[joe45c]

I was at the range yesterday when a couple kids showed up (early 20s) they had just bought a new 10/22 rifle. I wasn't paying attention to them at 1st. But after awhile i noticed they were having trouble with it. They would shoot 1 shot and take a screwdriver to it to get the brass out of the chamber. So i asked them what was the problem. Apparently they couldn't find any ammo for it so they bought some nail gun blanks and some small ball bearings to use with the blanks for shot. So after each shot the blanks weren't being ejected cause of the low powder charge they had to pry out the brass.. I was kind of amazed they were that dedicated just to do some plinking.. Anyway after i was finished i went over and gave them about 75 rounds of remington golden shells. They were pretty happy and while i finished packing up they had that new 10/22 singing away with smiles on their faces! I left figuring i had done my good deed for the day Just hoping things don't get that bad in the future where i have to go out and buy nail gun blanks and ball bearings to get some shooting in!

 

[LetMGrow]

Good for you but I hope you advised them to never use anything other than ammunition made for the gun they are shooting.

 

[ms6852]

Mighty generous of you Joe. As experienced shooters and hunters I feel it is always our responsibility to help and guide the novice shooters. It is easy to forget that many entering this sport may not have parents or a father to show them.

 

[gvw3]

I have only seen 22lr ammo available one time in 6 months. I bought 3 Federal bulk packs of 525 rounds. My son stole one.

 

[Alpo]

I would recommend that if you were going to do that, you get 22 caliber air gun pellets, instead of ball bearings. Steel ball bearings are hard on the rifling. Air gun pellets are made of lead.

I have never tried this with nail gun blanks, but I used starter pistol blanks one time, out of curiosity. At 5 ft it would bury the pellet up to the skirt into a sheet of plywood.

 

[joe45c]

I would recommend that if you were going to do that, you get 22 caliber air gun pellets, instead of ball bearings. Steel ball bearings are hard on the rifling. Air gun pellets are made of lead.

I have never tried this with nail gun blanks, but I used starter pistol blanks one time, out of curiosity. At 5 ft it would bury the pellet up to the skirt into a sheet of plywood.

Alpo i did see the box of ball bearings on the bench but didn't notice what they were made of. But i think they were steel. I was mostly just amazed at what they were going thru to shoot their new rifle. I'm not even sure of the loading sequence. Did they stick a ball bearing into the mouth of the blank, or did just place it in the chamber then put the blank in? Kind of like shooting a blank powder muzzle loader i guess using a 10/22.

 

[ms6852]

I’ve done it a couple of times on a bolt action cheap savage rifle. Insert the air pellet and than push it in with the nail gun blank. Shoots that pellet at impressive speeds.

 

[Smoke]

I was at the range once & noticed that a few of the guys at the end of the shooting bay had a shot gun & a lot of boxes of ammo for it. They would shoot one shot & then have to work on it. ??? I went down to talk to them about keeping it pointed down range while they were working on the gun. Come to find out the one guy had just bought the gun & didn't know what to shoot in it. So they bought one box of each shot shell they could find to see what fit. When I walked up they had a shell stuck in the barrel. I got them to point it down range & then I showed them how to mortar the gun to help remove the stuck shell. It was a 12ga & they had a 20ga shell stuck in the barrel. One of the boys suggested just stick another shell in & shoot it out. I told them what if the valued their hands, face & eyes that would not be the thing to do because it will blow up. We really need gun education in schools.

 

[PRR1957]

Some chicken feed and supply stores sell subsonic 22 shorts and 22 CB for shooting roosters in a hen house. Just an alternative if you can’t find regular 22 LR.

I have tried the 22 nail gun cartridges with 22 cal. pellets shot out of a T/C Contender 10” barrel. The pellets would move at light speed until 50 yards, then rapidly slow down enough that at 75 yards they would group 15” or so low. Accuracy wasn’t too bad. Would group about 1” at 50 yards.

 

[gdmoody]

Should have suggested a .22 Cal rod for their next outing. Would make it easier to push the spent shell out instead of digging it out with a screwdriver.

 

[dons2346]

Now the dumrats will want to ban nail gun blanks

 

[Shotgun101]

That would have gotten be a beating and my guns taken away when I was young. I think they should have been removed from the range.

 

[joe45c]

That would have gotten be a beating and my guns taken away when I was young. I think they should have been removed from the range.

Well since i'm old and they are young that might not have ended well for me if I tried to use force to throw them out. Our range is small with no range master. Usually when i go i am pretty much all by myself.

 

[tuckerd1]

You handled it well Joe.

I would have never thought of shooting a gun like that.

 

[Shotgun101]

You handled it well Joe.

I would have never thought of shooting a gun like that.

at least not in front of people.

 

[jim brady]

You did the right thing, Joe. Lucky for them that you were there.

I've got a feeling that not before too long we are going to get questions like that a lot here on TFF (at least until we get shut down). The people who only possess ammunition from the sales register at Wally World to the shooting range are in for a hard wake up call. I also think that a whole bunch of people are going to try some really stupid things to try to shoot weapons that they don't have ammo for.

 

[BlackEagle]

Well done, Joe. That was a generous thing to do, getting them started with some real ammo.

You reflected what we do here on the forum, helping newbies out in various ways.

Just hoping things don't get that bad in the future where i have to go out and buy nail gun blanks and ball bearings to get some shooting in!

I like the pellets idea. Probably cheaper than ball bearings and easier on the gun. Alternative is to learn how to reload .22's. Hope @WillieB has plenty of that primer mix and that the rest of us can get some.

 

[joe45c]

I also think that a whole bunch of people are going to try some really stupid things to try to shoot weapons that they don't have ammo for.

I think you are right on jim. As far as shooting in front of people these guys were all excited to be able to just get out and shoot. One guy was telling me how lucky he was to get such a great deal on nail gun blanks. Also they were happy that they had just bought a Russian shotgun reloading press off the internet. And they also were going to try their hand at trying to reload .22 shell casings. I mention to them are you sure you guys haven't bit off more they you can chew? That just trying to reload anything right now will be difficult finding components. They didn't think they had, and then they started picking up .22 brass.

 

[Shotgun101]

You did the right thing, Joe. Lucky for them that you were there.

I've got a feeling that not before too long we are going to get questions like that a lot here on TFF (at least until we get shut down). The people who only possess ammunition from the sales register at Wally World to the shooting range are in for a hard wake up call. I also think that a whole bunch of people are going to try some really stupid things to try to shoot weapons that they don't have ammo for.

In a Facebook group someone ask how they could get a 22mag shell to work in a 22lr rifle. People were giving suggestions how to modify the chamber to make it work.

Then the guy showed up with idea of putting a 12 gauge shell in a pipe and duc taping it to a pellet rifle and shooting it.

 

[WillieB]

Then the guy showed up with idea of putting a 12 gauge shell in a pipe and duc taping it to a pellet rifle and shooting it.

This is why we can’t have nice things! 🙄