Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Rimfires Shooting .22 shorts.

There is a southern tradition to hunt squirrels with .22 short hollow points. Explanations I have heard include that solid Long Rifles don't kill well and the hollow pointed tear up too much meat. Short hollow points are considered just right as they don't tear up too much meat when they penetrate the shoulders, yet stop squirrels "right now." I know lots of folks use match ammo and shoot squirrels with head shots, but that's not done in Kentucky. The brains are the best part!

As a kid I had access to the perfect squirrel rifle, a Winchester 1890 chambered and rifled for the short round. I have searched for years for a replacement, and acquired one last week, a newly made Browning Semi Auto in .22 short with the proper slow twist. I haven't shot it much, about 200 rounds, but thought you might find my results interesting. Perhaps Ill be able to hunt with it tomorrow!





My best groups are with Aguila HS shorts and CCI short CB Caps. The CCI hollow points are next and CCI match ammo has been disappointing. Is there any other . 22 short hollow point ammo available these days?

I have always been a fan of the short, don't know why. I do know they knock the socks off of coons in a trap and have had a couple of skidders with the LR solid Russ

90% of what went through my first Marlin 39A were Shorts. Never noticed any difference in killing power...

Somewhere I can feel The Master of the Short, DigitalDan, lurking in the background....

Bob

I love shooting shorts too, quiet, lots of killin power.

I've never found .22 LR HP's too destructive or lacking in killing power for squirrels.

KyWindage do the CB shorts function the action of the little Browning?

They most certainly do! One of the coolest things about the little rifle. The bolt operates very slowly and with earmuffs on it is louder than the report. As you can see, accuracy isn't bad either!

That would make for a great little rifle for early season squirrels..

I wouldn't have dreamed that CBs would function the action.

Squirrel season starts here next thursday. I took my favorite .22 magnum squirrel blaster out to verify zero today. I've got 5 shots dead on the money into one ragged hole you can cover with a thumbtack with room to spare at 30 yards and 5 shots you can cover with a dime 1/2" high at 55 yards. Me thinks the furry litttle rodents are in it deep come thursday !

I'm a squirrel hunter that prefers 22LR Target ammo for hunting. I take head shots, as I want a clean, quick kill, zero meat loss, and I don't eat squirrel brains.

Since I moved into town a couple years ago the 94/22 has shot more CB shorts than anything else. Reminds me I need to go buy a few more boxes of them.....

Dear Mud bogger: Glad you have retrieved the topic from thread hijackers and are talking about .22 shorts. I purchased a couple of boxes of CBs at Wally World and paid more for them than .22 short match ammo is online! Check around. You can get a brick for a good price. I see the CBs as taking back many duties from my air rifles around the house. On the other hand, I intend to keep the rifle iron sighted "just because" so that limits range a bit. Still minute of starling to twenty yards, minute of squirrel to twenty five and minute of groundhog to 50 (with hollow points) which is about the limit of cartridge, sights and 64 year old eyes.

There is something nice about a minimalist rifle/cartridge for our smaller game, plinking and general woods loafing.

Keep that little Winchester popping!

If you got the shorts you dont need an airgun They are spendy, but the problems they seem to solve make them well worth cost.

Its actually the only time I have found a use for the adjustable sight ramp. 2nd notch up is on for 22lr stuff. And IIRC 1notch down from the top is zeroed with cb's on my back fence.

Never bought a brick of them before. Always just snagged a 100rnd box or two o cci's on the way home as I needed them.

Why shoot CB shorts when CB longs are available?

I shot shorts in my Rem.550 from the50's til the90's,when they started costing as much as long rifles Iquit useing them.

how much louder are they?

I think they are identical with longer brass. I believe they both shoot the same bullet, same charge.

In a tubular magazine one gains firepower by choosing CB shorts over their longer counterparts. Assuming a LR chamber,LR Subsonics are tough to beat for precision.

One day as grandma was about to go to town grandpa asked her to pick him up a box of 22 shorts. She thought it was an odd request, but came back with twenty-two pair of underwear just like he asked. It was the last time he had her buy ammo.

'Cause some guns are chambered for shorts only. A few old ones are chambered for longs, not long rifles. And 'cause they shoot well?

I'm not surprised the Browning functions with CB shorts, the Model 24 Remington does and it's the same design.

The CBs not only make air rifles irrelevant to me, they make a lot of things irrelevant. "Quiet" has rewards.





50 yards, bag rest