Will .22 shorts be as accurate as .22 LR in a Henry lever action?

[His lordship.]

I finally bought a Henry .22 lever action rifle today, shot some Super Colibri type of ammo in my house, showing some potential in the accuracy dept.  I know from prior experience with my bolt actions in .22 RF that when they say ".22 LR" they don't shoot the shorts very well.  Will the shorts shoot ok in this rifle?  Also, is dry firing alright, I have not found much on the internet and Henry's owners manual does not mention anything?


Warning...do not use those plastic one piece cheapo snap caps in your Henry lever action in .22.  I wanted to test the function tonight and one of them got jamed into the receiver, had to take the gun apart to clear it out.  Will stick to hand-feeding spent shells if I want to test the firing pin strikes.  There is a good You Tube video of how to take these guns apart, saved my hide.  This gave me the opportunity to grease and oil the internals.     

[pastorp]

I think you will just need to shoot some to see how accurate they will be... The Super Colibri accuracy is dependant on your barrel twist and length from what I've read.... I bought a couple of boxes but have not shot any yet. 

Regards,

[keith44]

Some of my rifles do Ok with shorts, some not so well.  None of them shoot the shorts as well as the LR's. 


DO NOT EVER DRY FIRE ANY RIMFIRE!!!  Dry firing a rimfire can damage the firing pin as well as the mouth of the chamber, it is a weakness in the design of all rimfires.

[pastorp]

You know Keith I've always heard that too, but I learned to shoot at our local police range when I was about 12. My parents were not gun people and I wanted a 22 rifle. Mom said if I took the gun safety & shooting course she would let me have one. So every day I rode the city bus out to the range.. The local rangemaster, himself a police officer & gunsmith, taught the class comprised of a dozen boys about my age.

We started off dry firing single shot remington bolt action rifles.. Did not seem to hurt them. Countless boys over the years took the same course. Perhaps that old wives tale should be laid to rest... Just a though, but do you have first hand knowledge of a damaged rimfire???

Regards,

[keith44]

I was always taught that the firing pin would hit and cause damage.  I have seen the dent in the end of the chambers, and one broken firing pin, that was said to have been from dry firing.  I have only seen this on older guns, and haven't really looked for it for a number of years.  With the use of two piece and or rebounding firing pins that are shorter than they could be this may not be as much of a problem as it once was.

[mcwoodduck]

What is your goal in shooting Shorts?
I ask as they are just as loud as a standard Long Rifle
they only thing is you can carry more ammo in the gun.  I can understand this if you are going after the rabbit the Montey Pythons holly grail.  "The fangs the claws".  Last time I looked the 22 Shorts were uber expensive.
If you are looking for quiet they shorts are not much quieter than the long rifles.  I have been shooting the Aquilla Super colibre out of mine.  They work but I found that CB longs work much better.  Heavier projectile, faster, but still as quiet as the Colibre super rounds.
The CB Longs are more than enough to take tree rats and rabbits and the odd Raccoon or like sized critters.  A couple months ago I was shooting my Henry in the back yard with the CB's at a target in a pellet trap.  Neighbor stuc his head over the fence and asked if he could shoot my BB gun.  He thought it was a Daisy BB gun.  When he walked around he shot my Daisy not the Henry.  He did not notice the difference.  Lever gun vs lever gun no noise and a ding when the projectile hit the trap.

[454Puma]

I don't think shorts will feed in a lever gun-don't know for sure  as I don't have a lever gun in 22LR. I know they wouldn't feed in my semi- to week to work the action. Even feeding them manually they'd hang up and jam.  Haven't shot them in years nor seen them in the stores.

[mcwoodduck]

I don't think shorts will feed in a lever gun-don't know for sure  as I don't have a lever gun in 22LR. I know they wouldn't feed in my semi- to week to work the action. Even feeding them manually they'd hang up and jam.  Haven't shot them in years nor seen them in the stores.

They do.
I tried some CB Shorts and some real shorts in mine.
 

[His lordship.]

I finally took my Henry to the range yesterday, and yes, this rifle will gobble up just about anything.  I was able to run Super Colibris and CB longs through the tube magazine, and the lever action could chamber it ok depsite the odd bullet shape.  I have some shorts on order, not sure on the accuracy at 50 yards, will find out. 
 
This rifle shows itself as an alternative to a pellet rifle for pest control, I was getting some decent hits on paper at 50 yards with the super colibris and the CBs.  It would be possible to shoot this gun faster than the usual single shot pellet rifle, I removed my hearing protection to check for sound, while there is a cracking noise at discharge, I think it is less than a springer pellet rifle's bang.
 
You can tell by the lever resistance when you are on the last shell by feel, so was able to avoid dry firing it.

[notnodak]

I'll just add that Ruger 10/22's can be dry fired with absolutely no chance of damage. Said so in the manual and when I asked the factory rep at a gun show. I would not dry fire an older gun but anything in the last 20 years you can dry fire.