22 rimfire smooth bore - The Firearms Forum

old semperfi · 10-17-2011, 07:35 PM

i am curious about something,i know that at one time they made 22s without rifeling.these 22s shot a type of bird shot.anybody out there that can give me killing distances for small game or varmits. old semperfi

doubleslover · 10-18-2011, 07:10 PM

I have an old Cooey smooth bore .22 in my collection. I have never shot it. CCI still makes the "bird shot" for .22 smoth bores. From what I have read, they have very little killing power and are good for about 15-20 feet. I think they were designed originally for shooting at birds in warehouse type buildings or barns where the shot wouldn't cause any damage to the building.

3/2 STA SS · 10-18-2011, 10:18 PM

They were also used as ''garden guns'' for killing small rodents in urban gardens when you could do such a thing. We had one at the warehouse where I worked at for a MAJOR food supplier in Florida.

firelegs22 · 10-19-2011, 07:32 AM

I have an old Winchester model 61 that is designed for rat shot. I would assume that it is a smooth bore. When I was younger I would spend weekends at my uncles farm and take out the rats in his barns. It worked great for that.

BulletBait · 10-23-2011, 08:53 PM

Often called and labeled by Remington as Routledge Bore on their pump 22's to be used in a parlor game of Mo-Skeet. I had the Rem 121 Routledge pump and it got the best distance and pattern with the still currently offered Winchester crimped #12 shot. I found the CCI shot shells kept too much of the shot in the blue capsule giving a limited pattern and shot count. The Winchester and I believe Federal still offers a crimped shell, both shoot open like a shotgun shell. Even with these like stated earlier the killing distance would be about 20 feet. Probably most often used as pigeon control inside a building so as not to put stray holes in the roof. I've used the Winchesters out of a revolver to be a snake killer. The effective kill range for snakes was no more than 5 feet.

mr.t7024 · 10-24-2011, 06:50 AM

25 feet would be the farthest I would shoot it. Not that powerful!

dcriner · 10-24-2011, 05:21 PM

A .22 pistol, either smoothbore or rifled, with birdshot is a decent snake gun. I don't know if any smoothbore .22 pistols were made.

Big Shrek · 10-24-2011, 07:49 PM

Sad thing is, it was totally un-neccesary to make them smoothbore...
rifling has little-to-no-effect on ratshot at close ranges.

The difference between a Marlin 25MG Garden Gun and any other 25-series was the smooth bore.
The downside is that's ALL the MG is good for, snake/rat/close range pest control...
whereas you could use the ratshot ammo in any of the .22lr/.22WMR 25-series Marlins and still use them for other things.

10-18-2011, 07:10 PM	#2
doubleslover V.I.P. Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 213	Re: 22 rimfire smooth bore I have an old Cooey smooth bore .22 in my collection. I have never shot it. CCI still makes the "bird shot" for .22 smoth bores. From what I have read, they have very little killing power and are good for about 15-20 feet. I think they were designed originally for shooting at birds in warehouse type buildings or barns where the shot wouldn't cause any damage to the building.

10-18-2011, 10:18 PM	#3
3/2 STA SS Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Tampa Bay Area, FL Posts: 1,437	Re: 22 rimfire smooth bore They were also used as ''garden guns'' for killing small rodents in urban gardens when you could do such a thing. We had one at the warehouse where I worked at for a MAJOR food supplier in Florida. __________________ MORS DE CONTACTUS-DEATH ON CONTACT

10-19-2011, 07:32 AM	#4
firelegs22 V.I.P. Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: georgia Posts: 225	Re: 22 rimfire smooth bore I have an old Winchester model 61 that is designed for rat shot. I would assume that it is a smooth bore. When I was younger I would spend weekends at my uncles farm and take out the rats in his barns. It worked great for that. __________________ Paul

10-23-2011, 08:53 PM	#5
BulletBait Member Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Macho Grande, Ks. Posts: 30	Re: 22 rimfire smooth bore Often called and labeled by Remington as Routledge Bore on their pump 22's to be used in a parlor game of Mo-Skeet. I had the Rem 121 Routledge pump and it got the best distance and pattern with the still currently offered Winchester crimped #12 shot. I found the CCI shot shells kept too much of the shot in the blue capsule giving a limited pattern and shot count. The Winchester and I believe Federal still offers a crimped shell, both shoot open like a shotgun shell. Even with these like stated earlier the killing distance would be about 20 feet. Probably most often used as pigeon control inside a building so as not to put stray holes in the roof. I've used the Winchesters out of a revolver to be a snake killer. The effective kill range for snakes was no more than 5 feet.

10-24-2011, 06:50 AM	#6
mr.t7024 Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Near a brook & pond in Ma Posts: 734	Re: 22 rimfire smooth bore 25 feet would be the farthest I would shoot it. Not that powerful!

10-17-2011, 07:35 PM	#1
old semperfi Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: i live in southern indiana,old country boy at heart Posts: 1,506	22 rimfire smooth bore i am curious about something,i know that at one time they made 22s without rifeling.these 22s shot a type of bird shot.anybody out there that can give me killing distances for small game or varmits. old semperfi -->

10-24-2011, 05:21 PM	#7
dcriner V.I.P. Member Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Illinois Posts: 238	Re: 22 rimfire smooth bore A .22 pistol, either smoothbore or rifled, with birdshot is a decent snake gun. I don't know if any smoothbore .22 pistols were made.

10-24-2011, 07:49 PM	#8
Big Shrek Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: NorthWest Florida Posts: 923	Re: 22 rimfire smooth bore Sad thing is, it was totally un-neccesary to make them smoothbore... rifling has little-to-no-effect on ratshot at close ranges. The difference between a Marlin 25MG Garden Gun and any other 25-series was the smooth bore. The downside is that's ALL the MG is good for, snake/rat/close range pest control... whereas you could use the ratshot ammo in any of the .22lr/.22WMR 25-series Marlins and still use them for other things. __________________ Marlin Specialist Calico Specialist A gun should be a tool in the hands of a deadly weapon, not a deadly weapon in the hands of a tool.