Cowgirl Corner: Backyard range experiment

[North Country Gal]

For those of you wanting to do some backyard shooting with a 22 rifle, I think this will help. Long post, but you may find it useful in your situation.

First, a little about our situation. Shooting 22s or any kind of gun on our property is perfectly legal, something that may or may not be in your situation. Although some of our neighbors in our sub-division of acreages do shoot away with the big and loud stuff, Bill and I have restricted our backyard shooting to mostly air guns out of consideration for safety and our neighbor's sanity. People live out here to enjoy the quiet of our north woods, not to live next door to a shooting range.

Our airgun range has shooting stations at 35 and 50 yards, though the 35 yard station gets the most use, by far. 50 yards is really pushing things for an air gun; 35 yards is an optimal distance for air guns. Our backstop is set up with a variety of spinner targets, but for paper punching, we use three bullet traps, all of which are rated for rimfire shooting, too. There are no houses behind the range, just woods and water. All in all, as safe a backyard range as you'll see.


So where's the experiment? Every year at this time I get a little frustrated for lack of shooting. One reason is the cold weather. November, up here, is a winter month. Have already had snow and temps now hang in the 30s for a high. That means our shooting sessions are rarely longer than half an hour, now, before cold hands make shooting difficult. Then, too, this far north, prime daylight with good visibility is now down to a few hours, each day. All in all, loading up all the guns and gear and making a drive out to our club range in the winter amounts to a lot of work for just a little shooting.

The other November issue that I've mentioned in other posts are these couple weeks prior to deer season where our private club opens up to the public so folks can sight in their deer rifles. That makes for more of a crowd at the range than we like.

In past years, I just settled for air gun shooting in the yard for half an hour during the cold months with a trip out to the club range only on an every now and then basis, weather permitting. This year, however, I decided to expand our backyard winter shooting to 22 rimfire work, but with some restrictions, mostly for the sake of noise.

Pleased to report that serious backyard target shooting is indeed possible possible with quiet 22 ammo, at least at 35 yards, though not all quiet rimfire ammo is suitable. Here's my results.

The test gun was my CZ 455 American with a Nikon 3-9x AO scope. This rig is a proven accuracy champ at 50 yards with high grade target ammo, yielding many sub half inch groups.


Now for the ammo and results. Temp 30 degrees, no wind.

CB 22 Shorts
Very quiet. The bullet hitting the steel bullet trap much louder. Even our spring piston air rifles are louder. Accuracy at 35 yards, though, is dismal. Probably fine for up close work, but not for 35 yard work.

Aguila 22 Colibri
These are essentially a CB 22 Long rifle case using a 29 grain 22 Short bullet. Super quiet, even quieter than the CB Shorts, but like the CB Shorts, miserable accuracy at 35 yards. Warning! I got a squib load (bullet lodged in the barrel) with one of these in the CZ (CZs 22 LRs have tight bores). Bullet stopped just short of the muzzle. Very dangerous, so I stopped using, immediately.

Conclusion on CB loads. I do not recommend using hearing protection on these. Not needed, anyway, but you do need to listen for possible squib loads, though on the squib I got, no difference in loudness - just saw through the scope that the round failed to put a hole in the paper. Also, I'd avoid using them in guns with long barrels or in guns where it isn't convenient to see if the bore is clear. Also, with CB 22 Shorts, be sure to clean the chamber after use. Accuracy for anything but up close informal fun plinking is lacking. The main advantage is lack of nose.

22 LR Quiet loads
Only had one brand on hand, namely, the CCI Quiet 40 grain LRN. Unlike CB rounds, these use powder, not just the primer for propulsion. These were a bit louder than the CB loads, about the same as one of our more powerful piston airguns, but with more of a crack to them. Bill was working in the shed, behind me, and commented that he hardly noticed the noise. In other words, still backyard friendly. Bullet hitting the trap is still louder. Quiet enough to use without hearing protection, though that's your call.

Accuracy is where these quiet loads shine. No, not 50 yard bench stuff, but respectable at 35 yards. Here's a typical group from a rest. Shot three others very similar. 6 shots on this one.


For me, this ammo passed the all important offhand-worthy test, too. Shot two more just like it, then called it quits to head back in the house to warm up.



My experiment was a success. Have more quiet 22 LR rounds to buy and test, but with the CCI Quiet, we have a winner. Love being able to do some serious 22 shooting right in my own backyard without bothering the neighbors. Love that I can always run right back into the house to warm up. Definitely beats having to use that cold outhouse at the range in the winter, too.

[RetiredSeabee]

Glad you can get in some shooting, thanks for the info on the colibri and cb shorts. I have a few boxes of each to use up now that the 22lr drought seems to be over. I only intend to shoot them with my mare’s leg and single action. Short range at about 10 yards so I can see the target.
Also glad you can avoid the frozen outhouse.

[CT_Shooter]

Aguila 22 Colibri
These are essentially a CB 22 Long rifle case using a 29 grain 22 Short bullet. Super quiet, even quieter than the CB Shorts, but like the CB Shorts, miserable accuracy at 35 yards. Warning! I got a squib load (bullet lodged in the barrel) with one of these in the CZ (CZs 22 LRs have tight bores). Bullet stopped just short of the muzzle. Very dangerous, so I stopped using, immediately.

I shot just one of these from a single barrel, bolt action rifle at a pine board target at 6 yards. It literally bounced off! They do not use gun powder, but are simply propelled by the rimfire primer and are not even close to justifying their cost, which in my case was $.11 each.

[RanchRoper]

I like your range setup. I'll be right over...

[Sir Henry]

I'm in a similar situation but think airguns are my limit at home. I've shot the same ammo you shot but just did it for checking the noise. Surprising the bullet hitting the trap makes the most noise. My conclusion was it was too noisy and unsafe because of the further distance the bullet goes. Shooting in semi-rural King County is legal if done so safely. But even I would argue it can not be done safely in most situations.

The cold weather when it gets down in the teens is the best weather for me to shoot in. The bullet seems to like gliding through the cold dry air but more important my eyes tear up to just the right amount making my vision crystal clear. I should start a thread just on this subject.

Henrys don't have a problem shooting low velocity shorts. The Mare's Legs love them at 15 yards and the carbine and classic easily spits the bullets out. My longer 24" barrel Henry isn't one I would try them in.

During the last ammo shortage I bought a case of Aquila HV shorts. I've found they are the most accurate short around but they make a fair amount of noise. I enjoyed reading this thread because it is something that really interests me.

You did your usual expert shooting and there is not much I can say other than acknowledge it.

[North Country Gal]

Thanks, guys. Glad you found the post useful.

Have often thought that CBs could be potentially dangerous in terms of squib loads, but never had one until I got one, yesterday, with the Colibri. What worries me most about that squib with the Colibri is that there was no difference in noise (I was not wearing hearing protection), as there usually is with a squib load. The only reason I stopped and checked the bore is because I had shot four previous rounds of Colibri and saw them hit paper though the scope, but the squib load did not print. Had me wondering where it went, so thought I better check the bore. Had I been shooting steel targets, I would have probably chalked it up as a miss and kept shooting.

Don't know how much damage that squib from the Colibri 22 LR would have done had I shot another Colibri behind it, but had I shot a regular round of SV or HV 22 LR behind it, could have been a different story. Close call. That particular CZ 455 is one of my favorites, too. Has produced some awesome groups for me.

Feel a bit more confident with the CCI CB Shorts as to avoiding a squib. They were a bit louder and seemed to have a touch more zing.

[Sir Henry]

I'll shoot a few CB Shorts in my Henrys if the bullet from SV or HV LR starts to catch on the top of the inside of the receiver and wanting to jam. The conical bullet doesn't feed cleanly and rubs some lead up there. After a dozen CB's the H001 will feed again for a few more thousand rounds.

I've never had a squib although my cordite powdered 303 British ammo from WWII sometimes will hang-fire for a few seconds.

[North Country Gal]

For safety's sake, will shoot up the CB 22s in my Contender pistol with a standard 22 LR barrel. That way, I can easily check the bore after each shot and the CB rounds should easily clear the shorter barrel. Will not shoot them, though, in one of my Match 22 LR barrels. Those only get fed match grade ammo.

Still have a lot of SV and HV 22 Shorts that we grabbed from the days of the 22 ammo shortage. Need to shoot them up. The HV 22 Shorts, though, are actually louder than the CCI Quiet 22 LRs. Need to hit the gunshows and find a gun chambered only for 22 Shorts. That could be fun.

[Abnermal]

Love the report on the CCI Quiet. I have some I haven't shot yet. Had bought a .22 Ruger air rifle to use on backyard pests. BIG MISTAKE! That thing won't shoot it's way out of a wet paper bag!

[BrokenolMarine]

NCG,

I used the CB 22 ammo as a Federal Game Warden in Hawaii. We were in the middle of the Marine Base, Trapping Mongoose for a Conservation Program to Protect the ground nesting state bird. I carried one of those little five shot North American Arms .22s and just stuck the muzzle thru the have a heart trap. The mongoose, mean as the devil would bite the muzzle, (soft pop,) and no more problem. Just enough velocity to drop them instantly and humanely with no over-penetration; and so quiet that the traffic passing 50 yards away never suspected a thing. They do have a great purpose, but I never considered using them for longer shots. Never thought they would be accurate at longer distances... great job.

[North Country Gal]

Thanks, Marine.

Yes, even CBs have their place. Just not sure if we can use them in our backyard range to good effect. While they do give me the opportunity to use some of my favorite rimfire guns, instead of the air guns, they are still woefully inaccurate by my air gun standards. plus, as Sir Henry notes, still not to crazy about the distance they can travel.

Folks, it was a good experiment. I learned a lot and was happy to share it with everyone. My conclusion is that rimfire guns need quality SV or HV ammo to be at their best, but that ammo raises safety and noise issues. Bottom line for us is that it's back to air guns, only, on our range. For our situation, air guns are the easy winner in terms of noise, safety and accuracy.

[BrokenolMarine]

Reading the posts of the folks that have to be concerned about noise, the neighbors close by, and (gasp) HOAs... makes Tina and I so grateful I put up with the hour back and forth each way to work for all those years. We have our little slice of heaven and now that I'm retired, WE only leave the ridge if we have to. Having the 50 yard range in the back yard all those years made practicing for competition so much easier, and on more than one occasion when the Department range wasn't available, I brought officers to my home range for special training, practice for requalification, and on two occasions, I brought small groups to the range here and re-qualified them. Of course the Chief couldn't pay me for the use of my range, like he would the Department of Corrections or the Airport Police when we used their ranges for special training. I wasn't an approved vendor... but he was very appreciative.

I often got compensated in other ways down the line. The department got caught between a rock and a hard place, and my formal range saved the day. I wasn't worried about compensation... it was great to roll out of bed, sit down to a nice quiet breakfast, and take my time with it. When the gang rolled up, I'd walk out onto the range and conduct the training, the quals, then wave goodbye, and never have to step into MY vehicle. MY day was officially over.

[North Country Gal]

Wonderful story, marine. Thanks.

Oh, yeah, I will never take what we do have for a range for granted. We are blessed. I've lived in places where it was a long drive to a range or in places where there was no range at all.

[Teecat]

Hi NCG -

Thank you for the report (no pun intended!). I have experimented in the backyard with the CCI Quiet .22 LR. I’ve found that the round is pretty quiet in my 24” barrel Remington 510 - about the same as my gas spring air gun - but pretty loud in my 6” barrel revolver. In my 20” barrel H001T, they are noticeably louder than the longer barrel Remington, but not nearly as loud as the revolver. It seems like the 24” barrel expends most of the sound energy getting the bullet out of the muzzle, and the less barrel length there is to expend energy, the more is left for sound.

Have you made this observation by trying the round through different guns? What’s the barrel length on your CZ? Based on this experience I was even considering getting the 24” long barrel H001 TLB Frontier because the 20” is a tad on the uncomfortable side to be neighborly for me.

I haven’t choronographed the round to test any effect that barrel length may have on the CCI Quiet, but I have compared accuracy to the CCI Mini Mags and CCI standard 40 gr and the Quiets seem just as accurate at 25 yds.

[North Country Gal]

Good point, teecat.

The barrel on that particular CZ (455 American) is 20.5", but having shot many of these same rounds in a longer 24" barrel in the past, yes, I can report that they're even quieter in the longer barrel. My theory is the same as yours as to why. A CB Short out of a 24" barrel is in the same ball park for quiet as one of our very quiet PCP air rifles.

Again, I remind everyone of the danger of using some quiet rounds that use only the primer for propulsion in very long barrels, as per the the Colibri bullet that didn't even make it out of the 20.5" inch barrel. That one round could have been a faulty round, of course, and I have had no issues with other CB rounds of other makes. Just be aware.

[Teecat]

Thanks NCG. I’ve tried the Aguila Colibri primer-only in my 20” H001T and one will occasionally fall short, so I don’t like them for that reason as well as the inaccuracy you mentioned. Never thought about the chance of a squib so appreciate that awareness. Going to try the CCI 29 gr Short Targets that are listed at 830 fps to see if they are more sociable than the CCI LR Quiets and will report back (there I go again). I’m after something no louder than my .25 cal gas springer. I may just get the 24” Frontier anyway, just because I want it!

[North Country Gal]

Please do. It's been awhile since I shot the CCI 22 Short Targets. I'm hoping I can get some decent accuracy with them. Have even been thinking of getting a gun chambered, specifically, for 22 Shorts, only.

[Sir Henry]

Please do. It's been awhile since I shot the CCI 22 Short Targets. I'm hoping I can get some decent accuracy with them. Have even been thinking of getting a gun chambered, specifically, for 22 Shorts, only.

No one has made them in decades have they?

[CT_Shooter]

I’ve tried the Aguila Colibri primer-only in my 20” H001T and one will occasionally fall short, so I don’t like them for that reason

I bought a box of Aquila Colibri and fired one out of a bolt action, single shot rifle. The target was mounted on a pine board set about 20 feet away. It bounced off.

[North Country Gal]

No wonder they're so quiet.