Monday, November 21, 2011

A question for you on old .22 firearms

Let's say you have a S&W .22 revolver from the 1920's or 30's. Would you worry about a higher wear rate on the bore from using copper- or brass-plated bullet ammo as opposed to plain lubricated lead?

I'd not think it would be a problem; the plating is very thin and both metals are softer than steel, but I have been wrong before. Any information out there on this?

5 comments:

Sigivald said...

Would I worry? No.

Do I have any specific information beyond what you've already mentioned to support that?

Also, no.

Carteach said...

I would not sweat it. The plating on the bullet is very, very thin. The bullets still behave like soft lead.

TXGunGeek said...

Ii suggest you just skip the hassle and sell the gun to me!

Firehand said...

TGG, I don't think the owner will be real amenable to that suggestion.

Only person I've ever heard of who actually wore out a .22 bore was James
http://hellinahandbasket.net/
and that was a Ruger; Lord only knows how many rounds it took to do that.

Can't blame him for wondering, it's a lovely thing; I'm going to try to get a picture or two and a range test.

Knitebane said...

I have a 1933 Remington Model 34 bolt-action, tube-fed rifle.

I've got at least 500 rounds through it myself and God knows how many before I bought it about two years ago.

While the finish is a bit rough and the stock shows some use the bore is shiny and bright and it's still a squirrel murderer at 50 yards.

The only thing I think would damage an old .22 would be rust or shooting with a plugged barrel.