Weird .22 short performance.

[Kev18]

This might sound ridiculous for some of you that are more experienced with .22 but I have a question about shorts in one of my rifles.

I have a semi-auto .22 from lakefield. All .22's work fine.
A single shot bolt action 1902(?) Winchester .22. All .22 are fine.

For my issue: I have an old Winchester 1906 pump. LR work fine, they shoot good. Shorts on the other hand actually barely shoot. What I mean is that I could probably spit the bullet out farther then the rifle shoots... I know shorts are weak but they work in all my other rifles just fine.
I can actually see the bullet hit the grass 10 yards infront of me. I hear it too. I dont shoot shorts often but I was just wondering... Thanks.

Unrelated but I have some Remington .22's. I thought people were over exaggerating when they said they were poor quality. at least 1/10 are a dud.

[Gewehr-Guy]

My guess would be an overly worn bore in the 06 that would let the gas blow by the bullet. If you pulled a bullet and pushed it down the bore and compared it to your other rifles, that might give you the answer. Also a light firing pin strike might have some effect on velocity,if you have a chronograph, that might give a clue as to whats happening.

[rancher1913]

some rifles are not made for shorts, does the barrel say short, long, long rifle, or just long rifle.

[uscra112]

Only difference between rifles made for Short/Long and Long Rifle is the twist rate. Shorts will work fine in a Long Rifle barrel.

Wondering if the OP's 06 rifle has an excessively large chamber. That would let a lot of gas blow by until the bullet encounters the rifling, and the powder burn would be weak because of lack of resistance. Measure the OD of a fired Long Rifle case. Ought to be .227 to .228 at most. Age and corrosion could enlarge it by several tou, worst case. Do fired LR cases extract easily? Are they bigger at the mouth than by the rim after firing

[uscra112]

Thunderduds richly deserve their epithet. Especially bad in old boys' rifles which had weak hammer fall even when they were new. Didn't matter when .22 cases were copper, but modern brass cases are stiffer. Duds aren't the only fault with Thunderdud ammo. Bullet weights and diameters are all over the place, (I've measured 'em), and who knows about powder charges, crimp, brass temper, etc.?

[1Hawkeye]

Are you shooting real shorts or those colibri shorts that are made for pistols? Sometimes the colibri's won't exit a rifle barrel.

[arcticap]

Are you shooting real shorts or those colibri shorts that are made for pistols? Sometimes the colibri's won't exit a rifle barrel.

I was thinking that too.

Even .22 CB's will usually shoot farther than 10 yards, but some can have lower velocity than a pellet gun.

[Kev18]

some rifles are not made for shorts, does the barrel say short, long, long rifle, or just long rifle.

All of the above.

[Kev18]

Are you shooting real shorts or those colibri shorts that are made for pistols? Sometimes the colibri's won't exit a rifle barrel.

CCI shorts.

[arcticap]

CCI shorts.

Maybe you have a bad batch.
Try some in a different rifle and if they are that weak, then contact CCI and report the defect.
They should arrange to have them picked up and replaced since they can cause a barrel obstruction which can be dangerous.

If you don't have another rifle to shoot them in then just call CCI.
They will test the ammo to see if it's defective and pay for shipping and replacement ammo.
Try to have the lot # on the box handy if they ask for it.
There could already be a known problem with the lot, or perhaps not, but they should be alerted.

CCI contact info:--->>> https://www.cci-ammunition.com/general/contact_us.aspx

call (800) 379-1732 Monday through Friday between 7 a.m. - 7 p.m. CT

[Minerat]

I have a Tauris model 92, it will only shoot Long Rifkes, even though ost Winchester and Remington pumps will use all 3 lengths. The difference is the way the shell pickup is made. On mine the pick-up does not have a spring to keep shorts and longs in the chamber so when the short shell fires it is pushed back into the pick-up letting the gas escape. Make sure the loading mechanism is working right and that your gun lists shorts. If I have used the term pick-up for the wrong part it is the transfer mech from tube to chamber

[junkbug]

If I had to bet, my money would be with USCRA112 and his explanation, The cartridge is in the chamber and fires, it is the performance that is wanting. The 1906 pump can be a very old gun, fired possibly with corrosive ammo and even black powder in its long past. Long-rifle cases seal the chamber, but Short cases do not. Even if it was made to use shorts, they no longer work well. The simple fix is to stop using .22 shorts in this rifle.

If you are really curious, you could do a chamber cast. Or measure your fired empties, as has already been suggested. I would want to find out why this is happening also, just out of curiosity.

I also would not be surprised if your velocity with Long-rifle ammo is much lower than that of the same cartridges fired from a different rifle. Do you have access to a chronograph?

[Kev18]

I have a Tauris model 92, it will only shoot Long Rifkes, even though ost Winchester and Remington pumps will use all 3 lengths. The difference is the way the shell pickup is made. On mine the pick-up does not have a spring to keep shorts and longs in the chamber so when the short shell fires it is pushed back into the pick-up letting the gas escape. Make sure the loading mechanism is working right and that your gun lists shorts. If I have used the term pick-up for the wrong part it is the transfer mech from tube to chamber

That sounds reasonable. I wouldnt be surprised if that would be it.

[Kev18]

If I had to bet, my money would be with USCRA112 and his explanation, The cartridge is in the chamber and fires, it is the performance that is wanting. The 1906 pump can be a very old gun, fired possibly with corrosive ammo and even black powder in its long past. Long-rifle cases seal the chamber, but Short cases do not. Even if it was made to use shorts, they no longer work well. The simple fix is to stop using .22 shorts in this rifle.

If you are really curious, you could do a chamber cast. Or measure your fired empties, as has already been suggested. I would want to find out why this is happening also, just out of curiosity.

I also would not be surprised if your velocity with Long-rifle ammo is much lower than that of the same cartridges fired from a different rifle. Do you have access to a chronograph?

Im not bothered by it, it was just a question because they barely make it out the barrel. I barely ever shoot shorts. I just had a box. And I wish id have a chrono but I dont. It would need to go up on my list of things to buy but they are pretty expensive I think.

[1Hawkeye]

Are they cci high velocity,standard velocity or CB shorts?

[Drm50]

I've seen the "low velocity" short deal in several old Stevens Crack Shots and similar rifles made by
other companies. It is a function of short not having enough pressure to seal chamber but LRs do. I
saw a Stevens Visable Loader that chamber and bore were so bad that shorts were visible and key
holed. The LRs werent visable but still key holed terrible. I had a guy bring over a Rem 12 and told
me it only shot 1 out of 10 times and he couldn't hit anything with it. I thought something was wrong
with bolt. I fooled with it for 1/2 hour before I realized it was a 22wrf.

[Mk42gunner]

I've got a Remington Model 12 that the chamber is so far gone from shooting BP or at least corrosive primed shorts that they are tough to get out of the chamber. Long Rifles really don't want to extract at all, but I never actually saw the bullets in flight from either. The last half of the barrel is good enough for close range rabbit accuracy.

I need to reline it, another one of those one of these days projects.

I like pump .22's, with the exception of the Stevens Miserable Loaders. Had one, got it sort of working, sighted it in by straightening the barrel with a bag of shot and promptly sold it.

Robert