Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Rimfires 22 LR fired from 22 Mag

Is there any problem shooting LR ammo out of a gun chambered for the 22 Mag? I would not think so but?? Maybe it would not shoot as straight, but good enough for a trap line gun.

TIA

Yes.

The .22 Magnum is a larger case. The .22LRs can/will bulge, and can rupture. BT/DT. Don't do it.

+ 1

If economics, get rid of the .22 mag and get a .22 long rifle. If not economics, just buy a second pistol/rifle in .22 long rifle. I have tried shooting .22 long rifle out of a Ruger Single Six with the .22 mag Cyl. I shoot in the basement with CCI CB Longs or Anguila Colobri ammo which makes very little noise. Lots of powder leaks, poor accuracy etc. If you are going to do it, do be sure to wear good eye protection.

If you get a chamber adapter from MCA Sports in Anchorage, AK, you can shoot 22 short/long/long-rifle in a 22 Magnum without any problems.

I have 6 of these chamber adapters and use them in revolvers and in my Savage 24s that a 22 Mag over 410 and 22 Mag over 20. They work fine but are not match grade accurate.

www.mcace.com

Jeff

My brother once cut the rim off of a 22 mag. case, and slipped a 22LR into it, and fired it in a 22 mag chamber. He said it worked fine.
Virgil B.

+1 on Ace Dube's adapters.

It's not the bullet that's the problem; it's the case diameter.

I tried it too but not deliberately. Bought a Single Six advertised as a .22. Shot it worse than any pistol I had ever shot, including J-frames with full power .357s. Then I noticed about one case every cylinder was split. Only being semi-slow, I put two and two together, went to the counter, bought a box of Magnums, and solved that problem.

I would just buy the correct ammo, or trade the gun. It was pretty frustrating not having the hole appear where you knew the gun was pointed.

Wow thanks guys. I never would have thought about the case dimensions being different. I drive different vehicles, and I'll jump in one and head out in the piney woods, only to discover that only LR is in the glove box.

I will just throw a plastic shopping bag with the correct ammo over the scope so when I grab it out of the safe I'm ready to go.

That is the ticket, as said above, it ain't a good idea to use the LR's in the Magnum.

While I don't know the specific measurements, the 22 Mag is designed more like a "standard" centerfire round, where the bullet slips into the case neck, and you can see the front of the neck around the bullet. The 22 LR case is the same diameter as the bullet, with that funky little crimp around the "ball" on the back of the bullet.

So while the bullets are essentially the same diameter (think Single Six barrel), the 22 Mag case is larger in diameter.

Did that all make sense?

Exactly.
The bore diameters are so close that you won't have a problem with bullet diameter differences, but the case will do you in.

I bought a S&W 651 that someone had shot 22 LR in. The first time I fired it with WMR rounds I had to pull the cases with a pair of pliers. Luckily there was no damage to the cylinder from the previous owner doing so. I was able to clean out the chambers with a lot of elbow grease!

Couldn't have been me!

Jeff

So basically the chambers had been "fireformed" to the LR.

I think what he means is that the cylinder/chambers were fouled from firing the shorter 22 LR cartridges. Scrubbing with a copper/bronze brush would clean them up good as new. In theory, you could burn a ring into the cylinder/chamber by firing the shorter 22 LR cartridges, but I think that you'd have to fire thousands of 22 LRs in a 22 Magnum chamber to do any damage to a firearm with any quality.

Other than making a dirty chamber, the only real problem with firing 22 LR in a 22 Magnum chamber is that the cartridge isn't supported properly, since it is a smaller diameter case, and the bullet can't be centered in the chamber, so it will hit the rifling at an angle. If you use a chamber adapter, such as those sold by Ace Dube, the 22 LR cartridge is properly supported and centered, so the bullets hit the rifling straight and go pretty much where you're aiming.

Jeff

Well I understand that. My last comment was supposed to be sarcatic/humorous. I guess I need to work on that.

The 22LR bullet is .223 in diameter, while the 22 Magnum bullet is .224 in diameter.

Bill

Once forgot that I had the .22 magnum cyliner in a Colt single-action. Had a cylinder full of bulged and split long rifle cases when I was done and stil took some time to figure out what was wrong.