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- Jan 1, 2024
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I have a 22 mag derringer and I am able to shoot 22 long rifles in it. Am I damaging it?
22 long rifle and 22 magnum
- Thread starter jerseyguy357
- Start date
Avoid doing that! The chambers are different and the headspace will be wrong.
It may not damage it, but might cause missfires or a plugged chamber, then you might damge yourself.
Yeah you shouldn't do that.. There is a reason Ruger single 6's come with 2 cylinders 1 for magnum and 1 for LR.. The chamber dimensions are different.
The 22 Long Rifle will def shoot but there will be lead buildup at the end of the chamber after a few dozen rounds. Enough that might prevent cambering a 22 Mag without a hard cleaning. Another possible issue due to lead build up would be higher chamber pressures later on with 22 Mag after 22 LR use.
Back in the day we used to shoot .22 short in LR rifles because that’s what we could afford at 12 years old.
It didn’t take long before we couldn’t close the bolt on LRs without getting in there with a wire brush on a drill.
It didn’t take long before we couldn’t close the bolt on LRs without getting in there with a wire brush on a drill.
Once in a blue moon, if you have a reason, won't hurt anything. Otherwise, all of the above.
I have a specific reason to very rarely run a .22 short though one of my Ruger 10/22's - I've done it maybe 10 times over the life of the guns. No harm, no foul. Well, actually, a little foul, as in fouling - but 4-5 rounds (I have several 10/22's) with thousands of regular lr rounds in between, not enough to matter.
My reason - I've had to put down a few feral creatures in a friendly neighborhood setting. Even though a short will still generally zip though a possum sized critter, it has much less energy after it zips though said critter. If that round were to ricochet off of a rock, for example, or hit bone and careen off in a different direction, it might still fly a hundred feet, but a .22lr will still have plenty of energy and the capability to really do some damage once it zips out of said critter.
I have about 40 shorts left out of a box of 50 that I bought going on 3 decades ago. Should last me the rest of my life.
I have a specific reason to very rarely run a .22 short though one of my Ruger 10/22's - I've done it maybe 10 times over the life of the guns. No harm, no foul. Well, actually, a little foul, as in fouling - but 4-5 rounds (I have several 10/22's) with thousands of regular lr rounds in between, not enough to matter.
My reason - I've had to put down a few feral creatures in a friendly neighborhood setting. Even though a short will still generally zip though a possum sized critter, it has much less energy after it zips though said critter. If that round were to ricochet off of a rock, for example, or hit bone and careen off in a different direction, it might still fly a hundred feet, but a .22lr will still have plenty of energy and the capability to really do some damage once it zips out of said critter.
I have about 40 shorts left out of a box of 50 that I bought going on 3 decades ago. Should last me the rest of my life.
You might consider not doing that. A Derringer isn’t a target practice kind of gun anyway. There’s no scenario in which IMO you can justify shooting LRs when Mag is the chambering. We’re not talking about 38spl and .357 mag here.
Shorts in a long, or long rifle, are like .38s in a .357, exactly the same diameter casing and bullet, with a longer case, so, no problem.
But .22 WMR has a larger case diameter, in addition to length, so, it really isn’t a safe option to load .22LR in a .22 WMR firearm.
I've done that before. Don't do that.
^ This
The .22 Long Rifle uses a heeled bullet. (The base of the bullet is a smaller diameter where it enters the case). Because of this the case diameter itself is smaller. The .22 Magnum uses a standard jacketed .223 / .224 diameter bullet that does not utilize this heeled configuration.
So it's case is a larger diameter. If you fire a .22 Long Rifle in a .22 Magnum chamber the case can split, causing gas, bits of brass, and powder residue to blow back into the action. Both cartridges headspace on the rim. They have to in order to provide reliable ignition, because they are both rimfire.
So it's case is a larger diameter. If you fire a .22 Long Rifle in a .22 Magnum chamber the case can split, causing gas, bits of brass, and powder residue to blow back into the action. Both cartridges headspace on the rim. They have to in order to provide reliable ignition, because they are both rimfire.
