22LR AND 22Short in same mag load?

[ChefDuane]

New H001 owner and this question just occurred to me. Maybe its been asked before but I missed it. Not that this would be advisable.. but since the Henry Classic H001 can handle 22lr's, 22l's, and 22 shorts, is it feasible/safe/possible to actually load 22lr's and 22 shorts in the SAME mag load? I would certainly think that it would not be advisable, but could it be done and the rifle still cycle properly? Would it even be safe?

Just a question.

[Abnermal]

I have never tried to load a lever .22 that way. Can't see any reason why it wouldn't work.

[JEBar]

agree ...

[CT_Shooter]

New H001 owner and this question just occurred to me. Maybe its been asked before but I missed it. Not that this would be advisable.. but since the Henry Classic H001 can handle 22lr's, 22l's, and 22 shorts, is it feasible/safe/possible to actually load 22lr's and 22 shorts in the SAME mag load? I would certainly think that it would not be advisable, but could it be done and the rifle still cycle properly? Would it even be safe?

Just a question.

It is safe. I often lost count of how many rounds I fired and was concerned about damaging the gun if I pulled the trigger on an empty chamber. Kevin Mcquire at Henry customer service recommended to me that using a .22 short as the last round in a magazine of .22LRs would be a good way to know when the magazine was empty. It would have an obviously different report than the .22LRs.

[North Country Gal]

Can't speak for the Henry, but in my Marlins and Winchester levers, mixing shorts, longs, and long rifles has never been an issue. In fact, have never had an issue in any tube fed gun that is marked S, L, LR in mixing rounds, be it a bolt or pump gun. Have even been able to do it in our old Remington 550-1, which was one of the few semi autos that could shoot S, L, LRs. The only thing I would advise caution is with the hyper velocity 22 LR rounds like stingers. Those might cause feeding problems in some guns.

[Redthies]

How would Stingers cause a feed issue?

[ChefDuane]

Thanks for the feedback. Yeah, I was thinking that it wouldn't be an issue. Not that I am going to do it - I just wanted to know if it was possible. I'm intrigued by the suggestion about loading a short for the last round as an indicator for when the magazine is empty. I use a Spee-D-Loader and I could just fill the last one as a short and still make use of a speedloader.

[CT_Shooter]

I use a Spee-D-Loader and I could just fill the last one as a short and still make use of a speedloader.

I thought it was a helpful suggestion, too. As you know, for it to be the last round fired, the short has to be the first bullet dropped into each tube of the Spee-D-Loader.

[North Country Gal]

How would Stingers cause a feed issue?

Stingers use a longer case to make up for the shorter bullet in order to maintain the same overall cartridge length. That longer case can cause some feed problems in individual guns or types of guns. Not sure how it applies to a Henry, but it's something to try and see.

[Redthies]

I thought that might be it, but never measured the case length of a stinger.

[CT_Shooter]

Stingers use a longer case to make up for the shorter bullet in order to maintain the same overall cartridge length. That longer case can cause some feed problems in individual guns or types of guns. Not sure how it applies to a Henry, but it's something to try and see.

Thanks for sharing that, NCG. I learn something from you with almost every post you write.

[North Country Gal]

Thanks, CT. Always glad to share, same as everyone else, here. That's what makes this such a great forum.

[Firearmfanatic]

From what I've heard is you can fire 22 shorts out of a 22lr but not the other way around. In semi auto firearms you can also use 22 shorts in a 22lr but it might not have enough pressure in the 22 short to automatically cycle itself. You may have to manually eject and feed the next round in. I agree with NCG on that one.

[Travlin]

A Remington 550 or 552 semi auto rifle will function with .22 shorts or long rifles because of the floating chamber design.

[North Country Gal]

Correct. My husband inherited an old 550-1 Remington and that capability to fire Shorts or Longs came in real handy, back in the great rimfire ammo shortage. The old Remington ate anything we fed it. Fun gun to shoot.

[ChefDuane]

From what I've heard is you can fire 22 shorts out of a 22lr but not the other way around. In semi auto firearms you can also use 22 shorts in a 22lr but it might not have enough pressure in the 22 short to automatically cycle itself. You may have to manually eject and feed the next round in. I agree with NCG on that one.

re; .22 short not cycling in a semi-auto.

That makes perfect sense. Not an issue in a tube fed rifle but not having enough power to cycle a semi-auto would be an issue. Hadn't though about that.

[Sir Henry]

New H001 owner and this question just occurred to me. Maybe its been asked before but I missed it. Not that this would be advisable.. but since the Henry Classic H001 can handle 22lr's, 22l's, and 22 shorts, is it feasible/safe/possible to actually load 22lr's and 22 shorts in the SAME mag load? I would certainly think that it would not be advisable, but could it be done and the rifle still cycle properly? Would it even be safe?

Just a question.

It is safe. I often lost count of how many rounds I fired and was concerned about damaging the gun if I pulled the trigger on an empty chamber. Kevin Mcquire at Henry customer service recommended to me that using a .22 short as the last round in a magazine of .22LRs would be a good way to know when the magazine was empty. It would have an obviously different report than the .22LRs.

I do that too. You can usually tell it is a short when you chamber it as it feels a bit different too.