.22 Long Ammo???

[rpludwig]

Any known sources for .22 Long (not LR) ammo?

(have to feed a Colt Lightning, now that it's up and running).

Thx in advance guys!

[tazman]

I saw a few boxes of Aguila brand 22 long at a local store a couple of months ago. You may be able to get a local gun store to order some for you.

[rancher1913]

will short work, maybe that will be easier to find.

[jmorris]

The only long that I have are CCI long CB but they still make them and they feed even in LR actions where shorts will not.

[atr]

For the past couple of years I have not seen any .22 Long,,,,
I am finding Long Rifle and short

[222]

I can find them occasionally but not often, I got some from a gentleman off facebook last year. I have a Win. 1890 and it shoots only longs. CCI and Aquila are only ones that are making any is seems. At gun shows it will sometimes show up and online auctions too. Happy Hunting

[rpludwig]

thx for the replys!....just happened on 2 boxes of old stock at LGS an hour ago...been looking for months...

This particular Colt lightning doesn't feed shorts reliably, hoping longs do better...understand some do, some don't.

Any more tips for .22long sources most appreciated!

Ron

[jmorris]

http://www.targetsportsusa.com/22-cb-ammo-c-200.aspx

[GONRA]

Loong ago, after getting a tiny Bernadelli Baby Vest Pocket pistol,
GONRA was scared that .22 long rimfire ammo would "disappear".
Gotta 5000 rd. case of CCI manufacture and never regretted it.

[Earlwb]

Cabelas seems to have a few boxes of longs on the shelf. I was at our nearby Cabelas out here and I saw a few boxes on the shelf. They had a lot of boxes of the different kinds Eley 22 LR target ammo too. I think with everyone going wild over 22 LR's that the ammo manufacturers haven't been interested in running off 22 longs or 22 shorts much. It probably takes the dealers or distributors to place a order large enough to make their interest in making them.

[northmn]

The 22 Long was an unusual concept. Jack O'Connor mentioned that some thought they could up the velocity over a LR but never did. My father mentioned that during the depression a box of longs cost between the shorts and the LR's Something like 13 cents for the shorts, 14 for the longs and 15 for the LR's. A lot of game was shot with shorts as pennys had some value back then and they killed game. They were not as accurate as the LR nor more effective than a short. Went the way of other rim fires from the past such as the Winchester auto rifle and the Winchester 22 using the 45 grain bullet at about 1400. There were also the Stevens 25 and 32 rimfires that failed. Mostly my father claimed that they cost more to feed and as the 22's were cheaper and did the jop they lost popularity.
Most rifles like the old Mossberg my father had were marked for all three. Today we do not see that probably due to feeding issues. Shorts are now pretty spendy and harder to find. Kind of a pity really as my daugher cleaned out a few pest in the yard with an old bolt action SS and shorts I bought her.

DP

[Ickisrulz]

The 22 Long was an unusual concept. Jack O'Connor mentioned that some thought they could up the velocity over a LR but never did.

The Short came out around 1857, the Long around 1871 and the Long Rifle around 1887. So the Long was not brought about to increase the velocity over the Long Rifle.

[smkummer]

I have a Colt lightning as well. I have used shorts in it but prefer longs. 12 years ago when I got it, I was cleaning out gunshops of any 22 long I could find, as a result I have Remington, Winchester, CCI and Federal. I believe federal was the most powerful. I even have some HP. But I mostly shoot this in my rural subdivision with Super Colobri (same dimension as 22 long and very quiet) CCI CB long is my favorite with some more punch and still quiet enough. Good luck and let us know how it shoots.

[northmn]

The Short came out around 1857, the Long around 1871 and the Long Rifle around 1887. So the Long was not brought about to increase the velocity over the Long Rifle.
Interesting bit of history. Just quoted O'Connor. Knew the short was a very old cartridge.

DP

[Chev. William]

a Quote from "Ammoguide Interactive":
"Externally identical to the .22 Long Rifle, the .22 Long is older by 16 years, first appearing in the 1871 Great Western Gun Works catalog chambered in the seven shot "Standard" revolver. Within a few years, this rimfire cartridge would be offered in rifles in the catalogs of other manufacturers.

The .22 Long was originally loaded with a 29 grain bullet and 5.0 grains of fine blackpowder. With the advent of smokeless powders, both standard and "Hi-Velocity" offerings would emerge. The .22 Long Rifle would appear in 1887 with a slightly heavier 40 grain bullet.

Ballistically, the .22 Long falls between the .22 Short and the .22 Long Rifle as one might expect. Considered by many to be outdated, the .22 Long is still produced by CCI as stock #0029 (factory ballistics noted above)."


I wonder if the lower Velocity loads (Subsonic, etc.) of .22LR would function in your Lighting? the Obvious difference is the slight Case length difference and the Heavier Bullet involved.

Best Regards,
Chev. William

[smkummer]

22 LR is too long for the action of a Colt lightning. Back when the lightning was introduced, it was 22 short or 22 long. The rifling twist of the lightning is optimized for the 29 grain bullet as well with a slower twist than what a long rifle uses.

[Ballistics in Scotland]

The Aguila Super Colibri cartridge is actually marginally shorter than the .22 Long, and would surely feed in the Colt Lightning of any vintage. Of course it is a sort of long-cased CB cap, powered only by the primer. Velocity is extremely low, and they advise against its use in rifles, as bullets may lodge in the barrel. Even hitting a lodged bullet with so little pressure could cause a slight ring in the barrel, but nobody ever got sued for warning against an accident which didn't happen, and it just might never lodge. If you really can't get the genuine Long, and if you can put up with casual amusement or small small pest control while making sure you have a bang and an impact for every shot, it might fill the gap.

[GunGuy2756]

There is some 22 long on Gunbroker right now but it's pricey. Like $75.00/500 pricey, plus shipping.

[Chev. William]

22 LR is too long for the action of a Colt lightning. Back when the lightning was introduced, it was 22 short or 22 long. The rifling twist of the lightning is optimized for the 29 grain bullet as well with a slower twist than what a long rifle uses.

"

Cartridge Name
http://ammoguide.com/gfx/blank.gif

Bullet
Diameter
http://ammoguide.com/gfx/blank.gif

Shoulder
Width
http://ammoguide.com/gfx/blank.gif

Body
Width
http://ammoguide.com/gfx/blank.gif

Rim
Width
http://ammoguide.com/gfx/blank.gif

Case
Length
http://ammoguide.com/gfx/uparrowmini.gif

Case
Capacity




.22 Long (http://ammoguide.com/cgi-bin/ai.cgi?sn=LsuMQkNOhi&catid=510)
.223
.224
.225
.276

.590

4.2


.22 CB Long (http://ammoguide.com/cgi-bin/ai.cgi?sn=LsuMQkNOhi&catid=211)
.223
.224
.225
.276
.597
4.3


"
A .007" difference in cartridge length is too much variation for a "Lighting" action???
Chev. william

[jmorris]

Just a thought but some years ago a friend of mine made a die that was not unlike a case gauge, he used it and a sander to "flat tip" 22lr rounds. The reduced OAL and weight might make it work for you.?

[GONRA]

GONRA suggests using jmorris techinque on STANDARD VELOCITY .22 LR ammo ONLY!
If I did this for my .22 RF LONG Bernardelli pistol, case head would blow out....

[jmorris]

Here are a few examples.

http://www.rimfireshooting.com/index.php?showtopic=4427

http://www.gunblast.com/Paco.htm

[Ballistics in Scotland]

Yes, it is the Colt Lightning rifle that is the subject of this thread, and for that it should work very well.

[kerreckt]

I shoot the Aguila Super Colibri bullets out of my two Marlin 81 bolt rifles and a Henry lever gun. I have been doing this for about 6-7 years and have shot more than 5k. I have never had one not exit the barrel. I use them for any squirrel who looks at my garden. Head shots are very effective. I know this is a bit off topic but wanted to set the record straight

[Gaseous Maximus]

The 22 Long was an unusual concept. Jack O'Connor mentioned that some thought they could up the velocity over a LR but never did. My father mentioned that during the depression a box of longs cost between the shorts and the LR's Something like 13 cents for the shorts, 14 for the longs and 15 for the LR's. A lot of game was shot with shorts as pennys had some value back then and they killed game. They were not as accurate as the LR nor more effective than a short. Went the way of other rim fires from the past such as the Winchester auto rifle and the Winchester 22 using the 45 grain bullet at about 1400. There were also the Stevens 25 and 32 rimfires that failed. Mostly my father claimed that they cost more to feed and as the 22's were cheaper and did the jop they lost popularity.
Most rifles like the old Mossberg my father had were marked for all three. Today we do not see that probably due to feeding issues. Shorts are now pretty spendy and harder to find. Kind of a pity really as my daugher cleaned out a few pest in the yard with an old bolt action SS and shorts I bought her.

DPIn his book " The Hunting Rifle", Copyright 1970, Jack O'Connor states that, speaking of the 22 long; "It is believed in the trade that the reason people demand it is that they get it mixed up with the better 22 Long Rifle. My own explanation is that it is demanded by boys who are convinced that the combination of the 22 short bullet with the 22 Long Rifle case makes a fast stepping and powerful number. When I was a moppet I was a great user of 22 longs in my marlin pump, and that is the reason I bought them." Mr. O'Connor goes on to completely discredit this Idea.

[darttip]

do they still make the bb caps, or the cb caps for the 22 cal. guns

[Earlwb]

do they still make the bb caps, or the cb caps for the 22 cal. guns

At this time, no. The manufacturers are busy making .22LR and there isn't enough demand for the other .22 types of cartridges. Maybe if the demand slows down so they are caught up, then they might. Also if someone was to place a paid order for something like one million rounds of one of the other .22's then they would likely make them pretty quickly. One problem is I don't think that anyone is placing orders for the .22 CBs, .22 shorts, .22 longs, thus they aren't making what isn't selling.

I remember shooting .22 CB's at some gun arcades many years ago. But that has been a very long time now. Today they use laser sight guns or video games with computers controlling it and thus they don't need to actually have people shoot real guns anymore. so that would kill demand as the modern devices are much cheaper to operate.

[Earlwb]

Another thought I had is that some people have shown that you can cut or trim the nose of the bullets back to get them to fit in the shorter action guns. One could pull the bullets pour out the powder charge, it isn't much, trim the cartridge case down, leave the powder charge out, and put the bullet back in with a trimmed down shorter nose on it. Also one could clean the CB cap cases out and reload with new primer material too and maybe just use pellet gun pellets. You can read about it in the reloading thread here in this forum.

[tengaugetx]

I shoot the Aguila Super Colibri bullets out of my two Marlin 81 bolt rifles and a Henry lever gun. I have been doing this for about 6-7 years and have shot more than 5k. I have never had one not exit the barrel. I use them for any squirrel who looks at my garden. Head shots are very effective. I know this is a bit off topic but wanted to set the record straight

Be careful advising the use of Super Colibri's in a rifle. It is not a safe practice. There is a reason for the warning on the box. I have had the Super Colibri bullets lodge in the 24" barrel of a Remington 581 several times. If you don't hear the impact of the bullet you had better check your barrel.

[DLCTEX]

I had someSuper Clolibris given to me and the second round stuck the bullet in the barrel. I still have the rest of the box.

[Jim-Bibs]

Check out an app on your smartphone or tablet called AmmoSeek. On there it will show you who has what

[toallmy]

I miss the little c b shorts . A pocket full of fun on a tweety bird safari around the farm when I grew up .

[Hooker53]

I have a few shorts in my collection and have wanted a Lightning for years. The fact that after I shoot up my supply with a lightning, I'm stuck with the question, What do I do now??? Ha. I still want one though and if I find a shooter that I don't have to sell my first born to get, I may jump on it. Very good thread. Thanks for all the facts.

Roy
Hooker53

[GONRA]

GONRA notes ya'll CANNOT (safely) trim .22 LR to .22 LONG
and use it in a .22 LONG Bernadelli Baby pistol.

Maybe in lottsa olde US&A rifles, but NOT this pistol.

Chamber pressure will STILL be "to high" and case head will fail.
Disassemble yer Bernadelli and understand how the ejector verks...

[BAGTIC]

GONRA suggests using jmorris techinque on STANDARD VELOCITY .22 LR ammo ONLY!
If I did this for my .22 RF LONG Bernardelli pistol, case head would blow out....

Why would case head blow out?

[GONRA]

GONRA sez .22 LONG RF Bernadelli Babys hava (what appears to be) "center fire firing pin" hole in the breech face.
This is the EJECTOR PIN hole. If chamber pressure is too much, cartridge case head will blow out a brass disc.
Just like any "rupture disc, pressure safety disc, burst disc, bursting disc, burst diaphragm, etc." used in industrial equipment would do.

Pretty sure .22 Long Rifle Rimfire ammo can usually have too high chamber pressure to be safely modified.No one wants to try and wreck their cute little Bernadelli Baby!

[Chev. William]

According to My References SAAMI lists the .22 long with a MAP of 24,000psi; the Same as the .22 Long rifle.
So How Could the .22 Long Rifle generate MORE pressure Than a .22 Long in that Auto pistol?
Chev. William