Vanity - I have questions about a rifle I have

Take it to a gun store and let the experts take a look. They can give you the proper advise after inspecting the gun for safety.

If it says .22 short/long it is NOT a .22 Magnum and should not even be able to chamber that round. But even if it can, it is not safe to shoot a .22 Mag round in a gun that is a .22 short/long.

Ditto post 2

thanks to all the responses.

The problem is I am having trouble finding ammo for it. It says .22 short/long ammo on the barrel.

The questions I have are as follows

1) I found .22 Magnum Gamepoint CCI Rimfire Cartridge, 40-Grain JSP Lead Bullet, 1875 fps, 40 Rounds at walmart, will this work?

NO! You need .22 LR or .22 short not .22 Mag

2) Is there any danger given the age of the rifle of firing the rifle given it's age.

Not being able to inspect it, I can't say.

Ditto to post #3.

If your rifle is not specifically marked “.22 long rifle,” then do not attempt to use that cartridge. It is a completely different cartridge than the “.22 long.”

Take it to a gun store, not to Dicks Sporting Goods. Thats an ok place to buy stuff but not for serious help.

As already posted if it says 22short or 22LR then use those. A 22 short is a very low power round and would minimize any risk. IMO the chances of it being dangerous to shoot are quite low. The amount of powder in a 22 is very small and unlikely to cause a failure of the bolt or chamber.

Make very sure the inside of the barrel is clear of obstructions and rust.

Probably the biggest risk is a misfire due to a malfunction of the firing pin. Possibly cause a discharge at an unexpected time.

Take it to a real gun store if you’re not comfortable. Remember 22s are quite capable of killing a person.

thank you I will heed the advice.

.22 Magnum will not work, it is both too long and the casing is larger in diameter.

It would be unusual for a rifle of 50’s vintage not to be chambered for standard velocity .22 long rifle as well as .22 short and .22 long. I’d wager it’s an earlier gun that your Dad may have purchased in the 50’s based on the pictures I have found on the web. As far as shooting it, it will probably be safe, I have a number of .22’s from the 20’s and 30’s that work just fine.

Shorts are still available (CCI would be the best bet), but avoid the longs, they are no better than the shorts and less accurate - a real turn of the century orphan cartridge.

Oh by the way, the reason you can’t find ammo is not because its an unusual caliber. Its because everyone is buying ammo as fast as they can.

Most places sell out faster than they get it in.

if it says short/long do not shoot long rifle, it will say short/long/longrifle or S/L/LR if you can shoot long rifle in it.

If you just want to plink go buy you some shorts or if you really wanna be quiet buy you some CB Cap Shorts...

be carefull and have fun.

Getting it Wrong
Serious Business When It Comes To Ammunition

by M. L. (Mic) McPherson
Synopsis: While many possible combinations are perfectly safe, chambering the wrong type of ammunition can lead to lethal consequences. It is surprising how often both experienced and inexperienced shooters fall victim to this potentially catastrophic hazard.

I wrote this piece about two years ago. At that time I had just completed my second year assisting at the Four Corners Rifle and Pistol Club Range during Hunter Sight-in Days, I have long-since gained a new respect for just how often nimrods can, and do, chamber, and fire, the wrong ammunition in the "right" gun. In fairness, I must admit having been at least peripherally involved in no less than three such fiascoes myself, two within one recent year! Happily, in none of those instances did anyone experience any serious harm or property loss. However, I do know of two instances where chambering and firing the wrong ammunition led to injuries significant enough to end a day's shooting, although neither led to permanent personal injury.

A few examples might enlighten. At hunter's sight-in last year, one shooter, who was unwilling to ask for or to accept help, managed to chamber and fire 20 rounds of 243 ammunition in a 308-chambered rifle. He never did hit the 100-yard target. Hearing the odd report, I observed what he was doing and noted the unusually mild recoil. I then verified the markings on both ammo box and rifle.

Since this "real man" had already declined any of our expert help and had done so in a less than generous manner, "I know what I'm doing, just leave me alone," and since firing 243s in a 308 is extremely unlikely to cause any harm, I felt no shame in allowing him to burn up his entire box of factory fodder. Afterwards, he sat there scratching his head and muttering, "I just don't understand it…." I then gently mentioned, "I suspect the only thing wrong is the ammunition you used." He then barked, "What do you mean!"

I said, "Well, it has been my experience that two-forty-three loads seldom shoot well from a 308-chambered Rifle." His face went pale, then crimson. He then hurriedly loaded his gear and departed.

Later, an elderly man set down at the bench and proceeded to fire 270 loads from a 30-06. Since he had been gracious when asked if he needed any assistance, I stopped him after the third shot. He said he could not understand why he was making a pie plate sized "group" on the target. "This old ought-six has always been a good shooter," he noted. I said, "Well it's just a guess, but maybe it's because you are shooting two-seventy ammo in it." We both had a good laugh and went on to test his intended loads and prove that, yes, indeed, his old '06 was a good shooter.

This year a group entered the parking lot in a large van. Before the van even stopped, people and equipment started pouring forth. When the dust settled, I counted six hunters and eight rifles.

Two evidently identical rifles belonged to one of the hunters. That should have raised my neck hairs but I was busy elsewhere. Five of the shooters signed in and lined up at adjacent benches – six through ten. Soon they were blasting away. Another group, who assured us, "we don't need no stinking help." Well, not in those words, they were at least moderately polite about it. They were just confident and they did have at least one supposedly experienced shooter among their ranks. He happened to own that pair of Browning semi-automatic rifles and was loaning one to his friend who was a novice hunter and shooter. Had I known that detail, it would most certainly have gotten my attention.

The benches and target frames are numbered. Normally the shooter fires at the target matching the number of the bench at which he is seated. I sat down to spot shots on target five. I noted what appeared to be at least two touching holes. Assuming that shooter #5 had already fired several shots, I thought nothing of it until he fired four shots and produced a 6-inch plus group, with holes that were nowhere near that ragged, odd looking hole. As he and I were discussing the fact that he had only fired four shots at what had been a fresh target, the man on bench six came over and asked if I had a cleaning rod.

Upon prompting, he stated that he had a case stuck in the chamber of the Browning semi-auto he was shooting. I said, "Let's try this first. You hold the bolt open. I will reach through from the bottom and try to pry the case free using the screwdriver blade on my Swiss army tool. If that does not work, I will get a dowel from my car." He did, I did and a swollen 270 case fell free from that 7mm Rem Mag chamber. Turns out he had the wrong rifle, the other semi-auto was the 270.

His shot was the one that had formed the odd hole in target five, although he had been shooting at target six. That relatively hard Nosler Partition bullet had not obturated and therefore had not stabilized. It struck the adjacent target while traveling practically sideways. Since the bullet had not swelled to fit the bore, pressure was not as high as it might have been. That may explain why the case had not ruptured. I know of two such instances – 270 in 7mm Rem Mag – where the case failed. In both, the gun was seriously damaged; those shooters had neither the desire nor the inclination to continue shooting.

When I pointed out what had happened and that the shooter was very lucky that he had not removed some, more or less important, portion of his cranium, both he and the owner of the gun (who purported to be an experienced shooter) were incredulous. They were shocked that guns were designed in such a way that such mismatches were even possible. I could not help feeling that such an opinion was inevitable in a society where everything is supposed to be safe and no one is supposed to be responsible for their own actions.

In my youth, a friend and I were busily burning up a bunch of old 45 Colt ammo in our revolvers. Several hundred rounds into the ordeal we managed to run through several cylinders full of 44 Magnum 240-grain SWCs – sounded odd and was not all that accurate!

I once found eighteen, 8mm Mauser cases that had been fired (evidently successfully) in a 270-chambered rifle. One wonders what happened on the nineteenth shot that stopped me from finding twenty of those oddly fireformed cases. I could list several other stories, but these should suffice.

That leads to the heart of this piece. I will attempt to list at least of few of the likely possible combinations where the wrong ammo can be chambered in the "right" gun and with some likelihood that the extractor, case shoulder, case neck, bullet ogive or just the inertia of the round will hold the cartridge against the firing pin sufficiently to allow the firing pin to set off the primer.

I must note that I am only going to consider current (and a few recently discontinued) SAAMI cartridges. I promise you, I will have missed one or more (perhaps dozens of) likely and potentially dangerous mismatches. Equally, it is likely that some of the mismatches I have suggested are not possible in normally chambered guns with normally sized ammunition, However, just because one particular rifle will not chamber one particular mismatched round does not mean that no similarly chambered rifle will chamber any similar test round. Significant variations in case length, neck thickness, bullet ogive, extractor design and chamber tolerances do exist.

ALWAYS VERIFY THAT THE AMMO YOU CHAMBER MATCHES THE CHAMBER IN THE GUN. IF IN DOUBT: DO NOT TRY IT.

Mismatch hazard varies from slight to dire. I do not offer this as an exhaustive listing; rather, it is intended to point out just how many such possibilities exist. I have only listed those combinations where the cartridge is reasonably apt to chamber and fire. I have heard horror stories about mechanical wizards literally hammering a bolt closed on a wrong size cartridge; the theory evidently being that if they can get it in the gun by any means it must be OK to shoot.

Generally, I have ignored many potentially dangerous pistol and revolver mismatches. Equally, I have ignored the myriad additional combinations coming into play when one considers European and other foreign chamberings. Fodder for other articles.

Gun	Some Cartridges that can Possibly be Chambered by Mistake	Possible Consequences
22 WMR	22 BB Cap, 22 CB Cap, 22 Short, 22 Long, 22 Long Rifle	Sidewall rupture
222 Rem Mag	221 Fireball	Headspace rupture
223 Rem	221 Fireball, 222	Headspace rupture
222 Rem Mag	223	Headspace rupture
	222	Headspace rupture
	221 Fireball	Headspace rupture
22 BR	22 PPC	Sidewall rupture
22-250 Rem	22 PPC	Sidewall rupture
220 Swift	225	Sidewall rupture
6 BR	22 PPC, 6 PPC	Sidewall rupture
243 Win	22 PPC, 6 PPC	Sidewall rupture
243 Win	22-250, 6 BR	Headspace rupture
6mm Rem	22-250, 6 BR	Headspace rupture
	22 PPC, 220 Swift, 6 PPC	Headspace or sidewall rupture
	243	Headspace rupture
257 Roberts	6 BR, 22-250, 250 Sav	Headspace rupture
	22 PPC, 220 Swift, 6 PPC, 243	Headspace or sidewall rupture
	6.5-08	Headspace rupture, insufficient neck clearance
25-06 Rem	22-250, 6 BR, 243, 6mm, 250 Sav, 257 Roberts	Headspace rupture
	6.5-08, 7-08, 300 Sav, 308, 358	Headspace rupture, bore obstruction
	22 PPC, 220 Swift, 6 PPC, 35 Rem	Headspace or sidewall rupture, bore obstruction
257 Wby	22-250, 220 Swift, 6 BR, 243, 6mm, 250 Sav, 257 Rob, 25-06	Headspace or sidewall rupture
	6.5-08, 7-30 Waters, 7-08, 30-30, 300 Sav, 308, 358	Headspace rupture, bore obstruction
	6.5 Mag	Sidewall rupture, bore obstruction
6.5-08	22-250, 6 BR, 250 Sav	Headspace rupture
6.5x55 Swed	22 PPC, 220 Swift, 6 PPC	Headspace or sidewall rupture
	22-250, 6 BR, 243, 6mm, 250 Sav, 6.5-08	Headspace rupture
	300 Sav	Headspace rupture, bore obstruction
264 Win Mag	22-250, 220 Swift, 6 BR, 243, 6mm, 250 Sav, 257 Rob, 25-06, 6.5-08	Sidewall or headspace rupture
	7-30 Waters, 7-08, 7x57, 30-30, 300 Sav, 308, 8x57, 358	Headspace rupture, bore obstruction
	6.5 Mag	Body wall failure
270 Win	22-250, 6 BR, 243, 6mm, 250 Sav, 257 Rob, 25-06, 6.5-08	Headspace rupture
	7-08, 7x57, 300 Sav, 308, 358	Headspace rupture, bore obstruction
	22 PPC, 220 Swift, 6 PPC, 35 Rem	Headspace or sidewall rupture, bore obstruction
270 Wby	22-250, 220 Swift, 6 BR, 243, 6mm, 250 Sav, 257 Rob, 25-06, 6.5-08	Sidewall or headspace rupture
	7-30 Waters, 7-08, 7x57, 30-30, 300 Sav, 308, 8x57, 358	Headspace rupture, bore obstruction
	7mm Wby	Insufficient case neck clearance
	6.5 Mag	Body wall failure
7x57mm	22-250, 6 BR, 243, 250 Sav, 6.5-08, 7-08	Headspace rupture
	300 Sav	Headspace rupture, bore obstruction
	22 PPC, 220 Swift, 6 PPC	Headspace or sidewall rupture
7-08 Rem	22-250, 6 BR, 250 Sav	Headspace rupture
284 Win	22 PPC, 6 PPC, 22-250, 220, 6 BR, 243, 6mm, 250, 257, 6.5-08, 7-08, 7x57	Headspace or sidewall rupture
284 Win	300 Sav	Headspace or sidewall rupture, bore obstruction
280 Rem	22 PPC, 220 Swift, 6 PPC, 35 Rem	Sidewall rupture, bore obstruction
	22-250, 6 BR, 243, 6mm, 250 Sav, 257 Rob, 25-06, 6.5-08, 270, 7-08, 7x57	Headspace rupture
	300 Sav, 308, 358	Headspace rupture, bore obstruction
7mm Rem Mag 7mm Wby	22-250, 220 Swift, 6 BR, 243, 6mm, 250 Sav, 257 Rob, 25-06, 6.5-08, 270, 7-30 Waters, 7-08, 7x57, 280	Sidewall or headspace rupture
	30-30, 300 Sav, 308, 8x57, 358	Headspace rupture, bore obstruction
	6.5 Mag	Sidewall rupture
30 Carbine	22 Hornet	Headspace or sidewall rupture
300 Savage	22-250, 250 Sav	Headspace rupture
300 Savage	22 PPC, 6 PPC, 30 Rem	Headspace or sidewall rupture
30-40 Krag	225, 7-30 Waters, 30-30	Sidewall rupture
30-40 Krag	30 Rem	Headspace or sidewall rupture

307 Win	22-250, 225, 7-30 Waters, 30-30	Sidewall rupture
307 Win	30 Rem	Headspace or sidewall rupture
308 Win	22 PPC, 6 PPC, 30 Rem	Headspace or sidewall rupture
308 Win	22-250, 250 Sav	Headspace rupture
30-06 Sprg	22-250, 243, 6mm, 250 Sav, 257 Roberts, 6.5-08, 7-08, 7x57, 300 Sav, 308	Headspace rupture
	358	Headspace rupture, bore obstruction
	22 PPC, 6 PPC, 220 Swift, 35 Rem	Headspace or sidewall rupture, bore obstruction
300 H&H Mag 300 Win Mag 300 Wby	22-250, 220 Swift, 6 BR, 243, 6mm, 250 Sav, 257 Rob, 25-06, 6.5-08, 270, 7-30 Waters, 7-08, 7x57, 280, 30-30, 300 Sav, 308, 30-06	Sidewall or headspace rupture
300 H&H Mag 300 Win Mag 300 Wby	8x57, 358	Headspace or sidewall rupture, bore obstruction
300 Win Mag 300 Wby	257 Wby, 6.5 Rem Mag, 264 Win Mag, 270 Wby, 7mm Rem Mag, 7mm Wby, 308 Norma Mag (300 Win Mag in 300 Wby)	Body wall failure
300 Wby	338 Mag	Body wall failure, bore obstruction
30-378 Wby	Almost any conventional belted magnum up to 30-Caliber	Headspace or sidewall rupture
30-378 Wby	338 Mag	Sidewall or headspace rupture, bore obstruction
303 Savage	22 PPC, 6 PPC, 25-35	Headspace or sidewall rupture
303 British	225, 7-30 Waters, 30-30	Sidewall rupture
	30 Rem	Headspace or sidewall rupture
	30-40 Krag	Insufficient case neck clearance
8mm Mauser	22-250, 243, 6mm, 250 Sav, 257 Roberts, 6.5-08, 7-08, 7x57, 300 Sav, 308	Headspace rupture
8mm Mauser	22 PPC, 220 Swift, 6 PPC, 35 Rem	Headspace or sidewall rupture, bore obstruction
8mm Rem Mag	22-250, 220 Swift, 6 BR, 243, 6mm, 250 Sav, 257 Rob, 25-06, 6.5-08, 270, 7-30 Waters, 7-08, 7x57, 280, 30-30, 300 Sav, 308, 30-06, 8x57	Headspace or sidewall rupture
	358, 35 Whelen	Headspace rupture, bore obstruction
	Almost any conventional belted magnum up to 30-caliber	Body wall failure
	338 Mag	Body wall failure, bore obstruction
338 Win Mag 340 Wby	22-250, 220 Swift, 6 BR, 243, 6mm, 250 Sav, 257 Rob, 25-06, 6.5-08, 270, 7-30 Waters, 7-08, 7x57, 280, 30-30, 300 Sav, 308, 30-06, 8x57	Headspace or sidewall rupture
338 Win Mag 340 Wby	358 (35 Whelen in 340 Wby)	Headspace rupture, bore obstruction
338 Win Mag	257 Wby, 6.5 Mag, 264 Mag, 270 Wby, 7mm Mag, 7mm Wby	Body wall failure
340 Wby Mag	Almost any conventional belted magnum up to 33-caliber	Body wall failure
356 Win	25-35, 7-30 Waters, 30-30, 35 Rem	Headspace or sidewall rupture
356 Win	22-250, 6 BR, 250 Sav	Headspace rupture
358 Win	22-250, 6 BR, 250 Sav	Headspace rupture
358 Win	22 PPC, 6 PPC, 35 Rem	Headspace or sidewall rupture
35 Whelen	22-250, 220 Swift, 243, 6mm, 250 Sav, 257 Roberts, 6.5-08, 7-08, 7x57, 300 Sav, 308, 8x57, 358	Headspace rupture
35 Whelen	22 PPC, 6 PPC, 220 Swift, 35 Rem	Headspace or sidewall rupture
350 Rem Mag	22-250, 220 Swift, 6 BR, 243, 6mm, 250 Sav, 257 Rob, 6.5-08, 7-30 Waters, 7-08, 7x57, 30-30, 300 Sav, 308, 358	Headspace or sidewall rupture
375 Win	38-55 WCF	Insufficient case neck clearance
375 H&H Mag	22-250, 220 Swift, 6 BR, 243, 6mm, 250 Sav, 257 Rob, 25-06, 6.5-08, 270, 7-30 Waters, 7-08, 7x57, 280, 30-30, 300 Sav, 308, 30-06, 8x57, 358, 35 Whelen	Headspace or sidewall rupture
378 Wby	Almost any conventional belted magnum up to 375-Caliber	Headspace or sidewall rupture
38-55 WCF	375 Win	Insufficient case neck clearance
416 Rem Mag	22-250, 220 Swift, 6 BR, 243, 6mm, 250 Sav, 257 Rob, 25-06, 6.5-08, 270, 7-30 Waters, 7-08, 7x57, 280, 30-30, 300 Sav, 308, 30-06, 8x57, 35 Whelen	Headspace or sidewall rupture
416 Rem Mag	All conventional belted magnums up to 375-Caliber	Sidewall rupture
416 Rigby	All conventional belted magnums up to 416-Caliber	Sidewall rupture
416 Wby	Almost any conventional belted magnum up to 416-Caliber	Headspace or sidewall rupture
444 Marlin	25-35, 7-30 Waters, 30-30, 32 WS, 375, 38-55 WCF	Headspace or sidewall rupture
444 Marlin	Practically every Mauser or 30-06 family cartridge	Headspace rupture
45 Colt	38-40, 44-40	Sidewall rupture
45 Colt	44 Magnum	Sidewall rupture, excessive pressure
458 Win Mag	Practically every Mauser or 30-06 family cartridge	Headspace or sidewall rupture
458 Win Mag	Almost any conventional belted magnum	Case wall failure
460 Wby	Almost any conventional belted magnum	Headspace or sidewall rupture
470 Nitro Exp	Almost any conventional belted magnum	Headspace or sidewall rupture

Possible or likely results of each of the failure modes noted in the table:

Headspace rupture:
Occurs when the case moves forward after primer ignition but before chamber pressure generates sufficient force to bond case walls to chamber walls. As pressure continues to build, case wall locks to chamber, then the unsupported case head is forced back until it reaches the bolt face. If the case head moves sufficiently, case wall failure will occur – typically at a point about 3/8-inch from case head. This can result in propellant charge venting through action. With gas pressures potentially exceeding 60,000 psi, such venting is potentially lethal. These combinations can also lead to a bore obstruction, see below,

Sidewall failure:
Occurs where case body is sufficiently smaller than chamber so that case wall ruptures before expanding enough to reach support of chamber walls. This can result in propellant charge venting through action. With gas pressures potentially exceeding 60,000 psi, such venting is potentially lethal.

Body wall failure:
Depending upon case body hardness and other variables, it is possible for a belted-magnum case to fail when fired in a longer chamber, this can occur despite the fact that these cases are designed to headspace on the belt. Case wall failure occurs when case shoulder is driven forward by chamber pressure before case walls bond to chamber walls. This is common in bottlenecked belted magnum chamberings where case head-to-shoulder length is significantly less than chamber boltface-to-shoulder length. This can result in venting of a substantial portion of propellant charge through action. With gas pressures potentially exceeding 60,000 psi, such venting is potentially lethal. This type of failure seems to occur when case shoulder and body are particularly hard and possibly when case body has insufficient thickening taper toward base.

Insufficient case neck clearance:
Occurs where an oversize or over-length case neck is driven into chamber throat, this has occurred in 270 Wby/7mm Wby pair. The case neck crimps onto bullet. By the time chamber pressure has reached a level sufficient to drive such a tightly wedged bullet from the case, it is too late – pressure skyrockets to an action-wrecking level, with potentially lethal consequences.

Bore Obstruction:
Occurs any time bullet is larger than bore; can also occur in any combination such as the 308 Win fired in a 30-06 – before bullet reaches chamber neck, it obturates under force of acceleration. When chamber pressure reaches a level sufficient to swage such an oversize bullet into the bore, it is too late – pressure skyrockets to an action-wrecking level with potentially lethal consequences. I know of one instance where a 308 Win was fired in a 30-06 Springfield rifle, pressure was sufficient to set the headspace back 0.008" on that extremely strong action.

If the shooter is lucky, this is what can happen when a 270 Win cartridge is fired in a 7mm Rem Mag rifle. In this instance, the smaller diameter Nosler Partition did not swell into the rifling - it was therefore unstable. This target was next to the one the shooter was aiming toward. The four-shot "group" was from another shooter. See text.	Fired cases from left to right: 270 Win, 270 Win fired in a 7mm Rem Mag, 7mm Rem Mag. Fortunately for the shooter, this case held - that is not always the result. The author is aware of two instances where a 270 Win was fired in a 7mm Rem Mag and the case body ruptured. Both resulted in significant (although repairable) damage to both rifle and shooter.	A rare exception. It is usually harmless to chamber and fire 300 Savage ammunition (left) in a 308 Win rifle. Generally, firing a smaller or shorter case is unsafe and prone to result in a dangerous case rupture. See table notes.

The 44 Magnum (right) will chamber and fire in a 45 Colt chambered gun. Usually the case body will swell to seal the chamber without rupturing. However, with certain bullets and certain loads the bullet can swell to seal the bore. When this happens, peak chamber pressure can approach the level of 45 Colt proof loads.	Depending upon bullet ogive placement, it is possible to chamber and fire a 308 Win load in a gun chambered for the 25-06 Rem, 270 Win or 280 Rem. Doing so is practically certain to wreck both rifle and shooter. Many 30-06 chambered rifles will also accept factory 308 Win loads. Such a combination can also lead to catastrophic gun failure (see table notes).	Firing a 270 Win in a 280 Rem rifle will usually not destroy the rifle. However, the extreme headspace condition (0.050") provides the potential for a case head separation. (See table notes.)

A common mistake, especially among those owning a convertible rimfire revolver. All sizes of conventional 22-rimfire ammunition will chamber and fire in the 22 Magnum chamber. Usually, no harm is done. However, the smaller diameter case can split. This results in a potentially dangerous gas leak.	Some 30-40 Krag ammo (right) might chamber in some 303 British rifles. Doing so is almost certain to result in the case neck crimping the bullet in place. Firing such a round is likely to destroy the rifle and is quite unlikely to do the shooter any good.	7mm Wby Mag and 270 Wby Mag., other than bullet length, can you tell which is which? This is one of the more dangerous mismatches. The 7mm Wby Mag (left) will chamber in some 270 Wby Mag rifles. Doing so crimps the bullet tightly into the case neck - the bullet cannot move until chamber pressure is far higher than it would normally be. Firing such a combination is almost certain to destroy the rifle, with potentially fatal consequences. Also note that it is entirely possible to seat a 7mm bullet in a 270 Wby case, resulting in precisely the came outcome.

The result of two (usually) harmless mismatches. Left, 243 Win fired in a 308 Win rifle. Note the neck split and that the end of the neck did not fully expand into the chamber. Right, 270 Win fired in 30-06 Springfield rifle. Note the second shoulder, where the end of the longer case neck swelled against the end of the 30-06 chamber.		Depending upon bullet used and cartridge length, the 8mm Mauser can chamber and fire in a 270 rifle. Case on left: fired in 8mm chamber. Case on right: fired in a 270 chamber. Author found 18 of these in one pile…. One has to wonder why there were not 20. See text and table notes.

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For phots go to http://www.levergun.com/articles/wrong.htm

Go with 22 short, it is a standard cartridge, and there are still a lot of sporting goods stores/Wal-Mart, etc. that stock that round. I bought about 8 boxes of Remington .22 short at Wal-Mart about a year ago.

There's an ammo shortage now, but what kind of nut would hoard 22 short?

“Shorts are still available (CCI would be the best bet), but avoid the longs, they are no better than the shorts and less accurate - a real turn of the century orphan cartridge.”

With all due respect, that is just nonsense. I take it that you are not a shooter, are you?

stay away from LR’s if barrel’s cartridge stamp specs out short/long. LR’s and Longs, two different cartridges. some of the older make/style .22’s WILL shoot all 3 fine in fact I have 3 oldies that funtion great with all 3, (been a long while since any shorts were used though) but these 3 are factory manufactured and noted to function correctly and safely with those 3.

My son was handed down a gun belonging to his great grandfather that was likely purchased used in the 20's. It probably hadn't been fired in 50 years. It was examined by a number of people with no noticeable defects observed. The cartridge it was designed for was stamped in the barrel.

We built a fixture to hold it to a substantial, firmly mounted table/bench at an outdoor range. When no one else was there, we fired it remotely (~ 50 ft away) using progressively more powerful rounds. It worked fine and we then proceeded to fire it ourselves.

Thanks for that interesting and potentially useful post.

It’s a useful article to bookmark.