does anyone know how many pellets are in a .22 rat shot round and do you have to have a smooth bore barrel

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I killed it

if you find a smooth barrel 22,post an let me know ..i might learn something..you have a good day 14.

Way, way back in the day there were some smooth bore .22's on the market. Don't know why, rat shot shellls are only effective for something like 15-20 feet. You can shoot them in rifled barrels tho I imagine the spin doesn't do much for pattern. Some people claim if you shoot them a lot they will lead your bore, no confirmation of that. I use them to shoot rats in the attic of my shop, can't see any harm, except to the rats. They use #12 shot by the way, no info on the count. Here endeth the lesson. Goatwhiskers the Elder

Thanks for the help

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I killed it

CCI 22lr shotshells on the box claims 1/15oz. #12 shot approx. 165 pellets. My experiance is great on blackbirds to 30ft. Wont penetrate a cardboard box at 20ft. Wont hurt a squirrel much at 8ft. He came back 30 min. later. Snakes need to be around 10 ft. to kill and then it is slow. All fired from Ruger single six over many years with no problem that I have noticed.

When I attended camp as a kid, they actually had a little single-shot smoothbore .22. We shot thrown clay pigeons with it and, believe it or not, got pretty good results a fairly close ranges, even though plenty of the clays just got chipped. Not big deal -- it meant they could be thrown again! Big entertainment for little kids.

Out of rifled barrels, they really aren't useful past a few feet -- the shot swirls out very rapidly in to a donut pattern with a BIG hole right in the middle; and of course, the tiny pellets don't retain much in the way of energy, so their killing power is generally sufficient for only the smallest critters at no more than a few yards. A childhood buddy and I used to dispatch a few starlings in his backyard, and rats at the dump, with his dad's smoothbore .22. A tiny little smoothbore Winchester single-shot he had that fired 9mm shotshells was awesomely effective by comparison. This class of shotguns used to be commonly referred to as "garden guns".

[quote=HURRICANECOWBOY;573724]CCI 22lr Wont hurt a squirrel much at 8ft. He came back 30 min. later.

I've killed squirrel's at 30ft, one shot with federal,s .22lr shot. I use a mossberg with ac kro gruv rifling, marlin micro gruve works well also.

Look for a "garden gun". Quite a few have been made. Marlin made one but I think they may not list it now. You can probably come up with one though. I think they were more popular in Europe. The 9 mm shot shell is popular there.

thanks everybody, all this is very helpful

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I killed it

The only .22 rat-shot that I've ever used only had one pellet in it.

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"It is the province of knowledge to speak and it is the privilege of wisdom to listen". Oliver Wendell Holmes

A couple years back, Marlin was making the smooth bore Garden gun.
Not sure if they still make it, seeing how its really not Marlin but "Remlin" now...

I can just picture a bunch of kids shooting each other with 22 shot in a manhunt game!!

Remington use to make a .22 rifle made for rat shot, the model 514. Its a bolt-action single shot and at the end of the barrel it looks like a standard 410 shotgun because it has a bead for a sight and the hole is about the same size as a 410.

and go to jail for attempted murder.

As idiot kids we used to play 'war' with our pellet guns. everyone wore those clear rubber goggles, and down vests. If you owned a Daisy, it was good to go, but if you owned a Crossman pump, it was a rule that it was never more than 3 pumps.
This stupidity went on all summer till finally a smart cop took all of our guns, and brought them back to our parents with an explanation of what us dumb arse kids were doing in the woods.
This was close to 40 years ago, but still dumb. The bruises we would get on our arms....lol
well after the incident of the confiscation, we saw the error of our ways.....well that and the groundings....

As for the rat shot, I believe I'd rather get some CB caps or some Aguila Colibri's... that is, if you have the area to shoot them.

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Chris in NH.

"some days, I wish my dogs could talk"

iv never been able to get anything usefull out of ratshot, never used a smoothbore .22lr either.

I have some recently made Remington .22 LR shotshells with #10 shot. I haven't shot any so I can't compare them with the Winchester, Federal and CCI offerings which are #12 shot. Obviously less shot per cartridge but improved penetration. I don't have a smoothbore rimfire but would like one. I think that would be the Bee's knee with the Remington shells.

From another board I frequent... it was in the "Small Game" forum: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmS6_5ZrYHs

Hunting bumble bees (with rat shot).

Way back in the 80's I was doing week end bird control in a warehouse with BB guns and rat shot. The old crimped rat shot was useless. I then discovered the new CCI shot shell with the shot in the bubble up front. I managed to kill a pigeon at about 15 yards using my double 9 pistol. That shot shell was a huge improvement. However I still have the remainder of that box bought in the 80's.

Bounty,Ratshot effectiveness depends on the gun my old stevens 22/410 couldn't hit a sparrow at 6'.My cousin had a shotout win. single shot I've watched him kill gray squirrels dead 25/30 feet up a tree.If you have an old crappy 22 take a dowel, make a slit in the end for emery cloth and take the rifling out.The barrels on 22's are as soft as duck butter.A drill motor makes it less work,get creative and don't take as much out at the muzzel,yup choke.Frank C.