.22 bird shot for my rifle?

[theboyscout]

I have recently found that there is a .22 caliber bird shot, I own a Marlin XT-22R http://www.basspro.com/Marlin-XT22R-Rimfire-Rifle/product/1204080500572/ but I don't know if I can shoot the bird shot or if it’s bad for the rifling of my gun. I have always herd (with shotguns) you don't put birdshot through your rifled barrel, you need a smoothbore. Do I need a smoothbore .22 rifle to shoot these or what?

 

[rcmodel]

No.
The old type star crimped rounds will lead the bore.
Like this:
http://www.cabelas.com/product/Winc...t-Ammunition-with-Dry-Storage-Box/1273666.uts

The CCI/Speer shot caps are totally enclosed in a plastic capsule and will not lead the bore.
Like this:
http://www.cci-ammunition.com/products/detail.aspx?use=3&loadNo=0039

However, your effective range will only be a few yards, because the rifling will spin the pattern out as soon as it exits the muzzle.

rc

 

[ridgerunner1965]

the little birdshot wont hurt your rifleing.wont pattern well, and wont kill much over 15 feet.they will do better in a smoothbore tho

 

[Magnuumpwr]

My best response would be to contact Marlin customer support with the model# and inquire about recommendations about 'said' bird shot use in your gun.

 

[bamajoey]

Very limited effective distance with "bird shot." When I was growing up on the farm we used to use them at night in the corn crib to kill rats. We called them "rat shot". We used a Stevens 87A, never though about damaging the rifling, in fact that was 60 years ago and I still have the rifle today.

 

[ColtPythonElite]

I use it to get rid of pesky carpenter bees.

 

[kennedy]

at the American legion we have indoor rifle shoots using federal bird shot .22, we shoot at 16 ft and get a 4 in group. most of the best shooters use a Remington or savage smooth bore. they are no longer made and prices are going up. the Remingtons were made in the 1930`s and 1940`s for rat control after the big flood that hit louisville ky in the 1930`s, the savages are recent manufactured.

 

[oneounceload]

22 birdshot is usually #11 or #12 "dust" and has a VERY limited range as in 10-15 FEET, not yards. Good for mice in a barn, but not much else

 

[Jim K]

The warnings about shooting birdshop in a rifled barrel have been much overdone. At one time, I fired a fair amount of small shot through a rifle and if there was leading, I couldn't find it. A regular bronze brush cleaned the barrel fine.

(The normal shot load for .22 LR was not bird shot but #12 shot, which might, on a good day, destroy a cockroach. Its main use in recent years has been by antique dealers, to put fake wormholes in "antique" - as in made last week - furniture.)

Jim

 

[Gordon]

The bottom gun is a Remington smooth bore with a Rutledge choke system. It makes those old crimped ammo work at 50 feet very well.

]

 

[roklok]

Neither style will hurt your rifling, but the crimped style is harder to extract cases after firing so if you have marginal extraction in your rifle, you may have problems. I fired hundreds of the crimped Winchester loads (my favorite) out of a Remington 121 and Ruger Single Six. They were used to clear rats, starlings, and pigeons out of dairy barns. The Winchesters were effective to 20-25 feet, the crimped CCIs not as far for some reason. I killed hundreds of starlings using the Single Six after dark with a flashlight in the other hand.