anyone shoot these old 22's ???

M

Magnum Wheel Man

New member
I'm not particularly a big rim fire fan, as I reload almost 50 centerfire cartridges... but I thought I'd add a few to my collection, to go with my old top breaks in 32 & 38 S&W...

my father in law had this one... it was in good shape, but nothing unusual... 7 shot solid frame double action, with an open loading port

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this one, I've posted in here before, it's a Hopkins & Allen spur trigger that was originally chambered in 30 rim fire... we made 5 rifled chamber inserts to fit 22 long ( I shoot either CB Caps, or Super Colibri's in all these )

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this is my newest one... there are several unusual features on this one... it's a Hopkins & Allen Range Model... with some "punch dot" engraving, lack of oversized grips ( which is unusual on the Range Model ), & a very rare on the 22's... a loading gate :eek: the barrel is a bit ugly, but the action functions well in both single & double action... I'm finding that I like taking these out to shoot enough, that I've started to buy bricks of the Super Colibi ammo...

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Anyone else collect & or shoot these old guns ???
 
Some years back, I bought a bunch of .22 Short Standard Velocity, and have shot most of my old .22's using it, including S&W Model 1, 2nd and 3rd issue.

I never had a problem but will state that many knowledgeable people believe those old guns should never be fired or fired only with black powder. My own opinion is that modern .32 S&W and .38 S&W cartridges are loaded to low enough pressures that they can be fired in almost all the old guns that are in good shape without danger to the gun or shooter.

I say almost all because some of the old timers, while in decent shape, have cylinder walls so thin (from the factory) that I would never fire them, period. Others, of course are rusted out or have been ground down to remove rust; those are not "in good shape."

Jim
 
I'm happy just shooting the Super Colibri's... they are light weight bullets, & use only primer... no gun powder... I get anywhere from 150 fps ( out of my Crackshot... to almost 500 fps out of shorter barreled guns with those, & I know they are safe in the guns I'm shooting them in...
 
Old 22s

A few years back, my wife gave me a one year membership to the local shooting range, so to get her money worth, I took my H & R 622 and my Excam Single action 22 and shot about once a week. That was when a brick was 9.95 at Walmart. My hand are so bad now and half blind in my shooting eye, that I do not go now.
 
Got MRS MAGNUM out to the range last weekend, & the range model pictured above, was shot quite a bit... in single action, & after about 3 cylindrs full, ( probably shooting out the "cob webs" ) the gun started shooting pretty nice groups with the Super Colibri's to point of aim... & was actually really shooting pretty nicely in single action... the double action trigger wasn't too bad for me, but MRS didn't like how heavy it was, so I had her shooting it single action pretty exclusively... & as an interesting side note... the rear sight groove was not visible with the hammer up anyways... so shooting it double action is pretty mute anyways...

but shooting free hand from a standing position at 25 ft was yielding around 2" groups in single action... not bad for an old black powder 22 revolver :D
 
I have just about quit shooting anything, in fact have given away almost all my guns, getting to that point in life. Anyway, I still have several .22's, among some others, and love to shoot turtles and snakes in the tank in my back yard.
A story, and God does protect fools and idiots. When a boy, I was given a .22 pistol, very well used, but it was mine ! The only problem was that the pawl (hand ?) that locked the cylinder was non-functional. After shaving off some lead with the mis-aligned cylinder, and raising a blister or two, I came up with the brilliant idea of looking down the barrel of this cocked piece of junk to align the cylinder, then swap ends and shoot the snake or whatever. It finally dawned on me, or maybe someone older told me, but I quit before it killed me. Over 80 years ago, and I still think about it. ;) ;)
 
well... I couldn't help myself... I had to buy another... this is a U.S. Revolver ( made by Iver Johnson ) pre 1898 ( antique ) top break 7 shot 22 revolver... the bore is near mint in the gun, & over all it's supposed to be in very good condition, both cosmetically & as far as function... ( I have been looking for something like this for about 6 months, before I ran across this one )...

antique, so it ships direct to me... can't wait to get it here, go through it ( clean & lube ) & run some of those Super Colibris through this one... it should work well as a "old 22" companion gun to the range model I posted a pic of earlier...

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HAWG... very nice sidelock... been wanting a sidelock for my collection as well... hmmm.... too many guns for sale... & not enough green stuff to buy them with :o
 
Magnum: Saw you were bidding on that, So I passed. Let us know how it shoots and if the quality was as posted. Looks great.
 
thanks for not bidding against me... I promise I'll take good care of it... & you can bet I'll post how it shoots after it gets here...:)

since it's not all about handguns... the ones I've pictured so far, get shot along side this old Stevens Crackshot...
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which was in really good cosmetic shape when I bought it, but a piece had cracked in the action from firing modern ammo ( most likely high velocity 22 longs ) in it before I bought it... I had my local guy re-machine the broken part, & the gun functions fine now ( with those Super Colibris... light weight bullet & no powder only priming compound )... just a warning, not to use any high velocity ammo ( they make high velocity shorts... I wouldn't use those either, as I think the pressures are up there on those as well ) or IMO other "modern" ammo in these classic guns designed for black powder cartridges

BTW... SARGE... I didn't edit this because of your post... I did it while you were replying... I just thought it time for an ammo warning... the 22's are hardest to find in good shape... probably or several reasons...

the smaller black powder guns were harder to clean properly, so most are more damaged than the bigger calibers ( & there are a lot of wrecked by corrosion guns of this era in the bigger calibers )

22 cartridges were cheaper, & the guns got shot alot more & they just weren't made of the quality of steels that could take the kind of use alot of guns saw

alot of black powder era 22's have seen the use of modern ammo & guns in otherwise good condition have either been shot loose or otherwise damaged by higher pressure modern cartridges
 
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I like old top-breaks of any caliber; if I had one of the pictured .22's I would absolutely shoot it, most likely with Shorts or CB caps.
 
This is what I've been shooting in them...

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as I posted earlier...I get anywhere from 150 fps ( out of my Crackshot... ) to almost 500 fps out of shorter barreled guns like the rifled chamber insert 30 caliber spur trigger
 

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I picked up this H&R Model 1906 22RF from a lady friend for $50. 7 shot, has a groove for loading a round at a time but you need something to "eject" the round with. I just pull the cylinder pin and load/empty a cylinder at a time.

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inserts

Magnum: If yu dont mind, How much did the inserts cost for the .30 rimfire and are they interchangable with other .30 rimfires.
 
they were custom machined inserts made from an old 22 rifle barrel that a buddy made for me ( I'd be embarassed to say how much they actuallly cost me ) I would think ( in theory ) they should fit any 30 rim fire "long" chamber, but my expirience with guns of this age tells me there is quite a difference in "normal" chamber dimensions... in fact, I think he had to "fit" each one within this gun... they do work good though...
 
inserts

Magnum: Thanks. I may have to look at the .30 rimfires and have some inserts made for it. Until then, I'll keep lookin for the "right" one!
 
Magnum I traded that sidelock for a NIB Ruger Old Vaquero Bisley in .44 magnum.
I have an H&R breaktop Sportsman that shoots really well but is more of a modern gun chambered for .22 LR. Not a 999 tho is a lil older than that.

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