.22 rimfire BP

[damoc]

Just a historical question did early BP .22 shorts derive most of their energy from
priming material as the case capacity seems way too small to be a usefull BP
round.

I think I already know that .22 cb rounds are just cap and ball no powder
but I could be making assumtions here.

 

[splattergun]

.22 short was first introduced in the early 1850s as a personal protection round. If I recall, it used 4 grains of FFFFg. Pretty anemic by today's standards, but it certainly has more pep than primer alone. The round was pocket-carried by some soldiers on both sides in the ACW.

 

[Jim Watson]

Long rifle with 40 gr bullet and 4.5-5 gr of BP is about the same for velocity and accuracy as standard velocity smokeless. There are a few experimenters in .22 BPCR doing good shooting but it takes a lot of work.