The Gun Digest Book of the .22 Rifle

226 Pages·2010·9.647 MB·English

by  C. Rodney James

Models | Care & Maintenance | Ammunition
GUN DIGEST BOOK OF THE
®
C. RODNEY JAMES
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GUN DIGEST® BOOK OF THE
C. RODNEY JAMES
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©2009 C. Rodney James
Published by
Gun Digest® Books
An imprint of F+W Media, Inc.
www.gundigestbooks.com
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All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reproduced
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except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a critical
article or review to be printed in a magazine or newspaper, or elec-
tronically transmitted on radio, television, or the Internet.
Library of Congress Control Number: 2009939596
ISBN-13: 978-1-4402-1372-4
ISBN-10: 1-4402-1372-0
Printed in the United States of America
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Contents
F : C S L 4
RONTISPIECE HARLES INGER ANDIS
A 6
CKNOWLEDGMENTS
F K W 7
OREWORD BY EN ARNER
I 8
NTRODUCTION
1. S -B R A 10
MALL ORE IMFIRE MMUNITION
2. W K R ? 32
HAT IND OF IFLE
3. T S -A R : A S C 58
HE EMI UTO IFLE PECIAL ASE
4. T B -A C R : A S C 78
HE OLT CTION OMPETITION IFLE NOTHER PECIAL ASE
5. A S : W W A S 96
CCURATE HOOTING HAT E LL EEK
6. C , M , C 124
LEANING AINTENANCE AND ARE
7. R , L , P & O U T 140
ANGE ETHALITY ERFORMANCE THER SEFUL HINGS
8. H V S : S P A 162
UNTING AND ARMINT HOOTING OME RACTICAL SPECTS
9. M C S 184
ODERN OMPETITIVE HOOTING
10. F D 206
UTURE EVELOPMENTS
N 218
OTES
I 222
NDEX
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Gun Digest® Book of the .22 Rifle
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C. S. Landis: A late photo by Bob Bell.
Charles Singer Landis
1887-1961
Charles Singer Landis was the preeminent small-bore writer and target/
varmint shooter of his time. He was the author of .22 Caliber Rifl e Shoot-
ing (1932), Twenty-Two Caliber Varmint Rifl es (1947), Hunting With the
Twenty-Two (1950), and Woodchucks and Woodchuck Rifl es (1951).
Born in Pennsylvania, Landis grew up shooting and hunting from
an early age. He was employed in various capacities including assistant
advertising manager at the Hercules Powder Company. All the while, he
found time to write publications for that company and countless articles
for the shooting press including Th e American Rifl eman, Th e Gun Digest,
Th e Rifl eman (London), Th e Field Illustrated, Forest & Stream, Th e Sport-
ing Goods Dealer, Sportsman’s Digest, and Rod & Gun in Canada, where
he served as shooting editor for forty years.
Unlike so many writers in this fi eld, Landis was not a self-promoter.
While details of his hunting trips and travels are recorded, no informa-
tion can be found regarding his early life, education, or professional
career. When he died, obituaries were brief and few. Of his writings,
only Hunting With the Twenty-Two has been brought back into print. It
is to be hoped the others will follow.
Above all, Landis was an experimenter with a keen interest in the
“how” and “why” of firearms and ammunition performance. He was
a perceptive observer of wildlife, which made him an expert hunter.
Best of all, he was a good writer with the ability to organize his vast
store of knowledge and information and present it in a style both
concise and eminently readable.
It is to his memory this book is dedicated.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Since no book is really written alone, I wish to thank those who provided
information, aid and comfort in the completion of this project.
B.J. Alicie, Shane Barnhart, Bob Bell, Philip Blower, Tim Brant, Tim
Butler, Bob Collins, Ariel Delacroix Dax, O. M. Dodgen, Jonathan
Doege, Bart Eaton, Martin Fackler M.D., Paul Gideon, Scott Grange,
Ken Green, Allan Jones, Chuck Jones, Carl Jooss, Mike Jordan, Macky
Locklin, Mary McGavick, Steven K. Moore, Jason Nash, Brett Olin,
Harry Pasco, Carl Polley, Carlos Romero, Jackie Stenton, Frank Turn-
er, Richard Wahl, Ken Warner, Roger Weir, Cathy Winstead Severin.
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FOREWORD
Facts attract C. Rodney James, who I have begun to call “C Rodney,” as
fl ame attracts moths. Decades ago he submitted manuscripts to the
American Rifl eman and Gun Digest and they were always chock-a-block
with facts, and I printed some of them.
Now he has done it again. Th is time, he used a power dredge to dig
up new facts about rimfi re rounds and rifl es you think you know about,
and about rimfi re history you never heard.
Th e unstated subtitle here is “A Guide for Users.” Users of semi-au-
tos, users of single-shot boy’s guns, users of competition rifl es — doesn’t
matter. Th ere is grist here for everyone’s rimfi re mill.
Th ere is, for instance, theory, and a half-dozen or more substantive
theories — on group size, interior barrel design, bullet confi guration,
more are given full treatment. Th ere is demonstration, and C. Rodney
provides that. Th ere is engineering, and there is lots of shooting.
In short, and I am asked to be short, there are no quibbles. Th is is
about rimfi re rifl es and almost all about them. Enjoy it. I did.
Ken Warner
– Editor Gun Digest (Retired)
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INTRODUCTION
Over the past eighty years there have been at least half a dozen books
on small-bore rifl es and rifl e shooting. I think I have read most of them.
Th e one I like best is .22 Caliber Rifl e Shooting by C.S. Landis. Th is 1932
volume, published by Th omas Samworth, was the fi rst really compre-
hensive work on the subject and still contains a wealth of technical
data of value to the serious shooter and gun crank alike. However, for
a contemporary reader it contains a great mass of material that is of
interest only to those with an appreciation of history and a taste for
documentation of the state of the art as it was in what many consider
the great era of small-bore rifl e shooting.
Th is book is my best eff ort at providing a streamlined and updated
version of the best Landis had to off er. Any attempt at making a book that
can be all things to all readers will never succeed. Th is eff ort is no excep-
tion. What I hope to accomplish is to provide a starting point for the begin-
ner, a current summary of the state of small-bore rifl es, ammunition and
shooting for the intermediate rifl eman/woman. Th e references, point the
way for those who wish to venture into the more rarefi ed regions of up-
per-level competitive shooting, bench-rest shooting, long-range varmint
shooting and that eternal search for the perfect rifl e. May you fi nd it.
Through high school and into college, I was an indifferent stu-
dent. I had difficulty remembering things. I finally concluded I re-
membered far better that a particular item was important if it was
explained to me how and why it was important and thus worth re-
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membering. I try to do this. This book may be read straight through
or sampled according to a reader’s needs. To this end I have incorpo-
rated a certain amount of cross referencing in the text for those who
may read it only partially or the chapters out of order.
I suppose I can add what this book is not. While it addresses many as-
pects of shooting, it is not a manual to teach you how to shoot. Th e military,
the NRA and any number of others have put together works of this sort. It is
not a shilling for any particular product. What I may have to say about vari-
ous arms, ammunition and other items is based on personal experience,
research, and analysis. Be advised, personal testing by most writers is rarely
more than one or two examples of particular rifl es, and at best eight to ten
lots of a particular ammunition. Your experiences may well diff er.
Small-bore rifl e shooting has and will continue to provide millions
with endless hours of enjoyment on the range and in the fi eld. It is a
wonderful sport that can be practiced for the better-part of a lifetime.
It should be added that irresponsible use of fi rearms has been the
cause of death and tragedy that is permanent. Th e author was a board
member of his county humane society. Th e killing of song birds and oth-
er protected species is a crime. Th e killing of companion animals (cats
and dogs) is a criminal felony in most states with fi nes from $5000 to
$20,000. A felony conviction deprives you of your right to own a fi rearm.
Above all, be safe and responsible in your shooting. One accident, one
act of irresponsible shooting is too many. It hurts all of us.
C. Rodney James
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