The Ammunition Bubble: Substitute 12 guage for .22?

Gun Watch ^ | 8 June, 2014 | Dean Weingarten

[marktwain]

The two boxes of ammunition cost about the same on today's market

The price of 12 gauge hunting ammunition has dropped back to near pre- ammunition bubble levels.    Wal-mart had 100 rounds of birdshot loads priced at $19.97 a couple  of days ago.   That is 20 cents per round, or $5 per box of 25.  Before the Barack Obama ammunition bubble, the ordinary price was a little lower, perhaps $4.50, with sales just before dove season as low as $3.00.

.22 rimfire ammunition, particularly .22 long rifle (LR) ammunition prices are at an all time high.  This is a classic bubble, and it will end, but no one knows exactly when.

.22 LR is currently available for about 10 cents a round.  So, which is a better deal, .22 LR at 10 cents a cartridge, or 12 gauge at 20 cents?    Both cartridges have their unique uses, advantages, and disadvantages.    Next to .22 rimfire, 12 gauge may be the next most commonly chambered cartridge in the country.   Most gun owners own a shotgun of some kind.  Nearly every gun writer has noted that a shotgun is one of the most versatile and useful firearms ever made.  Most gun owners have a 12 gauge, because it is the most common and versatile of  the shotgun gauges.  Because of the economics of mass manufacture, it is also the cheapest shotgun ammunition.

For many people, it makes more sense to buy 12 gauge at 20 cents a round than .22 ammunition at 10 cents a round.   Many of the uses of the two firearms overlap.   The raw power of an ordinary 12 gauge load is equivalent to a dozen .22 LR cartridges.

Both are excellent choices for hunting small game.  In fact, the shotgun is the more reliable gun for putting meat on the table.   It is designed for taking birds on the fly and rabbits on the run.  It takes less skill on the part of the hunter to take game with a shotgun than it does with a .22 LR.   For hunting, one 12 gauge cartridge is likely as or more productive than two .22 LR cartridges.

Neither 12 gauge with bird shot or .22 LR are the first choice for self defense.   Both are commonly used, and used effectively, because any gun is better than no gun in a self defense scenario.   Here, again, the 12 gauge has the edge.  It has greater intimidation value, due to the size of the hole in the end of the barrel(s).  It has massive destructive power at close range, under five yards, where most self defense situations occur.    There are a number of ways that birdshot loads can be converted to expedient slug loads in an emergency.   They are effective to 25 yards and more, and make the birdshot loads into effective big game loads at short ranges.

That brings us to big game.  Neither 12 gauge birdshot loads or .22 LR are the optimum choice for hunting big game.   Still, as with self defense, both have been used extensively and successfully.   The wax and cut expedient loads for shotguns have been used to poach big game for decades.   The use has been prevalent enough to rate a legal ban on their use in hunting in some states.  The ban on these loads in Wisconsin lead me to discover what they were and how they worked 45 years ago.   I do not recommend them except for emergency use.  Even without the expedient slug loads, bird shot can down big game at ranges under 5 yards.  My father once harvested a deer with a shot from a shotgun and birdshot  at 4 yards distance.    The shot to the head was an instant and humane death.   I own a .22 LR that my father acquired during the depression.   It was often loaned to neighbors for subsistence deer hunting; a "village gun" system where the owner of the gun received a share of the meat.   My father said that it had been used to harvest over 200 deer.

While I do not advocate breaking the law, in a survival situation, eating takes priority over the hunting regulations.

In terms of barter, or as a store of value, 12 gauge and .22 LR both have excellent barter potential, both store for decades without noticeable degradation.

.22 LR prices will eventually return to reasonable levels.  The raw materials for one 12 gauge load could be used to make 10 or 12 .22 LR cartridges, indicating that it is not raw material prices that are driving the .22 LR bubble.   While the bubble is still expanding, people should consider the 12 gauge as a substitute for the .22 LR round.   Two .22 LR cartridges for a 12 gauge cartridge is a pretty good trade.


©2014 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
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[353FMG]

Friends should not allow friends to run out of ammo.

[Jeff Chandler]

.22 LR can be used to practice an any range. The same cannot be said for shotguns.

[Rannug]

Nearly 68 y/o, hunting for almost 60 of those years, and never heard of this cut and wax. Very interesting. I watched this video and was amazed. I am definitely going to try this. Lots of time on my hands. I noticed that he only used what we call low brass shells. I wonder what difference the makes. All my shot shells are high brass.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3M46XVfVOU

[marktwain]

High brass/Low brass makes little difference. It likely is more important what the wadding inside is, and the dram equivalent.

If I were to experiment, I would buy cheap shotgun shells to experiment with.

[Oatka]

.22 rimfire ammunition, particularly .22 long rifle (LR) ammunition prices are at an all time high.
Just back from the Kingman, AZ gun show. Dealers were asking $60 for 500 round bricks, $100 for 1,000 rounds. Same all over the show.

PL: Also, that was an interesting point from an earlier comment about exchanging birdshot for buckshot. I need to get set up for bullet and ball casting here soon. It occurs to me that the combination of .45 LC pistol, .45 LC rifle . . .
Check out the Taurus Circuit Judge (YouTube as well) which fires both .410 and 45 LC . Mfrs are making an amazing assortment of .410 ammo from shot to ball to multiple projectiles.
The first two loads are really Bad news to the Bad Guy.

[Rannug]

Thank you. But doesn’t high brass have considerable more powder than low brass?

[fireman15]

I wonder what difference the makes. All my shot shells are high brass.

I love Iraqveteran8888's videos he covers a lot of other interesting and valuable subjects as well. We have had some correspondence on occasion. I am very glad that this “cut shell” video has been brought to my attention. It looks like something interesting to look into. The video has over 1.7 million views and a follow up video which has some clarification and cautions has nearly 300,000 views.

I have a number of slug molds and various sized round ball molds from smaller buck up to balls that are as large as you can fit into 12 and also 20 gauge cartridges. Although I stick to mostly pistol and rifle ammunition... reloading is a source of almost endless fascination for me.

As someone a little more than vaguely familiar with shotgun shell assembly and construction... it appears that the outer shell is being cut in the middle of the wadding assembly being careful not to cut the inner shaft of the wad. So the cut is above the powder charge and just below the shot.

Wadding varies depending both on the type of shell you are using and the manufacturer. Birdshot is constructed far differently than buck as are different lengths and “magnum loads”. I have an assortment of wadding material.

But back to your question... I personally would dissect whatever type of shell that I was contemplating doing this with ahead of time to see exactly where the cut should be made. Then I would verify that the shell that I was trying this with was identical in every way to the one that I had dissected. Whether the shell is “low brass” or “high brass” doesn't give any guarantee how the shell is constructed. The shell must be disassembled to find out for sure.

There are limitations to this procedure... First after you compromise the integrity of the outer shell you obviously cannot expect them to hold up in any kind of magazine. Each will need to be placed by hand into the firing chamber no matter what type of gun you are using. Second and more seriously if there is ANY TYPE OF CHOKE OR RESTRICTION OR NARROWING at the end of your shotgun's barrel it would seem that there is a very real danger of over-pressurization and blowing up your gun. In the second video it is mentioned that the some of the shells being used have the lightest charges available.

It might have been better if it had been mentioned in the first video that... the pointy end of the barrel of a shotgun is almost always smaller in diameter than the end closest to the operator. Shotguns are not designed for a projectile the same diameter as the shell to go through the end of the barrel.

So I love the video. I love shooting stuff with shotguns. In the first video it is mentioned that people have been using this “procedure” for the last 90 years apparently without a lot of gun failures. I will still approach this with a great deal of caution and make sure that I am using a shell with a light charge, make sure that my gun has the widest possible choke, make sure that I am wearing some type of safety gear, and I won't be using a gun that has a lot of value to me.

[Tijeras_Slim]

Shotshell ballistics are considerably different than rifle. The variables that effect “power” are only the amount of powder (dram equivalent is an old black powder measure) and the amount of shot. The nominal dram equivalent for most gauges equals a muzzle velocity of about 1200 fps.

The heavier the shot amount and the faster you drive it, the more “powerful” the load is. Of course, it will have heavier recoil.

Also, shot (particularly in smaller sizes) bleeds off velocity very fast. A friend of mine used to shoot 1 ounce at 1350 fps:muzzle. I shot 1 ounce at 1180 fps: muzzle. At 40 yards the difference was only about 50 fps. Plus, a higher initial speed can adversely effect patterns due to air resistance having more effect on deformed pellets.

High brass versus low brass in no certain indication of “power”, look at the powder charge and shot charge weight.

[fireman15]

Thank you. But doesn’t high brass have considerable more powder than low brass?

No, the length of the brass doesn't have a lot of predictive value as to the amount of powder being used. I personally prefer the high brass because I reload cartridges and I think that they tend to hold up a little better.

[Tijeras_Slim]

http://www.shotgunsportsmagazine.com/downloads/shotgun_statistics.pdf

[fireman15]

A friend of mine used to shoot 1 ounce at 1350 fps:muzzle. I shot 1 ounce at 1180 fps: muzzle. At 40 yards the difference was only about 50 fps.

A technical question... I was curious how you measure the velocity of the shot at 40 yards? I have a chronograph that I use to measure muzzle velocity... do you just set your chronograph behind some type of barrier and are then able to catch the shadows of pellets flying by 40 yards away? I have just never tried it and was curious how you set up to do it.

[Tijeras_Slim]

I’m not certain how they do it, but there are tables in the Lyman manual.

[fireman15]

OK, I thought maybe you had set up equipment like those of us who measure the performance of our reloaded cartridges. It is not that hard to measure the real world velocity of projectiles at a distance but there are additional challenges with shot.

But like you mentioned... with projectiles that are the same shape... the smaller the object, the quicker its speed will bleed off. I haven’t looked it up recently, but I believe it is a logarithmic relationship... It reminds me of the endless debates of the merits of 7.62x39 vs 5.56 vs .308 vs. 30-06. It is always an entertaining way to get a fiery discussion going on a firearms forum.

[Tijeras_Slim]

Having suffered through the endless 9mm vs. 38 articles of the 80’s, I reached the conclusion that bald me will fight to the death over a comb.

Tons of work have been done trying to figure out what shotgun patterns do, how they develop, etc... High speed photography, doppler artillery radar stuff, and it’s still something of a mystery.

A guy in the 40’s had his wife drive by with a target on a trailer to try to determine arrival time of the pellets at different ranges.

A chronograph is OK for determining muzzle velocity of a shotgun charge, and there’s probably a formula for calculating deceleration due to wind resistance, humidity, etc. Add that to a time of flight measurement to target, and you can get close.

I do know that altitude affects patterns. I shoot at 7500’, with an air density about 75% of sea level, and very low humidity. We shoot fairly open chokes and kill clays at pretty decent distances. We had an outgoing target once that was edge on at a measured 55 yards and on a lark I could break it with fair regularity with my 20 gauge with skeet chokes and #9 shot. The thinner air slows down pattern development and the shot speed stays higher.

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

Modifications almost always come at a steep price of effective range reductions. For example, the infamous “dimes” round.

There is a video on YouTube testing a round filled with dimes, but at a normal short distance range. And it’s not surprising that they were disappointed in their performance, because dimes are a very short, even point blank round.

However, I know of an instance in which an older woman very effectively used a dimes round against an armed intruder in her home, at very short range, and the results were impressive, to say the least. When the police arrived, they had no idea what had shredded the robber, until they noticed bloody dimes scattered about.

(At some point one of the officers got sick to his stomach.)

To her credit, the old woman had the chutzpah to ask could they please return her dimes after they were done, in that they were “lucky” dimes.

[dangerdoc]

Looking at the slo-mo video, the crayon rounds are good to about 40 yards then accuracy issues from tumbling make them less useful.

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

Yes, but for a defensive, not small game hunting round, what targets outside of 40 yards will you be shooting at, outside of vehicles coming at you?

But it would sure put a crimp in a riotous mob coming down your street.

[dangerdoc]

I live out in the sticks. My first zone of security starts at about 500 yards. Second is about 100 yards. Somewhere after that comes dogs, pistols and hand to hand.

[Tijeras_Slim]

I just ran across a technique that was used to determine the time of arrival of the shot pattern and duration (first to last pellet). A pattern was shot with a spinning disk (known rpm)behind the target. This could determine the time of arrival of the bulk of the pattern and roughly it’s location in the pattern.

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

So waxing shotgun rounds is kind of a non-starter. For 500 yards, I’d be a big fan of a .50 cal. 100 yards, a .30-06.

For anything shorter than that, I would use passive defenses since they are likely using armor, like an MRAP. A backhoe some cheap wood and some time can make an MRAP pretty useless. Of course if you disable their toy, they’ll prolly send in a Reaper and nick you with a Hellfire.