work well for no smell killing of skunks. I found a CB to the lungs caused them to just lay down and die without spraying where the LR HPs seemed to shock them enough that they would spray.

Anyone else use them in other applications? CCI always seems to catalog them so someone other than me is buying them.

I used them for trapped animals as well, Mart. I never found anything better than the CBs for the job. Like you, I preferred the CB longs just because they are easy to manipulate.

I use W-W Match CB Longs, made in Australia. Bought two bricks of them at least twenty years ago. Squirrels just fall out of the tree, not a twitch when they hit the ground. My neighbor uses them for raccoons raiding his deer feeder at night. Good info about the skunks, I’ll have to remember that.

I found that out after killing scores of skunks with 22LR and having them spray. I had been heart shooting trapped coyotes with the CB longs and saw how quickly and quietly they went out. Started trying it on skunks. They flinch a little at the shot then in less than a minute fall over.

I found head shot skunks invariably spray. I believe the head shot causes enough shock to the CNS that causes the muscles to contract including those around the scent glands.

I've been whacking hogs with CB shorts for quite a spell with a T/C Contender Carbine. Don't tell me they aren't accurate please...


I will admit that I have a match chamber....

when I was a kid a 22 short killed a 3/4 hundred lb hog in a pen better than a 22 mag. at 2 foot. 22 mag. would not go through the scull

I shoot lots of cb longs. Usually for pest control on squirrels. I have a 20" barrel on my 10/22 and its quiet shooting them. The action won't cycle on its own though.

I switched from shorts to CCI Quiets for unwanted starlings on the feeders.
Accuracy does drop past 25yrds. with them but so did shorts. The quiets don’t leave a carbon ring in the chamber.

We're into a second case of CCI Quiet segmented HPs. Kill rats and pigeons inside and outside barns using thermals. As said a long shot is beyond 25 yds, but we've made hits to 35.

Haven't tried the RN version, and could easily make HPs with the Waltz die. For larger critters that would make sense vs the segs, suppose.

I’m a fan of cb shorts. Very quiet, accurate, and penetrate far more than one may think.

I recall something about .22 Short conversion kits for the 10/22. If one of those could be found, its lightweight breechblock and recoil spring might be just the thing to get full cycling with CB Longs.

Volquartsen used to make one but I switch back and forth between LR and cb longs. Not sure if shooting full power rounds would damage it with the weaker spring. Its not a huge deal, so I can't think of any scenario where I would be rapid firing the cb longs.

Gotta like them CCI Quiet 22s:

I've got a Browning Auto-22 in .22 Short and it cycles CB's flawlessly.

I have found the CB Longs to be far more accurate than the CB Shorts in LR chambers. We're living in "good ammo" times. CCI has a 45gr supressor load that's rated for 970fps and a 45gr Quiet load listed for 845fps. Both are exceedingly accurate in my Beyer barrelled 10/22 and are very quiet especially with a can attached. They both kill with authority.

My Remington 550-1 cycles everything I feed it.

My Stevens, Ballard, Low Wall, Martini, Enfield, single shot target rifles all cycle shorts and CB longs with alacrity for backyard plinking, quietly in a semi-suburban setting. If the load is good enough for me to hit a walnut on the ground without drawing attention from the neighbors it's good to go.

Whatever reason the shorts are more accurate in my Rem Model 12.

I have used CBs to shoot lots of yard varmints. I get better accuracy with the.CB shorts.

I’ve shot a ton of CB shorts and longs but after you shoot several you won’t be able to chamber a long rifle because you will have a carbon ring in the chamber that’s why I have starting using the CCI quiets. They are they same velocity as the cb shorts and longs 710 FPS.