What kind of ammo is safe to shoot in .22LR at steel spinner silhouette targets?

Question

I normally shoot jacketed hollow points because they seem to foul the barrel less than lead bullets, but are they safe to use with steel? The directions state to use soft nose bullets, but that seems a bit ambiguous. It seems that hollow points would not richochet even though they are copper plated.

What do the experts think? Thanks.

Answer 1

Steel "Spinner " type Silhouette Targets are designed for use with ANY .22 LR caliber ammunition. All .22 bullets are considered to be "soft" lead even if Copper "Washed" Lead...... A Hollow Point may fragment, but as long as you are a safe distance away, this shouldn't be a safety issue....

Answer 2

JD is correct. The copper looking .22 ammo is not really jacketed like in centerfire ammo, there's just a very light coating of copper or something over the lead, supposedly to keep your barrel cleaner. Go ahead and keep shooting what works well in your .22.

Answer 3

its not hte same caliber, its not safe, and you might damage your gun. that's what other people say. I on hte other hand, who';s actually looked into this issue, you'll have 2 outcomes- 1) .17HMR cartridge doesn't fit into the .22LR chamber. the .17HMR case is based off the .22WMR case, which is of larger diameter than the .22LR round. the round wouldn't even fit in your .22LR gun. 2) suppose you somehow managed to get that round fully chambered. perhaps you hammered the bolt shut (if you have to do that you did something wrong). well with a semiautomatic upon firing the round the bolt will shoot backwards and alot of hot gas will come out of the breech. you'll probably get burned or blinded. with a bolt action there would be an explosion, the bolt would jam, and the case would be stuck. the round would turn into a very expensive blank/.22LR shotshell. the .172 cal bullet it come out but without much energy, and there would be bits of brass following it.

Answer 4

JD nailed this one, the only thing I'll add is you might want to shoot standard velocity or sub sonic v/s high velocity 22's at spinners simply for longevity of life of the spinner itself. Richochet's aren't that much of a worry using spinners, unless you're within 20 feet of it, but who shoots spinners at 20 feet anyhow?
Happy shooting!

Answer 5

im not sure what brand of 22 lr you are shooting but the hollow point bullets i shoot are copper colored but are not plated or jacketed, they are soft lead. i would think that you would be fine with most any 22 lr ammo. i would howver not shoot jacketed 22 mag's at a target designed for 22 lr

Answer 6

I use MJHP (metal jacketed hallow points) I know its bad cause of the high risk of ricochet id recommend any ALB or SP (all lead bullet or soft point)

Answer 7

I'd only shoot lead round nose.

Richochets can be a problem with copper coated.

If you're a bubba shooting out back, probably makes no diff.

Most shooting ranges in civilized areas prohibit shooting any kind of jacketed ammo at metal targets. It doesn't matter where *YOU* are, the danger can be to anyone downrange or on any trajectory reachable from the target. It would be lovely if people only hit the flat spinning part, but you can hit rounded fittings, sending the bullet off in any direction.

A lead bullet will generally flatten which will reduce its velocity no matter which direction it takes after hitting the target.

Answer 8

Our club has these set up on the rim fire range and we cannot shoot CCI Stinger and Velocitor, PMC Zapper, Aguila Super Max, Remington Viper, and other high velocity ammo.

Answer 9

They are all made of soft lead.

Answer 10

Any & all except for shot shells.*